 He had at least one brother, Rægenhere, and another sibling, Sigeberht, may also have been his brother.Rædwald used the letters R and E when naming two of his own sons (as did his own father when he and his younger brother Eni were named), which suggests that Eorpwald was the younger sibling and would only have become Rædwald's heir after his elder brother Rægenhere was slain in battle in 616.It is unclear whether, as Bede understood, Sigebert and Eorpwald were brothers, or whether they shared the same mother but not the same father, as was stated by the 12th-century chronicler William of Malmesbury.