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99-710: The church stands on the site of King Ine of Wessex 's Schola Saxonum , or "Saxon School", a charitable institution for West Saxon pilgrims. According to Roger of Wendover , Ine founded the Schola Saxonum in AD 727. It included a hostel and a chapel dedicated to Santa Maria. In mediaeval times a substantial number of pilgrims from Wessex, including fighting men, traveled the Via Francigena from Canterbury to Rome. The hospice and church were gutted by fire in 817, were sacked by Muslim raiders in 846, and were again burned in 852. It

198-638: A Conversion of St. Paul begun by Francesco Salviati and completed by Francesco Rubiale . The first chapel to the right in the apse, has a fresco of the Pentecost by the Florentine Jacopo Zucchi and his brother. The second chapel has an Assumption by Livio Agresti , who also painted the Trinity in the fourth chapel as well as frescoes in the third chapel. The fifth chapel has an Annunciation and an Ascent (1570) by Giuseppe Valeriano . The sacristy

297-449: A Deaconry with a Cardinal assigned as its Cardinal Protector (a term created by Pope Paul VI in 1966). Ine of Wessex Ine or Ini , (died in or after 726) was King of Wessex from 689 to 726. At Ine's accession, his kingdom dominated much of what is now southern England . However, he was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor, Cædwalla of Wessex, who had expanded West Saxon territory substantially. By

396-459: A Roman road, a navigable river or the coast, and the remaining 15% being close to ancient trackways. Little archaeological evidence of these early settlements exists, but one prominent example is a grubenhaus at Lower Warbank, Keston that was built atop the site of a former Roman villa, adjacent to a Romano-British trackway through the North Downs . Fifth-century ceramics have also been found at

495-463: A Saxon fort near St Rumwold's church, Bonnington , killing all inside. They moved on and over the next year built a fortress at Appledore . Hearing of this, Danes in East Anglia and elsewhere then rose against Alfred. They raided Kent from Appledore, razing a large settlement, Seleberhtes Cert (present-day Great Chart near Ashford ). They moved further inland and engaged in numerous battles with

594-562: A battle at Woden's Barrow in 715, either against the Mercians under Ceolred or together with them against an unnamed opponent; the result is not recorded. Woden's Barrow is a tumulus , now called Adam's Grave , at Alton Prior , Wiltshire . Ine may not have recovered any of the lands north of the Thames that had belonged to the West Saxons under previous kings, but it is known that he controlled

693-591: A decade thereafter. This did not last, however, as Offa firmly re-established his authority over Kent in 785. Religious centres of this period, minsters containing a church, were often far larger than lay settlements, with access to many resources and trade links; the Minster-in-Thanet was recorded as possessing three trade ships. The seventh century saw the reintroduction of masonry in Anglo-Saxon England, primarily for churches. The earliest churches in

792-463: A few years later. Æthelberht 's attempts to convert Rædwald demonstrate the links between the Kingdom of Kent and Kingdom of East Anglia , with shared North Sea interests. During this period, Anglo-Saxon kings moved around their kingdoms continually, subsisting on goods from the local populations and reciprocating with gifts. Various seventh and eighth century documents attest to the fact that Kent

891-600: A great assembly of the servants of God". The laws themselves demonstrate Ine's Christian convictions, specifying fines for failing to baptize infants or to tithe. Ine supported the church by patronising religious houses, especially in the new diocese of Sherborne , which had been divided from the diocese of Winchester in 705. Ine had opposed this division, ignoring threats of excommunication from Canterbury, but he agreed to it when Bishop Haedde died. The first West Saxon nunneries were founded in Ine's reign by Ine's kinswoman, Bugga,

990-421: A hostelry for English visitors to the city. According to Roger of Wendover , Ine founded the Schola Saxonum in 727. Ine's successor was King Æthelheard ; it is not known whether Æthelheard was related to Ine, though some later sources state that Æthelheard was Ine's brother-in-law. Æthelheard's succession to the throne was disputed by an ætheling , Oswald, and it may be that Mercian support for Æthelheard in

1089-452: A lord; the king's close involvement indicates that the relationship between lord and tenant was under the king's control. The laws that deal with straying cattle provide the earliest documentary evidence for an open-field farming system . They show that open-field agriculture was practiced in Wessex in Ine's time, and it is probable that this was also the prevalent agricultural method throughout

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1188-589: A mass migration in which large numbers of Germanic peoples left northern Europe to settle in Britain, pushing the native British population to western Britain or Brittany; others have argued that only a small warrior elite came over, dominating (or even enslaving) the Romano-British population, who then began using the Old English language and material culture of the newcomers. Currently, many scholars accept that there

1287-419: A more likely dedicatee for this church is the fifth century Welsh Saint Ina . In 726, Ine abdicated, with no obvious heir and, according to Bede , left his kingdom to "younger men" in order to travel, with his wife Æthelburg , to Rome where they both died; his predecessor, Cædwalla, had also abdicated to go to Rome and was baptized there by the pope. A pilgrimage to Rome was thought to aid one's chance of

1386-530: A number of villa sites around Kent, suggesting reoccupation of these locations during this period. In East Kent, fifth century cemeteries mostly comprise solely of inhumation burials, with a distinct Kentish character. Conversely, in West Kent cemeteries such Orpington mix cremations with inhumations, which is more typical of Saxon cemeteries north of the River Thames . This may suggest that West Kent at this point

1485-571: A result. Three years later Ine invaded again, this time killing Ealdberht. Sussex had evidently broken away from West Saxon domination some time before this. It has been suggested that Ealdberht was a son of Ine, or a son of Ine's brother Ingild. In 710, Ine and Nothhelm fought against Geraint of Dumnonia , according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ; John of Worcester states that Geraint was killed in this battle. It has traditionally been thought that Ine's advance brought him control of what

1584-407: A significant change from an earlier time when a man's kin were expected to support him with oaths. The laws made separate provision for Ine's English and British subjects, favouring the former over the latter; the weregilds paid for Britons were half of those paid for Saxons of the same social class, and their oaths also counted for less. The evidence they provide for the incomplete integration of

1683-469: A surviving land-grant that indicates Cenred was still reigning in Wessex after Ine's accession. The extent of West Saxon territory at the start of Ine's reign is fairly well known. The upper Thames valley on both sides of the river had long been the territory of the Gewisse, though Cædwalla had lost territory north of the river to the kingdom of Mercia before Ine's accession. To the west, Ceawlin of Wessex

1782-834: A trade monopoly with the Frankish kingdom. Sixth century Kentish artefacts have been found in continental Europe, in particular in the areas of modern Charente , western Normandy , the Rhineland , Frisia , Thuringia , and southern Scandinavia. They are relatively absent between the Sein and the Somme across the English Channel from the Saxons in Sussex, suggesting that trade was established between particular tribal or ethnic groups rather than by geography. There

1881-596: A welcome in heaven, and according to Bede, many people went to Rome at this time for this reason: "... both noble and simple, layfolk and clergy, men and women alike." Either Ine or Offa of Mercia is traditionally supposed to have founded the Schola Saxonum there, in what is today the Roman rione , or district, of Borgo . The Schola Saxonum took its name from the militias of Saxons who served in Rome, but it eventually developed into

1980-597: Is also archaeological evidence of Kentish trade links in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and copies or imitations appearing in cemeteries further afield, in areas such as Wiltshire and Cambridgeshire . Archaeological evidence suggests that at some point in the sixth century, East Kent annexed West Kent. To the south lay the Weald , a dense forest of no value to the Kentish elite, leaving

2079-526: Is decorated by stories of the Schola Saxonum by Guidobaldo Abbatini . The apse is frescoed (1583) by both Jacopo and Francesco Zucchi . The fifth chapel on the left has a Martyrdom of St. John the Evangelist by Marcello Venusti . The second and first chapels contain paintings by Cesare Nebbia , including a Coronation of the Virgin . Since the 1991 consistory of Pope John Paul II , the church has been used as

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2178-417: Is evidence that over the fourth and early fifth centuries, rural villas were abandoned, suggesting that the Romano-British elite were moving to the comparative safety of fortified urban centres. However, urban centres also witnessed decline; Canterbury evidenced a declining population and reduced activity from the late third century onward, while Dover was abandoned by the end of the fourth century. In 407,

2277-574: Is known to have reached the Bristol Channel one hundred years before. The West Saxons had since expanded further down the southwestern peninsula, pushing back the boundary with the British kingdom of Dumnonia , which was probably roughly equivalent to modern Devon and Cornwall . On the West Saxons' eastern border was the kingdom of the East Saxons , which included London and what is now Surrey . To

2376-480: Is lacking. It is known that both Canterbury and Rochester were the home to major mints in this period, primarily producing silver sceattas . This suggests that from the seventh century onward, kings in Kent were establishing control over the kingdom's economic structure. During the eighth and ninth centuries, a number of fortified earthworks, most notably Wansdyke and Offa's Dyke , were constructed as barriers between

2475-640: Is now Devon , the new border with Dumnonia being the river Tamar . However, this does not match with subsequent events such as the Battle of Hehil or Athelstan driving the Britons from Isca (Exeter). The Annales Cambriae , a 10th century chronicle, records that in 722 the British defeated their enemies at the Battle of Hehil . The "enemies" must be Ine or his people, but the location is unidentified; historians have suggested locations in both Cornwall and Devon. Ine fought

