Hlothhere ( ang, Hloþhere; died 6 February 685) was a

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

who ruled from 673 to 685. Hlothhere succeeded his brother Ecgberht I in 673. His parents were

Eorcenberht of Kent Eorcenberht of Kent (also Ærconberht, Earconberht, or Earconbert) (died 14 July 664) was king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Kent from 640 until his death, succeeding his father Eadbald. The Kentish Royal Legend (also known as the Mildrith legen ...

and

Seaxburh of Ely Seaxburh, also Saint Sexburga of Ely (died about 699) was a Queen as well as an abbess, and is a saint of the Christian Church. She was married to King Eorcenberht of Kent. After her husband's death in 664, Seaxburh remained in Kent to bring ...

, the daughter of

Anna of East Anglia Anna (or Onna; killed 653 or 654) was king of East Anglia from the early 640s until his death. He was a member of the Wuffingas family, the ruling dynasty of the East Angles, and one of the three sons of Eni who ruled the kingdom of East Ang ...

. In 676 the Mercian king

Æthelred Æthelred (; ang, Æþelræd ) or Ethelred () is an Old English personal name (a compound of '' æþele'' and '' ræd'', meaning "noble counsel" or "well-advised") and may refer to: Anglo-Saxon England * Æthelred and Æthelberht, legendary prin ...

invaded Kent and caused great destruction;Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History'', IV, 12, p. 223. according to Bede, even churches and monasteries were not spared, and

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

was laid waste. The damage was so great that

Putta Putta (died c. 688) was a medieval Bishop of Rochester and probably the first Bishop of Hereford. Some modern historians say that the two Puttas were separate individuals.Sims-Williams "Putta (d. c.688)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ...

, Bishop of Rochester, resigned. So too did his successor, Cwichhelm, due to the poverty of the see. Hlothhere's rule survived this onslaught, however. He appears for a time to have reigned jointly with his nephew Eadric, son of Ecgberht I, since a code of laws still extant was issued under both their names.Oliver, Lisi. ''The Beginnings of English Law'', Toronto. Toronto University Press, 2002, pp. 126–27, 134 A law code, the Law of Hlothhere and Eadric, is jointly attributed to him and his successor Eadric. In 685, Eadric went into exile and led the South Saxons against Hlothhere, who was defeated and died of his wounds. The information is derived from Bede, but Hlothhere is the earliest Kentish king for whom genuine charters survive. One charter known from a 15th-century copy, is precisely dated to 1 April 675 in the first year of Hlothhere's reign, which conflicts with accession date attributed to him by Bede. The Charter of King Hlothhere of Kent, 679 survives in its original form. Two further charters attributed to Hlothere (S1648, S1648a), appear to have been altered copies of charters of Swæfheard and Swæfberht. (Kelly 1995).

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hlothhere of Kent Anglo-Saxon warriors Kentish monarchs Year of birth unknown 685 deaths 7th-century English monarchs House of Kent

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