I.17 - Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People

Summary

Bede’s great Ecclesiastical history of the English people is probably the most famous Latin work of the early Middle Ages in Britain. It covers the history from the Roman period, through the withdrawal of the Romans, the reintroduction of Christianity with Augustine of Canterbury, and the lives of saints and kings in different parts of Britain until the beginning of the eighth century. Here are excerpts recounting Gregory the Great’s mission and the spread of Christianity through England, the end of paganism under king Edwin and the story of Cædmon of Whitby and his Old English poems.