The History of the English Church and People (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading) »

Bede was born around the year 673 and spent nearly his entire life in the monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow, seldom venturing beyond its confines. He became a deacon at nineteen years old and a priest at thirty; he observed the monastic rule all his life. A conscientious monk, Bede was also a devoted scholar and teacher whose writings had a profound influence on early medieval learning. An orthodox Christian, Bede was charged with heresy over the contents of his first book on computus, the science of calculating dates of the calendar. His second book on computus, however, became the standard work on the subject in the Middle Ages and was important preparation for his History. He died on May 25, 735. In 1899, he was declared a Doctor of the Church, and in 1935, Bede was declared a saint.

The History of the English Church and People (also known as The Ecclesiastical History of England), completed in 731 and possibly revised and updated over the next few years, is arguably the greatest and most influential work of history of the Middle Ages. Written by the Anglo-Saxon scholar and monk the Venerable Bede, the work is at once a national history and a witness to the greatness of God and His church on earth. An immensely popular work, the History contributed to the adoption of the Annus Domini dating system, which Bede used throughout his great work. Although Bede included discussion of numerous miracles in the work, he collected evidence and evaluated sources in an almost modern way that has led many to identify Bede as the "father of English history."