What is Sigeberht of Wessex?
{{Infobox royalty | type = monarch | name =Sigeberht | succession = [[List of monarchs of Wessex|King of Wessex]] | reign =756–757 | predecessor =[[Cuthred of Wessex|Cuthred]] | successor =[[Cynewulf of Wessex|Cynewulf]] | house = House of Wessex | death_date = {{circa|757}} <br/> The Weald, Kent (?) |}} '''Sigeberht''' (died {{circa|757}}) was a [[Wessex|West Saxon]] [[nobleman]] and [[:en:wikt:atheling|atheling]]. He was [[List of monarchs of Wessex|King of Wessex]] from 756 to 757. == King of Wessex == Sigeberht was a West Saxon atheling (prince) who in 756 succeeded [[Cuthred of Wessex|Cuthred]] as King of [[Wessex]].<ref>Frank Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'' (Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 204</ref> in 756. After ruling a year he was accused of unlawful acts and removed from power by the [[:en:wikt:witan|witan]].<ref>''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', trans. & ed. Michael James Swanton (New York: Routledge, 1998), p. 46</ref> This council was led by [[Cynewulf of Wessex|Cynewulf]].<ref name=Ashley311>Mike Ashley, ''The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens'' (New york: Carroll & Graf, 1999), p. 311</ref> This same council then elected Cynewulf to replace Sigeberht as king.<ref name=Ashley311/> Sigeberht was allowed to keep [[Hampshire]] and was supported there by the [[:en:wikt:ealdorman|ealdorman]] Cumbra. But Sigeberht then killed Cumbra and as a result was driven out of Hampshire.<ref name=Ashley311/> Sigeberht met his end while wandering in the great [[:wikt:forest|forest]] of the [[:en:wikt:weald|Weald]],{{efn|The great Weald ([[Old English]]: meaning forest) was an area of wild forested country that stretched over [[Kent]], [[Surrey]] and [[Sussex]].<ref>''The South Saxons'', ed. Peter Brandon (London: Phillimore, 1978), p. 138</ref>}} killed by a herdsman. The herdsman killed Sigeberht in revenge for killing Cumbra.<ref>Francis Joseph Battaglia, 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 755: The Missing Evidence for a Traditional Reading', ''PMLA'', Vol. 81, No. 3 (Jun., 1966)