Bede The Scholar

Bede the Scholar distils a decade of research by leading scholars on the Northumbrian monk, the Venerable Bede (c. 673-735). Considering Bede's place within the wider intellectual developments of the early medieval world, the book demonstrates the centrality of the Bible to his scholarship. Chapters focus on his engagement with scriptural languages, his knowledge and use of earlier works of Latin literature such as those by Augustine of Hippo and Cassiodorus, and Bede's pastoral commitment to teaching and preaching. Bede the Scholar breaks new ground for our understanding of its subject's self-image by investigating his famous Ecclesiastical history of the English people alongside lesser-known works such as the Martyrology, the commentary On Genesis, and the chapter headings he developed for different parts of the Vulgate Bible. The book underscores the importance of appreciating Bede's work within its local setting, the monastery of Wearmouth and Jarrow in the kingdom of Northumbria. The monastery's founders, Benedict Biscop and Ceolfrith, are shown to have inspired Bede in various ways. Most importantly, they created an environment in which Bede could flourish and contribute to an intellectual enterprise which also generated the Codex Amiatinus, the earliest one-volume Vulgate to survive fully intact. Overall, Bede the Scholar is an essential contribution which deepens our understanding of the scholarly programme undertaken by one of the most important intellectual figures of the early middle ages. The chapters celebrate the depth and complexity of Bede's writings, whilst demonstrating their overall coherence and clarity.