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Ecclesiastical History, Volume 1, Books I-III
Bede 'the Venerable, ' English theologian & historian, was born in 672/3 in the territory of the single monastery at Wearmouth & Jarrow. He was ordained deacon (691/2) & priest (702/3) of the monastery, where his whole life was spent in devotion, choral singing, study, teaching, discussion & writing. Besides Latin he knew Greek & possibly Hebrew. His theological works were chiefly commentaries, mostly allegorical in method, based with acknowledgment on Jerome, Augustine, Ambrose, Gregory & others, but bearing his own personality. In another class were works on grammar & one on natural phenomena; special interest in the vexed question of Easter led him to write about the calendar & chronology.
His most admired production is his Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation. Here a clear & simple style united with descriptive powers to produce an elegant work. The facts diligently collected from good sources make it a valuable account. Historical also are his Lives of the Abbots of his monastery, the less successful accounts (in verse & prose) of Cuthbert & the Letter (11/734) to Egbert his pupil, so important for our knowledge about the Church in Northumbria.
The Loeb Classical Library edition of Bede's historical works is in two volumes.
His most admired production is his Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation. Here a clear & simple style united with descriptive powers to produce an elegant work. The facts diligently collected from good sources make it a valuable account. Historical also are his Lives of the Abbots of his monastery, the less successful accounts (in verse & prose) of Cuthbert & the Letter (11/734) to Egbert his pupil, so important for our knowledge about the Church in Northumbria.
The Loeb Classical Library edition of Bede's historical works is in two volumes.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 731
About the author
Bede
392 books103 followersborn perhaps 673
Saxon theologian Bede, also Baeda or Beda, known as "the Venerable Bede," wrote Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation , a major work and an important ancient source, in 731 in Latin and introduced the method from the birth of Jesus of dating events.
People referred to Saint Bede, a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth and at its companion of Saint Paul in modern Jarrow in the kingdom, for more than a millennium before canonization. Most fame of this well author and scholar gained him the title as "the father.”
In 1899, Leo XIII, pope, made Bede a doctor of the Church, a position of significance; only this native of Great Britain achieved this designation; from Italy, Saint Anselm of Canterbury originated.
Bede, a skilled linguist, moreover translated the Greek of the early Church Fathers, and his contributions made them significantly much more accessible to his fellow Christians. Monastery of Bede accessed a superb library, which included Eusebius and Orosius.
Saxon theologian Bede, also Baeda or Beda, known as "the Venerable Bede," wrote Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation , a major work and an important ancient source, in 731 in Latin and introduced the method from the birth of Jesus of dating events.
People referred to Saint Bede, a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth and at its companion of Saint Paul in modern Jarrow in the kingdom, for more than a millennium before canonization. Most fame of this well author and scholar gained him the title as "the father.”
In 1899, Leo XIII, pope, made Bede a doctor of the Church, a position of significance; only this native of Great Britain achieved this designation; from Italy, Saint Anselm of Canterbury originated.
Bede, a skilled linguist, moreover translated the Greek of the early Church Fathers, and his contributions made them significantly much more accessible to his fellow Christians. Monastery of Bede accessed a superb library, which included Eusebius and Orosius.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 18, 2013
An illuminating account of the spread and triumph of the gospel among the peoples inhabiting the British Isles up until the early 8th century (Bede's own lifetime). Someone has said that all history is family history, and given that most of my ancestors came from the British Isles, this account takes on an especially personal quality. Bede's account is diffused with a spirit of gratitude as he relates the conversion of his own ancestors, and mine, out of a state of bellicose and ignorant savagery and into one of relative peace, harmony, unity, and nobility by means of submission to Christ. To be sure, that process was long and gradual, with many fits and starts and setbacks along the way, and it was imperfect and incomplete—incomplete in Bede's own time as well as in our own. But it was genuine nonetheless. This work offers a great exhortation to patience when it comes to cultural transformation. When taking the long view, one sees how a trend that might take a couple of hundred years to play itself out, the span of several generations, represents but one step in the historical dance that the Lord is orchestrating, with far larger purposes in mind. In How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill argues that the Irish, by virtue of their recent conversion to Christianity and their isolation from the rest of Europe, served as an incubator for both Christendom and western civilization during the periods of chaos which enveloped Europe during the middle ages. Taken in conjunction with that "macro-premise", Bede's own history shows how that same symbiotic cycle of conversion-spread-decline-reintroduction-refinement played out several times within the microcosm of the British Isles, all clearly guided by the Lord's gracious and omnipotent hand.
