The Anglo-Saxons begin using the Latin alphabet with the introduction of Christianity by Augustine of Canterbury. (King Æthelbert’s code of law is the oldest surviving document in Old English.)

Ceawlin, king of the West Saxons, or Wessex, from 560, together with his brother Cutha, fights against Æthelbert of Kent in 568, sending him in flight to his home territory in the first recorded battle between the Anglo-Saxon tribes. (It is now considered that the site of the battle was Whitmoor Common, Worplesdon, north of Guildford.)

Bede in his Ecclesiastical History includes his list of seven kings who held "imperium" over the other kingdoms south of the Humber.

The usual translation for "imperium" is "overlordship".

Bede names Æthelberht as the third on the list, after Ælle of Sussex and Ceawlin of Wessex.

The anonymous annalist who composed one of the Anglo-Saxon chronicles repeated Bede’s list of seven kings in a famous entry under the year 827, with one additional king, Egbert of Wessex.

The Chronicle also states that these kings held the title "bretwalda", or "Britain-ruler".

The exact meaning of bretwalda has been the subject of much debate; it has been described as a term "of encomiastic poetry", but there also is evidence that it implied a definite role of military leadership.

The prior bretwalda noted, Ceawlin, is recorded by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as having fought Æthelberht in 568.

The entry states that Æthelberht lost the battle and was driven back to Kent.

The dating of the entries concerning the West Saxons in this section of the Chronicle is thought to be unreliable and a recent analysis suggests that Ceawlin’s reign is more likely to have been approximately 581–588, rather than the dates of 560–592 that are given in the Chronicle.

The battle was at "Wibbandun", which may be translated as Wibba’s Mount; it is not known where this was.

At some point Ceawlin ceased to hold the title of bretwalda, perhaps, after a battle at Stoke Lyne, in Oxfordshire, which the Chronicle dates to 584, some eight years before he was deposed in 592 (again using the Chronicle’s unreliable dating).

Æthelberht certainly was a dominant ruler by 601, when Gregory the Great wrote to him, urging Æthelberht to spread Christianity among those kings and peoples subject to him, implying some level of overlordship.

If the battle of Wibbandun was fought circa 590, as has been suggested, then Æthelberht must have gained his position as overlord some time in the 590s.

This dating for Wibbandun is slightly inconsistent with the proposed dates of 581–588 for Ceawlin’s reign, but those dates are not thought to be precise, merely the most plausible given the available data.

The Germanic invaders of Britain, all initially called Saxons, come to be known as Angles.

Pope Gregory refers to the recently converted King Æthelbert of Kent (a kingdom founded by Jutes) as rex Anglorum ("king of the Angles").

Augustine, an Italian monk, had served as prior of a monastery in Rome until June of 595, when Pope Gregory dispatched him and thirty other monks to convert the Anglo-Saxons.

He carries letters of commendation to bishops and is accompanied by Frankish interpreters.

Æthelbert, who had married a Christian Frankish princess, allows them to enter his realm, to preach, and to establish a church at Canterbury; Augustine baptizes Æthelbert into Christianity the following year.

Freely adapting local customs to Christianity in accord with Gregory's instructions, Augustine pursues a policy of preserving pagan temples and destroying only the idols, transforming pagan rites and customs into Christian practices whenever possible.

Augustine founds an abbey in Canterbury and becomes the first archbishop here.

The West Germanic language of the invader-colonizers of Britain, whether spoken by Angles, Saxons, or Jutes (and perhaps some Frisians), is apparently always referred to as English.

The Anglo-Saxons begin using the Latin alphabet: King Æthelbert’s code of law, circa 600, is the oldest surviving document in Old English.

The code is concerned with preserving social order, through compensation and punishment for personal injury.

When Christian monks attempt to write the Germanic languages in Latin characters, they encounter many difficulties because Latin and Germanic sounds do not very closely resemble one another.

East Anglia was settled in the fifth century by Saxons, Angles, Swabians, and Frisians.

Events that occurred during the early years of Rædwald's reign include the arrival of Augustine of Canterbury and his mission from Rome in 597, the conversions of Æthelberht of Kent and Saeberht of Essex, and the establishment of new bishoprics in their kingdoms.

Bede, when relating the conversion of Rædwald's son Eorpwald in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, mentioned that Rædwald received the Christian sacraments in Kent.

This happens in perhaps 604 or later, presumably at the invitation of Æthelberht, who may have been his baptismal sponsor.

Æthelberht issues a set of laws, in ninety sections, perhaps in 602 or 603, some time after the arrival of Augustine’s mission.

These laws are considered the earliest surviving code composed in any of the Germanic countries, and they are almost certainly among the first documents written down in Anglo-Saxon, as literacy would have arrived in England with Augustine’s mission.

The only surviving early manuscript, the Textus Roffensis, dates from the twelfth century, and it now resides in the Medway Studies Centre in Strood, Kent.

Æthelberht’s code makes reference to the church in the very first item, which enumerates the compensation required for the property of a bishop, a deacon, a priest, and so on; but overall, the laws seem remarkably uninfluenced by Christian principles.

Bede asserted that they were composed "after the Roman manner", but there is little discernible Roman influence either.

In subject matter, the laws have been compared to the Lex Salica of the Franks, but it is not thought that Æthelberht based his new code on any specific previous model.

The laws are concerned with setting and enforcing the penalties for transgressions at all levels of society; the severity of the fine depends on the social rank of the victim, with crimes against the Church penalized the most, more greatly even than those against the king.

The king has a financial interest in enforcement, for part of the fines would come to him in many cases, but the king also is responsible for law and order, and avoiding blood feuds by enforcing the rules on compensation for injury is part of the way the king maintains control.

Æthelberht’s laws are mentioned by Alfred the Great, who compiles his own laws, making use of the prior codes created by Æthelberht, as well as those of Offa of Mercia and Ine of Wessex.

One of Æthelberht’s laws seems to preserve a trace of a very old custom: the third item in the code states that "If the king is drinking at a man’s home, and anyone commits any evil deed there, he is to pay twofold compensation."

This probably refers to the ancient custom of a king traveling the country, being hosted, and being provided for by his subjects wherever he went.

The king’s servants will retain these rights for centuries after Æthelberht’s time.

Items 77–81 in the code have been interpreted as a description of a woman’s financial rights after a divorce or legal separation.

These clauses define how much of the household goods a woman could keep in different circumstances, depending on whether she keeps custody of the children, for example.

It has recently been suggested by one source, however, that it would be more correct to interpret these clauses as referring to women who are widowed, rather than divorced.

Æthelberht, the first Christian Anglo-Saxon king, dies in Kent after a twenty-six-year reign.

He is succeeded by his pagan son, Eadbald, who in accordance with pre-Christian custom promptly marries his stepmother.

King Sæberht of Essex dies after a twelve-year reign and is succeeded by his son Sexred.

He rules conjointly with his two brothers Sæward and Sigeberht.

Mellitus, bishop of London, is exiled by Sexred and his brothers and is forced to take refuge in Gaul, but will return to England the following year.

Sigeberht becomes king of Essex after his father Sæward and uncle Sexred are killed in battle against the West Saxons.