The Venerable Bede and Alfred the Great

The Venerable Bede * Born in 673, at Tyne, in county Durham * Was taken to the monastery of Wearmouth when he was 7 years old  

The Venerable Bede * He mastered Latin, Greek and Hebrew * Bede's writings inlude natural history, poetry and Biblical translation * He is mainly remembered for his "Ecclesiastical History of the English People". It consists of five volumes and records events in Britain from the raids by Julius Caesar in 55-54 BC to the arrival of first missionary from Rome in 597

The Venerable Bede   * Bede explains his motive for recording history by saying, "For if history records good things of good men, the thoughtful hearer is encouraged to imitate what is good; or if it records evil of wicked men, the good, religious reader or listener is encouraged to avoid all that is sinful and perverse, and to follow what he knows to be good and pleasing to God."

The Venerable Bede * He died in 735 and was buried in Norman cathedral of Durham

Alfred the Great * Born in 849 at Wantage * was king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex from 871 to 899 * The only English king to be called " the Great"

Alfred the Great * He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex * Had two brothers * Became the king of Wessex in 871 after the death of his brother, king Æthelred

Alfred the Great * In 878 he defeated the Danes * Restored London and made it habitable once more * The actual year or reason of death is not known * He is now buried at New Minster