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

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.

It may be that Æthelberht was king of east Kent and Eadbald became king of west Kent ; the east Kent king seems generally to have been the dominant ruler later in Kentish history.

Although Bede records that Æthelberht gave lands to support the new episcopate, a charter that claims to be a grant of lands from Æthelberht to Mellitus is a later forgery.

With the death of Æthelfrith, and of the powerful Æthelberht of Kent the same year, Raedwald and his client Edwin were well placed to dominate England, and indeed Raedwald did so until his death a decade later.

Æthelberht ( King of Kent and overlord of southern England according to Bede ) was in a position to exercise some authority in Essex shortly after 604, when his intervention helped in the conversion of King Saebert of Essex ( son of Sledd ), his nephew, to Christianity.

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

Æthelberht ( also Æthelbert, Aethelberht, Aethelbert, or Ethelbert ) ( c. 560 – 24 February 616 ) was King of Kent from about 580 or 590 until his death.

Shortly thereafter, Æthelberht was converted to Christianity, churches were established, and wider-scale conversion to Christianity began in the kingdom.

Kent was rich, with strong trade ties to the continent and, it may be that Æthelberht instituted royal control of trade.

Bede was interested primarily in the Christianization of England, but since Æthelberht was the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity, Bede provides more substantial information about him than about any earlier king.

According to Bede, Æthelberht was descended directly from Hengist.

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.

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.

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 ".

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.

Following the death of King Æthelberht of Kent in 616, Justus was forced to flee to Gaul, but was reinstated in his diocese the following year.

Augustine needed more clergy to join the Gregorian mission that was converting the kingdom of Kent, then ruled by Æthelberht, from paganism to Christianity.

This traditional view, that the Epistola represents a contradiction of the letter to Æthelberht, has been challenged by the historian and theologian George Demacopoulos, who argues that the letter to Æthelberht was mainly meant to encourage the King in spiritual matters, while the Epistola was sent to deal with purely practical matters, and thus the two do not contradict each other.

Æthelberht ’ s law for Kent, the earliest written code in any Germanic language, instituted a complex system of fines.

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

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

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.

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 ".

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

* Prosopography of Anglo Saxon England entry for Æthelberht

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.

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.

The Franks and the Anglo-Saxons were unique among the Germanic peoples in that they entered the empire as pagans and converted to Nicene ( Catholic ) Christianity directly, guided by their kings, Clovis and Æthelberht of Kent.

Laurence faced a crisis following the death of King Æthelberht of Kent, when the king's successor abandoned Christianity ; he eventually reconverted.

In 597 AD, Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine to convert King Æthelberht of Kent to Christianity.

Æthelberht made Kent the dominant force in England during his reign and became the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity from Anglo-Saxon paganism.

These early golden coins were probably the shillings ( scillingas in Old English ) that are mentioned in Æthelberht ’ s laws.

Dying without issue Æthelbald was followed by his brother Æthelberht who left two children who were young and skipped.

For example, there were four sets that originated in the seventh century ; the first three were issued by the Kings of Kent: Æthelberht I, Hlothhere, Eadric and Wihtred: the Law of Æthelberht, the Law of Hlothhere and Eadric and the Law of Wihtred.

It is probable that they were all sons of Oshere, although the paternity of Æthelheard and Æthelberht is not explicitly stated in surviving documents.