• General Notes

  Ruled 691 - 23 April 725.
  Born: date unknown, but c670. Died: 23 April 725, aged about 55. Buried: Canterbury.
  Married: (1) pre-694, Cynegyth; (2) c696, Athelburh; (3) after 697, Werburh.
  
  Wihtred was the son of EGBERT and brother of EADRIC. Following Eadric's death or deposition in 686, Kent became the battleground of a number of usurper and client kings, subject to the power struggles of Mercia and Wessex. During this period Wihtred remained in sanctuary, protected by the church, and in the guardianship of his aunt, Eormenhild, the widow of WULFHERE of Mercia. Wihtred finally emerged to challenge the claimants to the throne late in the year 690, or early in 691, when he was aged probably not much more than 20. He rapidly received the support of the Christian church, which surprisingly had done little to support the earlier claimant OSWINE, also descended from the Kentish royal family. For a period Wihtred ruled jointly with SWAEFRED of Essex, but in 693 Swaefred's father SEBBI died, and Swaefred became preoccupied with establishing himself in Essex. Wihtred was soon able to settle terms with him and negotiate his own sole rule. Furthermore in 694, Wihtred bought his peace with INE, king of Wessex, by paying over a substantial sum in recompense for the murder of MUL by the Kentish people. With Ine, Wihtred established the boundary between Kent and Surrey which has remained almost unchanged to this day. Ine and Wihtred also consulted over a new set of laws, Ine being impressed with those established by Wihtred's predecessors, and Wihtred in turn wishing to update and embellish those of his uncle HLOTHHERE. Wihtred, a strong supporter of the church, but also a severe judge of misdemea-nours, made his punishments more strict. His support for the church became most evident in his decree, probably issued in 708, that the church should be exempt from taxation, a principle that was subsequently taken up by other kings and remained fundamental in English law.
  
  Having established an enviable authority Wihtred settled down to rule Kent during a period of continued prosperity. He preferred to rule from his villas in mid-Kent such as Bearsted, near Maidstone, rather than from around Canterbury. When he died in 725, after a reign of nearly thirty-five years, he had established an inviolable bond between the kingdom of Kent and the Christian church. He can be seen as a strict king, an intelligent strategist, but severe rather than avuncular. Rather surprisingly he left the kingdom in the hands of three sons, ATHELBERT, EADBERT and EALRIC.

Details of Wihtred's family with Cynegth