Kings of Kent Eadberht Praen AD 796-798 Silver Penny

Kings of Kent Eadberht Praen AD 796-798 Silver Penny

Type 1. EADBERHT REX in 3 lines

Tidheah

S875, 19mm, 1.19g

A sharp and most pleasing example of this rare king, small area of edge damage at 11 o’clock.

Recorded with the Early Medieval Coinage Database held at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (2024.0149) and found near Maidstone, Kent during 2024.

Eadberht III Praen (796-798) – an obscure individual apparently residing at the court of Frankish King Charlemagne (who may well have sponsored his insurrection), Eadberht took power in late 796 following the death of Offa of Mercia. However, his attempt stalled when Pope Leo III refused to ratify his rule – ruling instead that Offa’s successor Coenwulf had every right to wage war on Eadberht and re-take Kent. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that Eadberht was quickly captured and brought back to Mercia, but his ultimate fate is unknown. One source states that he was mutilated and blinded, another that he was set free.