Kingdom of Kent

Kingdom of the Kentish Old English: Cantwara rīce Latin: Regnum Cantuariorum
c. 455–871
The Kingdom of Kent
Status	Independent kingdom (c. 455–764, 769–785, 796–798) Client state of Mercia (764–769, 785–796, 798–825) Client state of Wessex (825–871)
Official languages	Kentish Old English
Religion	Paganism (before 7th century) Christianity (after 7th century)
Government	Monarchy
King
• ?–488	Hengist (first)
• 866–871	Æthelred (last)
Legislature	Witenagemot
Historical era	Heptarchy
• Established	c. 455
• Full integration into crown of Wessex	871
Currency	sceat, thrymsa
Preceded by Succeeded by Sub-Roman Britain Wessex

The Kingdom of the Kentish (Old English: Cantwara rīce; Latin: Regnum Cantuariorum), today referred to as the Kingdom of Kent, was an early medieval kingdom in what is now South East England. It existed from either the fifth or the sixth century AD until it was fully absorbed into the Kingdom of Wessex in the late 9th century and later into the Kingdom of England in the early 10th century.

Under the preceding Romano-British administration the area of Kent faced repeated attacks from seafaring raiders during the fourth century AD. It is likely that Germanic-speaking foederati were invited to settle in the area as mercenaries. Following the end of Roman administration in 410, further linguistically Germanic tribal groups moved into the area, as testified by both archaeological evidence and Late Anglo-Saxon textual sources. The primary ethnic group to settle in the area appears to have been the Jutes: they established their Kingdom in East Kent and may initially have been under the dominion of the Kingdom of Francia. It has been argued that an East Saxon or Middle Saxon community initially settled in West Kent and was conquered by the expanding kingdom of East Kent in the sixth century, but this is uncertain.

The earliest recorded king of Kent was Æthelberht, who, as bretwalda, wielded significant influence over other Anglo-Saxon kings in the late sixth century. The Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons began in Kent during Æthelberht's reign with the arrival of the monk Augustine of Canterbury and his Gregorian mission in 597.

Kent was one of the seven kingdoms of the so-called Anglo-Saxon heptarchy, but it lost its independence in the 8th century when it became a sub-kingdom of Mercia. In the 9th century it became a sub-kingdom of Wessex, and in the 10th century it became part of the unified Kingdom of England that was created under the leadership of Wessex. Its name has been carried forward ever since as the county of Kent.

Knowledge of Anglo-Saxon Kent comes from scholarly study of Late Anglo-Saxon texts such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, as well as archaeological evidence such as that left by early medieval cemeteries and settlements, and toponymical (place-name) evidence.