• General Notes

  Eormenic is recorded variously as the son or grandson of oisc. As Oisc died at Badon around 516 Eormenric is unlikely to have been his son, and therefore we may assume another, presumably Octha, ruled between Oisc's death and Eormen-ric's succession. This is by no means definite, however, as Oisc's death would have left Kent in some turmoil, perhaps without a clear successor. Whilst Oisc claimed descent from the Jutes or Frisians of northern Saxony, the name Eormenric is more closely associated with the Frankish royal family, descendants of Clovis, and from the mid sixth century many Frankish treasures and remains are found in Kentish archeological sites. Eormenric may, therefore, have been an offspring of the Frankish royal family who married into the lineage of Oisc. This would certainly account for the close relationship between the two families, particularly that of Eormenric's son ATHELBERT, who entered into an arranged marriage with Bertha, the daughter of the king of Paris. This family alliance also brought much prominence and wealth to the Kentish royal family, and was significant for bringing Christianity to the Saxons. For all that we know little about Eormenric it is evident that his role in developing Kent as a kingdom and bringing wealth to the Saxon domains was significant. His reign probably extended from at least 560-80, and may have begun even earlier. It is possible that it was during his reign rather than that of his son's, that the nobility of Kent strove to move further westward and came into conflict with the West Saxons. A battle is recorded in the ASC in the year 568 between CEAWLIN and Athelbert, a date that is chronologically impossible for these two monarchs, so either the date is wrong or the kings are. Since Athelbert succeeded Ceawlin as bretwalda, we might assume the earlier date had some significance and relates to conflict between the Kentish and West Saxon kingdoms as both fought for domination.

Details of Eormenric's family