Table of Contents

Foreword Michael Lapidge; Preface; List of abbreviations; Part I. Alter Orbis: 1. Change in the west; 2. Bede's view of Britain; 3. Britons and English; 4. English foundations; Part II. Towards Christianity: 5. The initiation of a mission; 6. The journey to England; 7. Gregory's English correspondence; 8. Bede's account of the mission; 9. The first Archbishops of Canterbury; 10. Paulinus in Northumbria; 11. 'Celtic' and 'Roman' missionaries; Part III. The Growth of Monasticism: 12. Gaulish and Italian influences; 13. Spanish influences; 14. Aspects of English monasticism; 15. Benedict Biscop's early years; 16. The Foundation of Wearmouth; 17. The Foundation of Jarrow; 18. The Abbacy of Ceolfrith; Part IV. Learning, Teaching and Writing: 19. The regular life; 20. The Bible in the west; 21. The Northumbrian Bible; 22. Education and the grammarians; 23. Reading and psalmody; 24. Number and time; 25. The lives of saints; 26. Secular and Christian books; 27. Candela Ecclesiae; Select Bibliography; Index.

Promotional Information

An engaging and accessible introduction to the writings and intellectual development of the Venerable Bede (d. 735), first historian of the English and one of the greatest scholars of the Middle Ages.

Reviews

"In the foreword, Michael Lapidge, who supervised the reprinting, says, 'Hunter Blair's book stands up well to the passage of time: being concerned with Bede himself and not with the industry of Bede scholarship.' Anyone (such as this reviewer) who read this book twenty years ago and who has just returned to it will agree...This remains a fine book." Joseph F. Kelly, Church History