2574-463: Is recorded as having campaigned with Ine in the west against Dumnonia. Control of Surrey, which may never have been an independent kingdom, passed between Kent, Mercia, Essex, and Wessex in the years before Ine's reign. Essex also included London, and the diocese of London included Surrey; this appears to have been a source of friction between Ine and the East Saxon and Mercian kings until the province

2673-517: Is recorded that Vikings built fortifications on the Kentish north coast, and over-wintered their armies on Thanet in 851–852 and Sheppey in 854–855. At this point, Canterbury and Rochester still had Roman walls that could have been refurbished, but they were nevertheless attacked by the Vikings: Rochester in 842, Canterbury in 851, and Rochester again in 885, when they laid siege until it was liberated by Alfred's army. The Burghal Hidage lists

2772-403: Is to be held liable for any damage caused. This does not mean that the land was held in common: each ceorl had his own strip of land that supported him. It is notable that a king's law is required to settle a relatively minor issue; the laws do not mention the role of local lords in obtaining compliance from the ceorls. It is clear from this and other laws that tenants held the land in tenure from

2871-494: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , a "king of the Britons" known as Vortigern invited two Germanic leaders, Hengist and Horsa ("stallion" and "horse"), to Britain to help defend against Pictish raiders. After arriving at Ypwinesfleot (Ebba's Creek, modern Ebbsfleet near Ramsgate) in Kent in 449, Hengist and Horsa led the defeat of the Picts before turning on the British and inviting more Germanic tribes to colonise Britain. Among these were

2970-458: The Kingdom of Francia . It has been argued that an East Saxon or Middle Saxon community initially settled in West Kent and merged with the expanding kingdom of East Kent in the sixth century, but this is uncertain. The earliest recorded king of Kent was Æthelberht , who, as bretwalda , wielded significant influence over other Anglo-Saxon kings in the late sixth century. The Christianization of

3069-501: The Law of Wihtred , did a great deal to restore the kingdom after the devastation and tumult of the preceding years, and in 694 he made peace with the West Saxons by paying compensation for the killing of Mul. Records of Kent following the death of Wihtred in 725 are fragmented and obscure. For forty years, two or even three kings typically ruled simultaneously. This division may have made Kent

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3168-615: The Law of Æthelberht , the oldest surviving text in Old English . According to Bede , the Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England began in Kent under Æthelberht's reign when the Benedictine monk Augustine arrived on the Ebbsfleet peninsula in 597, bringing the Gregorian mission with him. Æthelberht's Frankish wife, Bertha , was already a Christian, with Æthelberht himself converting

3267-589: The Romano-British period, the area of modern Kent that lay east of the River Medway was a civitas known as Cantiaca . Its name had been taken from an older Common Brittonic place-name, Cantium ("corner of land" or "land on the edge") used in the preceding pre-Roman Iron Age, although the extent of this tribal area is unknown. During the late third and fourth centuries, Roman Britain had been raided repeatedly by Franks , Saxons , Picts , and Scots . As

3366-599: The Salin Style II motifs. It also saw the emergence of elite burials with far greater wealth than others; notable Kentish examples have been found at Sarre Anglo-Saxon cemetery and the Kingston Barrow cemetery, while the elite Taplow burial in modern Buckinghamshire also contained Kentish characteristics, suggesting a potential Kentish influence in that region. In the seventh century, Kent's power waned as that of Mercia and Northumbria grew, but it remained

3465-524: The Wantsum Channel and Romney Marsh . The Ebbsfleet watermill near Gravesend in West Kent, dated to circa 700, also reflects new uses of the landscape. Canterbury grew into the economic and political centre of Kent during the seventh century, as evidenced by rubbish pits, metalworking, timber halls, and sunken-feature buildings from the period. Intensive development was also present at Dover, and possibly at Rochester, although archaeological evidence

3564-753: The Anglian King-list) and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (which certainly drew on and adapted an early version of the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List, alongside other sources). Both the Regnal List and Chronicle were put into their present form in the late ninth century, probably at the court of Alfred the Great , and show scholars at pains both to emphasise that all West-Saxon kings descended from Cerdic and to put Cerdic's foundation of

3663-470: The Anglo-Saxons began in Kent during Æthelberht's reign with the arrival of the monk Augustine of Canterbury and his Gregorian mission in 597. Kent was one of the seven kingdoms of the so-called Anglo-Saxon heptarchy , but it lost its independence in the 8th century when it became a sub-kingdom of Mercia . In the 9th century it became a sub-kingdom of Wessex , and in the 10th century it became part of

3762-636: The Britons at Crecganford (probably Crayford ). The Britons then fled Kent for their London stronghold. A similar account is provided in Bede's Ecclesiastical History : that the people of Kent and Isle of Wight were descended from Jutish settlers, and that Horsa was killed in battle against the Britons, adding that his body was buried in east Kent. The accuracy of these accounts is questioned; S. E. Kelly states that "the legendary details are easy to dismiss". Scholars often view Hengist and Horsa as mythological figures borrowed from folk tradition, to legitimise rulers in

