num_pages: 560
description: Bede 'the Venerable, ' English theologian &amp; historian, was born in 672/3 in the territory of the single monastery at Wearmouth &amp; Jarrow. He was ordained deacon (691/2) &amp; priest (702/3) of the monastery, where his whole life was spent in devotion, choral singing, study, teaching, discussion &amp; writing. Besides Latin he knew Greek &amp; possibly Hebrew. His theological works were chiefly commentaries, mostly allegorical in method, based with acknowledgment on Jerome, Augustine, Ambrose, Gregory &amp; others, but bearing his own personality. In another class were works on grammar &amp; one on natural phenomena; special interest in the vexed question of Easter led him to write about the calendar &amp; chronology.His most admired production is his Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation. Here a clear &amp; 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 &amp; prose) of Cuthbert &amp; 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.
language: English
title: Ecclesiastical History, Volume 1, Books I-III
titlecomplete: Ecclesiastical History, Volume 1, Books I-III
genres: History, Classics, Christian
ratings_count: 21
places: England
publisher: Loeb Classical Library #246