Following are a few random observations and highlights:
Reading this work start to finish really cleared up my somewhat murky understanding of much of the history involved. For instance, I never fully realized that the Welsh are the descendants of the "original" Britons, marginalized as they were following the Anglo-Saxon invasions of the 5th century. Also, incidentally, the Britons' stubborn and long-standing refusal to acknowledge the hand of Providence and to extend the hand of fellowship to the Anglo-Saxon tribes after the latters' conversion to Christ makes them the sour-faced Older Brother (a la the Parable of the Prodigal Son) in this historical drama.
The justly famous accounts of Pope Gregory's initial encounter with some Anglo-Saxon boys in Rome (with all of its wordplay - "Angles/angels", "Deira/de ira" and so on) and of Caedmon, the first Anglo-Saxon poet of record, were especially delightful to read. (For most of my reading, I used the Loeb edition, which has an English translation juxtaposed side-by-side with the original Latin.)
Bede was the first author and historian to consistently reference dates using the "Anno ab incarnatione Domini…" formula. And from the perspective of an amateur Latin scholar, it's interesting to see how his style represents a definite shift away from classical to medieval Latin. For instance, he sometimes renders a date more straight-fowardly (to our modern sensibilities) as "die vigesima quarta mensis Februarii - the twenty-fourth day of February" (II.5), rather than the standard classical formula for the same date, "ante diem sextum Kalendas Martias - the sixth day before the kalends of March." He also notably uses "quia" or "quod" more loosely to mean "that", rather than the more strict and convoluted infinitive or accusative-plus-infinitive constructions which classical Latin diction demanded in such situations. (e.g. "Dictum est, quod essent pagani.", as opposed to "Dicti sunt esse pagani", II.1, and "intellexerat…quia Romana esset catholica et apostolica ecclessia" rather than "intellexerat…Romanam esse catholicam et apostolicam ecclessiam", III.25)
The Ambrosius Aurielanus mentioned briefly in I.16 is almost certainly the historical prototype for the legendary King Arthur.
King Raedwald of East Anglia, mentioned numerous times (Book II), is probably the same chieftain buried at the famous Sutton Hoo site.
I found it interesting that, in the midst of the controversies about the proper date for celebrating Easter, which preoccupies a fair portion of Bede's history, the 19-year Metonic cycle is mentioned at least a couple of times (III.25, V.21), which factors heavily into some other works that I've read.
Following are a few random observations and highlights:
Reading this work start to finish really cleared up my somewhat murky understanding of much of the history involved. For instance, I never fully realized that the Welsh are the descendants of the "original" Britons, marginalized as they were following the Anglo-Saxon invasions of the 5th century. Also, incidentally, the Britons' stubborn and long-standing refusal to acknowledge the hand of Providence and to extend the hand of fellowship to the Anglo-Saxon tribes after the latters' conversion to Christ makes them the sour-faced Older Brother (a la the Parable of the Prodigal Son) in this historical drama.
The justly famous accounts of Pope Gregory's initial encounter with some Anglo-Saxon boys in Rome (with all of its wordplay - "Angles/angels", "Deira/de ira" and so on) and of Caedmon, the first Anglo-Saxon poet of record, were especially delightful to read. (For most of my reading, I used the Loeb edition, which has an English translation juxtaposed side-by-side with the original Latin.)
