Bede

(c. 673–735)

   Saint and Historian.

   Bede was a native of County Durham, and at an early age he became a monk at the Benedictine community at Jarrow. At this period, Northumbria was a centre of learning and although Bede is thought never to have travelled abroad, he could read Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He was also well versed in Classical literature and he was familiar with the work of many of the Church Fathers. He is best known for his Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum. For this monumental history he used copies of documents sent from foreign libraries and he also made careful use of oral traditions. For this he is often described as the ‘Father of English History’. In addition he wrote a life of St cuthbert, a history of the community at Jarrow, historical chronicles, biblical expositions and a scientific treatise, De Natura Rerum. After his death he was given the title ‘Venerable’ and in 1899 he was declared a Doctor of the Church.

   P.H. Blair, The World of Bede (1970);

   J.M. Wallace- Hadrill, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People (1988);

   B. Ward, The Venerable Bede (1990).