Bede

The Venerable Bede (672/3–735) was an English Benedictine monk whose prolific scholarship earned him the title 'Father of English History.' His masterwork, the 'Ecclesiastical History of the English People' (Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum), completed in 731, remains the single most important source for the history of England from the Roman period through the early eighth century, and it shaped the conventions of historical writing in the medieval West. Bede spent virtually his entire life within the twin monastery of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria. Sent to Monkwearmouth at age seven, he later joined Abbot Ceolfrith at Jarrow, both of them surviving the plague of 686 that killed most of the community. He devoted himself to Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the liberal arts, drawing on a monastic library — assembled by founders Benedict Biscop and Ceolfrith — that was among the finest in Europe, containing works by Eusebius, Orosius, and many others. Bede's output was remarkable in both volume and range. He wrote commentaries on nearly every book of the Bible, treatises on chronology, natural history, and grammar, hagiographies of saints, and hymns. His work 'On the Reckoning of Time' (De Temporum Ratione) was instrumental in popularising the system of dating events from the Incarnation of Christ (Anno Domini), the system still in universal use today. His careful attention to sources, his effort to distinguish reliable testimony from legend, and his critical evaluation of evidence set a standard for historical methodology that was well ahead of its time. Bede was ordained a deacon at nineteen and a priest at thirty by Bishop John of Beverley, but he never sought positions of ecclesiastical authority, preferring study, teaching, and prayer. He did travel at times — visiting the Archbishop of York and King Ceolwulf of Northumbria — but Jarrow remained his home and the source of his life's work. He died on May 26, 735, Ascension Day, reportedly while dictating a translation of the Gospel of John into Old English. Pope Leo XIII declared Bede a Doctor of the Church in 1899, making him the first native of Great Britain to hold that title. His feast day is observed on May 25.