It was Æthelberht, and not Sæberht, who built and endowed St. Pauls in London, where St. Paul ’ s Cathedral now stands.

Bede describes Æthelberht as Sæberht ’ s overlord.

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.

None survive in original form from Æthelberht ’ s reign, but some later copies exist.

There also is a surviving lawcode of Æthelberht ’ s.

The first of these names that can be placed historically with reasonable confidence is Æthelberht ’ s father, whose name now usually is spelled Eormenric.

The only direct written reference to Eormenric is in Kentish genealogies, but Gregory of Tours does mention that Æthelberht ’ s father was the king of Kent, though Gregory gives no date.

One other member of Æthelberht ’ s family is known: his sister, Ricole, who is recorded by both Bede and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the mother of Sæberht, king of the East Saxons.

The dates of Æthelberht ’ s birth and accession to the throne of Kent are both matters of debate.

Augustine ’ s mission from Rome is known to have arrived in 597, and according to Bede, it was this mission that converted Æthelberht.

Putting together the different dates in the Chronicle for birth, death, and length of reign, it appears that Æthelberht ’ s reign was thought to have been either 560 – 616, or 565 – 618, but that the surviving sources have confused the two traditions.

It is possible that Æthelberht was converted to Christianity before Augustine ’ s arrival.

Æthelberht ’ s wife was a Christian and brought a Frankish bishop with her, to attend her at court, so Æthelberht would have had knowledge of Christianity before the mission reached Kent.

It also is possible that Bede had the date of Æthelberht ’ s death wrong ; if, in fact, Æthelberht died in 618, this would be consistent with his baptism in 597, which is in accord with the tradition that Augustine converted the king within a year of his arrival.

The traditions for Æthelberht ’ s reign, then, would imply that Æthelberht married Bertha before either 560 or 565.

The extreme length of Æthelberht ’ s reign also has been regarded with skepticism by historians ; it has been suggested that he died in the fifty-sixth year of his life, rather than the fifty-sixth year of his reign.

On the other hand, Gregory refers to Æthelberht at the time of his marriage to Bertha, simply as " a man of Kent ", and in the 589 passage concerning Ingoberg ’ s death, which was written in about 590 or 591, he refers to Æthelberht as " the son of the king of Kent ".

If this does not simply reflect Gregory ’ s ignorance of Kentish affairs, which seems unlikely given the close ties between Kent and the Franks, then some assert that Æthelberht ’ s reign cannot have begun before 589.

All of the contradictions above cannot be reconciled, but the most probable dates that may be drawn from the data, place Æthelberht ’ s birth at approximately 560, and perhaps, his marriage to Bertha at 580.

The first recorded act of a witenagemot was the law code issued by King Æthelberht of Kent ca.

The earliest Anglo-Saxon law code to survive, which may date from 602 or 603, is that of Æthelberht of Kent, whose reign ended in 616.

The first recorded act of a witenagemot was the law code issued by King Æthelberht of Kent ca.

The earliest Anglo-Saxon law code to survive, which may date from 602 or 603, is that of Æthelberht of Kent, whose reign ended in 616.

The Law of Æthelberht is the oldest surving English law code and the oldest text written by and for Englishmen.

It is significant that it was shortly after the arrival of the first evangelical mission in England-led by Augustine, and sent by Pope Gregory I-the first Anglo-Saxon law code appeared, issued by Æthelberht, King of Kent.

It was not, as with the continental Germanic tribes, that Æthelberht had the law written down in Latin ; rather, without precedent, he used his own native language, Old English, to express the ' dooms ', or laws and judgements, which had force in his kingdom.

Some have speculated that " according to the examples of the Romans " simply meant that Æthelberht had decided to cast the law in writing, whereas previously it had always been a matter of unwritten tradition and custom, handed down through generations through oral transmission, and supplemented by the edicts of kings.

Traces of wife-purchase were still seen in the law of Æthelberht of Kent, which stated that if a man carried off a freeman's wife, he must, at his own expense, procure another wife for the husband.

Æthelberht later was canonised for his role in establishing Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons, as were his wife and daughter.

Bede states that when Æthelberht died in 616 he had reigned for fifty-six years, placing his accession in 560.

These later dates for Bertha and Æthelberht also solve another possible problem: Æthelberht's daughter, Æthelburh, seems likely to have been Bertha's child, but the earlier dates would have Bertha aged sixty or so at Æthelburh's likely birthdate using the early dates.

This evidence is less clear for the earlier period, but there are early charters, known to be forged, which nevertheless imply that Æthelberht ruled as joint king with his son, Eadbald.

Another perspective on the marriage may be gained by considering that it is likely that Æthelberht was not yet king at the time he and Bertha were wed: it may be that Frankish support for him, acquired via the marriage, was instrumental in gaining the throne for him.

The historian N. J. Higham offers another explanation for their attendance, arguing that Æthelberht sent the pair to the council because of shifts in Frankish policy towards the Kentish kingdom, which threatened Kentish independence, and that the two clergymen were sent to negotiate a compromise with Chlothar.

The medieval chronicler Bede says that Augustine sent Laurence back to Pope Gregory I to report on the success of converting King Æthelberht of Kent and to carry a letter with questions for the pope.

Along with the letter to Augustine, the missionaries brought a letter for Æthelberht, urging the King to act like the Roman Emperor Constantine I and force the conversion of his followers to Christianity.

Both Æthelberht and Sæberht died around 616 or 618, causing a crisis for the mission.

He also became the overlord of East Anglia, and had King Æthelberht II of East Anglia beheaded in 794, perhaps for rebelling against him.

King Æthelberht of Kent was traditionally said to have moved his royal court there from Canterbury in about 597, for example by John Duncombe in 1784, and to have built a palace on the site of the Roman ruins ; but archaeological excavation has shown no evidence of this, and the story has been described as probably a " pious legend ".

* Prosopography of Anglo Saxon England entry for Æthelberht

In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the most important historical source for the Anglo-Saxon period, only Rædwald of East Anglia and his successors Eorpwald, Anna, Æthelberht and Edmund the Martyr are mentioned.