Raedwald (died 627)

Early 7th-century king of East Anglia. He was the only East Anglian king to be accepted as Bretwalda, following a long period of Northumbrian hegemony. He was baptised by missionaries from Kent, but his conversion may well have been more symbolic than deep-felt and he later kept Christian and pagan symbols in one temple. It has been suggested that the Sutton Hoo ship burial , found near Colchester, commemorated him.