Swæfred (or Suebred) was joint king of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

along with his brother, Sigeheard, from 694 to 709, succeeding their father Sæbbi. In 705, they became estranged from King

Ine of Wessex Ine or Ini (died in or after 726) was King of Wessex from 689 to 726. At Ine's accession, his kingdom dominated much of what is now southern England. However, he was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor, Cædwalla of Wessex ...

for sheltering his rivals to the throne. At the Synod of

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, they agreed to banish Ine's rivals from Essex in return for Ine's promise not to attack Essex. The exact chronology of the later years of their rule is uncertain. It isn't known whether they governed together until 709 or if Swæfred died before then. Swæfred issued two charters related to land in

Nazeing Nazeing ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest District, Epping Forest district, in Essex, England. Within the parish are the separate settlements of Upper Nazeing, Middle Nazeing, and Lower Nazeing. The Prime Meridian passes to ...

for the establishment of a nunnery, although these charters only survive in later copies. He issued a further charter related to land in the Dengie peninsula. A charter related to land in Twickenham (S65) is attributed to him. This charter has been described as possibly spurious, although more recent writers have concluded that there is no reason to doubt its authenticity.Electronic Sawyer
By 709,

Offa Offa ( 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death in 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of ...

, son of their father's co-king and later rival, Sighere, was at least heir apparent and perhaps joint ruler of Essex when he traveled with King Cenred of Mercia to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He would succeed Swæfred and Sigeheard.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swaefred of Essex East Saxon monarchs 7th-century births 700s deaths 7th-century English monarchs 8th-century English monarchs