Wihtred
WIHTRED, king of Kent (d. 725), son of Ecgberht, nephew of Hlothhere and brother of Eadric, came to the Kentish throne in 690 after the period of anarchy which followed the death of the latter king. Bede states that Wihtred and Swefheard were both kings in Kent in 692, and this statement would appear to imply a period of East Saxon influence (see KENT), while there is also evidence of an attack by Wessex. Wihtred, however, seems to have become sole king in 694. At his death, which did not take place until 725, he left the kingdom to his sons Aethelberht, Eadberht and Alric. After the annal 694 in the Chronicle there is inserted a grant of privileges to the church, which purports to have been issued by Wihtred at a place called Baccancelde. This grant, however, cannot be accepted as genuine and has merely an illustrative value, but there is still extant a code of laws issued by him in a council held at a place called Berghamstyde (Barham?) during the fifth year of his reign (probably 695).
See Bede, Hist. Eccl., ed. C. Plummer (Oxford, 1896); AngloSaxon Chronicle, ed. Earle and Plummer (Oxford, 1899).
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
