Swithhelm of Essex

Last updated February 14, 2026

Swithhelm was king of Essex from 660 to 664.

Swithhelm succeeded King Sigeberht II after he, along with his brother Swithfrith, murdered him. They accused him of being too friendly towards Christians. In 662, however, he was persuaded to convert to Christianity by Aethelwald, king of East Anglia.^[1] After his death in 664, he was succeeded by his cousins Sighere and Sebbi.

References

↑ Warner, Peter M. (1996). The origins of Suffolk, pg 112. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719038174.

External links

Swithhelm 1 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England

Preceded by

Sigeberht II the Good

King of Essex
660–664

Succeeded by

Sighere and Sebbi

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[1] Warner, Peter M. (1996). The origins of Suffolk, pg 112. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719038174.

[2] Rulers with names in italics are considered fictional

[3] Mackenzie, E; Ross, M (1834). An Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive View of the County Palatine of Durham. Vol. I. Newcastle upon Tyne: Mackenzie and Dent. p. xi. Retrieved 28 February 2012.

[4] Downham, Clare (2007), Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014, Edinburgh: Dunedin, ISBN 978-1-903765-89-0, OCLC 163618313

[5] Woolf, Alex (2007), From Pictland to Alba, 789–1070, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-1234-5, OCLC 123113911

[6] Zaluckyj, Sarah & Feryok, Marge. Mercia: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England (2001) ISBN 1-873827-62-8

[7] Barbara Yorke (1995), Wessex in the early Middle Ages, A & C Black, ISBN 071851856X; pp 79-83; table p. 81

[8] Kelly, S. E. (2004). "Kings of the South Saxons (act. 477–772)" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/52344 . Retrieved 3 February 2017.(Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)

[9] Keynes, Simon (2014). "Appendix I: Rulers of the English, c.450–1066". In Lapidge, Michael (ed.). The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-65632-7.

[10] Kirby, D. P. The Earliest English Kings. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-4152-4211-0.

[11] Lapidge, M.; et al., eds. (1999). "Kings of the East Angles". The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. London: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-6312-2492-1.

[12] Searle, W. G. 1899. Anglo-Saxon Bishops, Kings and Nobles.

[13] Yorke, B. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England.

[14] Carpenter, Clive. Kings, Rulers and Statesmen. Guinness Superlatives, Ltd.

[15] Ross, Martha. Rulers and Governments of the World, Vol. 1. Earliest Times to 1491.

[16] Ashley, Michael (1998). British Monarchs: the Complete Genealogy, Gazetteer, and Biographical Encyclopedia of the Kings & Queens of Britain. London: Robinson. ISBN 978-1-8548-7504-4.

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v t e Monarchs of Essex
Æscwine Sledd Sæberht Sexræd / Sæward Sigeberht the Little Sigeberht the Good Swithhelm Sighere / Sæbbi Sigeheard / Swæfred Offa Sælred / Swæfberht Swithred Sigeric I Sigered Egbert‡ Sigeric II
‡ Also monarch of Wessex, Kent, Sussex and Mercia.