Bede

BEDE (AD 673 - 735)

Bede (or Baeda) was probably born in Monkton and went to school at Wearmouth monastery. Founded in AD 674 by Benedict Biscop, this was a stone edifice with glazed windows - indeed Biscop is credited with introducing both techniques to Saxon England. Biscop also brought back a store of books from Rome to furnish the monasteries at Wearmouth and Jarrow, and on his death left directions for the preservation of his library. Biscop is regarded as one of the originators of the artistic and literary development of Northumbria in the next century and is celebrated by Bede in his important work Lives of the Abbots (AD 716-20).

In St Paul's church, Jarrow, may be seen the oldest dedicatory inscription in the country, dated 23 April AD 685. Bede transferred to Jarrow around this date and afterwards rarely left its confines. He became a priest at the age of thirty and taught Latin and Greek to the monks, but his scholarly interests were very wide and included music, medicine, astronomy and the art of indigitation, or conversing with the fingers. His earliest work was probably De Orthographia, a treatise on spelling. Bede was also responsible for popularising the system of dating events from the birth of Christ. Bede wrote some forty religious works at Jarrow, including, in AD 731, his celebrated Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, sometimes translated as the History of the English Church and People. This remains the most valuable single source for the early history of Britain, and has earned him the title of 'The Father of English History'. It contains the wonderful simile comparing human life without Christian faith to the flight of a sparrow from darkness into darkness.

Lord Dacre calls Bede: 'The greatest scholar of his time, the greatest historian of the whole Middle Ages'. In addition, Bede's style is lively and gives many insights into the daily life of his time. Bede is the first known writer of English prose, and probably the best-known writer in western Europe throughout the early Middle Ages. His eminence is confirmed by the fact that he is the only Englishman to be named in Dante's Paradiso (c 1314), where the poet rebukes the cardinals for not studying Bede as they should. Curiously enough an old pupil of Durham School occupies a place in the eighth circle of Hell in Dante's Inferno. This is Michael Scot (1175-?1232) a magician, alchemist, philosopher and mathematician of European reputation. Bede was translated into Old English in the mid 10th century; later religious men, including John Wycliffe and George Fox (qq.v.) have been loud in his praise. William Camden (q.v.) calls him 'this singular and shining light', while John Leland (q.v.) describes him as 'the chiefest and brightest ornament of the English nation, most worthy, if anyone was, of immortal fame.'

The monastery on Lindisfarne or Holy Island was founded by St Aidan in AD 635. The Lindisfarne Gospels, written down and illustrated by a lone genius, almost certainly Bishop Eadfrith in the Latin Vulgate in AD 698, were probably produced in honour of St Cuthbert's canonisation. Brother Aethilwold made the binding, while Billfrith, the anchorite, made the metal and jewelled cover, since lost. The Gospels are rivalled in grandeur only by the Irish Book of Kells, and have been called one of the great landmarks of human cultural achievement. They are one of the greatest treasures of the British Museum. An Anglo-Saxon gloss was added in the late 10th century in the Northumbrian dialect, the translation being by Aldred, provost of Chester-le-Street. This is the earliest surviving translation of the Gospels into the English language. Cuthbert was the most popular saint in England from AD 687 to the canonisation of Thomas Beckett five centuries later - indeed, the mighty cathedral at Durham, the grandest Romanesque building in Europe exists, in effect, as the shrine of this simple man. Bede wrote a moving account of the saint's life, and is himself buried in the cathedral. St Cuthbert's College at Ushaw held a piece of Bede's finger or rib; in 1979 they halved it with the new St Bede's church in La Canada near Los Angeles.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
BEDE (AD 673 - 735) Bede (or Baeda) was probably born in Monkton and went to school at Wearmouth monastery. Founded in AD 674 by Benedict Biscop, this was a stone edifice with glazed windows - indeed Biscop is credited with introducing both techniques to Saxon England. Biscop also brought back a store of books from Rome to furnish the monasteries at Wearmouth and Jarrow, and on his death left directions for the preservation of his library. Biscop is regarded as one of the originators of the artistic and literary development of Northumbria in the next century and is celebrated by Bede in his important work Lives of the Abbots (AD 716-20). In St Paul's church, Jarrow, may be seen the oldest dedicatory inscription in the country, dated 23 April AD 685. Bede transferred to Jarrow around this date and afterwards rarely left its confines. He became a priest at the age of thirty and taught Latin and Greek to the monks, but his scholarly interests were very wide and included music, medicine, astronomy and the art of indigitation, or conversing with the fingers. His earliest work was probably De Orthographia, a treatise on spelling. Bede was also responsible for popularising the system of dating events from the birth of Christ. Bede wrote some forty religious works at Jarrow, including, in AD 731, his celebrated Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, sometimes translated as the History of the English Church and People. This remains the most valuable single source for the early history of Britain, and has earned him the title of 'The Father of English History'. It contains the wonderful simile comparing human life without Christian faith to the flight of a sparrow from darkness into darkness. Lord Dacre calls Bede: 'The greatest scholar of his time, the greatest historian of the whole Middle Ages'. In addition, Bede's style is lively and gives many insights into the daily life of his time. Bede is the first known writer of English prose, and probably the best-known writer in western Europe throughout the early Middle Ages. His eminence is confirmed by the fact that he is the only Englishman to be named in Dante's Paradiso (c 1314), where the poet rebukes the cardinals for not studying Bede as they should. Curiously enough an old pupil of Durham School occupies a place in the eighth circle of Hell in Dante's Inferno. This is Michael Scot (1175-?1232) a magician, alchemist, philosopher and mathematician of European reputation. Bede was translated into Old English in the mid 10th century; later religious men, including John Wycliffe and George Fox (qq.v.) have been loud in his praise. William Camden (q.v.) calls him 'this singular and shining light', while John Leland (q.v.) describes him as 'the chiefest and brightest ornament of the English nation, most worthy, if anyone was, of immortal fame.' The monastery on Lindisfarne or Holy Island was founded by St Aidan in AD 635. The Lindisfarne Gospels, written down and illustrated by a lone genius, almost certainly Bishop Eadfrith in the Latin Vulgate in AD 698, were probably produced in honour of St Cuthbert's canonisation. Brother Aethilwold made the binding, while Billfrith, the anchorite, made the metal and jewelled cover, since lost. The Gospels are rivalled in grandeur only by the Irish Book of Kells, and have been called one of the great landmarks of human cultural achievement. They are one of the greatest treasures of the British Museum. An Anglo-Saxon gloss was added in the late 10th century in the Northumbrian dialect, the translation being by Aldred, provost of Chester-le-Street. This is the earliest surviving translation of the Gospels into the English language. Cuthbert was the most popular saint in England from AD 687 to the canonisation of Thomas Beckett five centuries later - indeed, the mighty cathedral at Durham, the grandest Romanesque building in Europe exists, in effect, as the shrine of this simple man. Bede wrote a moving account of the saint's life, and is himself buried in the cathedral. St Cuthbert's College at Ushaw held a piece of Bede's finger or rib; in 1979 they halved it with the new St Bede's church in La Canada near Los Angeles.
Return to Index	On to next Author