Sexred, or Sexræd (d. 626?), was a king of the

East Saxons la, Regnum Orientalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the East Saxons , common_name = Essex , era = Heptarchy , status = , status_text = , government_type = Monarch ...

. Sexred was the son of Sæberht (d. 616?) the first Christian king of the East Saxons, whom he succeeded, reigning jointly with his two brothers, Saeward and another, said on no good authority to have been named Sigebert (Bromton, ap. Decem SS. col. 743) but perhaps the unplaced Seaxbald, father of Swithhelm.Yorke, Barbara. "The Kingdom of the East Saxons." Anglo-Saxon England 14 (1985): 1-36. Sexred refused to accept

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, openly practised paganism and gave permission to his subjects to worship their idols. When he and his brothers saw

Mellitus Saint Mellitus (died 24 April 624) was the first bishop of London in the Saxon period, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Chris ...

(d. 624), bishop of London, giving the

eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

to the people in church, it was commonly believed in the

Venerable Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...

's time that they said to him, "Why do you not offer us the white bread that you used to give to our father Saba, for so they called him, and which you still give to the people?" Mellitus answered that if they would be washed in the font they should have it, but that otherwise it would do them no good. But they said that they would not enter the font, for they did not need washing but refreshment. The matter was often explained to them by the bishop, who persisted in refusing their request. At last they grew angry and banished him from their kingdom. Not long afterwards they went out to fight with the West Saxons, and were slain, their army being almost wholly destroyed (Bede, Hist. Eccl. ii. c. 5). This battle was fought against

Cynegils Cynegils () was King of Wessex from c. 611 to c. 642. Cynegils is traditionally considered to have been King of Wessex, but the familiar kingdoms of the so-called Heptarchy had not yet formed from the patchwork of smaller kingdoms in his life ...

and

Cwichelm of Wessex Cwichelm (died 636) was an Anglo-Saxon king of the Gewisse, a people in the upper Thames area who later created the kingdom of Wessex. He is usually counted among the Kings of Wessex. Cwichelm is first mentioned in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' ...

, the West Saxon kings who invaded their territory with a larger force than the East Saxons could muster in or about 626. They were succeeded by

Sigeberht the Little Sigeberht the Little was king of Essex from 623? to 653. A Sigeberht was the son of Sæward, who was slain in battle against forces from Wessex in 623(?), and father of later king Sighere, but Yorke thought it more likely this was his successor, ...

In popular culture

The first series of BBC Four drama ''

Detectorists ''Detectorists'' is a British comedy television series first broadcast on BBC Four in October 2014. It is written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, who also stars alongside Toby Jones. The series is set in the fictional small town of Danebury i ...

'' follows a group of characters searching for Sexred's lost burial place, in the hope of uncovering a Saxon hoard.

References

;Attribution: Year of birth unknown 626 deaths East Saxon monarchs Anglo-Saxon warriors Anglo-Saxons killed in battle 7th-century English monarchs Anglo-Saxon pagans Monarchs killed in action {{England-bio-stub