The extreme and varying fortunes of the main kingdoms in seventh-century England illustrate the instability and fragility of political authority during this period. The acknowledged overlord of southern England was Æthelberht, ruler of the rich kingdom of Kent, who introduced Christianity to his people. By the late seventh century the most powerful kingdom apart from Northumbria and Mercia was Wessex. It is clear that the ruling elites of the English kingdoms, whatever their early origins, no longer distinguished themselves on the basis of ethnic and political identities determined on the continent. The nearest continental neighbour of the English, Merovingian France, enjoyed especially close relations with the kingdoms of the south-east in the earlier seventh century. Anglo-Saxon kingship in its seventh-century form was probably quite a recent development. Kings played an important role in the administration of justice and in dispute settlement. At the beginning of the seventh century the English elite was mostly pagan.