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He was established as king following Offa of Mercia's conquest of Kent in 764, and for the first years of his rule, he reigned alongside a co-ruler named Eadbert. Although he had been intended as a puppet king by Offa, Offa eventually attempted to rule Kent directly, and this provoked a rebellion under Egbert. A bloody battle was fought at Otford in 776, and it appears that Egbert's forces prevailed, since Offa thereafter allowed Kent to remain independent for several years. When he died, probably in 784, he was succeeded by Ealhmund, the king who Offa had initially deposed in 764.