Eorcenberht of Kent
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Eorcenberht of Kent (d.14 July 664) was king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Kent from 640 until his death, succeeding his father Eadbald[1].
The Mildrith legend[1] suggests that he was the younger son of Eadbald, and that his older brother Eormenred was deliberately passed over, although another possibility is that they ruled jointly.
According to Bede (HE III.8), Eorcenberht was the first king in Britain to command that pagan "idols" (cult images) be destroyed and that Lent be observed. After the death of Honorius, Archbishop of Canterbury, Eorcenberht appointed the first Saxon archbishop, Deusdedit, in 655.
Eorcenberht married Seaxburh of Ely[2], daughter of king Anna of East Anglia. They had two sons, Ecgberht and Hlothhere, who each consecutively became king of Kent, and two daughters who both were eventually canonized: Saint Eorcengota became a nun at Faremoutiers Abbey on the continent, and Saint Ermenilda became abbess at Ely.
[edit] Notes
- ^ D. W. Rollason, The Mildrith Legend: A Study in Early Medieval Hagiography in England (series "Studies in the Early History of Britain", Leicester University) 1983.
[edit] References
- Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People
- D. P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings (London: Unwin Hyman, 1991), pp. 42-44
| Preceded by Eadbald |
King of Kent 640–664 |
Succeeded by Ecgberht |
