Editing Kingdom of Kent (section)

===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}}