Saint Sigeberht, also called Sigebert or Sigebryht, was king of the East Angles, the Anglo-Saxon realm that comprised what are now Norfolk and Suffolk. The principal witness to his life is Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People. He was either a younger son of King Rædwald or, according to later tradition, Rædwald's stepson by a pagan princess of Essex; his name is rare among the Wuffingas and closer to East Saxon fashion. Nothing is recorded of his childhood before exile.
While Rædwald still lived, Sigeberht was driven into Gaul "fleeing the enmity of Rædwald," so that the succession of Rædwald's own line might be secured. In Francia he was baptized, became a devout Christian, and was formed in letters and the religious schools he saw there. After the assassination of his kinsman Eorpwald about 627 and a period of disorder, Sigeberht returned, likely by force of arms—his former prowess as a commander was long remembered—and took the kingship, ruling jointly with his kinsman Ecgric, who may have remained a pagan.
His reign, beginning about 629–630, greatly advanced the Christianization of East Anglia and strengthened ties with the Christian courts of Kent and Northumbria. Honorius of Canterbury sent Felix of Burgundy as missionary bishop; Sigeberht established Felix's see at Dommoc and, remembering the schools of Gaul, founded a school so that boys might learn to read and write Latin, with teachers obtained through Felix. About 633 he granted the Irish monk Saint Fursey and his brethren a monastery in the old Roman fort of Cnobheresburg (often identified with Burgh Castle). Felix and Fursey made many conversions and raised many churches.
In time Sigeberht abdicated in favor of Ecgric and withdrew to a monastery he had built for himself, later identified as Beodricesworth (Bury St Edmunds), choosing the heavenly kingdom over the earthly. When King Penda of Mercia invaded with a strong army, the East Angles, outnumbered, begged Sigeberht to leave the cloister and lead them, trusting that the memory of his former victories would steady the host. He refused, saying he had renounced the world and lived only for heaven. They dragged him to the field. Unwilling to bear arms, he went into battle carrying only a staff. The Mercians prevailed; Sigeberht, Ecgric, and many of their people were slain, and the army was destroyed. Thus he died a Christian martyr, about 636. The Church he had planted endured under successive bishops for two centuries. His feast has been kept on various dates, among them 16 January, 27 September, and 29 October.
May Saint Sigeberht obtain for us the grace to prefer the kingdom of God to every earthly crown, and to practice today the virtue of detachment from worldly power.
