1 of 3

The remote monastery at Jarrow, nestled on a spit of land extending into the river Tyne, was only a few years old when the plague hit in 686. Every monk succumbed to the pestilence except Abbot Ceolfrid and a "little lad" who had been made a ward of the monastery. Most scholars identify the "little lad" as Bede. The young survivor, if not yet "venerable," was resilient.

Relatively little else is known of Bede's life. Most direct information we possess derives from Bede's own abbreviated account of his life at the end of his most famous work, the Ecclesiastical History. Beyond the fact that he was a "priest of the monastery of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul at Wearmouth and Jarrow," Bede offers only the following pithy autobiographical fragment:

"I was born on the lands of this monastery, and on reaching seven years of age, I was entrusted by my family first to the most reverend Abbot Benedict and later to Abbot Ceolfrid for my education. I have spent all the remainder of my life in this monastery and devoted myself entirely to the study of the Scriptures."

Based on the date given for the completion of the Ecclesiastical History, Bede was born in 673. He spent his formative years in the cloister at the twin monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow, founded by Benedict Biscop in 674 and 681, at the mouth of the two rivers.

In many respects, Bede was a typical monk. Excavations have revealed that he probably lived in a small cell, with much of his day governed by the monastic office—meeting with his fellow monks seven times a day and once a night to sing or read the Scriptures. He saw these meetings as more than just a routine, for he once wrote in a letter, "I know that the angels are present at the canonical Hours, and what if they do not find me among the brethren when they assemble? Will they not say, Where is Bede? Why does he not attend the appointed devotions with his brethren?"

The rest of Bede's day was divided between work and study of Latin, Greek, Roman law, chant, mathematical calculation, and the zodiac. He spent considerable time writing, for in addition to the Ecclesiastical History he penned Old and New Testament commentaries as well as books on grammar, computation, and lives of saints.

One of the great legacies of Biscop was the library at Jarrow, with its biblical texts and commentaries by Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, and Gregory the Great. Jarrow also contained a Scriptorium, where Bede must have spent many hours copying manuscripts. Educated principally by the Latin Bible, he spent the best part of his life compiling commentaries from the Fathers.

Bede must have been a successful monk, for he was ordained a deacon at the uncanonical age of 19 and later became master of education at Jarrow. "It is always my delight to learn and to teach," he wrote.

Unlike his predecessors, he seems to have traveled rarely, though traveling abbots kept the libraries at the twin monasteries well-stocked. Their finds supplied Bede with important sources for his most famous historical work.

Bede was especially indebted to Eusebius of Caesarea, whose Church History set the standard for all church historians. Bede's aim seems to have been to do for the history of the church in England what Eusebius had done for the universal church.

Like Augustine, Bede saw world history divided into six ages, which correspond to the six days of creation. Each age was marked by a major redemptive-historical person or event: Creation, the Flood, Abraham, David, the captivity of Judah, and the birth of Christ. The Ecclesiastical History is principally concerned with the sixth age, which was inaugurated by the birth of Christ. Therefore Bede employs the distinctively Christian dating system anno Domini (in the year of our Lord).

next page... |  1 of 3

share this page

RSS Feed   RSS Help