Editing Kingdom of Kent (section)

==Early Jutish Kent==
=== Jutish migration: 410–499 ===
According to archaeologist Martin Welch, the fifth century witnessed "a radical transformation of what became Kent, politically, socially and in terms of physical landscape".{{sfn|Welch|2007|p=189}} There has been [[Historiography of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|much debate]] as to the scale of Jutish migration; some see it as a mass migration in which large numbers of Germanic peoples left northern Europe to settle in Britain, pushing the native British population to western Britain or Brittany; [[Anglo-Saxon diffusionist|others]] have argued that only a small warrior elite came over, dominating (or even enslaving) the Romano-British population, who then began using the [[Old English]] language and [[material culture]] of the newcomers.{{sfnm|1a1=Arnold|1y=1997|1p=22|2a1=Welch|2y=2007|2p=194-201}} Currently, many scholars accept that there was significant regional variation, with the former view being more applicable in the south and east and the latter in the north and west.<ref>Toby F. Martin, ''The Cruciform Brooch and Anglo-Saxon England'' (2015), pp. 173-174</ref>

In Kent, archaeological and historical evidence suggests that a large-scale immigration of Germanic peoples did indeed take place.<ref>Stuart Brookes and Susan Harrington, ''The Kingdom and People of Kent, AD 400-600'' (2010), p. 24</ref> However, some of the Romano-British population likely remained, as the Roman name for the area, ''Cantiaca'', influenced the name of the new Jutish kingdom, the ''Cantware'' ("dwellers of Kent").{{sfnm|1a1=Welch|1y=2007|1pp=189–190|2a1=Brookes|2a2=Harrington|2y=2010|2p=35}}

[[File:Hengest and Horsa Verstegan.jpg|thumb|left|Hengest and Horsa, from ''A Restitution of Decayed Intelligence'' by [[Richard Verstegan]] (1605)]]

The Germanic migration to Britain is noted in textual sources from the late Anglo-Saxon period, most notably [[Bede]]'s ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]'' and the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''; both rely on [[oral history|oral histories]] from the fifth century, and were attempts to establish [[origin myth]]s that would justify the politics of the time.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=32}} According to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', a "king of the Britons" known as [[Vortigern]] invited two Germanic leaders, [[Hengist and Horsa]] ("stallion" and "horse"), to Britain to help defend against Pictish raiders. After arriving at ''Ypwinesfleot'' (Ebba's Creek, modern [[Ebbsfleet, Thanet|Ebbsfleet]] near Ramsgate) in Kent in 449, Hengist and Horsa led the defeat of the Picts before turning on the British and inviting more Germanic tribes to colonise Britain. Among these were the Old Saxons, the Angles, and the Jutes; the latter settled in Kent and the Isle of Wight, establishing the peoples known as the Cantware and [[Wihtwara|Wihtware]].{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|pp=32–33}}

According to the ''Chronicle'', in 455 Hengist and Horsa fought Vortigern at ''Ægelesthrep'' (probably [[Aylesford]] in Kent), in which battle Horsa was killed. Hengist succeeded him as king, followed in turn by his son [[Oisc of Kent|Æsc]].{{sfnm|1a1=Welch|1y=2007|1p=190|2a1=Brookes|2a2=Harrington|2y=2010|2p=33}} In 456 Hengest and Æsc battled the Britons at ''Crecganford'' (probably [[Crayford]]). The Britons then fled Kent for their London stronghold.{{sfnm|1a1=Welch|1y=2007|1p=190|2a1=Brookes|2a2=Harrington|2y=2010|2p=33}} A similar account is provided in Bede's ''Ecclesiastical History'': that the people of Kent and Isle of Wight were descended from Jutish settlers, and that Horsa was killed in battle against the Britons, adding that his body was buried in east Kent.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=34}} The accuracy of these accounts is questioned; S. E. Kelly states that "the legendary details are easy to dismiss".{{sfn|Kelly|1999|p=270}} Scholars often view Hengist and Horsa as mythological figures borrowed from folk tradition, to legitimise rulers in the Mid-to-Late Anglo-Saxon period.{{NoteTag|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>}}{{sfn|Welch|2007|p=190}}

The incoming Germanic peoples settled on the prime agricultural land of the Romano-Britons; particularly the foothills to the north of the downs and [[Vale of Holmesdale|Holmesdale]] south of the downs escarpment.{{sfnm|1a1=Welch|1y=2007|1p=194|2a1=Brookes|2a2=Harrington|2y=2010|2pp=37–38}} It is likely that they complemented agriculture with animal husbandry, but with nearby coasts and rivers it is also likely that they engaged in fishing and trading.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=38}} The Anglo-Saxons made use of pre-existing prehistoric and Roman road systems, with 85% of cemeteries being located within 1.2&nbsp;km of a Roman road, a navigable river or the coast, and the remaining 15% being close to ancient trackways.{{sfn|Welch|2007|p=197}} Little archaeological evidence of these early settlements exists, but one prominent example is a [[grubenhaus]] at Lower Warbank, [[Keston]] that was built atop the site of a former Roman villa, adjacent to a Romano-British trackway through the [[North Downs]].{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=38}} Fifth-century ceramics have also been found at a number of villa sites around Kent, suggesting reoccupation of these locations during this period.{{sfn|Welch|2007|p=195}}

