Cited today as the first historian of the English, the Venerable Bede (ca. 673-735) was known in his own time primarily as a commentator on Holy Scripture. Taking seriously the insights of both ancient schools of biblical exegesis, the Antiochene and he Alexandrian, Bede was as proficient at explaining the plain sense of difficult scriptural texts as he was at discerning the figurative or allegorical significance. This volume contains six of Bede's shorter biblical writings, most of which appear here in translation for the first time. Taken together, they reveal his amazing versatility. On Tobias shows his skill as an allegorist, while On the Resting Places, Thirty Questions on the Book of Kings, and On Eight Questions reveal his fascination with the logical puzzles posed by Scripture's literal sense. On the Holy Places is an exegetical tool conveying information about the geography of the Holy Land that Bede considered indispensable for an adequate understanding of biblical revelation. In aletter On What Isaiah Says, Bede refutes a heretical understanding of Scripture in an attempt to build up the faith of the Church.

As the major writer and thinker of the Anglo-Saxon period, the Venerable Bede is a key figure in the study of the literature and thought of this time. This Companion, written by an international team of specialists, is a key introductory guide to Bede, his writings, and his world. The first part of the volume focuses on Bede's cultural and intellectual milieu, covering his life, the secular-political contexts of his day, the foundations of the Latin learning he inherited and sought to perpetuate, the ecclesiastical and monastic setting of early Northumbria, and the foundation of his home institution, Wearmouth-Jarrow. The book then considers Bede's writing in detail, treating his educational, exegetical and historical works. Concluding with a detailed assessment of Bede's influence and reception from the time of his death up to the modern age, the Companion enables the reader to view Bede's writings within a wider cultural context.

Bede (c. 673-735) was Anglo-Saxon England’s most prominent scholar, and his body of work is among the most important intellectual achievements of the entire Middle Ages. Bede and the Future brings together an international group of Bede scholars to examine a number of questions about Bede’s attitude towards, and ideas about, the time to come. This encompasses the short-term future (Bede’s own lifetime and the time soon after his death) and the end of time. Whilst recognising that these temporal perspectives may not be completely distinct, the volume shows how Bede’s understanding of their relationship undoubtedly changed over the course of his life. Each chapter examines a distinct aspect of the subject, whilst at the same time complementing the other essays, resulting in a comprehensive and coherent volume. In so doing the volume asks (and answers) new questions about Bede and his ideas about the future, and will undoubtedly stimulate further research in this field.

Bede’s Ecclesiastical History is our main source for early Christian Anglo-Saxon England, but how was it written? When? And why? Scholars have spent much of the last half century investigating the latter question – the ‘why’. This new study is the first to systematically consider the ‘how’ and the ‘when’. Richard Shaw shows that rather than producing the History at a single point in 731, Bede was working on it for as much as twenty years, from c. 715 to just before his death in 735. Unpacking and extending the period of composition of Bede’s best-known book makes sense of the complicated and contradictory evidence for its purposes. The work did not have one context, but several, each with its own distinct constructed audiences. Thus, the History was not written for a single purpose to the exclusion of all others. Nor was it simply written for a variety of reasons. It was written over time – quite a lot of time – and as the world changed during that time, so too did Bede’s reasons for writing, the intentions he sought to pursue – and the patrons he hoped to please or to placate.

This book addresses the critical terminologies of place and space (and their role within medieval studies) in a considered and critical manner, presenting a scholarly introduction written by the editors alongside thematic case studies that address a wide range of visual and textual material. The chapters consider the extant visual and textual sources from the medieval period alongside contemporary scholarly discussions to examine place and space in their wider critical context, and are written by specialists in a range of disciplines including art history, archaeology, history, and literature.

Through a close reading of Bede, N. J. Higham assesses how best to approach the text as an historical source and offers a fresh approach to how we should engage today with Bede’s Ecclesiastical History – the most important source for early medieval history ever written.

Gregory, a 6th-century bishop of Tours, was a great collector of saints' lives. The Gallic saints he described would heal the sick, protect fugitives, and release prisoners. However, these saints were also quick to take offense and to punish - paralyzing, crippling, and even killing those who slighted them or threatened their interests. This book reconciles these two aspects of Gregory's saints, allowing for a better understanding of the place of miracles of punishment (Strafwunder) within the broader theological context of the early medieval Latin West. (Series: Theologie - Vol. 110) [Subject: Religious Studies, Christianity, Medieval Studies]