3861-524: The English midlands, and as far north and east as Lindsey and Deira . Not all of Wessex used this system, however: it was not used in Devon, for example. The law which mentions a "yard" of land is the first documented mention of that unit. A yard was a unit of land equal to a quarter of a hide ; a hide was variable from place to place but could be as much as 120 acres (49 ha). The yard in this sense later became

3960-659: The Mid-to-Late Anglo-Saxon period. The incoming Germanic peoples settled on the prime agricultural land of the Romano-Britons; particularly the foothills to the north of the downs and Holmesdale south of the downs escarpment. It is likely that they complemented agriculture with animal husbandry, but with nearby coasts and rivers it is also likely that they engaged in fishing and trading. The Anglo-Saxons made use of pre-existing prehistoric and Roman road systems, with 85% of cemeteries being located within 1.2 km of

4059-710: The Old Saxons, the Angles, and the Jutes; the latter settled in Kent and the Isle of Wight, establishing the peoples known as the Cantware and Wihtware . According to the Chronicle , in 455 Hengist and Horsa fought Vortigern at Ægelesthrep (probably Aylesford in Kent), in which battle Horsa was killed. Hengist succeeded him as king, followed in turn by his son Æsc . In 456 Hengest and Æsc battled

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4158-586: The Pope celebrated Mass in this church. Indulgences were granted to those who took part, and money was distributed to the poor. The inscriptions found in Santo Spirito in Sassia, a valuable source illustrating the history of the church, have been collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella. The church has a single nave, and ten apsidal chapels along the sides. The counter-facade has a Visitation (1545) by Marco Pino , and

4257-564: The Roman legions left Britain in order to deal with incursions into the Empire's continental heartlands. In 410, the Roman Emperor Honorius sent a letter to his British subjects announcing that they must thenceforth look after their own defence and could no longer rely on the imperial military to protect them. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , produced in late Anglo-Saxon England and not considered an accurate record of events in

4356-592: The Thames, eroding its economic influence. According to Bede's later account, in 676 the Mercian king Æthelred I led an attack that destroyed many Kentish churches. Mercia's control of Kent increased in the following decades; by 689–690 East Saxon kings under Mercian overlordship were active in West Kent, and there are records attesting that Æthelred arbitrated on the income of the Christian communities at Minster-in-Thanet and Reculver , indicating strong Mercian control over

4455-638: The archbishop of Canterbury Jænberht refused to crown his son Ecgfrith . Jænberht resigned a part of his bishopric and the pro-Mercian Hygeberht was chosen by King Offa to replace him "through enmity conceived against the venerable Jænberht and the Kentish people", according to Offa's eventual successor Coenwulf . In 796 Offa died, and in this moment of Mercian weakness a Kentish rebellion under Eadbert Praen temporarily succeeded. Offa's eventual successor, Coenwulf, reconquered Kent in 798, however, and installed his brother Cuthred as king. After Cuthred's death in 807, Coenwulf ruled Kent directly. Mercian authority

4554-498: The area as mercenaries. Following the end of Roman administration in 410, further linguistically Germanic tribal groups moved into the area, as testified by both archaeological evidence and Late Anglo-Saxon textual sources. The primary ethnic group to settle in the area appears to have been the Jutes : they established their Kingdom in East Kent and may initially have been under the dominion of

4653-494: The army. Scholars have disagreed on the military value of the ceorl, but it is not surprising that all free men would fight, since defeat might have meant slavery. Another law specified that anyone accused of murder required at least one high-ranking person among his "oath-helpers". An oath-helper would swear an oath on behalf of an accused man, to clear him from the suspicion of the crime. Ine's requirement implies that he did not trust an oath sworn only by peasants. It may represent

4752-455: The church after it had been damaged during the Sack of Rome . An organ, which survives, was added in 1547. In 1585–1590, Pope Sixtus V had the exterior restored, giving the church its present façade by Ottavio Mascherino , inspired by a design of Sangallo. This facade has two stories, with Corinthian pilasters dividing the lower one into five sections, and the upper divided into three sections. In

4851-617: The closest part of Britain to mainland Europe, it is likely that Kent would have experienced many attacks from seafaring raiders, resulting in the construction of four Saxon Shore Forts along the Kentish coast: Regulbium , Rutupiae , Dubris , and Portus Lemanis . It is also likely that Germanic-speaking mercenaries from northern Gaul , known as foederati , would have been hired to supplement official Roman troops during this period, with land in Kent as payment. These foederati would have assimilated into Romano-British culture, making it difficult to distinguish them archaeologically. There

