Eadric
King of Kent
Reign	685?–686
Died	686 or 687
Father	Ecgberht

Eadric (died August 686/ 687?) was a King ofKent (685–686). He was the son ofEcgberht I.

In the 7th century the Kingdom of Kent had been politically stable for some time. According to Bede:

In the year of our Lord 640,Eadbald king of Kent, departed this life, and left his kingdom to his sonEorcenberht, which he most nobly governed twenty-four years and some months.

Eorcenberht was succeeded by his sons Ecgberht (664-673) andHlothhere (673-685).^[1] Ecgberht's court seems to have had many diplomatic and ecclesiastic contacts. He hostedWilfrid andBenedict Biscop, and provided escorts to ArchbishopTheodore and AbbotAdrian of Canterbury for their travels inGaul.^[2] However, increasing dynastic tensions occurred at this time, when according to tradition Ecgberht had his cousinsÆthelred and Æthelberht murdered, effectively removing them as they had a strong claim on the throne.^[1]

Hlothhere succeeded his brother as ruler of Kent in 673.^[3] It was not unusual for Kent to be divided between rulers at that time.^[3] However although there has been some suggestion that Eadric jointly ruled with his uncle Hlothhere, there is no certain evidence for it.^[2] TheLaw of Hlothhere and Eadric is a singlelaw code that was issued in the name of Hlothhere and Eadric as joint rulers of Kent, but it may just have been a conflation of two earlier separate codes.^[a][2][4]

In 679 Hlothhere granted land inThanet to Beorhtwald, abbot ofReculver.^[b] In the charter document there is a statement noting the agreement of Archbishop Theodore and "Eadric, son of my brother".^[c]

The charter of 679 implies that, at that date, the relationship between Eadric and his uncle were not unfriendly, however in about 685 Eadric revolted against his uncle. With help fromÆthelwealh of Sussex he raised a South Saxon army and defeated Hlothhere in battle. Hlothhere died of his wounds shortly after and Eadric became sole ruler of Kent.^[6][2]

Eadric was a nephew ofWulfhere of Mercia. Wulfhere was in an alliance with the South Saxons, so it would have served the politics of the time for Æthelwealh to support Eadric'scoup against Hlothhere.^[2]

Also, in 685 a West Saxon warband invaded Sussex under the command of theWessex princeCædwalla and killed Æthelwealh. Cædwalla was subsequently driven out of Sussex by two of Æthelwealh's ealdormen, Berhthun and Andhun.William of Malmesbury suggests that Eadric became king of the South Saxon kingdom at that time.^[7] Then in 686, Cædwalla, now king of Wessex, and his brotherMul, removed Eadric from power and made Mul king of Kent.^[d][6]

[Cædwalla's] hatred and hostility towards the South Saxons were inextinguishable, and he totally destroyed Edric [Eadric] the successor of Ethelwalch [Æthelwealh] who opposed him with renovated boldness:....he also gained repeated victories over the people of Kent..

There is a discussion on the actual date of Eadric's death.^[9]Bede lists his death, but does not provide a precise date, however one of the Kent annals, suggest that he was buried on 31 August 686 and another 31 August 687.^[9]

• List of monarchs of Kent

• Attenborough, F L (1922)."Hlothere and Eadric".The Laws of the Earliest English Kings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 9780404565459.OCLC 877548400.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Bede (1910). Lionel C. Jane (ed.).Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation . Vol. III.8. Translated by John Stevens – viaWikisource.
• Electronic Sawyer (2021)."The Electronic Sawyer". London: KCL. Retrieved20 February 2021.
• Kirby, D.P. (2000).The Earliest English Kings. London: Routledge.ISBN 0-415-24211-8.
• Stenton, F. M. (1971).Anglo-Saxon England 3rd edition. Oxford: OUP.ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5.
• Story, Joanna (2005)."The Frankish Annals of Lindisfarne and Kent".Anglo-Saxon England.34:59–109.doi:10.1017/S0263675105000037.hdl:2381/2531.JSTOR 44512356.S2CID 162210483.
• Williams, John H, ed. (2007).The Archaeology of Kent to AD 800. Woodbridge: Boydell Press and Kent County Council.ISBN 978-0-85115-580-7.
• William of Malmesbury (1847). Giles, J.A (ed.).William of Malmesbury's Chronicle of the Kings of England. London: Henry G. Bohn.OCLC 29078478.
• Welch, Martin G. (1978). Brandon, Peter (ed.).The South Saxons. Chichester: Phillimore.ISBN 978-0-85033-240-7.
• Yorke, Barbara (1990).Kings and Kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge.ISBN 0-415-16639-X.

• Eadric 5 atProsopography of Anglo-Saxon England

• Anglo-Saxon warriors
• Kentish monarchs
• 686 deaths
• 7th-century English monarchs

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• CS1 errors: ISBN date
• CS1: long volume value
• Year of birth unknown