Westminster, belongs to monkish legendary lore, and
cannot be discussed as serious history. When his three sons turned back
from Christianity they were attacked and slain by the men of Wessex, who
seem to have acquired an ascendancy over the East Saxons which they
retained till the Danish wars and the settlement of Alfred.

When we next hear of a bishop, he is a missionary from the West Saxons.
The brother of the great Chad, the bishop of the Mercians, Cedd, is
invited to preach to the heathen East Saxons by Oswy, King of
Northumbria. We may take Oswy as godfather of the East Saxon king,
Sigebert; but there are many names with little certainty in the few
contemporary records. In the confusion Sigebert is murdered, and of his
successor we know nothing. He may have reigned at Kingsbury or at
Tilbury, where--not in London--Cedd preached: at Colchester or at St.
Albans. Then there comes a story of "simony," in which the influence of
Worcester is again apparent. Then, at last, we have some documentary
evidence. The kings, or kinglets, of Essex were usually two in number.
At this time they were Sebbi and his colleague, Sighere, and they both
witness a gift made by their cousin Hothilred to Barking Abbey. The
document is printed by Kemble in _Codex Diplomaticus_ (vol. i.), and is
dated by him in 692 or 693. After this date again the East Saxons--there
is not a word about London--become pagans. Sighere and his people of the
"East Saxon province" are mentioned by Beda. The subjects of Sebbi
remain steadfast, and if we care to guess they will probably be found to
have belonged to the "Middlesaxon province." It is mentioned in a
document relating to Twickenham, which is described as in that part of
the province, and is signed by Swaebred, King of the East Saxons, under
the sanction of Coenred, King of Mercia.

The same year that Hothilred gave his land to Barking, the great
legendary benefactor of that nunnery died. This was Erkenwald, Abbot of
Chertsey, who had become Bishop of London in 675. Two years before, in
673, there is a distinct mention of a church in London. The Archbishop
of Canterbury consecrated a bishop of Dunwich "in the city of London."
The next mention is by Beda, who tells us of the appointment of
Erkenwald, and immediately after of the death of King Sebbi and his
burial "in the church of the blessed apostle of the Gentiles."

It thus appears likely that both Erkenwald and Sebbi lived in London. It
does not fo