4950-702: The construction of the Eorpenburnam fort, possibly Castle Toll . Hoards have been found, particularly around the West Kent coast, that might have been wealth hidden from the Vikings. In 892, when southern England was united under Alfred the Great , Kent was on the brink of disaster. Alfred had defeated Guthrum the Old and allowed Vikings by treaty to settle in East Anglia and the North East. However, other Danes were still on

5049-445: The daughter of King Centwine , and by Ine's sister Cuthburh , who founded the abbey of Wimborne at some point after she separated from her husband, King Aldfrith of Northumbria. At the bishop Aldhelm 's suggestion in 705, Ine built the church which later became Wells Cathedral , and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle also records that Ine built a minster at Glastonbury . This must refer to additional building or re-building since there

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5148-413: The death of Mul, and there are indications that the two rulers collaborated to some degree in producing their laws. In addition to the coincidence of timing, there is one clause that appears in almost identical form in both codes. Another sign of collaboration is that Wihtred's laws use gesith , a West Saxon term for noble, in place of the Kentish term eorlcund . It is possible that Ine and Wihtred issued

5247-428: The dynasty earlier than their sources claimed, yet nonetheless are often at variance. Ine's predecessor on the throne of Wessex was Cædwalla , but there is some uncertainty about the transition from Cædwalla to Ine. Cædwalla abdicated in 688 and departed for Rome to be baptized. According to the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List, Ine reigned for 37 years, abdicating in 726. These dates imply that he did not gain

5346-528: The earliest reliably attested Anglo-Saxon monarch. Bede states that Æthelberht was a bretwalda who controlled everything south of the River Humber , including other kingdoms. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to wars in sixth-century Britain, but most were in the west and did not affect Kent; the one exception was a battle between the Kentish and West Saxons in 568, during which Æthelberht's forces were pushed back into Kent. Æthelberht's reign also produced

5445-420: The east of the kingdom too. In 686 Kent was conquered by Cædwalla of Wessex ; within a year, Cædwalla's brother Mul was killed in a Kentish revolt, and Cædwalla returned to devastate the kingdom again. After this, Kent fell into a state of disorder. The Mercians backed a client king named Oswine , but he seems to have reigned for only about two years, after which Wihtred became king. Wihtred, famous for

5544-445: The end of Ine's reign, the kingdoms of Kent , Sussex , and Essex were no longer under West Saxon sway; however, Ine maintained control of what is now Hampshire , and consolidated and extended Wessex's territory in the western peninsula . Ine is noted for his code of laws ( Ines asetnessa or "laws of Ine"), which he issued in about 694. These laws were the first issued by an Anglo-Saxon king outside Kent. They shed much light on

5643-407: The end of Ine's reign. Ine made peace with Kent in 694 when its king Wihtred gave Ine a substantial sum in compensation for the death of Cædwalla's brother Mul , who had been killed during a Kentish rebellion in 687. The value of the amount offered to Ine by Wihtred is uncertain; most manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle record "thirty thousand", and some specify thirty thousand pounds. If

5742-522: The existence, even at this early date, of a common English identity encompassing all the Germanic peoples of Britain. Ine was a Christian king, who ruled as a patron and protector of the church. The introduction to his laws names his advisors, among whom are Eorcenwald , Bishop of London and Hædde , Bishop of Winchester ; Ine says that the laws were also made with the advice and instruction of "all my ealdormen, and chief councillors of my people, and also

5841-668: The fertile area west of the kingdom attractive for conquest, particularly the Darenth Valley and the dip slopes of the North Downs to the west of the Medway. During the sixth century, while the archaeological record in Kent includes items from Jutland , the dominant influence became Frankish . Firmly in the control of an elite class, Kent is the first Anglo-Saxon kingdom to appear in the historical record in 597. The monk Bede refers to Kent as ruled by Æthelberht at this period, making him

5940-480: The fifth century, in 418 many Romans left Britain via Kent, taking much of their wealth with them. This may represent a memory of a genuine exodus of the Roman aristocracy. According to archaeologist Martin Welch, the fifth century witnessed "a radical transformation of what became Kent, politically, socially and in terms of physical landscape". There has been much debate as to the scale of Jutish migration; some see it as

6039-403: The fifth or the sixth century AD until it was fully absorbed into the Kingdom of Wessex in the mid-9th century and later into the Kingdom of England in the early 10th century. Under the preceding Romano-British administration the area of Kent faced repeated attacks from seafaring raiders during the fourth century AD. It is likely that Germanic-speaking foederati were invited to settle in

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6138-460: The first target of the rising power of Offa of Mercia : in 764, he gained supremacy over Kent and ruled it through client kings . By the early 770s, it appears that Offa was attempting to rule Kent directly, and a rebellion followed. A battle was fought at Otford in 776, and although the outcome is unknown, records of following years suggest that the rebels prevailed; Egbert II and later Ealhmund seem to have ruled independently of Offa for nearly

