By the early 6th century AD, Kent was one of a number of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which had emerged in the south-east of England following the initial wave of settlement by Germanic peoples. Closely linked to mainland Europe, Kent was the richest and most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms during the late 6th and early 7th centuries.

Kent was also one of the first Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to be converted to Christianity. It already had contacts with the Christian Frankish culture of Gaul. King Ethelbert was married to a Frankish princess when the Roman monk Augustine arrived in 597 to convert the Anglo-Saxons. Ethelbert was baptised and Augustine founded a monastery at Canterbury and was enthroned as its first archbishop in 601. Canterbury remains the premier archbishopric in England to this day.

Kent was a prosperous region. Kentish gold coins were already being issued before 600 – the first Anglo-Saxon coins. Later ones bear the name of the king, Eadbald (reigned 616-40). They were probably minted in East Anglia and Wessex as well as Kent. Gold supplies eventually dwindled and were replaced by silver by the end of the 7th century. By then, Kent, Surrey and Sussex had been annexed by the kingdom of Wessex. The Kentish dynasty became sub-kings and finally disappeared in 798.