c.664. Swithhelm of Essex dies
Sigehere and Sæbbi succeed to Essex, under overlordship of Wulfhere of Mercia
The date of Swithhelm's death and the accession of Sigehere and Sæbbi is uncertain, though as Bede mentions it in the context of the plague of 664 (HE, iii.30), it is tempting to date it to this year. Bede also notes that Sigehere and Sæbbi were subject to the Mercian king Wulfhere.
Mercian overlordship is clearly shown when bishop Wine buys the see of London from Wulfhere of Mercia (Bede, HE, iii.7), even though London is ostensibly the East Saxon capital. (This transaction is not dated, but it is probably shortly after 664: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says Wine held the bishopric of the West Saxons for three years from 660, though he was still bishop of the West Saxons when he consecrated St Chad in 664, see HE, iii.28, and ASC 664).