Æthelred and Æthelberht
| Saints Aethelred and Aethelberht of Kent (of Eastry) | |
|---|---|
| Born | seventh century |
| Died | c. 669 |
| Venerated in | Anglo-Saxon Christianity |
| Major shrine | Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire; Canterbury |
| Feast | 17 October (translation of relics) |
| Attributes | with Aethelberht, as royal brothers, sometimes with swords |
Saints Æthelred and Æthelberht (also Ethelred, Ethelbert) according to the Kentish royal legend (attested in the 11th century) were princes of the Kingdom of Kent who were murdered in around AD 669, and later commemorated as saints and martyrs. Their story forms an important element in the legend of Saint Mildrith, because the monastery of Minster in Thanet is said to have been founded in atonement for the crime.
King Eorcenberht of Kent seized the rule of Kent in 640 in precedence to his elder brother Eormenred. Both were sons of Eadbald of Kent (r. c. 616–640). The legend, contained in a Latin Passio, tells that Eormenred and his wife Oslafa had several children including the two sons Aethelred and Aethelberht, and a daughter Eormenbeorg, also known as Domne Eafe. Eafe married Merewalh, ruler of the Maegonsaetan, a people situated in the west Midlands in the Shropshire area. King Eorcenberht married Seaxburh, daughter of King Anna of East Anglia, and ruled as a Christian king: he was the first ruler to order the abandonment and destruction of idols throughout his kingdom, and to establish the forty days' fast of Lent to be observed by royal authority (Bede, Ecclesiastical History iii,8). He had two sons, Ecgberht and Hlothhere, and two daughters, Eormenhild and Eorcongota. On Eorconberht's death of the plague in 664, Ecgberht succeeded him as King of Kent.
According to the legend, the princes were very pious Christian youths and lived at Eastry, Kent, at a royal dwelling belonging to their cousin King Egberht. (It is likely that such a residence existed, for Sir Frank Stenton pointed out that the placename Eastry, comparable to Surrey in formation, represented an early administrative centre.) A royal retainer named Thunor wished to secure the succession of King Ecgberht from a possible rival claim by these youths. He therefore had them secretly murdered, and their bodies hidden beneath the royal seat in the Hall at Eastry. After they were missed, but nowhere found, the crime was revealed by a column of light which appeared shining above the place of concealment.
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