Kingdom of Kent - Romano-British Ceint

Romano-British Ceint

The origins of Kent are obscure, but its boundaries are likely to correspond to the ancient tribal lands of the Brythonic Cantiaci tribe or Ceint after which the kingdom is named. Caesar referred to Cingetorix, Carvilius, Taximagulus and Segovax as kings of the four regions of Cantiacia. Later kings known from their coins include Dubnovellaunus, Vosenos, Eppillus, and Amminus.

The Kentish coastline was known as the Saxon Shore and was guarded by a series of very effective fortresses. After the evacuation of the last Roman legions from Britain, the local tradition reported much later that a number of Jutish ships made landfall in Britain. The British ruling council offered them payment in return for federati service defending the realm in the north from the incursions of Picts and Scots. According to legend they were promised provisions and offered the island of Ruoihm (as originally spelt by Nennius) - now known as the Isle of Thanet - in perpetuity to use as a base for their operations. It is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles that their leader, Hengist advised:

Take my advice and you will never fear conquest from any man or any people, for my people are strong. I will invite my son and his cousin to fight against the Irish, for they are fine warriors.

Apparently the Jutes assaulted the enemy and brought much needed relief to the beleaguered Romano-British communities of the north. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth's fanciful Historia Regum Britanniae, the British king Vortigern married Rowena, the daughter of Hengist, with the civitas of the Cantiaci (Kent) as the bride-gift.

Gwrangon was king of Ceint in the time of Vortigern according to Nennius. The word 'king' may be misleading and it is more likely that the 'province' of the Cantiaci was ruled jointly by a civil governor (Gwrangon?) and a military governor, according to Roman custom, and that Hengist became the new military governor.

The establishment of barbarian bases inland rendered the extensive coastal forts of the Saxon Shore almost useless as the 6th Century British monk Gildas laments:

They sealed its doom by inviting in among them (like wolves in to the sheep fold), the fierce and impious Saxons a race hurtful both to God and men, to repel the invasions of the northern nations. Nothing was ever so pernicious to our country, nothing was ever so unlucky. What palpable darkness must have enveloped their minds--darkened, desperate and cruel! Those very people whom, when absent, they dreaded more than death itself, were invited to reside, as one may say, under the selfsame roof.

The Jutes began making ever increasing demands for provisions from their hosts, who became increasingly divided and fractious. Each time the Britons threatened to withhold the supplies the Jutes threatened to break the alliance and ravage the country. Vortimer, Vortigern's son, assembled an army and attacked the Jutes. Vortimer died at the Battle of Aylesford alongside Horsa, the Jutish co-ruler of Kent. The next year the Jutes were attacked again at the Battle of Crecganford.

A banquet is said to have taken place ostensibly to seal a peace treaty between the Britons and their Germanic foes, which may have involved the cession of modern-day Essex. The story tells that the "Saxons"—which probably includes Angles and Jutes—arrived at the banquet armed, surprising the British, who were slaughtered. This event was dubbed the Night of the Long Knives by Geoffrey of Monmouth and is the original event to bear that name. The only escapees from this slaughter were said to be Vortigern himself. The historical existence of this event and of persons involved in it is conjectural, as textual evidence is weak and only begins in the 7th century.

The British government under Vortigern unravelled, and civil war spread across the country. There was further action at the Battle of Wippedesfleot, but Kent was never recovered. From then on, the pacified territory of Ceint was known as Cantware, "dwellers in Kent" and its kings traced their lineage from Hengist.