The Venerable Bede Aly Scholle

Background C. 673 - 735 A.D. Entered the monastery around age 7, ordained deacon age 19, priest age 30 Wrote exegesis, histories, hagiographies Primary scholarly language was Latin, also fluent in Old English Knew a fair amount of Greek and maybe Hebrew Named a Doctor of the Church Monastery of Wearmouth - Jarrow in Northern England

Monastic education Both religious and secular subjects Monastic rule Grammar Rhetoric Dialectic Monastic rule Library and scriptorium Bede continues this Edits and writes texts to educate younger monks and others

Ecclesiastical History - Goals Elevate the status of the English Connect them with universal Church history Uses both Latin and Old English techniques to story tell Reformist Encourage both educated lay and religious to spread Christianity Use of present tense “In praesenti”

Ecclesiastical History - Techniques 4-fold interpretation Literal / historical, allegorical, tropological, and anagorical Numbers represent “signs” 5 languages - 5 books - Pentateuch - 5 ages of man Cites sources Remarkably accurate in chronology Vera lex historiae Less about historical truth, more about true history

Reception Used as a source by later historians Both Protestant and Catholic churches regard him as integral part

Question Is what we have read of the Ecclesiastica Historia historical truth as we know it? To what degree should we understand these things as what literally happened, and what should we understand as true as Bede understood true?