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The Venerable Bede: The Most Learned Man of His Time

© David White

When speaking of English historians, one name stands out above the rest: Bede. He is most often called the Venerable Bede, of course, and he wrote so many books that his published books list alone would overshadow other writers for hundreds of years.

He was born on the lands of the Jarrow monastery, where he would later become famous. Little else is known of his formative years. He grew up in Northumbria, which was undergoing a transformation from war party to church and study house. Largely through the efforts of Edwin, Northumbria had been transformed into an intellectual AND military powerhouse. Churches dotted the landscape. Monasteries, with their own special kind of learning, prospered. And it was to the monastery at Jarrow that Bede eventually came.

He was a deacon at 19, six years before the usual age; he was a priest at 30. His quickness of ascent up the ecclesiastical ladder was stunning but rewarded when he began writing and kept on writing and writing. He wrote books on the following subjects:

• cosmology
• the measurement of time
• the six ages of the world
• meter (in writing)
• the lives of the saints
• historical martyrology.

In addition, he wrote a book on homilies and one on poems and hymns.

He wrote in both English and Latin. He often borrowed from other writers but made a special effort to list his references, a practice unheard of at that time.

Bede was also an instructor, teaching grammar and other elements of writing. His command of scholarship, writing, language, and history was astounding.

And it is to this history that we now turn ...

Related resources
Bede's World
Catholic Encyclopedia
A Hymn by Bede
The Lives of the Holy Abbots of Weremouth and Jarrow by Bede

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