Synopsis
BEDE, or Baeda, The Venerable (Beda
Venerabilis), b. 674; d. May 26, 735; was from his seventh year educated in the
Monastery of Wearmouth; moved afterwards to that of Jarrow, where he was
ordained deacon in his nineteenth, and presbyter in his thirtieth, year, and
remained there for the rest of his life, dividing his time between devotional
exercises and studies, teaching, and writing. What we know of his life we owe
to notices scattered throughout his own works, especially Hist. Eccl.,
V. 24, and to a letter on his death by one of his pupils, Cuthbert. What the
later vitae contain is nothing but worthless fancies….
The works of Bede range over the whole field
of knowledge occupied at his time, - exegesis, grammar, metrics, physics,
astronomy, chronology, history, and biography. At the end of his Hist.
Eccl. he gives himself a list of his works; but much has become lost, much
has been replaced by spurious matter, and much is still left m manuscript. The
earlier editions of his collected works - Paris, 1544; Basle, 1563; Cologne,
1612 -are completely uncritical; and even the latest, by Giles, London, 1843
(12 vols. 8vo), and in Patrol. Cursus, Paris, 1850 (xc-xcv), are
unsatisfactory. Of his Ecclesiastical History, however, there are good
editions by Smith (1722), Stevenson (1838), Moberly (1869). On their time all
these works exercised a great influence. They were copied over and over again:
they were found in every library of Europe. Bede, the humble monk, living in
seclusion in a small English cloister, was indeed the teacher of the whole
civilized world.
That group of Bede’s works which has
the least interest comprises his poems, of which the Liber Epigrammatum
is lost, and the Liber Hymnorum spurious, so that the Vita
Cudberti and a few minor poems are the only specimens left; his books De
Orthographia, De Metrica Arte, in which he attempts to prove the
superiority of the metaphorical language of the Bible over that of the Greeks;
and De Natura Rerurn, a compendium of astronomy and geography,
establishing a reconciliation of the cosmogony of the Bible with that of the
classical mythology. Much more interest has the second group, the exegetical;
though, of the twenty-five which Bede himself mentions, the commentaries on
Isaiah, Daniel, the minor prophets, Ezra and Nehemiah, are lost; and those of
the Kings, Job, Genesis, the Pentateuch, and the Acts, are spurious. In these
commentaries the allegorical explanation has completely superseded the
grammatica-historical, and one of the chief demands of the method is a full
quotation of the views of the Fathers.
Those works which have contributed most to
Bede’s fame are his historical writings, more especially his Historia
Ecclesiastica Genus Britonum. It was finished in 731, and gives the
political and ecclesiastical history of England, from Julius Caesar down to the
date of its completion. The introduction, treating the period before the
conversion of the Anglo-Saxons, is a mere compilation from Orosius, Gildas,
Prosper Æquit., the Vita S. Germani, etc.; but the real body of
the work, treating the period from 596 to 731, is an independent and
conscientious study of documents and other historical sources, and has made
Bede the father of ecclesiastical history in the English language. It was
translated from Latin into Saxon by King Alfred. Another work, De Ratione
Temporum, is a complete chronology, to which is added the De
Ætauibus Seculi Six, an outline of the world’s history, inspired
by Augustine (Sermo 259 in oct. pasch.). The martyrologies
ascribed to Bede are probably spurious.
Philip Schaff, ed., A Religious
Encyclopaedia or Dictionary of Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical
Theology, 3rd edn, Vol. 1. Toronto, New York & London: Funk &
Wagnalls Company, 1894. p.232.
 |
Max Ludwig
Wolfram Laistner & Henry Hall King, A Hand List of Bede Manuscripts.
Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1943. pp. x + 168. |
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 Bede, The Abbreviated
Psalter of the Venerable Bede, Gerald M. Browne, translator. Grands Rapids:
Eerdmans, 2001. Hbk. ISBN: 0802839193. pp.68. {CBD}
{Amazon.com} |
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 Bede, The Age of Bede: Bede - "The Life of Cuthbert /
Eddius Stephanus - "The Life of Wilfrid" / Bede - "The Lives of the Abbots of
Wearmouth and Jarrow" / "The Voyage of St Brendan," revised edn. D.H.
