Eadric (died August 686/ 687?) was a King of

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 ...

(685–686). He was the son of Ecgberht I.

Historical context

In the 7th century the Kingdom of Kent had been politically stable for some time. According to Bede: Eorcenberht was succeeded by his sons Ecgberht (664-673) and

Hlothhere Hlothhere ( ang, Hloþhere; died 6 February 685) was a King of Kent who ruled from 673 to 685. Hlothhere succeeded his brother Ecgberht I in 673. His parents were Eorcenberht of Kent and Seaxburh of Ely, the daughter of Anna of East Anglia. In ...

(673-685). Ecgberht's court seems to have had many diplomatic and ecclesiastic contacts. He hosted

Wilfrid Wilfrid ( – 709 or 710) was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and ...

and

Benedict Biscop Benedict Biscop (pronounced "bishop"; – 690), also known as Biscop Baducing, was an Anglo-Saxon abbot and founder of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory (where he also founded the famous library) and was considered a saint after his death. Lif ...

, and provided escorts to Archbishop Theodore and Abbot

Adrian of Canterbury Adrian, also spelled Hadrian (born before 637, died 710), was a North African scholar in Anglo-Saxon England and the abbot of Saint Peter's and Saint Paul's in Canterbury. He was a noted teacher and commentator of the Bible. Adrian was born betw ...

for their travels in

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

. However, increasing dynastic tensions occurred at this time, when according to tradition Ecgberht had his cousins

Æthelred and Æthelberht Saints Æthelred and Æthelberht (also ''Ethelred'', ''Ethelbert'') according to the Kentish royal legend (attested in the 11th century) were princes of the Kingdom of Kent who were murdered in around AD 669, and later commemorated as saints an ...

murdered, effectively removing them as they had a strong claim on the throne.

Joint ruler of Kent?

Hlothhere succeeded his brother as ruler of Kent in 673. It was not unusual for Kent to be divided between rulers at that time. However although there has been some suggestion that Eadric jointly ruled with his uncle Hlothhere, there is no certain evidence for it. The Law of Hlothhere and Eadric is a single

law code A code of law, also called a law code or legal code, is a systematic collection of statutes. It is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the cod ...

that was issued in the name of Hlothhere and Eadric as joint rulers of Kent, but it may just have been a conflation of two earlier separate codes. In 679 Hlothhere granted land in

Thanet Thanet may refer to: *Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England *Thanet District, a local government district containing the island *Thanet College, former name of East Kent College *Thanet Canal, ...

to Beorhtwald, abbot of

Reculver Reculver is a village and coastal resort about east of Herne Bay on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. It is in the ward of the same name, in the City of Canterbury district of Kent. Reculver once occupied a strategic location ...

. In the charter document there is a statement noting the agreement of Archbishop Theodore and "Eadric, son of my brother".

Sole ruler

The charter of 679 implies that, at that date, the relationship between Eadric and his uncle were not unfriendly, however in about 685 Eadric revolted against his uncle. With help from

Æthelwealh of Sussex Æthelwealh ( ''fl.'' – ) was ruler of the ancient South Saxon kingdom from before 674 till his death between 680 and 685. He was baptised in Mercia, becoming the first Christian king of Sussex. He was killed by a West Saxon prince, Cædwall ...

he raised a South Saxon army and defeated Hlothhere in battle. Hlothhere died of his wounds shortly after and Eadric became sole ruler of Kent. Eadric was a nephew of

Wulfhere of Mercia Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Nort ...

. Wulfhere was in an alliance with the South Saxons, so it would have served the politics of the time for Æthelwealh to support Eadric's coup against Hlothhere.

Invaded by Wessex

Also, in 685 a West Saxon warband invaded Sussex under the command of the

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

prince Cædwalla and killed Æthelwealh. Cædwalla was subsequently driven out of Sussex by two of Æthelwealh's ealdormen, Berhthun and Andhun.

William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as " ...

suggests that Eadric became king of the South Saxon kingdom at that time. Then in 686, Cædwalla, now king of Wesssex, and his brother Mul, removed Eadric from power and made Mul king of Kent. There is a discussion on the actual date of Eadric's death. Bede lists his death, but does not provide a precise date, however one of the Kent annals, suggest that he was buried on 31 August 686 and another 31 August 687.

Notes

Citations

References

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External links

* {{Kentish Monarchs Anglo-Saxon warriors Kentish monarchs 686 deaths 7th-century English monarchs Year of birth unknown