Eadbald (Old English: Eadbald) was King of Kent from 616 until his death in 640. He was the son of King Æthelberht and his wife Bertha, a daughter of the Merovingian king Charibert.[1] Æthelberht made Kent the dominant force in England during his reign and became the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity from Anglo-Saxon paganism. Eadbald's accession was a significant setback for the growth of the church, since he retained his people's paganism and did not convert to Christianity for at least a year, and perhaps for as many as eight years. He was ultimately converted by either Laurentius or Justus, and separated from his first wife, who had been his stepmother, at the insistence of the church. Eadbald's second wife was Emma, who may have been a Frankish princess. They had two sons, Eormenred and Eorcenberht, and a daughter, Eanswith.
Eadbald's influence was less than his father's, but Kent was powerful enough to be omitted from the list of kingdoms dominated by Edwin of Northumbria. Edwin's marriage to Eadbald's sister, Æthelburg, established a good relationship between Kent and Northumbria which appears to have continued into Oswald's reign. When Æthelburg fled to Kent on Edwin's death in about 633, she sent her children to Francia for safety, fearing the intrigues of both Eadbald and Oswald. The Kentish royal line made several strong diplomatic marriages over the succeeding years, including the marriage of Eanflæd, Eadbald's niece, to Oswiu, and of Eorcenberht to Seaxburh, daughter of King Anna of East Anglia.
Eadbald died in 640 and was buried in the Church of St Mary, which he had built in the precincts of the monastery of St Peter and St Paul in Canterbury (a church later incorporated within the Norman edifice of St Augustine's).[1] At that time, his relics were translated for reburial in the south transept ca. A.D. 1087.[2]
He was succeeded by Eorcenberht. Eormenred may have been his oldest son, but if he reigned at all it was only as a junior king.
^ abS. E. Kelly, Eadbald, Oxford Online Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
^See, e.g., the guide booklet to St. Augustine's Abbey (London: English Heritage, 1997), 20, 25.
Eadbald (Old English: Eadbald) was King ofKent from 616 until his death in 640. He was the son of King Æthelberht and his wife Bertha, a daughter of...
Muhammed Chintila, king of the Visigoths (approximate date) Dushun, Chinese (Buddhist) patriarch (b. 557) Eadbald, king ofKent (approximate date) Eanswith...
a Frankish woman, possibly a Merovingian, who married EadbaldofKent. Emma was a daughter of the Frankish king Theudebert II, who ruled Austrasia from...
knowledge of letters. Anglo-Saxon records indicate that Bertha had two children: EadbaldofKent and Æthelburg ofKent. She is named in the genealogies of various...
bishop. He accompanied Æthelburg ofKent, sister of King EadbaldofKent, on her journey to Northumbria to marry King Edwin of Northumbria, and eventually...
his father Eadbald. The Kentish Royal Legend (also known as the Mildrith legend) suggests that he was the younger son ofEadbald and Emma of Austrasia...
of his grandmother, and killed with his son Merovech. He was married to Bilichildis. His daughter Emma is sometimes thought to have married Eadbald of...
grows up under the protection of her uncle, King EadbaldofKent. Clovis II, king of Neustria and Burgundy Jamadevi, queen of Hariphunchai (Thailand) (approximate...
granddaughter of King EadbaldofKent and the foundress of the double monastery of Minster in Thanet Priory at Minster-in-Thanet during the reign of her cousin...
nearby, and negotiates an alliance with Penda. Eanswith, daughter of King EadbaldofKent, founds the Benedictine Folkestone Priory, the first nunnery in...
British kingdom of Elmet in either 616 or 626. Elmet had probably been subject to Mercia and then to Edwin. Edwin and EadbaldofKent were allies at this...
against Burgundy and killed on orders of Brunhilda. Emma of Austrasia, married in 618 to King EadbaldofKent († 640). Though recently it has been suggested...
Æthelberht of Kent. He is succeeded by Eadbald. Battle of Chester: King Æthelfrith of Northumbria defeats Powys. Battle of the River Idle: King Rædwald of East...
daughter of King EadbaldofKent, the son of Æthelberht ofKent. The spread of Christianity in the north of Britain gained ground when Edwin of Northumbria...
nearby, and negotiates an alliance with Penda. Eanswith, daughter of King EadbaldofKent, founds the Benedictine Folkestone Priory, the first nunnery in...
correct, and that Eadbald was converted by Laurence. Yorke argues that there were two kings ofKent during Eadbald's reign, Eadbald and Æthelwald, and...
Eanswith was a princess of the Kingdom ofKent. Her father was Eadbald, who ruled as king ofKent from 616 to 640. Her mother, Eadbald's second wife, was Emma...
This is a list of the kings of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom ofKent. The regnal dates for the earlier kings are known only from Bede. Some kings are known...
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