February 24, 2024 / 12:01 AM
Saint Ethelbert (ca. 560 – 616/618) was king of Kent, one of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England. He is considered the first English monarch to convert to Christianity.
When England was nothing more than a group of kingdoms that shared a common past of Anglo-Saxon roots, Æthelbert ruled the region of Kent, located southeast of early medieval England. His reign extended from the end of the 6th century to the beginning of the 7th century.
Ethelbert was married to Bertha, a Christian princess of Frankish origin, whose piety and kind virtues contributed to his conversion. Bertha, like Ethelberto, would later achieve sainthood. When the two met, Etelberto was dazzled. However, his conversion would not occur only due to the influence of his wife but also due to the testimony and spiritual closeness of Saint Augustine of Canterbury (Rome, ca. 534-Canterbury 604). Augustine, called ‘the apostle of England’, had arrived on the island accompanied by a group of monks, sent by Pope Saint Gregory the Great to evangelize the English people.