Farmer, editor, J.F. Webb, translator. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1998. Pbk.
ISBN: 014044727X. pp.288. {CBD}
{Amazon.com} |
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 Bede, A Biblical Miscellany, W. Trent
Foley & Arthur G. Holder, translators. Liverpool: Liverpool University
Press, 1999. Pbk. ISBN: 0853236836. pp.212. {Amazon.com} |
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Bede,
Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, Lawrence T. Martin, translator.
Cistercian Studies Series, No 117. Continuum International Publishing Group -
Geoffrey Chapman, 1990. Hbk. ISBN: 0879076178. pp.214. {Amazon.com} |
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Bede,
Conversion of England (Medieval Sourcebook) |
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Bede,
Ecclesiastical History of England (Christian Classics Ethereal
Library) |
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 Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the
English People, D.H. Farmer, editor, Leo Sherley-Price, translator.
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1955. Pbk. ISBN: 014044565X. pp.400. {Amazon.com} |
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 Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the
English People, new edition. Bertram Colgrave, translator. Oxford: Oxford
Paperbacks, 1999. Pbk. ISBN: 0192838660. pp.484. {Amazon.com} |
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 Bede, Historical Works: Ecclesiastical
History: Books I-III. LOEB Classical Library. Cambridge, MA / London:
Harvard University Press, 1989. Hbk. ISBN: 0674992717. pp.542. {Amazon.com} |
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Bede, Historical Works:
Ecclesiastical History: Books IV and V: Lives of the Abbots. LOEB Classical
Library. Cambridge, MA / London: Harvard University Press, 1989. Hbk. ISBN:
0674992733. pp.528. {Amazon.com} |
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Bede,
Homilies on the Gospels: Advent to Lent, Book 1. Cistercian
Publications, 1993. Pbk. ISBN: 0879077107. {Amazon.com} |
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Bede,
Homilies on the Gospels Book two: Lent to the Dedication of the Church,
Lawrence T. Martin & David Hurst OSB, translators. Cistercian Publications,
1991. Pbk. ISBN: 0879079118. pp.290. {Amazon.com} |
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Bede,
Hymns of Bede the Venerable, Gordon Jackson, translator. Asgill Press,
1996. Pbk. ISBN: 0907901395. |
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Bede,
The Life and Miracles of St. Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindesfarne (721)
(Medieval Sourcebook) |
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Bede,
The Lives of The Holy Abbots of Weremouth and Jarrow Benedict, Ceolfrid,
Easterwine, Sigfrid, and Huetberht (Medieval Sourcebook) |
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Bede,
On the Temple, Sean Connolly, editor. Liverpool University Press, 1996.
Pbk. ISBN: 0853230498. pp.192. {Amazon.com} |
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Raymond
J S Grant, B Text of the Old English Bede. Rodopi BV Editions, 1990.
Hbk. ISBN: 9051831064. {Amazon.com} |
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Janet Bately,
"Bede and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," Margot H. King & W.M. Stevens, eds.
Saints, Scholars and Heroes. Studies in Medieval Culture in Honour of
Charles W. Jones. Collegeville, MN: Saint John's Abbey and University,
1979. pp.233-54. |
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Bede
and His World Vols I and II: The Jarrow Lectures, 1958-1978 / The Jarrow
Lectures, 1979-1993. Variorum, 1994. Hbk. ISBN: 0860784495. pp.1024.
{Amazon.com} |
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Aidan
Bellenger, "Bede: Monk of Wearmouth-Jarrow," Word and Spirit 7 (1985):
23-33. |
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Peter
Hunter Blair, Bede's "Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation" and Its
Importance Today. H Saxby, 1959. Pbk. ISBN: 0950108340. |
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Peter
Hunter Blair, editor. Northumbria in the Days of Bede. Gollancz, 1976.
Hbk. ISBN: 0575018402. pp.254. {Amazon.com} |
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Peter
Hunter Blair, Venerable Bede. Dean & Chapter of Durham, 1979. Pbk.
ISBN: 0907078095. |
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 Peter Hunter Blair & Michael LapidgeThe World of
Bede. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Pbk. ISBN: 0521398193.
pp.354. {Amazon.com} |
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Gerald
Bonner, ed. Formulus Christi. Essays in Commemoration of the Thirteenth
Centenary of the Birth of the Venerable Bede. London: SPCK, 1976. Hbk.
