Died c. 699. Sexburga was the daughter of King Anna of the East Angles;
sister of SS. Etheldreda, Ethelburga, Erconwald, and Withburga; and
half-sister of Saint Sethrida. Sexburga married King Erconbert of Kent
in 640 and bore him two daughters, SS. Ermenilda and Ercongotha. Upon
Erconbert's death in 664, Sexburga finished Minster Monastery, which she
had founded on Sheppey Island, and joined the nuns there. She appointed
her daughter Saint Ermenilda abbess and then went to Ely Abbey, where
she succeeded her sister Etheldreda as abbess and where Sexburga died
(
Attwater2,
Benedictines,
Delaney).
In art, Saint Sexburga is a crowned abbess with a palm branch
(
Roeder).