Editing Æthelberht of Kent (section)

==Historical context==
[[File:Kingdoms in England and Wales about 600 AD.svg|thumb|300px|right|The state of [[Anglo-Saxon England]] at the time Æthelberht came to the throne of Kent]]

In the fifth century, raids on Britain by continental peoples had developed into full-scale migrations. The newcomers are known to have included [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], [[Saxons]], [[Jutes]] and [[Frisii|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 [[Battle of Badon|Mount Badon]] (Mons Badonicus) halted the Anglo-Saxon advance for fifty years.<ref name=Blair_IASE_13>Hunter Blair, ''An Introduction'', pp. 13–16.</ref><ref name=Campbell_TAS_23>Campbell et al., ''The Anglo-Saxons'', p. 23.</ref> From 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.<ref name=Blair_RBaEE_204>Peter Hunter Blair (''Roman Britain'', p. 204) gives the twenty-five years from 550 to 575 as the dates of the final conquest.</ref>

Anglo-Saxons probably conquered Kent before Mons Badonicus. There is both documentary and archaeological evidence that Kent was primarily colonised by Jutes, from the southern part of the [[Jutland]] peninsula.<ref name=Yorke_26>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 26.</ref> According to legend, the brothers [[Hengist and Horsa]] landed in 449 as mercenaries for a British king, [[Vortigern]]. After a rebellion over pay and Horsa's death in battle, Hengist established the [[Kingdom of Kent]].<ref name=Swanton_12>Swanton, ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', pp. 12–13.</ref> Some historians now think the underlying story of a rebelling mercenary force may be accurate; most now date the founding of the kingdom of Kent to the middle of the fifth-century, which is consistent with the legend.{{#tag:ref|There is disagreement about the extent to which the legend can be treated as fact. For example, [[Barbara Yorke]] says "Recent detailed studies [. . .] have confirmed that these accounts are largely mythic and that any reliable oral tradition which they may have embodied has been lost in the conventions of the origin-legend format",<ref>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 26</ref> but [[Richard A. Fletcher|Richard Fletcher]] says of Hengist that "there is no good reason for doubting his existence",<ref>Fletcher, ''Who's Who'', pp. 15–17</ref> and [[James Campbell (historian)|James Campbell]] adds that "although the origins of such annals are deeply mysterious, and suspect, they cannot be simply discarded".<ref name=Campbell_TAS_38>Campbell et al., ''The Anglo-Saxons'', p. 38.</ref>|group="note"}} 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.<ref name=Campbell_TAS_38 />

Overlordship was a central feature of Anglo-Saxon politics which began before Æthelberht's time; kings were described as overlords as late as the ninth century. 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; [[Ælle of Sussex]] may have been such a leader.<ref>Fletcher, ''Who's Who'', pp. 15–17.</ref> Once the new states began to form, conflicts among them began. Tribute from dependents could lead to wealth.<ref name=Campbell_TAS_44>Campbell et al., ''The Anglo-Saxons'', p. 44.</ref> A weaker state also might ask or pay for the protection of a stronger neighbour against a warlike third state.<ref name=Blair_IASE_201>Hunter Blair, ''An Introduction'', pp. 201–203</ref>

Sources for this period in Kentish history include the ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]'', written in 731 by [[Bede]], a [[Northumbria]]n [[monk]]. Bede was interested primarily in England's [[Christianization]]. 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, abbot of the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul (subsequently renamed [[St Augustine's Abbey|St. Augustine's]]) in [[Canterbury]]. The ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', a collection of annals assembled {{Circa|890}} in the kingdom of [[Wessex]], mentions several events in Kent during Æthelberht's reign.<ref name=Yorke_25>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 25.</ref> Further mention of events in Kent occurs in the late sixth century history of the [[Franks]] by [[Gregory of Tours]]. This is the earliest surviving source to mention any Anglo-Saxon kingdom.<ref name=Kirby_30>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 30.</ref> Some of Pope [[Gregory the Great]]'s letters concern the mission of [[Augustine of Canterbury|St. Augustine]] to Kent in 597; these letters also mention the state of Kent and its relationships with neighbours. Other sources include regnal lists of the kings of Kent and early charters (land grants by kings to their followers or to the church). Although no originals survive from Æthelberht's reign, later copies exist. A law code from Æthelberht's reign also survives.<ref name=Yorke_25 />