Kingdom of Essex

The Kingdom of Essex, or the Kingdom of the East Saxons, was one of the small Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of early medieval England. It emerged in the sixth century in the territory that later became Essex, Middlesex and much of Hertfordshire, with the River Stour to the north and the Thames to the south. The kingdom's history is poorly documented: it produced few charters and no version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and for most of its existence its kings were subordinate to stronger neighbours such as Kent, East Anglia or Mercia. Its territory contained the Roman provincial capitals of Colchester and London, and the see of London was re-established in 604 as the East Saxon bishopric. In 825 the last king, Sigered, surrendered the kingdom to Ecgberht of Wessex. The East Saxon lands were then absorbed into the expanding kingdom of Wessex, and later into the unified English state. The name Essex survived as a county, although its medieval and modern boundaries covered only the area east of the River Lea, the western districts having been lost to Mercia in the eighth century.