ISBN: 0281029490. pp.416. {Amazon.com} |
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Gerald
Bonner, St. Bede in the Tradition of Western Apocalyptic Commentary. H
Saxby, 1966. Pbk. ISBN: 0950108375. |
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George
Hardin Brown, The Venerable Bede. Twayne Publishers, 1987. Hbk. ISBN:
0805769404. pp.153. {Amazon.com} |
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M. Th A.
Carroll, The Venerable Bede. His Spiritual Teachings. Studies in
Medieval History, IX. Washington, DC. 1946. |
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Paul Caville,
"'Signs and Wonders' and the Venerable Bede," Evangelical Quarterly 60.1
(1987): 31-42. |
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R.W.
Chambers, "Bede," Proceedings of the British Academy 22 (1936):
129-156. |
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Simon J.
Coates, "The Bishop as Pastor and Solitary: Bede and the Spiritual Authority of
the Monk-Bishop," Journal of Ecclesiastical History 47.4 (1996):
601-619. |
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Bertram
Colgrave, Venerable Bede and His Times. H Saxby, 1958. Pbk. ISBN:
0950108332. |
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H.E.J.
Cowdrey, "Bede and the 'English People'," Journal of Religious History
11.4 (1981): 501-523. |
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J. Davidse,
"The Sense of History in the Venerable Bede," Studi Medievali XXIII
(1982): 647-95. |
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Willard W.
Dickerson, "Bede as Literary Architect of the English Church: Another Look at
Bede's Use of Hagiography in the Historia Ecclesiastica," American
Benedictine Review 45.1 (1994): 93-105. |
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E.P. Echlin,
"Bede and the Church," Irish Theological Quarterly 40.4 (1973):
351-363. |
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T.R.
Eckenrode, "The Venerable Bede and the Pastoral Affirmation of the Christian
Message in Anglo-Saxon England," Downside Review 99.337 (1981):
258-278. |
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R
T Farrell, ed. Bede and Anglo-Saxon England. British Archaeological
Reports, 1978. Pbk. ISBN: 0860540057. pp.172. {Amazon.com} |
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Bede Foord,
"Bede The Venerable and Venerable Women," Word and Spirit 7 (1985):
47-61. |
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N.J.
Higham, An English Empire. Bede and the Early Anglo-Saxon Kings,
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995. Pbk. ISBN: 0719044243.
pp.275. {Amazon.com} |
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Arthur G.
Holder, "Bede and the Tradition of Patristic Exegesis," Anglican Theological
Review 72.4 (1990): 399-411. |
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Arthur G.
Holder, "The Venerable Bede on the Mysteries of our Salvation," American
Benedictine Review 42.2 (1991): 140-162. |
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John William
Houghton, "St. Bede among the Controversialists: A Survey," American
Benedictine Review 50.4 (1999): 397-422. |
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David Hurst,
"Venerable Bede and the Scriptures," Word and Spirit 7 (1985):
68-79. |
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David
Hurst, Bede The Venerable. Cistercian Publications, 1985. Hbk. ISBN:
0879078820. {Amazon.com} |
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Edward James,
"Bede and the Tonsure Question," Peritia 3 (1984): 85-98. |
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Charles W.
Jones, "Bede as Early Medieval Historian," Medievalia and Humanistica IV
(1946): 23-36. |
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Charles W.
Jones, "Some Introductory Remarks on Bede's Commentary on Genesis," Sacris
erudiri: Jaarboek voor Godsdienstwetenschappen 19 (1969-70):
115-198. |
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Charles
W. Jones, Bede, the Schools and the Computus. Variorum, 1994. Hbk. ISBN:
0860784134. pp.368. {Amazon.com} |
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J.F. Kelly,
"Bede and the Irish Exegetical Tradition," Revue bénédictine
de critique 92 (1982): 393-406. |
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Joseph Kelly,
"On the Brink: Bede," Journal of Early Christian Studies 5.1 (1997):
85-103. |
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D.P. Kirby,
"Bede's Native Sources for the Historia Ecclesiastica," Bulletin of the John
Rylands Library XLVIII (1966): 341-71. |
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P. Kitson,
"Bede's Explanatio Apocalypsis and Related Works," Anglo-Saxon England
12 (1983): 73-123. |
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M.L.W. Laistner, "Bede as Classical and as a
Patristic Scholar," Transactions of the Historical Society. London
Series 16 (1933): 69-94.  |
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Jean
Leclercq, "Saint Bede and Christian Expansion," Word and Spirit 7
(1985): 3-22. |
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R.A.
