Eormenric of Kent was King of Kent from circa 534/540 to 564/580. His father may have been Octa of Kent

Octa of Kent

Octa was an Anglo-Saxon King of Kent during the 6th century. Sources disagree on his relationship to the other kings in his line; he may have been the son of Hengist or Oisc, and may have been the father of Oisc or Eormenric. The dates of his reign are unclear, but he may have ruled from 512 to...

, whom Eormenric succeeded. His son, Æthelberht of Kent, in turn succeeded him circa 580/590, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...

.

Gregory of Tours

Gregory of Tours

Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...

 records that the marriage of Æthelberht to a Frankish

Franks

The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

 princess, Bertha

Bertha of Kent

Saint Bertha was the Queen of Kent whose influence led to the introduction of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. She was canonized as a saint for her role in its establishment during that period of English history.Bertha was the daughter of Charibert I, Merovingian King of Paris...

, took place while he was filius regis (the son of the king), most likely during the reign of his father, whom the genealogies name Eormenric. Therefore Eormenric can be regarded as the first historical King of Kent. As the date of the marriage is not known, Eormenric's reign cannot be dated. The Venerable Bede placed his death in 560, but since his son's wife was not even born at that time, it seems unlikely. Rather, Gregory implies that Æthelberht's father was still reigning as of his writing (589).

Eormenric's Frankish connexion goes deeper than his daughter-in-law. The first component of his name Eormen- was uncommon in England at the time, but common in Francia. Both Eormen- and -ric were used repeatedly in naming by the Oiscingas thereafter.