Æthelberht of Kent - Historical Context

Historical Context

In the fifth century, raids on Britain by continental peoples had developed into full-scale migrations. The newcomers are known to have included Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians, and there is evidence of other groups as well. These groups captured territory in the east and south of England, but at about the end of the fifth century, a British victory at the battle of Mons Badonicus halted the Anglo-Saxon advance for fifty years. Beginning about 550, however, the British began to lose ground once more, and within twenty-five years it appears that control of almost all of southern England was in the hands of the invaders.

Kent appears to have been conquered by the Anglo-Saxons prior to Mons Badonicus. There is both documentary and archaeological evidence that Kent was colonized primarily by Jutes, from the southern part of the Jutland peninsula. According to a well-known legend, Hengist and Horsa, two brothers, landed in 449 as mercenaries for a British king, Vortigern. After a rebellion over pay and the death of Horsa in battle, Hengist established the kingdom of Kent. This account now is thought by some historians to be mostly legendary, although essentially the underlying story of a rebelling mercenary force may be accurate, and the date for the founding of the kingdom of Kent is thought to be approximately the middle of the fifth-century, in agreement with the legend. This early date, only a few decades after the departure of the Romans, also suggests that more of Roman civilization may have survived into Anglo-Saxon rule in Kent, than in other areas.

The Anglo-Saxon invasion may have involved military coordination of different groups within the invaders, with a leader who had authority over many different groups and Ælle of Sussex may have been such a leader. Once the new states began to form, conflicts among them began and dominance of the other nations could lead to wealth in the form of tribute. A weaker state also might ask for the protection of a stronger neighbour against a warlike third state. Overlordship, for either reason, was a central feature of Anglo-Saxon politics; it is known to have begun before Æthelberht's time, although the details are unknown, and kings were being described as overlords in this sense, as late as the ninth century.

Sources for this period in Kentish history include The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written in 731 by Bede, a Northumbrian monk. Bede was interested primarily in the Christianization of England, but since Æthelberht was the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity, Bede provides more substantial information about him than about any earlier king. One of Bede’s correspondents was Albinus, who was abbot of the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul (subsequently renamed St. Augustine's) in Canterbury. Also of importance is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of annals assembled in about 890 in the kingdom of Wessex, which mentions several events in Kent during Æthelberht’s reign. In addition to these, there is a history of the Franks written in the late sixth century by Gregory of Tours which mentions events in Kent. This is the earliest surviving source to mention any Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Some of Pope Gregory the Great’s letters survive that relate to the mission of St. Augustine to Kent in 597; these letters provide information about the mission specifically, but also can be used to draw conclusions about the state of Kent and its relationships with its neighbours. Other sources include regnal lists of the kings of Kent and early charters. Charters were documents drawn up to record grants of land by kings to their followers or to the church, and they provide some of the earliest documentary sources in England. None survive in original form from Æthelberht’s reign, but some later copies exist. There also is a surviving lawcode of Æthelberht’s.