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Abbot Cynebert

Cynebert of Kent (818 - 875) was a West Saxon Roman Catholic monk and the Abbot of St. Hadrian's Priory in Kent during the late 9th century AD.

Biography[]

Cynebert was born in Kent, Wessex in 818 to a Roman Catholic Anglo-Saxon family, and he became a monk before rising to be Abbot of St. Hadrian's Priory, located across the River Medway from Rochester. He was a shrewd political player, getting to know each ealdorman in order to curry favor with them and ensure that the Church's interests were protected and promoted. In the spring of 875 AD, Hidden Ones member Basim ibn Ishaq came to the priory to search for the Order of the Ancients paladin Fulke, and Cynebert confirmed that he had drank and talked with Fulke a month before his visit. Basim then summoned his Viking associate Eivor to the priory, where Cynebert asked Eivor to steal a letter from King Alfred the Great's messenger to discover the identity of the new Ealdorman in exchange for his help in tracking down Fulke.

Cynebert rescue party

Cynebert with his rescue party

Eivor discovered that Tedmund was to become the new ealdorman, causing Cynebert to despair, as Tedmund was a coward who - due to his fears of Danish attacks - holed up at the fortress of Rochester. However, Eivor and Cynebert came up with a plot to ingratiate Tedmund with Cynebert. Eivor and Basim planned to kidnap Tedmund at the village of Beamasfield and bring him to the Medway Megaliths, where Cynebert would "rescue" Tedmund at the head of a rescue party. The plan went awry when Basim and Eivor accidentally captured Tedmund's body double Shergar, forcing them to assault Rochester in order to forcefully capture Tedmund. They gathered allies from the local Danish raiders and the Mercian men of Oxfordshire and stormed Rochester as Cynebert gathered another relief force, and, when Cynebert and his army arrived at the fortress, Basim and Eivor brought out a captive Tedmund. Again, Cynebert's hopes were dashed when Tedmund pointed out the suspicious coincidences between Cynebert's timing and the timing of the attack on the fortress, and Tedmund then collapsed and died from poison he had drank earlier (supposedly to avoid being captured and ransomed). Eivor then reminded a fretful Cynebert that they had still fulfilled their side of the bargain by bringing Tedmund to Cynebert, and demanded that Cynebert help them find Fulke.

Death[]

Cynebert dead

Cynebert's body

Cynebert headed back to his priory, where he sent a letter to Fulke, telling her that her friends were eager to meet with her, and sending her a warm invitation to join them for dinner. Whether he was aware of the Hidden Ones' intent or not, Cynebert inadvertently revealed that he had betrayed Fulke, so she had her guards clear the monastery (either by killing the monks or by dispersing them) and then killed Cynebert, cutting out his eyes and seating him at the head of his dinner table. Eivor and Basim saw the grisly scene and Fulke awaiting them when they investigated his main hall.

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