Eormenric OISCINGAS King of Kent ¹

   Research Notes:

Eormenric of Kent was King of Kent from circa 534/540 to 564/580.

Gregory of Tours records that the marriage of Æthelberht to a Frankish princess, Bertha, took place while he was filius regis (the son of the king), most likely during the reign of his father, whom the genealogies name Eormenric. Therefore Eormenric can be regarded as the first historical King of Kent. As the date of the marriage is not known, Eormenric's reign cannot be dated. The Venerable Bede placed his death in 560, but since his son's wife was not even born at that time, it seems unlikely. Rather, Gregory implies that Æthelberht's father was still reigning as of his writing (589).

Eormenric's Frankish connexion goes deeper than his daughter-in-law. The first component of his name Eormen- was uncommon in England at the time, but common in Francia. Both Eormen- and -ric were used repeatedly in naming by the Oiscingas thereafter.

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Bede names "Irminrici" as son of "Octa". The sources are contradictory regarding dates. According to William of Malmesbury "to the times of both [King Ochta and King Eormenric] the Chronicles assign fifty-three years". The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the accession of King Æthelberht in 565. However, elsewhere the Chronicle assigns an improbably long reign of fifty three years to Eormenric's son Æthelberht which, assuming the latter did in fact die in 616, would place his father's death in 563. Bede...states that King Æthelberht ruled for fifty-six years, indicating an even earlier accession in 560. The decisive evidence may be provided by the marriage of King Æthelberht which, according to Gregory of Tours, occurred while his father still ruled Kent but which...is likely to be dated to [580]. ^{2 3}

   Marriage Information: