Hlothhere of Kent

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Gravesite at St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury of four Kentish kings. Hlothhere's is the second from the left.

Hlothhere (Old English: Hloþhere; died February 6, 685) was a King of Kent who ruled from 673 to 685.

He succeeded his brother Ecgberht I in 673. He must have come into conflict with Mercia, since in 676 the Mercian king Æthelred invaded Kent and caused great destruction; according to Bede, even churches and monasteries were not spared, and Rochester was laid waste.

Hlothhere's rule survived this onslaught, however. He appears for a time to have reigned jointly with his nephew Eadric, son of Ecgberht I, since a code of laws still extant was issued under both their names. In 685, Eadric went into exile and led the South Saxons against Hlothhere, who was defeated and died of his wounds.

The above information is derived from Bede, but Hlothhere is the earliest Kentish king for whom genuine charters survive. One charter ^[1] is precisely dated to 1 April 675 in the first year of Hlothhere’s reign, which conflicts with accession date attributed to him by Bede. Two further charters attributed to Hlothere (S1648, S1648a), appear to have been altered copies of charters of Swæfheard (S10^[2]) and Swæfberht (S11^[3]) (Kelly 1995). A law code, the Law of Hlothhere and Eadric, is jointly attributed to him and his successor Eadric.

References

Regnal titles
Preceded by Ecgberht I	King of Kent 673–685 with Eadric	Succeeded by Eadric

v t e Monarchs of Kent

Hengest Horsa Oisc Octa Eormenric Æthelberht I Eadbald Æðelwald Eorcenberht Eormenred Ecgberht I Hlothhere Eadric Mul Swæfheard Swæfberht Oswine Wihtred Alric Eadbert I Æthelbert II Eardwulf Eadberht II Sigered Eanmund Heaberht Egbert II Ealhmund Eadberht III Præn Cuthred Coenwulf ¹ Ceolwulf I ² Baldred Egbert ³ Æthelwulf ⁴ Æthelstan ⁴ Æthelberht ⁴ Æthelred ⁴

¹ Also monarch of Mercia ² Also monarch of East Anglia and Mercia ³ Also monarch of Wessex, Essex, Sussex and Mercia ⁴ Also monarch of Wessex

Persondata
Name	Hlothhere of Kent
Alternative names
Short description	7th-century English monarch
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	685
Place of death

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Hlothhere of Kent

See also

References