ETHELBERT, King of Kent, Saint. - The first Christian king in England, from 593 he had become head of the Confederation of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that had formed on the island. His wife Bertha, a Christian, had prepared him to welcome the great missionary expedition of monks, led by St. Augustine, promoted by Gregory the Great. To them E. granted freedom of action and donated a house at Durovernum (Canterbury) and the church of St. Martin. On the eve of Pentecost in 597 he himself, along with many of his subjects, received Baptism.

At the announcement of the event, transmitted to him by Augustine, Gregory the Great replied by comparing E. and Bertha to Constantine and St. Helena (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 1826). He founded the church of St. Paul in London and endowed that of St. Andrew with rich gifts. He left a code of laws, chiefly penal, from which shines forth a singular piety in a barbaric and rough soul. He died after 56 years of reign, in 616, and was buried beside his wife in the abbey church of Sts. Peter and Paul at Canterbury, where Augustine now also lay.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: BHL. 394 sq.; L. Bréhier-R. Aigrain, S. Gregorio Magno ecc., in Fliche-Martin-Fruin, V, pp. 204 sqs., 301 sqs.

Alberto Ghinato

@incollection{ec5_etelberto_re_del_kent_santo, author = {Ghinato, Alberto}, title = {Etelberto, re del kent, santo}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {667}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/etelberto-re-del-kent-santo} }

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Ethelbert, King of Kent, Saint

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