According to Bede [Joseph Stevenson 1838 Venerabilis Bedæ Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum page 411] when King Wihtræd of Kent died on 23 April 725 he left three sons: “filios tres, Ædilberctum, Eadberctum, et Alricum, reliquit heredes”.

Alric could be a contracted form of some half a dozen Anglo-Saxon names, and the Anglo-Saxon translation of this passage gives the names of the three sons as “Æþelbryht ⁊ Eadbryht ⁊ Æþelric” [Thomas Miller 1890 The Old English version of Bede'
s Ecclesiastical history of the English people 1: 474]. However, Henry Sweet [1886 The Oldest English Texts, page 472] identified the prototheme as æl- (all), in which case the normal form would be Ælric, cognate with the famous Gothic name Alaric.

In a footnote to this passage Joseph Stevenson stated “They successively filled the throne, Eadbert from 725 till 748; Ethelberht the Second from 748 until 760, and Alric from that date until 794”, which is false information, derived from the always
unreliable William of Malmesbury. William Searle [1899 Anglo-Saxon Bishops, Kings and Nobles, page 263] likewise gave Alric wrong reign dates of 760 to 794, even though he knew that Æthelbeorht II reigned from 725 to 762, and that his brother Eadbeorht
I reigned from 725 to 748, when he was succeeded by his son Eardwulf.

Susan Kelly [1995 Anglo-Saxon Charters 4: 203] supposed that in 725 Kent was divided into two kingdoms, with “Æthelberht II” and his successors ruling “East Kent” and “Eadberht I” and his heirs reigning in “West Kent”. Barbara Yorke [
1990 Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England, page 33] proposed something similar, but showed “Æthelbert II” reigning in “West Kent” during the lifetime of his father, and then switching to “East Kent”, while “Eadbert” received �
�West Kent”. David Williamson [1991 Kings & Queens of Britain, page 213] stated that “Alric reigned jointly with his half-brothers”, which is more likely to be correct.

Most published genealogies [Barbara Yorke 1990 Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England, page 36; David Williamson 1991 Kings & Queens of Britain, page 213; Michael Swanton 2000 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, 2nd edition, page 282] provide no death
date for this third son. Barbara Yorke [1990 Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England, page 30] said “Alaric is not heard of again”, and Susan Kelly [1995 Anglo-Saxon Charters 4: 198] wrote “Alric is likely, therefore, to have been the
younger half-brother of Æthelberht and Eadberht, which probably explains why he immediately disappears from the record”, but they have overlooked an annal preserved in a work attributed to Simon of Durham which states that “Alric” was killed on 23
August 732 “cum aliis plurimis” [Thomas Arnold 1885 Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia 2: 30]. The editor of that publication identified this “Alaric” with the “Alricum” of Bede.

More likely than not, this Alric killed in 732 is the king who succeeded in 725. The death date is significant. It is usually supposed that Bede finished his history in 731, which explains why he reported the accession of Alric but not his demise. The
fact that he was killed with many others surely indicates that he died in battle, perhaps defending Kent against Mercian aggression.

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