Distributed for Reaktion Books
Bede and the Theory of Everything
An accessible biography of the venerable Bede, regarded as the father of English history.
A 2023 History Today Book of the Year
This book investigates the life and world of Bede (c. 673–735), the foremost scholar of the early Middle Ages and the “father of English history.” It examines his notable feats, including calculating the first tide tables, creating the Ceolfrith Bibles and the Lindisfarne Gospels, writing the earliest extant Old English poetry, and composing his famous Ecclesiastical History of the English People. In addition to providing an accessible overview of Bede’s life and work, Michelle P. Brown describes new discoveries regarding Bede’s handwriting, his historical research, and his previously lost Old English translation of St John’s Gospel, dictated on his deathbed.
A 2023 History Today Book of the Year
This book investigates the life and world of Bede (c. 673–735), the foremost scholar of the early Middle Ages and the “father of English history.” It examines his notable feats, including calculating the first tide tables, creating the Ceolfrith Bibles and the Lindisfarne Gospels, writing the earliest extant Old English poetry, and composing his famous Ecclesiastical History of the English People. In addition to providing an accessible overview of Bede’s life and work, Michelle P. Brown describes new discoveries regarding Bede’s handwriting, his historical research, and his previously lost Old English translation of St John’s Gospel, dictated on his deathbed.
312 pages | 32 color plates, 20 halftones | 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 | © 2023
History: British and Irish History

Reviews
Table of Contents
Introduction
1.Boyhood and Monkwearmouth-Jarrow
2.Bede the Monk and Priest
3.Bede the Scholar and Scientist: Cosmos and Logos
4.Bede, Poetry and the Origins of Written English
5.Bede the English Patristic
6.Bede the Historian and Reformer
7.Bede the Scribe of Scripture and the Ceolfrith Bibles
8.Bede and Lindisfarne
9.Bede and His Legacy
Appendix: Bede’s CV
References
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
1.Boyhood and Monkwearmouth-Jarrow
2.Bede the Monk and Priest
3.Bede the Scholar and Scientist: Cosmos and Logos
4.Bede, Poetry and the Origins of Written English
5.Bede the English Patristic
6.Bede the Historian and Reformer
7.Bede the Scribe of Scripture and the Ceolfrith Bibles
8.Bede and Lindisfarne
9.Bede and His Legacy
Appendix: Bede’s CV
References
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
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