he was exiled from East Anglia prior to becoming king, as few records have survived from this period of English history. The most reliable source for Sigeberht's background and career is Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People (produced in 731), in which Bede stated that Sigeberht was the brother of Eorpwald and the son of Rædwald, who ruled the kingdom of East Anglia from about 599 to 624, but William of Malmesbury described him as Rædwald's stepson. The stepson theory is strengthened by the fact that the name Sigeberht is without comparison in the East Anglian Wuffingas dynasty, but closely resembles the naming fashions of the East Saxon royal house. If this identification is correct (and Charles Cawley warns that it should be treated with scepticism), Rædwald's wife had previously been married to an East Saxon prince or ruler. Rædwald's own principal heir was Rægenhere (a youth of warrior age in 616, when he was slain in battle) and his second heir was Eorpwald, slain by the heathen Ricberht in about 627. Rædwald was baptised before 616 and a Christian altar existed in his temple, but his son Eorpwald was not himself a convert when he succeeded Rædwald in about 624. Since it is known that Rædwald's wife (who was Sigeberht's mother) did not become a Christian, Sigeberht must have received limited encouragement to convert to Christianity before being sent to Gaul and remaining there as an exile for many years during the lifetime of Eorpwald, "while fleeing from the enmity of Rædwald", as Bede reports. His exile supports the stepson theory, if Rædwald was protecting Eorpwald's succession against a possible claim by a son who was not of the Wuffingas line. Whilst living in Gaul as an exile, Sigeberht was converted and baptized and became a devout Christian and a man of learning. He was strongly impressed by the religious institutions and schools for the study of reading and writing which he found during his long exile. King of the East Angles Accession After an interregnum prompted by Eorpwald's assassination, Sigeberht returned from Gaul to become ruler of the East Angles. It is likely that he gained the kingdom by military means, because his prowess as a commander was later remembered. During his reign, part of the kingdom was governed by Ecgric his 'kinsman', a relationship described by the Latin term cognatus. This may mean that Ecgric was