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People: Ecgric of East Anglia

Ecgric of East Anglia

king of East Anglia
Years: 602 - 636

Ecgric (killed circa 636) is a king of East Anglia, the independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom that today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk.

He is a member of the ruling Wuffingas dynasty, but his relationship with other known members of the dynasty is not known with any certainty.

Anna of East Anglia may have been his brother, or his cousin.

It has also been suggested that he was identical with Æthelric, who married Hereswith and was the father of Ealdwulf of East Anglia.

The primary source for the little that is known about Ecgric's life is Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum.

In the years that follow the reign of Rædwald and the murder of Rædwald's son (and successor) Eorpwald in around 627, East Anglia loses its dominance over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

Three years after Eorpwald's murder at the hands of a pagan, Ecgric's kinsman Sigeberht returns from exile and they rule the East Anglians together, with Ecgric perhaps ruling the northern part of the kingdom.

Sigeberht succeeds in reestablishing Christianity throughout East Anglia, but Ecgric may have remained a pagan, as Bede praises only Sigeberht for his accomplishments, and his lack of praise for his co-ruler is significant.

Ecgric rules alone after Sigeberht retires to his monastery at Beodricesworth in around 634: it has also been suggested that he was a sub-king who only became king after Sigeberht's abdication.

Both Ecgric and Sigeberht are killed in battle in around 636, at an unknown location, when the East Anglians are forced to defend themselves from a Mercian military assault led by their king, Penda.

Ecgric, whose grave may have been the ship burial under Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo, is succeeded by Anna.

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