Eorcenberht of Kent

Eorcenberht (died 14 July 664) was king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Kent from 640 to 664, succeeding his father Eadbald.

The Mildrith legend suggests that he was the younger son of Eadbald, and that his older brother Eormenred was deliberately passed over, although another possibility is that they ruled jointly.

According to Bede (HE III.8), Eorcenberht was the first king in Britain to command that pagan idols be destroyed and that Lent be observed. After the death of Honorius, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Eorcenberht appointed the first Saxon archbishop, Deusdedit, in 655.

Eorcenberht married Seaxburh, daughter of king Anna of East Anglia, and their daughter Eorcengota became a nun at the abbey of Faremoutiers-en-Brie on the continent.

Eorcenberht was succeeded by his son Ecgberht.

Reference

• Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People
• D. P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings (London: Unwin Hyman, 1991), pp. 42-44

Preceded by: Eadbald

King of Kent

Succeeded by: Ecgberht