Bede was the first author and historian to consistently reference dates using the "Anno ab incarnatione Domini…" formula. And from the perspective of an amateur Latin scholar, it's interesting to see how his style represents a definite shift away from classical to medieval Latin. For instance, he sometimes renders a date more straight-fowardly (to our modern sensibilities) as "die vigesima quarta mensis Februarii - the twenty-fourth day of February" (II.5), rather than the standard classical formula for the same date, "ante diem sextum Kalendas Martias - the sixth day before the kalends of March." He also notably uses "quia" or "quod" more loosely to mean "that", rather than the more strict and convoluted infinitive or accusative-plus-infinitive constructions which classical Latin diction demanded in such situations. (e.g. "Dictum est, quod essent pagani.", as opposed to "Dicti sunt esse pagani", II.1, and "intellexerat…quia Romana esset catholica et apostolica ecclessia" rather than "intellexerat…Romanam esse catholicam et apostolicam ecclessiam", III.25)
The Ambrosius Aurielanus mentioned briefly in I.16 is almost certainly the historical prototype for the legendary King Arthur.
King Raedwald of East Anglia, mentioned numerous times (Book II), is probably the same chieftain buried at the famous Sutton Hoo site.
I found it interesting that, in the midst of the controversies about the proper date for celebrating Easter, which preoccupies a fair portion of Bede's history, the 19-year Metonic cycle is mentioned at least a couple of times (III.25, V.21), which factors heavily into some other works that I've read.
August 18, 2020
Valuable insight into a lesser know era of “our island story”
This is Volume I of the Loeb edition of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History. It covers much of the history of the British Isles from Caesar’s expeditions in 55/54 BCE to the aftermath of the Council of Whitby in 664 CE, which is roughly when Bede was born. Most of the volume covers the last third of that period, i.e. from the withdrawal of the Romans in 410 CE onwards. The book is billed as an ecclesiastical history and so the focus is on bishops and martyrs and attempts to christianise the heathen, then rechristianise them, as the bounders have a tendency to backslide. As is usual with Christianity though, the worst offenders are not the unbelievers but the heretics. Bede had a particular interest in – or obsession with – calculating Easter, so that is a feature of the book, with those who celebrate Easter on the wrong day facing the eternal fires of Hades. Once of the most fascinating episodes is Bede’s account of the Council of Whitby when our ruling classes decided to junk our homegrown “celtic church” and go Catholic. It all hinged on the true date of Easter and the fact that the Catholic Church was founded by St Peter who holds the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. That was the clincher for Oswy, king of Northumbria, the most powerful Saxon ruler at the time. He went Catholic and the rest followed. That put us in the forerunner of the EU known as Christendom for the best part of 900 years.
Bede’s narrative makes clear that England did not exist as a political unit at that time. Instead we have about a dozen kingdoms at least in Great Britain, and more in Ireland. Bede also distinguishes four ethnic groups: Saxon, British (i.e. Welsh and Cornish), Scots (Irish) and Picts (inhabitants of what is now Scotland before the Scots. There is an early indication of “English” superiority as the Saxons are presented as generally more godly and obedient than the other groups. Despite that we do have accounts of battles, betrayals and murders – a light relief from the accounts of miracles and church politics that fill most of the volume.
I give this edition five stars as a tribute to Loeb for publishing a rare text. My only gripe is as follows:
According to the introduction, Alfred the Great made the first English translation of this work, into Old English of course, in 868. Well, that must be wrong because the translation given here reads like Very Old English. Apparently, it was made by one Thomas Stapleton in the sixteenth century but it is annoyingly archaic. The Loeb editors claim that it is more in keeping with Bede’s tone and subject matter than a modern translation would be, but I disagree. I think for the price of the book they should have come up with their own translation, as they usually do. So my advice is, if you have the Latin, stick to the Latin and only rely on the translation for the occasional place name or technical term. If you don’t read Latin, buy a more modern translation of this work, such as the Penguin Classics edition.