Markus, Bede and the Tradition of Ecclesiastical Biography, Jarrow
Lecture. Parish of Jarrow, 1975. Pbk. ISBN: 0903495058. |
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Henry
Mayr- Harting, Venerable Bede, the Rule of St. Benedict and Social
Class. Parish of Jarrow, 1976. Pbk. ISBN: 0903495031. |
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Paul
Meyvaert, Bede and Gregory the Great. Parish of Jarrow, 1964. Pbk. ISBN:
0950108367. |
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Molly Miller,
"Bede's Use of Gildas," English Historical Review XG (1975):
241-61. |
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Glenn Olsen,
"Bede as Historian: The Evidence From His Observations on the Life of the First
Christian Community in Jerusalem," Journal of Ecclesiastical History
33.4 (1982): 519-530. |
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Mary
R Price, Bede and Dunstan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968. Pbk.
ISBN: 0198315953. {Amazon.com} |
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Thomas Renna,
"Bernard and Bede," American Benedictine Review 44.3 (1993):
223-235. |
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J.T.
Rosenthal, "Bede's Use of Miracles in the Ecclesiastical History,"
Traditio 31 (1975): 328-35. |
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J.T.
Rosenthal, "Bede's Ecclesiastical History and the Material Conditions of
Anglo-Saxon Life," Journal of British Studies 19 (1979):
1-17. |
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J.N.
Stephens, "Bede's Ecclesiastical History," History 62 (1977):
1-14. |
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Wesley
M Stevens, Bede's Scientific Achievement. Parish of Jarrow, 1986. Pbk.
ISBN: 0903495171. |
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Charles
Thomas, Bede, Archaeology and the Cult of Relics. Parish of Jarrow,
1973. Pbk. ISBN: 0903495074. |
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A.Hamilton
Thompson, ed. Bede. His Life, Times and Works, Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1969. Hbk. ISBN: 019822317X. pp.269. {Amazon.com} |
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The
Venerable Bede (Herbert Thurston) |
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Robert
Van de Weyer, editor. Bede: Celtic and Roman Religion in Britain. Arthur
James, 1997. Pbk. ISBN: 0853054096. pp.160. {Amazon.com} |
|
 J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, Bede's
Ecclesiastical History of the English People: A Historical Commentary.
Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pbk. ISBN: 0198221746. pp.336. {CBD}
{Amazon.com} |
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J
M Wallace-Hadrill, Bede's Europe. Parish of Jarrow, 1985. Pbk. ISBN:
0903495104. |
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Benedicta
Ward, "Bede and the Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons," Word and Spirit 7
(1985): 34-46. |
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 Benedicta Ward, Bede and the Psalter.
SLG Press, 2002. Pbk. ISBN: 0728301598. pp.48. {Amazon.com} |
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 Benedicta Ward, The
Venerable Bede, new edn. Continuum International Publishing Group -
Academic and Professional, 2002. Pbk. ISBN: 0826457851. pp.166. {Amazon.com} |
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Dorothy
Whitelock, "The Old English Bede," Proceedings of the British Academy 48
(1962): 57-90. |
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P. Wormald,
"Bede, Beowulf and the Conversion of the Anglo-Saxon Aristocracy," R.T.
Farrell, ed. Bede and Anglo-Saxon England, 1976. pp.32-90 |
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Patrick
Wormald, Bede and the Conversion of England. Parish of Jarrow, 1985.
Pbk. ISBN: 0903495163. |
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Patrick
Wormald, Bede and the Anglo Saxons. Blackwell Publishers, 2003. Hbk.
ISBN: 0631166556. |
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J.B. Wynn,
"The Beginning of the Year in Bede and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," Medium
Aevum 21 (1956): 70-78. |
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