6237-526: The fourth wealthiest kingdom in England, according to the Tribal Hidage with 15,000 hides of land recorded in the seventh or eighth century. However the period was tumultuous for the Kentish royal family; Kent was ruled by Ecgberht from 664 to 673, but between 664 and 667 two royal cousins, Æthelred and Æthelberht , were killed at Eastry royal hall, perhaps because they were a threat to Ecgberht. Ecgberht

6336-413: The history of Anglo-Saxon society, and reveal Ine's Christian convictions. Trade increased significantly during Ine's reign, with the town of Hamwic (now Southampton ) becoming prominent. It was probably during Ine's reign that the West Saxons began to mint coins, though none have been found that bear his name. Ine abdicated in 726 to go to Rome, leaving, in the words of the contemporary chronicler Bede ,

6435-604: The king of the West Saxons and the rulers of our country". The rulers that Wealdhere refers to are Sigeheard and Swæfred of the East Saxons, and the cause of the discord was the East Saxons' sheltering of exiles from the West Saxons. Ine had agreed to peace on the condition that the exiles were expelled. A council at Brentford was planned to resolve the disputes. By this point Surrey had clearly passed out of West Saxon control. Bede records that Ine held Sussex in subjection for "several years", but in 722 an exile named Ealdbert fled to Surrey and Sussex, and Ine invaded Sussex as

6534-433: The king would have been able to arrange to feed and house such a large group of people. The growth of trade after about 700 was paralleled by an expansion of the area of circulation of the sceat , the common coin of the day, to include the upper Thames valley. It is thought that the first West Saxon coinage was minted during Ine's reign, though no coins bearing his name have been found—sceattas typically gave no hint of

6633-497: The kingdom among members of the royal family. By about 710, in the middle of Ine's reign, the trading settlement of Hamwic had become established on the west bank of the river Itchen ; the site is now part of the modern city of Southampton . The goods traded at this port included glass vessels, and finds of animal bones suggest an active trade in hides. Further evidence of trade comes from finds of imported goods such as quernstones, whetstones, and pottery; and finds of sceattas from

6732-412: The kingdom to "younger men". He was succeeded by Æthelheard . Early sources agree that Ine was the son of Cenred , and that Cenred was the son of Ceolwald ; further back there is less agreement. Ine was born around 670 and his siblings included a brother, Ingild, and two sisters, Cuthburh and Cwenburg. Ingild is given by the Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies as ancestor of king Egbert of Wessex and

6831-451: The law codes as an act of prestige, to re-establish authority after periods of disruption in both kingdoms. Ine's laws survive only because Alfred the Great appended them to his own code of laws. The oldest surviving manuscript, and only complete copy, is in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge MS 173, which contains both Alfred's and Ine's law codes and the oldest extant text of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . Two more partial texts survive. One

6930-414: The move. Haesten , a highly experienced warrior-leader, had mustered huge forces in northern France having besieged Paris and taken Brittany . As many as 350 Viking ships sailed from Boulogne to the south coast of Kent in 892. Between 5000 and 10,000 men, with their families and horses, came up Limen estuary (the east-west route of the Royal Military Canal in reclaimed Romney Marsh ) and attacked

7029-422: The new Jutish kingdom, the Cantware ("dwellers of Kent"). The Germanic migration to Britain is noted in textual sources from the late Anglo-Saxon period, most notably Bede 's Ecclesiastical History of the English People and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ; both rely on oral histories from the fifth century, and were attempts to establish origin myths that would justify the politics of the time. According to

7128-627: The nuns of Lyminge were granted refuge in Canterbury to escape the attackers, while in 811 Kentish forces gathered to repel a Viking army based on the Isle of Sheppey . Further recorded attacks occurred on Sheppey in 835, through Romney Marsh in 841, in Rochester in 842, Canterbury ( Battle of Aclea ) and Sandwich ( Battle of Sandwich ) in 851, Thanet in 853, and across Kent in 865. Kent was also attractive for its easy access to major land and sea routes. By 811, it

7227-409: The office of ealdorman in Wessex, and the first references to the shires they led, occur during Ine's reign. It may have been Ine who divided Wessex into something approximating the modern counties of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, and Dorset, though earlier administrative boundaries might also have influenced these borders. It has also been suggested that these counties began as divisions of

7326-490: The pounds are equal to sceattas , then this amount is the equal of a king's weregild —that is, the legal valuation of a man's life, according to his rank. Ine kept the South Saxons , who had been conquered by Cædwalla in 686, in subjugation for a period. King Nothhelm of Sussex is referred to in a charter of 692 as a kinsman of Ine (perhaps by marriage). Sussex was still under West Saxon domination in 710, when Nothhelm

7425-548: The prologue to his laws that he rejected earlier laws which he disliked. He did not specify what laws he omitted, but if they were the ones no longer relevant in his own time, it cannot be assumed that the surviving version of Ine's laws is complete. Ingrid Ivarsen suggests that the laws were originally composed in Latin and translated into Old English. The prologue to Ine's laws lists his advisors. Three people are named: bishops Eorcenwald and Hædde , and Ine's father, King Cenred. Ine

7524-553: The region have been termed the "Kentish Group" and reflect both Italian and Frankish influences in their design; early examples include St Pancras, St Mary, and St Peter and St Paul, all part of St. Augustine's monastery in Canterbury, as well as St. Andrews in Rochester and St Mary in Lyminge . In the late seventh century, the earliest charters appear, giving estate boundaries, and showing reclamation of land, for use by livestock, from

7623-595: The reigning king. The earliest Anglo-Saxon law code to survive, which may date from 602 or 603, is that of Æthelberht of Kent , whose reign ended in 616. In the 670s or 680s, a code was issued in the names of Hlothhere and Eadric of Kent . The next kings to issue laws were Wihtred of Kent and Ine. The dates of Wihtred's and Ine's laws are somewhat uncertain, but there is reason to believe that Wihtred's laws were issued on 6 September 695, while Ine's laws were written in 694 or shortly before. Ine had recently agreed to peaceful terms with Wihtred over compensation for

7722-469: The river. After King Ealhmund presumably died shortly after witnessing a charter in 784, his son Egbert was driven out of Kent and into exile by Offa of Mercia. It is clear from charters that Offa was in control of Kent by 785. Rather than just acting as overlord of his new possession, he attempted to annex it or at least reduce its importance by creating a new diocese in Mercia at Lichfield , possibly because

7821-517: The southeast were the South Saxons , on the coast east of the Isle of Wight . Beyond Sussex lay the kingdom of Kent. Ine's predecessor, Cædwalla, had made himself overlord of most of these southern kingdoms, though he had not been able to prevent Mercian inroads along the upper Thames. Ine retained control of the Isle of Wight , and made further advances in Dumnonia, but the territorial gains Cædwalla had made in Sussex, Surrey and Kent were all lost by

7920-519: The southern bank: a charter dated 687 shows him giving land to the church at Streatley on the Thames and at nearby Basildon . In 721, the Chronicle records that Ine slew one Cynewulf, of whom nothing else is known, though his name suggests a connection to the Wessex royal line. A quarrel apparently arose in the royal family soon afterwards: in 722, according to the Chronicle , Ine's queen Æthelburg destroyed Taunton , which her husband had built earlier in his reign, around 710. The first mention of

8019-405: The standard holding of the medieval villein , and was known as the virgate . One historian has commented that "the beginnings of a manorial economy are clearly visible in Ine's laws." The fine for neglecting fyrd , the obligation to do military service for the king, is set at 120 shillings for a nobleman, and 30 shillings for a ceorl, incidentally revealing that ceorls were required to serve in

8118-596: The subsequent kings of England. Cuthburh was married to King Aldfrith of Northumbria , and Ine himself was married to Æthelburg . Bede tells that Ine was "of the blood royal", by which he means the royal line of the Gewisse , the early West Saxon tribal name. The genealogy of Ine is known from the Anglian King-list , the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List (which may share a common source with

8217-400: The throne until 689, which could indicate an unsettled period between Cædwalla's abdication and Ine's accession. Ine may have ruled alongside his father, Cenred, for a period: there is weak evidence for joint kingships, and stronger evidence of subkings reigning under a dominant ruler in Wessex, not long before this time. Ine acknowledges his father's help in his code of laws, and there is also

8316-507: The town include Frisian coins. Specialist trades carried on in the town included cloth-making, smithying, and metalworking. It is not known whether Ine took an interest in Hamwic, but some of the goods he favoured, including luxuries, were imported there, and the merchants would probably have needed royal protection. The total population of Hamwic has been estimated at 5,000, and this high population itself implies Ine's involvement, since no-one but

8415-462: The two populations is supported by research into placename history, the history of religious houses, and local archaeology, which indicates that the western part of Wessex was thinly settled by the Germanic newcomers at the time the laws were issued. It is notable that, although issued by the Saxon king of a Saxon kingdom, the term used in the laws to define Ine's Germanic subjects is Englisc . This reflects

8514-600: The unified Kingdom of England that was created under the leadership of Wessex. Its name has been carried forward ever since as the county of Kent . Knowledge of Anglo-Saxon Kent comes from scholarly study of Late Anglo-Saxon texts such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Ecclesiastical History of the English People , as well as archaeological evidence such as that left by early medieval cemeteries and settlements, and toponymical (place-name) evidence. In

8613-441: The unsettled aftermath of Ine's abdication both helped establish Æthelheard as king and also brought him into the sphere of influence of Æthelbald , the king of Mercia. Kingdom of Kent The Kingdom of the Kentish ( Old English : Cantwara rīce ; Latin : Regnum Cantuariorum ), today referred to as the Kingdom of Kent , was an early medieval kingdom in what is now South East England . It existed from either