This is Volume I of the Loeb edition of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History. It covers much of the history of the British Isles from Caesar’s expeditions in 55/54 BCE to the aftermath of the Council of Whitby in 664 CE, which is roughly when Bede was born. Most of the volume covers the last third of that period, i.e. from the withdrawal of the Romans in 410 CE onwards. The book is billed as an ecclesiastical history and so the focus is on bishops and martyrs and attempts to christianise the heathen, then rechristianise them, as the bounders have a tendency to backslide. As is usual with Christianity though, the worst offenders are not the unbelievers but the heretics. Bede had a particular interest in – or obsession with – calculating Easter, so that is a feature of the book, with those who celebrate Easter on the wrong day facing the eternal fires of Hades. Once of the most fascinating episodes is Bede’s account of the Council of Whitby when our ruling classes decided to junk our homegrown “celtic church” and go Catholic. It all hinged on the true date of Easter and the fact that the Catholic Church was founded by St Peter who holds the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. That was the clincher for Oswy, king of Northumbria, the most powerful Saxon ruler at the time. He went Catholic and the rest followed. That put us in the forerunner of the EU known as Christendom for the best part of 900 years.
Bede’s narrative makes clear that England did not exist as a political unit at that time. Instead we have about a dozen kingdoms at least in Great Britain, and more in Ireland. Bede also distinguishes four ethnic groups: Saxon, British (i.e. Welsh and Cornish), Scots (Irish) and Picts (inhabitants of what is now Scotland before the Scots. There is an early indication of “English” superiority as the Saxons are presented as generally more godly and obedient than the other groups. Despite that we do have accounts of battles, betrayals and murders – a light relief from the accounts of miracles and church politics that fill most of the volume.
I give this edition five stars as a tribute to Loeb for publishing a rare text. My only gripe is as follows:
According to the introduction, Alfred the Great made the first English translation of this work, into Old English of course, in 868. Well, that must be wrong because the translation given here reads like Very Old English. Apparently, it was made by one Thomas Stapleton in the sixteenth century but it is annoyingly archaic. The Loeb editors claim that it is more in keeping with Bede’s tone and subject matter than a modern translation would be, but I disagree. I think for the price of the book they should have come up with their own translation, as they usually do. So my advice is, if you have the Latin, stick to the Latin and only rely on the translation for the occasional place name or technical term. If you don’t read Latin, buy a more modern translation of this work, such as the Penguin Classics edition.
June 28, 2025
I blundered through this in Latin, with frequent reference to the English.
It's interesting to observe the conversion of the pagan tribes. I wasn't fond of Gregory the Great's advice to let them keep worshipping in their same temples with their same feasts, but to God instead of the Devil, and thus gradually become Christian. I preferred the later scene in Northumbria, where Coifu, the pagan high priest, announced to the king and his council that he knew their pagan religion better than anyone, and it didn't amount to much-- "the more I sought the truth, the less I found." (Iam olim intellexeram nihil esse quod colebamus; quia videlicet quanto studiosius in eo cultu veritatem quaerebam, tanto minus inveniebam.) Then he proceeded to burn the idols.
Sometimes Christian values were not persuasive. King Sigbert was murdered by two brothers, who, when examined, had only this complaint: Sigbert forgave his enemies too readily and was too meek.
It's interesting to observe the conversion of the pagan tribes. I wasn't fond of Gregory the Great's advice to let them keep worshipping in their same temples with their same feasts, but to God instead of the Devil, and thus gradually become Christian. I preferred the later scene in Northumbria, where Coifu, the pagan high priest, announced to the king and his council that he knew their pagan religion better than anyone, and it didn't amount to much-- "the more I sought the truth, the less I found." (Iam olim intellexeram nihil esse quod colebamus; quia videlicet quanto studiosius in eo cultu veritatem quaerebam, tanto minus inveniebam.) Then he proceeded to burn the idols.
Sometimes Christian values were not persuasive. King Sigbert was murdered by two brothers, who, when examined, had only this complaint: Sigbert forgave his enemies too readily and was too meek.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews