The End of Kent
The history of Kent as a kingdom ends in the year 825. In one sense it was the result of Mercia's destruction of its native dynasty, but in another it saw the return of a legitimate Kentish dynasty to...
5 Juli 20238min
Kent Under Mercia
Following the death of Wihtred Kent entered a period of instability which left it open to the expanding ambitions of Mercia. What followed was almost 50 years of on and off Mercian overlordship which ...
21 Juni 202314min
Wihtred
King Wihtred, the king who restored Kentish independence, had a long but largely mysterious reign. However from what survives we can tell that his rule marked a final restoration of Kent as a free pow...
7 Juni 202317min
War, Occupation, and Liberation
The late 680s in Kent are another of those periods that have become quite familiar to us in our study so far: a period of upheaval following on the heels of war. In this case, the war was fought betwe...
24 Maj 202313min
Hlothhere and Eadric
After the death of Ecgberth in 673, the throne of Kent passed to his younger brother Hlothhere. There is some debate as to whether Hlothhere succeeded Ecgberht immediately or after an interregnum. Whi...
10 Maj 202314min
The Kentish Royal Legend
With the death of Eadbald, we find ourselves square in the middle of a complicate textual history regarding the foundation legend of the monastery of Minster-in-Thanet. The various narratives which ma...
26 Apr 202318min
Reaction and Retrenchment
Despite Æthelberht’s official adoption of the new Christian creed, he seems to have been largely unsuccessful in promoting it among his courtiers. His own son, Eadbald, refused to adopt the faith. Upo...
12 Apr 202316min
King Æthelberht of Kent
Any list of the most consequential Anglo-Saxons would need to include King Æthelberht of Kent. As the king who welcomed the Augustinian Mission in 597 and gave them his protection Æthelberht was perso...
29 Mars 202321min
