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EAST ANGLIA
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See also:EAST ANGLIA , one of the kingdoms into which Anglo-Saxon See also:Britain was divided. See also:Bede gives no See also:information about its origin except that its earliest settlers were Angles. The See also:kingdom of East Anglia comprised the two counties of See also:Norfolk and See also:Suffolk. With regard to the western boundary we have no accurate information, but it was probably formed by the See also:fens of See also:Cambridgeshire.
This kingdom first appears in Bede's narrative See also:early in the 7th See also:century, when its See also:power was at its height. Towards the end of the reign of /Ethelberht, who died about 616, Rxdwald of East Anglia, who had apparently spent some See also:time at the See also:court of See also:Kent, began to win for himself the See also:chief position among the Anglo-Saxon See also:kings of his See also:day. His position was assured, at least temporarily, in 617, when he decided to espouse the cause of the Northumbrian See also:prince See also:Edwin, then a fugitive at his court, and defeated /Ethelfrith of See also:Northumbria on the See also:banks of the Idle, a tributary of the See also:Trent, in Mercian territory. Rxdwald had been converted to See also:Christianity in Kent, but after his return See also:home he relapsed, according to Bede, owing to the See also:influence of his wife, and there were to be seen in the same See also:building a See also:Christian and a See also:pagan See also:altar. Bede states that Rxdwald was the son of Tytili, the son of Wuffa, from whom the East Anglian royal See also:family derived their name Wuffingas. According to the Historia Brittonum Guffa (Wuffa) was the son of (Guecha) Wehha, who first ruled the East Angles in Britain. This would put the organization of the kingdom in the first or second See also:quarter of the 6th century. Eorpwald, the son of Rxdwald, was converted to Christianity by Edwin, but was soon afterwards slain by Ricberht (627 or 628), whereupon the kingdom again became pagan for three years, when Sigeberht, the See also:brother of Eorpwald, became See also: Sigeberht also founded a school in East Anglia, and on the arrival of an Irish missionary named Furseus he built him a monastery at Cnobheresburg, perhaps to be identified with See also:Burgh See also:Castle. Before 644, however, Sigeberht resigned the See also:crown in favour of his brother Ecgric and retired to a monastery. Shortly afterwards both See also:brothers were slain by See also:Penda of See also:Mercia in his invasion of East Anglia, and See also:Anna became king. This king was an enthusiastic Christian, and converted Ccenwalh, king of Wessex, who had fled to his court. Two of his daughters, Sxthryth and /Ethelberg, took the See also:veil; while another, Sexburg, was married to Earconberht, king of Kent; and a See also:fourth, AEthelthryth, after two marriages, with Tondberht of the See also:South Gyrwe and See also:Ecgfrith of Northumbria, became See also:abbess of See also:Ely. In 654 Anna was slain by Penda of Mercia, and was succeeded by his brother lEthelhere, who was killed in 6S5 at the Winwaed, fighting for the Mercian king against See also:Oswio of Northumbria. In 673 See also:Archbishop See also:Theodore divided the East Anglian See also:diocese into two, See also:Elmham being the seat of the See also:northern, Dunwich that of the See also:southern See also:bishop. A See also:long See also:blank follows in the See also:history of this kingdom, until in 792 we find See also:Offa of Mercia slaying lEthelb_.rht, king of East Anglia, who is said to have been his son-in-See also:law. East Anglia was subject to the supremacy of the Mercian kings until 825, when its See also:people slew Beornwulf of Mercia, and with their king acknowledged Ecgberht (Egbert) of Wessex as their See also:lord. In 87o See also:Edmund, king of East Anglia, was killed by the Danes under I'varr and Ubbi, the sons of Ragnar See also:Lot brok. The following is a See also:list of the kings of East Anglia of whom there is See also:record:—Wehha; Wuffa; Rxdwald, son of Tytili and See also:grand-son of Wuffa (reigning 617); Eorpwald, son of Rxdwald (d. 627 or 628); Sigeberht, brother of Eorpwald; Ecgric, brother of Sigeberht (both slain before 644); Anna, son of Ene and See also:grandson of Tytili (d. 654); /Ethelhere, brother of Anna (d. 655); /Ethelwald, a third brother; Aldwulf (succ. 663, d. 713), son of /Ethelric and grandson of Ene; See also:Elf wald, son of Aldwulf (d. 749) ; Hun Beonna and Alberht; lEthelberht (792); Edmund (870). After the See also:death of Ragnar Lobbrok's sons East Anglia was occupied by the Danish king See also:Guthrum, who made a treaty with See also:Alfred settling their respective boundaries, probably about 880. Guthrum died in 890. A later king named Eohric took up the cause of /Ethelwald, the son of /See also:Ethelred I., and was slain in the fight with the Kentish See also:army at the Holm in 905. A See also:war See also:broke out with King See also:Edward the See also:Elder in 913; in 921 a king whose name is unknown was killed at the fall of Tempsford, and in the same See also:year the Danes of East Anglia submitted to Edward the Elder. From this time, probably, East Anglia was governed by See also:English earls, the most famous of whom were /Ethelstan, surnamed See also:Half - King (932-956) and his sons, iEthelwold (956-962), and IEthelwine, surnamed Dei amicus (962-992). See Bede, Hist. Eccl. (ed. C. Plummer, See also:Oxford, 1896), ii. 5, 15, iii. 7, 8, 18-20, 22, iv. 3, 5, 23; Saxon See also:Chronicle (ed. See also:Earle and Plummer, Oxford, 1899), s. a. 823, 838, 866, 87o, 88o, 885, 89o, 894, 905, 921; Historia Brittonun, (See also:San-Marte, 1844), s. 59; H. Sweet, See also:Oldest English Texts, p. 171 (See also:London, 1885). (F. G. M. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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