The density of Anglo-Saxon cemeteries and artefacts in Kent in the early 5th century.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Jones|Mattingly|1990|p=317}}, ''An Atlas of Roman Britain''</ref> is different from the more sporadic location of fifth century Anglo-Saxon cemeteries in the rest of Britain and suggest either an exceptionally heavy Anglo-Saxon settlement, or continued settlement beginning at an early date, or both. By the late 5th century there were additional Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, some of them adjacent to earlier ones, but with a large expansion in other areas, and now including the southern coast of [[Kingdom of Sussex|Sussex]].<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Jones|Mattingly|1990|p=318}}, ''An Atlas of Roman Britain''</ref> In East Kent, fifth century cemeteries mostly comprise solely of inhumation burials, with a distinct Kentish character. Conversely, in West Kent cemeteries such [[Orpington]] mix cremations with inhumations, which is more typical of Saxon cemeteries north of the [[River Thames]].{{sfnm|1a1=Welch|1y=2007|1p=209|2a1=Brookes|2a2=Harrington|2y=2010|2p=40}}
This may suggest that West Kent at this point was independent of East Kent, and part of the [[Kingdom of Essex|Kingdom of the East Saxons]] north of the [[Thames Estuary]].{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=65}}

===Development and westward expansion: 500–590===
In the sixth century the Kingdom of Kent had some relationship with the [[Merovingian]]-governed [[Kingdom of Francia]], which was then extending its influence in northwestern Europe.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=46}} Textual sources suggest that Kent may have been under Merovingian control for part of this century.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|pp=46–47}} Archeological evidence of Frankish material culture from this period has been found in Kent, but not in other areas of lowland Britain, suggesting a trade monopoly with the Frankish kingdom.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=47}}

Sixth century Kentish artefacts have been found in continental Europe, in particular in the areas of modern [[Charente]], western [[Normandy]], the [[Rhineland]], [[Frisia]], [[Thuringia]], and southern Scandinavia. They are relatively absent between the [[Raz de Sein|Sein]] and the [[Somme (river)|Somme]] across the [[English Channel]] from the Saxons in Sussex, suggesting that trade was established between particular tribal or ethnic groups rather than by geography.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=49}}
There is also archaeological evidence of Kentish trade links in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and copies or imitations appearing in cemeteries further afield, in areas such as [[Wiltshire]] and [[Cambridgeshire]].{{Sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=65}}

Archaeological evidence suggests that at some point in the sixth century, East Kent annexed West Kent.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=65}}
To the south lay the [[Weald]], a dense forest of no value to the Kentish elite, leaving the fertile area west of the kingdom attractive for conquest, particularly the [[River Darenth|Darenth Valley]] and the dip slopes of the North Downs to the west of the Medway.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=65}} During the sixth century, while the archaeological record in Kent includes items from [[Jutland]], the dominant influence became [[Francia|Frankish]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yorke |first=Barbara |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/26404222 |title=Kings and kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England |date=1990 |publisher=Seaby |isbn=1-85264-027-8 |location=London |pages=26 |oclc=26404222}}</ref>

===Established kingdom and Christianisation: 597–650===
[[File:LeningradBedeHiRes.jpg|thumb|150px|right|A putative early illustration of Augustine]]
Firmly in the control of an elite class, Kent is the first Anglo-Saxon kingdom to appear in the historical record in 597.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=44}} The monk [[Bede]] refers to Kent as ruled by [[Æthelberht of Kent|Æthelberht]] at this period, making him the earliest reliably attested Anglo-Saxon monarch.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=69}} Bede states that Æthelberht was a ''[[bretwalda]]'' who controlled everything south of the [[River Humber]], including other kingdoms.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=70}}
The ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' refers to wars in sixth-century Britain, but most were in the west and did not affect Kent; the one exception was a battle between the Kentish and West Saxons in 568, during which Æthelberht's forces were pushed back into Kent.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|pp=70–71}} Æthelberht's reign also produced the [[Law of Æthelberht]], the oldest surviving text in [[Old English]].{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|pp=72–73}}

According to [[Bede]], the [[Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England]] began in Kent under Æthelberht's reign when the Benedictine monk [[Augustine of Canterbury|Augustine]] arrived on the Ebbsfleet peninsula in 597, bringing the [[Gregorian mission]] with him.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=69}} Æthelberht's Frankish wife, [[Bertha of Kent|Bertha]], was already a Christian, with Æthelberht himself converting a few years later.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=69}} [[Æthelberht of Kent|Æthelberht]]'s attempts to convert [[Rædwald of East Anglia|Rædwald]] demonstrate the links between the Kingdom of Kent and [[Kingdom of East Anglia]], with shared [[North Sea]] interests.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yorke |first=Barbara |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/26404222 |title=Kings and kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England |date=1990 |publisher=Seaby |isbn=1-85264-027-8 |location=London |pages=66 |oclc=26404222}}</ref>

During this period, Anglo-Saxon kings moved around their kingdoms continually, subsisting on goods from the local populations and reciprocating with gifts.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|pp=80–81}}
Various seventh and eighth century documents attest to the fact that Kent was governed by two kings, possibly a dominant one in the east and a subordinate in the west, perhaps reflecting the earlier divide.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=71}} Trade with [[Francia]] was extensive in the seventh and eighth centuries and appears to have been under control of the [[List of monarchs of Kent|kings of Kent]], through the ports of [[Dover]], [[Sarre, Kent|Sarre]] and [[Fordwich]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yorke |first=Barbara |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/26404222 |title=Kings and kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England |date=1990 |publisher=Seaby |isbn=1-85264-027-8 |location=London |pages=40–1 |oclc=26404222}}</ref>

This period witnessed the end of furnished burial, marked archaeologically by less regional distinctiveness of grave goods and more artefacts decorated in the [[Animal style|Salin Style II]] motifs.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|p=75}} It also saw the emergence of elite burials with far greater wealth than others; notable Kentish examples have been found at [[Sarre Anglo-Saxon cemetery]] and the Kingston Barrow cemetery, while the elite [[Taplow burial]] in modern [[Buckinghamshire]] also contained Kentish characteristics, suggesting a potential Kentish influence in that region.{{sfn|Brookes|Harrington|2010|pp=76–78}}