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Æthelberht (also Æthelbert, Aethelberht, Aethelbert, or Ethelbert) ( 560 – 24 February 616 AD) was King of Kent from about 558 or 560 (the earlier date according to Sprott, the latter according to William of Malmesbury Book 1.9 ) until his death. The eighth-century monk Bede, in his ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'', lists Æthelberht as the third king to hold ''imperium'' over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. In the late ninth century ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' Æthelberht is referred to as a bretwalda, or "Britain-ruler". He was the first English king to convert to Christianity. Æthelberht was the son of Eormenric, succeeding him as king, according to the ''Chronicle''. He married Bertha, the Christian daughter of Charibert, king of the Franks, thus building an alliance with the most powerful state in contemporary Western Europe; the marriage probably took place before Æthelberht came to the throne. The influence of Bertha may have led to the decision by Pope Gregory I to send Augustine as a missionary from Rome. Augustine landed on the Isle of Thanet in east Kent in 597. Shortly thereafter, Æthelberht converted to Christianity, churches were established, and wider-scale conversion to Christianity began in the kingdom. Æthelberht provided the new mission with land in Canterbury not only for what came to be known as Canterbury Cathedral but also for the eventual St Augustine's Abbey. Æthelberht’s law for Kent, the earliest written code in any Germanic language, instituted a complex system of fines. These can be found in the Textus Roffensis (c. 1120). Kent was rich, with strong trade ties to the continent, and Æthelberht may have instituted royal control over trade. For the first time following the Anglo-Saxon invasion, coins began circulating in Kent during his reign. Æthelberht later was canonised for his role in establishing Chalcedonian Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons, as were his wife and daughter. His feast day in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church was originally 24 February, but was changed to 25 February. ==Historical context== In the fifth century, raids on Britain by continental peoples had developed into full-scale migrations. The newcomers are known to have included Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians, and there is evidence of other groups as well. These groups captured territory in the east and south of England, but at about the end of the fifth century, a British victory at the battle of Mount Badon (Mons Badonicus) halted the Anglo-Saxon advance for fifty years.〔Hunter Blair, ''An Introduction'', pp. 13–16.〕〔Campbell et al., ''The Anglo-Saxons'', p. 23.〕 Beginning about 550, however, the British began to lose ground once more, and within twenty-five years it appears that control of almost all of southern England was in the hands of the invaders.〔Peter Hunter Blair (''Roman Britain'', p. 204) gives the twenty-five years from 550 to 575 as the dates of the final conquest.〕 Anglo-Saxons probably conquered Kent before Mons Badonicus. Both documentary and archaeological evidence exists about colonization by Jutes, from the southern part of the Jutland peninsula.〔Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 26.〕 According to legend, the brothers Hengist and Horsa, landed in 449 as mercenaries for a British king, Vortigern. After a rebellion over pay and Horsa's death in battle, Hengist established the kingdom of Kent.〔Swanton, ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', pp. 12–13.〕 Some historians now think the underlying story of a rebelling mercenary force may be accurate; most now date the founding of the kingdom of Kent in the middle of the fifth-century, consistent with the legend.〔There is disagreement about the extent to which the legend can be treated as fact. For example, 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" (''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 26), but Fletcher says of Hengist that "there is no good reason for doubting his existence" (''Who's Who'', pp. 15–17), and Campbell adds that "although the origins of such annals are deeply mysterious, and suspect, they cannot be simply discarded" (Campbell et al., ''The Anglo-Saxons'', p. 38).〕 This early date, only a few decades after the departure of the Romans, also suggests that more of Roman civilization may have survived into Anglo-Saxon rule in Kent than in other areas.〔Campbell et al., ''The Anglo-Saxons'', p. 38.〕 Overlordship was a central feature of Anglo-Saxon politics which began before Æthelberht's time; kings were described as overlords as late as the ninth century. The Anglo-Saxon invasion may have involved military coordination of different groups within the invaders, with a leader who had authority over many different groups; Ælle of Sussex may have been such a leader.〔Fletcher, ''Who's Who'', pp. 15–17.〕 Once the new states began to form, conflicts among them began. Tribute from dependents could lead to wealth.〔Campbell et al., ''The Anglo-Saxons'', p. 44.〕 A weaker state also might ask or pay for the protection of a stronger neighbour against a warlike third state.〔Hunter Blair, ''An Introduction'', pp. 201–203〕 Sources for this period in Kentish history include ''The Ecclesiastical History of the English People'', written in 731 by Bede, a Northumbrian monk. Bede was interested primarily in England's Christianization. Since Æthelberht was the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity, Bede provides more substantial information about him than about any earlier king. One of Bede’s correspondents was Albinus, abbot of the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul (subsequently renamed St. Augustine's) in Canterbury. The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', a collection of annals assembled c. 890 in the kingdom of Wessex, mentions several events in Kent during Æthelberht’s reign.〔Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 25.〕 Further mention of events in Kent occurs in the late sixth century history of the Franks by Gregory of Tours. This is the earliest surviving source to mention any Anglo-Saxon kingdom.〔Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 30.〕 Some of Pope Gregory the Great’s letters concern the mission of St. Augustine to Kent in 597; these letters also mention the state of Kent and its relationships with neighbours. Other sources include regnal lists of the kings of Kent and early charters (land grants by kings to their followers or to the church). Although no originals survive from Æthelberht’s reign, later copies exist. A law code from Æthelberht’s reign also survives.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Æthelberht of Kent」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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