8712-508: The upper middle section is a circular window, and above that is the coat-of-arms of Pope Sixtus V. The façade is crowned by a pediment . It is a typical example of Renaissance architecture . In the stational procession for the first Sunday after the Octave of the Epiphany, instituted by Pope Innocent III (1198–1216), a procession carried the veil of Saint Veronica from Saint Peter's Basilica , and

8811-726: The warring kingdoms; the Faestendic passing through the Cray Valley and the routeway that has since become the A25 were likely Kentish earthworks of this period designed to protect the kingdom. Evidence for such militarisation might also be seen in the Rochester Bridge burdens, documented from the 790s, which lay out the obligation for the Roman bridge across the River Medway to be maintained, which would be vital for allowing Kentish troops to cross

8910-572: Was a Christian king, whose intent to encourage Christianity is clear from the laws. The oath of a communicant, for example, is declared to carry more weight than that of a non-Christian; and baptism and religious observance are also addressed. Significant attention is also paid to civil issues—more than in the contemporary Kentish laws. One of the laws states that common land might be enclosed by several ceorls (the contemporary name for Saxon freemen). Any ceorl who fails to fence his share, however, and allows his cattle to stray into someone else's field

9009-513: Was already a British monastery at Glastonbury. Ine has been credited with supporting the establishment of an organized church in Wessex, though it is not clear that this was his initiative. He is also connected with the oldest known West Saxon synods , presiding at one himself and apparently addressing the assembled clerics. There is a tradition that Ine was a saint, and was the dedicatee of St Ina's Church in Llanina near New Quay , Wales. However,

9108-479: Was governed by two kings, possibly a dominant one in the east and a subordinate in the west, perhaps reflecting the earlier divide. Trade with Francia was extensive in the seventh and eighth centuries and appears to have been under control of the kings of Kent , through the ports of Dover , Sarre and Fordwich . This period witnessed the end of furnished burial, marked archaeologically by less regional distinctiveness of grave goods and more artefacts decorated in

9207-700: Was independent of East Kent, and part of the Kingdom of the East Saxons north of the Thames Estuary . In the sixth century the Kingdom of Kent had some relationship with the Merovingian -governed Kingdom of Francia , which was then extending its influence in northwestern Europe. Textual sources suggest that Kent may have been under Merovingian control for part of this century. Archeological evidence of Frankish material culture from this period has been found in Kent, but not in other areas of lowland Britain, suggesting

9306-493: Was originally a complete copy of Ine's laws, part of British Library MS Cotton Otho B xi, but that manuscript was largely destroyed in 1731 by a fire at Ashburnham House in which only Chapters 66 to 76.2 of Ine's laws escaped destruction. A fragment of Ine's laws can also be found in British Library Burney MS 277. It is possible that we do not have Ine's laws in their original 7th century form. Alfred mentions in

9405-508: Was rebuilt in the 12th century and subsequently restored several times. In 1475 Pope Sixtus IV commissioned joining the church to the nearby Hospital of the Holy Spirit for foundlings (which Pope Innocent III had built and whose history is given in wall-paintings in the church's sacristy) and given a bell tower . In 1538–1545, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, or Baldassare Peruzzi , rebuilt

9504-420: Was replaced by that of Wessex in 825, following the latter's victory at the Battle of Ellendun , and the Mercian client king Baldred was expelled. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Kent was first attacked by Viking raiders in the late eighth century. Kent and southeast England would have been an attractive target because of its wealthy minsters, often located on exposed coastal locations. In 804,

9603-404: Was significant regional variation, with the former view being more applicable in the south and east and the latter in the north and west. In Kent, archaeological and historical evidence suggests that a large-scale immigration of Germanic peoples did indeed take place. However, some of the Romano-British population likely remained, as the Roman name for the area, Cantiaca , influenced the name of

9702-618: Was succeeded by his brother, Hlothere , who ruled from 674 to 686 before being overthrown and killed by one of Ecgberht's sons, Eadric , who had allied with the South Saxons; Eadric then ruled until 687. In the late seventh century, Kent gradually came to be dominated by Mercia. There had been a Kentish royal hall and reeve in Lundenwic until at least the 680s, but the city then passed into Mercian hands. The loss of Lundenwic probably broke Kent's monopoly on cross-Channel trade and its control of

9801-509: Was transferred to the diocese of Winchester in 705. Evidence for Ine's early control of Surrey comes from the introduction to his laws, in which he refers to Eorcenwald , bishop of London, as "my bishop". Ine's subsequent relations with the East Saxons are illuminated by a letter written in 704 or 705 by Bishop Wealdhere of London to Brihtwold , the Archbishop of Canterbury . The letter refers to "disputes and discords" that had arisen "between

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