Venerable Bede
Venerable Bede (also known as Saint Bede or Bede the Venerable; born c. 672–673 AD near Jarrow, Northumbria, England; died May 26, 735 AD in Jarrow) was an Anglo-Saxon Benedictine monk, theologian, biblical commentator, computist, and historian—the greatest scholar of the early medieval West. Spending virtually his entire life in the twin monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow in Northumbria, Bede produced an extraordinary body of work that encompassed biblical commentary, church history, hagiography, computistics, science, poetry, and grammar. His Ecclesiastical History of the English People (completed c. 731 AD) is one of the founding documents of English national identity and the primary source for our knowledge of early English Christianity. He was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1899—the only Englishman to hold that title. His feast day is May 25 (May 26 in the pre-1969 calendar).
Bede's significance for the Church and for Western civilization cannot be overstated. He established the system of dating years from the Incarnation of Christ (AD/BC dating, now universal in the world) and was the first historian to use it systematically. His biblical commentaries shaped theological education for centuries. His Ecclesiastical History preserved the memory of the conversion of England and the lives of its earliest saints. And his personal holiness—demonstrated in decades of faithful monastic life, extraordinary learning placed entirely at the service of the Church, and a death marked by singing, prayer, and the dictation of a final translation until his last breath—made him a model of the scholar-saint.
Stored in Cargo: Venerable Bede
| Venerable Bede | |
|---|---|
| Feast Day | May 25 |
| Profession | Benedictine monk; biblical commentator; historian; computist; poet |
| Rel. Affiliation | Order of Saint Benedict; Wearmouth-Jarrow Monastery |
| Patronage | Historians; scholars; English writers; lectors; Jarrow; Sunderland |
| Attributes | Benedictine habit; book (his writings); pen; angel (the legend that an angel provided his final missing word) |
| Birthplace | Near Jarrow, County Durham, Northumbria, England |
| Death Place | Jarrow, County Durham, Northumbria, England |
| Cause of Death | Natural causes |
| Primary Shrine | Durham Cathedral, Durham, England |
| Liturgical Class | Memorial (May 25) |
| Historic Class | May 27 |
Biography
Childhood and entry into monastic life
Bede was born around 672–673 AD near the site of the twin monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow in Northumbria, in what is now County Durham. At the age of seven he was entrusted by his family to the care of the abbot Benedict Biscop—the founder of Wearmouth-Jarrow—and received there the entirety of his education, religious formation, and intellectual life. He was ordained a deacon at age nineteen and a priest at age thirty.
He never left the monastery for any extended period. In an era when the great saints often traveled widely on pilgrimage or mission, Bede's holiness was expressed entirely in fidelity to the monastic life within those walls—a life of ora et labora (prayer and work) so complete and so fruitful that it has astonished every subsequent age.
Scholarship
The range of Bede's intellectual achievement is staggering for a single life. He worked systematically through the books of the Bible, producing commentaries on the Pentateuch, Joshua, Samuel, Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Tobit, the Gospels (especially Luke and Mark), Acts, the Catholic Epistles, and Revelation. These commentaries were the standard biblical reference works of the Carolingian period and shaped theological education throughout the early medieval West.
He wrote a major work on computistics—the calculation of the date of Easter—that became the standard reference for the medieval Church. In this work (De Temporum Ratione, "On the Reckoning of Time," 725 AD) he developed and popularized the system of counting years from the Incarnation of Christ (Anno Domini / Before Christ)—a system that spread throughout the Christian world and is now used universally by the entire human race.
He wrote lives of saints (of Cuthbert, in both prose and verse), a martyrology, works on grammar and rhetoric, works on natural science, Latin and Old English poetry, and letters.
The Ecclesiastical History
Bede's greatest work, the Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People), completed around 731 AD, remains the primary source for the history of England from the Roman period to Bede's own day. It narrates the coming of Christianity to Britain, the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the Synod of Whitby (664 AD), and the lives of the great figures of early English Christianity—Paulinus, Edwin, Aidan, Cuthbert, Wilfrid, Caedmon, and many others. It is written with critical care unusual for the age, citing sources and distinguishing between what Bede knows directly and what he has from testimony or documents.
Modern English history as a discipline begins with Bede. He was the first to conceive of the English people (gens Anglorum) as a single Christian nation, and the Ecclesiastical History gave the English their founding narrative of faith and identity.
Death
Bede died on May 26, 735 AD. The account of his death, preserved by his disciple Cuthbert of Jarrow, is one of the most moving in all hagiography: in his final days, though extremely weak, Bede dictated a translation of the Gospel of John into Old English so that ordinary English people could read it. He also sang antiphons from the divine office. On his last day, still dictating, he was told that one sentence remained unwritten. He dictated it; his scribe told him it was finished. Bede said "You have spoken truly; it is finished. Receive my head in your hands, for it is a great satisfaction to me to sit facing my holy place in which I used to pray, that I may sit and call upon my Father." And sitting on the floor of his cell, he died, singing "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit."
Significant events
- Born c. 672–673 near Jarrow, Northumbria; entrusted to Wearmouth-Jarrow monastery as a child oblate.
- Ordained deacon at 19; ordained priest at 30; spent entire adult life at Jarrow.
- Produced the Ecclesiastical History of the English People (completed c. 731 AD) — the founding document of English history.
- Developed and popularized AD/BC dating from the Incarnation of Christ in De Temporum Ratione (725 AD).
- Produced over 60 works: biblical commentaries, hagiography, computistics, science, poetry.
- Died dictating a translation of John's Gospel on May 26, 735 AD in Jarrow.
- Declared Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1899.
Significant locations
Legend
Birth location: Near Jarrow, County Durham, Northumbria, England
Death location: Jarrow, County Durham, Northumbria, England
Notable location: Monastery where he lived his entire monastic life and wrote all his works (Jarrow Monastery (St. Paul's), Jarrow, County Durham, England)
Notable location: Sister monastery; Bede entered here as a child oblate (Wearmouth Monastery (St. Peter's), Sunderland, County Durham, England)
Notable location: Final resting place of his relics (translated there from Jarrow) (Durham Cathedral, Durham, England)
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Parishes
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Shrines
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Known shrines
- Durham Cathedral, Durham, England — his relics were translated here; the Galilee Chapel contains his tomb, one of the great pilgrimage sites of England.
- St. Paul's Church, Jarrow, County Durham, England — the site of his monastery; still standing in part with Anglo-Saxon fabric.
Canonization
Venerable Bede is venerated through the ancient process of universal veneration and is a Doctor of the Church, declared so by Pope Leo XIII in 1899.
Feast day
May 25
Veneration
Venerable Bede is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as a Doctor of the Church with a feast day on May 25. He is also commemorated in the Church of England and in the Eastern Orthodox Church (minor). He is the only Doctor of the Church who is English, and one of the most beloved scholar-saints of the Western tradition.
Prayers
Authored
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Books
Written about the saint
- Benedicta Ward, The Venerable Bede (Geoffrey Chapman, 1990) — an accessible introduction to Bede's life and thought.
- George Hardin Brown, A Companion to Bede (Boydell Press, 2009).
Written by the saint
- Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People) — the founding document of English history; translated into Old English by King Alfred.
- De Temporum Ratione — on the calculation of time; popularized AD/BC dating.
- Commentaries on the Bible — over 20 works covering most of the Old and New Testaments.
- Lives of Saint Cuthbert (prose and verse).
- De Natura Rerum — on natural science.
- Numerous other works on grammar, poetry, and sacred history.