Sæbbi (also known as Saint Sebbi or Sebba; before 626 – 695) was son of Sexred and was the joint King of Essex from 664 to about 683 along with his cousin, Sighere. After Sighere died, Sæbbi became sole ruler of Essex until 694. Life Sighere and Sæbbi were cousins of their predecessor, Swithelm. In 665 Sighere apostatized and fell back into paganism, while Sebbi remained a faithful Christian. They soon developed a rivalry. Sighere found an ally in Wessex, and Sæbbi in Mercia. As a result of their rivalry, King Wulfhere of Mercia established himself as overlord of Essex in 665. He despatched Jaruman, the Bishop of Mercia, who was assigned to reconvert the people of Essex to Christianity. In 686, Cædwalla, a Wessex sub-king, established himself as overlord of Essex. He and Sæbbi invaded Kent, expelling King Eadric, and Sæbbi ruled over West Kent. It was presumably at the time that Sæbbi founded the original abbey at Westminster. Sæbbi is believed to have abdicated in 694 in order to enter a monastery, and was succeeded by his sons, Sigeheard and Swaefred, who ruled jointly over Essex. Another son, Swæfheard, would rule the Kingdom of Kent. Sæbbi died in 695 and was buried in Old St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London where he was revered as a saint. He is commemorated by Orthodox Church on Aug. 29 and in the Roman Martyrology also in the same day. Bede recounts the burial thus (4.11): AT that time, as the same little book informs us, Sebbi, a devout man, of whom mention has been made above, governed the kingdom of the East Saxons. He was much addicted to religious actions, almsgiving, and frequent prayer; preferring a private and monastic life to all the wealth and honours of his kingdom, which sort of life he would also long before have undertaken, had not his wife positively refused to be divorced from him; for which reason many were of opinion, and often said so, that a person of such a disposition ought rather to have been a bishop than a king. When he had been thirty years a king, and a soldier of the heavenly kingdom, he fell into a violent sickness, of which he died, and admonished his wife, that they should then at least jointly devote themselves to the service of God, since they could no longer enjoy, or