Odo, Earl of Kent

Odo, Earl of Kent (died 1097) and Bishop of Bayeux, was the half-brother of William the Conqueror, and was, for a time, second in power after the King of England.

Early life

He was the son of William the Conqueror's mother Herleva and Herluin de Conteville. Count Robert of Mortain was his younger brother. There is uncertainty about his birth date. Some historians have suggested he was born around 1035. Duke William made him bishop of Bayeux in 1049. so it has been suggested that his birth was as early as 1030, making him about nineteen rather than fourteen at the time.

Norman Conquest and after

Although he was an ordained Christian cleric, he is best known as a warrior and statesman. He found ships for the invasion of England and is one of the very few proven Companions of William the Conqueror, known to have fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The Bayeux Tapestry, probably commissioned by him to adorn his own cathedral, appears to labour the point that he did not actually fight, that is to say shed blood, at Hastings, but rather encouraged the troops from the rear. The Latin annotation embroidered onto the Tapestry above his image reads: "Hic Odo Eps (Episcopus) Baculu(m) Tenens Confortat Pueros", in English "Here Odo the Bishop holding a club strengthens the boys". It seems that his clerical status forbade him from using a sword, though this is highly dubious as the club was a common weapon and used often by leadership, specifically by Duke William himself, as also depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. He was accompanied by William the carrier of his crozier and a retinue of servants and members of his household.

Earl of Kent

The peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

Earls of Kent, first creation (1020)

Earls of Kent, second creation (1067)

Earls of Kent, third creation (1141)

Earls of Kent, fourth creation (1227)

Earls of Kent, fifth creation (1321)

Earls of Kent, sixth creation (1360)

The Earls of Kent of this creation used Baron Holand (1353) as a subsidiary title; it became abeyant 1408. The first Earl of Kent by this creation was the husband of Joan of Kent of the fifth creation.

Kent

Kent /ˈkɛnt/ is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north west, Surrey to the west, East Sussex to the south west, and across the Thames Estuary is the county of Essex. The county town is Maidstone.

Canterbury Cathedral in Kent has been the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England, since the conversion of England to Christianity by Saint Augustine in the 6th century.

Between London and the Strait of Dover, which separates it from mainland Europe, Kent has seen both diplomacy and conflict, ranging from the Leeds Castle peace talks of 1978 and 2004 to the Battle of Britain in World War II.

England relied on the county's ports to provide warships through much of its history; the Cinque Ports in the 12th–14th centuries and Chatham Dockyard in the 16th–20th centuries were of particular importance. France can be seen clearly in fine weather from Folkestone and the White Cliffs of Dover. Hills in the form of the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge span the length of the county and in the series of valleys in between and to the south are most of the county's 26 castles.

Kent, New York

Kent is a town in Putnam County, New York, United States. The population was 13,507 at the 2010 census. The name is that of an early settler family. The town is in the north-central part of the Putnam County. Many of the lakes are reservoirs for New York City.

History

Kent was part of the Philipse Patent of 1697, when it was still populated by the Wappinger tribe. Daniel Nimham (1724–1778) was the last chief of the Wappingers and was the most prominent Native American of his time in the Hudson Valley.

The town was first settled by Europeans in the mid-18th century by Zachariah Merritt and others, from New England, Westchester County, or the Fishkill area. Elisha Cole and his wife Hannah Smalley built Coles Mills in 1748, having moved to that location the previous year from Cape Cod. Coles Mill operated until 1888 when it was submerged under West Branch Reservoir. Around this same time the northeastern part of the county was settled by the Kent, Townsend, and Ludington families, among others. The father of Hannah Smalley and his family moved to Kent about two years before Elisha Cole and his family.

Kent station (Sound Transit)

Kent is a Sounder commuter rail station serving the city of Kent, Washington. It was built by Sound Transit on BNSF Railway tracks in downtown Kent and completed in 2001. In 2003, the parking garage was completed, making the total available parking spaces to 983. The station is also served by ST Express and Metro Transit buses.

References

External links

Media related to Kent (Sounder station) at Wikimedia Commons