King of Kent: Æthelberht (Also Æthelbert, Aethelberht, Aethelbert, or Ethelbert) (C. 560 - 24
King of Kent: Æthelberht (Also Æthelbert, Aethelberht, Aethelbert, or Ethelbert) (C. 560 - 24
King of Kent: Æthelberht (Also Æthelbert, Aethelberht, Aethelbert, or Ethelbert) (C. 560 - 24
(c.AD 540-616)
thelberht (also thelbert, Aethelberht, Aethelbert, or Ethelbert) (c. 560 24 February 616) was King of Kent from about 580 or 590 until his death. In his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, the eighth-century monk Bede lists Aethelberht as the third king to hold imperium over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. In the late ninth century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle thelberht is referred to as a bretwalda, or "Britain-ruler". He was the first English king to convert to Christianity. He 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 thelberht 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, thelberht was converted to Christianity, churches were established, and wider-scale conversion to Christianity began in the kingdom. thelberht provided the new church with land in Canterbury, at what came to be known as St Augustine's Abbey. thelberhts 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 (circa 1120). Kent was rich, with strong trade ties to the continent and, it may be that thelberht instituted royal control of trade. For the first time following the Anglo-Saxon invasion, coins began circulating in Kent during his reign. thelberht later was canonised for his role in establishing Christianity among the AngloSaxons, as were his wife and daughter. His feast day originally was 24 February, but was changed to 25 February.
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Bede 672/673 26 May 735, also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede, was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England.
He is well known as an author and scholar, and his most famous work, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People) gained him the title "The Father of English History". In 1899, Bede was moreover a skilled linguist and translator, and his work with the Latin and Greek writings of the early Church Fathers contributed significantly to English Christianity, making the writings much more accessible to his fellow Anglo-Saxons
King Egbert
Egbert (also spelled Ecgberht or Ecgbriht; ca. 769 or 771 839) was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s Egbert was forced into exile by Offa of Mercia and Beorhtric of Wessex, but on Beorhtric's death in 802 Egbert returned and took the throne. Little is known of the first 20 years of Egbert's reign, but it is thought that he was able to maintain Wessex's independence against the kingdom of Mercia, which at that time dominated the other southern English kingdoms. In 825 Egbert defeated Beornwulf of Mercia and ended Mercia's supremacy at the Battle of Ellandun, and proceeded to take control of the Mercian dependencies in southeastern England. In 829 Egbert defeated Wiglaf of Mercia and drove him out of his kingdom, temporarily ruling Mercia directly. Later that year Egbert received the submission of the Northumbrian king at Dore, near Sheffield. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle subsequently described Egbert as a bretwalda, or "Ruler of Britain." Egbert was unable to maintain this dominant position, and within a year Wiglaf regained the throne of Mercia. However, Wessex did retain control of Kent, Sussex and Surrey; these territories were given to Egbert's son thelwulf to rule as a subking under Egbert. When Egbert died in 839, thelwulf succeeded him; the southeastern kingdoms were finally absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex after thelwulf's death in 858.
St Agustine
Augustine of Hippo (November 13, 354 August 28, 430), also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin,St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed,[5] was Bishop of Hippo Regius (present-day Annaba, Algeria). He was a Latinspeaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province. His writings were very influential in the development of Western Christianity. According to his contemporary, Jerome, Augustine "established anew the ancient Faith".[6] In his early years he was heavily influenced by Manichaeism and afterward by the NeoPlatonism of Plotinus.[7] After his conversion to Christianity and baptism (AD 387), Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, accommodating a variety of methods and different perspectives.[8] He believed that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, and he framed the concepts of original sin and just war.
When the Western Roman Empire was starting to disintegrate, Augustine developed the concept of the Church as a spiritual City of God (in a book of the same name), distinct from the material Earthly City.[9] His thought profoundly influenced the medieval worldview. Augustine's City of God was closely identified with the church, the community that worshipped God.[10] In the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, he is a saint and pre-eminent Doctor of the Church, and the patron of the Augustinian religious order; his memorial is celebrated 28 August, the day of his death. He is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, the alleviation of sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses.[11] Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider him to be one of the theological fathers of Reformation due to his teaching on salvation and divine grace. In the Eastern Orthodox Church he is blessed, and his feast day is celebrated on 15 June.[12] Among the Orthodox, he is called "Blessed Augustine", or "St. Augustine the Blessed".[13]
speech with his counsellors and sent men all over England to each shire to find out what or how much each landholder had in land and livestock, and what it was worth" (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle).