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Bull running

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Bull running was a custom practised in England until the 19th century. It involved chasing a bull through the streets of a town until it was weakened, then slaughtering the animal and butchering it for its meat. Bull running became illegal in 1835, and the last bull run took place in Stamford, Lincolnshire , in 1839. The practice was not confined to any particular region, with bull runs also documented at Axbridge in the south west , Canterbury and Wokingham in the south east , Tutbury in the midlands , and Wisbech in the east .

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93-982: The origins of the custom are uncertain, and the date of observance varied across the country. In Stamford, the bull run took place on St Brice 's Day (13 November); in Tutbury, it was held on the Feast of the Assumption (15 August); and in Axbridge on Guy Fawkes Day (5 November). Participants may be referred to as bullards, as in the Bullards' Song associated with the Stamford bull run . The earliest documented instance of bull running appears in 1389, among medieval guild records collected by Joshua Toulmin Smith . The document—from Stamford's "Gild of St. Martin"—states that "on

186-457: A puer oblatus to the monastery of Monkwearmouth by his family to be educated by Benedict Biscop and later by Ceolfrith . Bede does not say whether it was already intended at that point that he would be a monk. It was fairly common in Ireland at this time for young boys, particularly those of noble birth, to be fostered out as an oblate; the practice was also likely to have been common among

279-523: A penitential , though his authorship of this work is disputed. Bede's best-known work is the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum , or An Ecclesiastical History of the English People , completed in about 731. Bede was aided in writing this book by Albinus , abbot of St Augustine's Abbey , Canterbury . The first of the five books begins with some geographical background and then sketches

372-408: A different day of the year. The other approach was to use regnal years—the reigning Roman emperor, for example, or the ruler of whichever kingdom was under discussion. This meant that in discussing conflicts between kingdoms, the date would have to be given in the regnal years of all the kings involved. Bede used both these approaches on occasion but adopted a third method as his main approach to dating:

465-679: A modern writer of history. His focus on the history of the organisation of the English church, and on heresies and the efforts made to root them out, led him to exclude the secular history of kings and kingdoms except where a moral lesson could be drawn or where they illuminated events in the church. Besides the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , the medieval writers William of Malmesbury , Henry of Huntingdon , and Geoffrey of Monmouth used his works as sources and inspirations. Early modern writers, such as Polydore Vergil and Matthew Parker ,

558-595: A rhetorical device. Bede wrote scientific, historical and theological works, reflecting the range of his writings from music and metrics to exegetical Scripture commentaries. He knew patristic literature, as well as Pliny the Elder , Virgil , Lucretius , Ovid , Horace and other classical writers. He knew some Greek. Bede's scriptural commentaries employed the allegorical method of interpretation, and his history includes accounts of miracles, which to modern historians has seemed at odds with his critical approach to

651-522: A scribe, however, and despite spending the night awake in prayer he dictated again the following day. At three o'clock, according to Cuthbert, he asked for a box of his to be brought and distributed among the priests of the monastery "a few treasures" of his: "some pepper, and napkins, and some incense". That night he dictated a final sentence to the scribe, a boy named Wilberht, and died soon afterwards. The account of Cuthbert does not make entirely clear whether Bede died before midnight or after. However, by

744-524: A singer and as a reciter of poetry in the vernacular. It is possible that he suffered a speech impediment, but this depends on a phrase in the introduction to his verse life of St Cuthbert. Translations of this phrase differ, and it is uncertain whether Bede intended to say that he was cured of a speech problem, or merely that he was inspired by the saint's works. In 708, some monks at Hexham accused Bede of having committed heresy in his work De Temporibus . The standard theological view of world history at

837-520: A source for Germanus 's visits to Britain. Bede's account of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain is drawn largely from Gildas 's De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae . Bede would also have been familiar with more recent accounts such as Stephen of Ripon 's Life of Wilfrid , and anonymous Life of Gregory the Great and Life of Cuthbert . He also drew on Josephus 's Antiquities , and

930-519: A tradition of Christian faith that continues. Bede, like Gregory the Great whom Bede quotes on the subject in the Historia , felt that faith brought about by miracles was a stepping stone to a higher, truer faith, and that as a result miracles had their place in a work designed to instruct. Bede is somewhat reticent about the career of Wilfrid, a contemporary and one of the most prominent clerics of his day. This may be because Wilfrid's opulent lifestyle

1023-750: A translation of the Greek Passion of St Anastasius . He also created a listing of saints, the Martyrology . In his own time, Bede was as well known for his biblical commentaries, and for his exegetical and other theological works. The majority of his writings were of this type and covered the Old Testament and the New Testament. Most survived the Middle Ages, but a few were lost. It was for his theological writings that he earned

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1116-684: A version of the Liber Pontificalis current at least to the papacy of Pope Sergius I (687–701), and other sources. For earlier events he drew on Eusebius's Chronikoi Kanones. The dating of events in the Chronicle is inconsistent with his other works, using the era of creation, the Anno Mundi . His other historical works included lives of the abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow, as well as verse and prose lives of St Cuthbert , an adaptation of Paulinus of Nola 's Life of St Felix , and

1209-401: Is Mr. Draper's intention to "give a bull running every year at Peterborough, on the anniversary of Bishop Blaze, and to dispose of the meat in the same way." Notes References Bibliography Brice of Tours Brice of Tours ( Latin : Brictius ; c. 370 – 444 AD) was a 5th-century Frankish bishop, the fourth Bishop of Tours , succeeding Martin of Tours in 397. Brice

1302-794: Is believed to have been used by Bede survives and is now in the Bodleian Library at University of Oxford . It is known as the Codex Laudianus . Bede may have worked on some of the Latin Bibles that were copied at Jarrow, one of which, the Codex Amiatinus , is now held by the Laurentian Library in Florence . Bede was a teacher as well as a writer; he enjoyed music and was said to be accomplished as

1395-560: Is easy to read. In the words of Charles Plummer , one of the best-known editors of the Historia Ecclesiastica , Bede's Latin is "clear and limpid ... it is very seldom that we have to pause to think of the meaning of a sentence ... Alcuin rightly praises Bede for his unpretending style." Bede's primary intention in writing the Historia Ecclesiastica was to show the growth of the united church throughout England. The native Britons, whose Christian church survived

1488-463: Is known of Bede's life is contained in the last chapter of his Ecclesiastical History of the English People , a history of the church in England. It was completed in about 731, and Bede implies that he was then in his fifty-ninth year, which would give a birth date in 672 or 673. A minor source of information is the letter by his disciple Cuthbert (not to be confused with the saint, Cuthbert , who

1581-538: Is known to have visited Bede, though the date cannot be determined beyond the fact that it was after Nothhelm's visit to Rome. Except for a few visits to other monasteries, his life was spent in a round of prayer, observance of the monastic discipline and study of the Sacred Scriptures. He was considered the most learned man of his time. Bede died on the Feast of the Ascension , Thursday, 26 May 735, on

1674-576: Is likely that Bede's work, because it was so widely copied, discouraged others from writing histories and may even have led to the disappearance of manuscripts containing older historical works. As Chapter 66 of his On the Reckoning of Time , in 725 Bede wrote the Greater Chronicle ( chronica maiora ), which sometimes circulated as a separate work. For recent events the Chronicle , like his Ecclesiastical History , relied upon Gildas, upon

1767-556: Is mentioned in Bede's work) which relates Bede's death. Bede, in the Historia , gives his birthplace as "on the lands of this monastery". He is referring to the twin monasteries of Monkwearmouth and Jarrow, in modern-day Wearside and Tyneside respectively. There is also a tradition that he was born at Monkton , two miles from the site where the monastery at Jarrow was later built. Bede says nothing of his origins, but his connections with men of noble ancestry suggest that his own family

1860-629: Is taken from these letters. Bede acknowledged his correspondents in the preface to the Historia Ecclesiastica ; he was in contact with Bishop Daniel of Winchester , for information about the history of the church in Wessex and also wrote to the monastery at Lastingham for information about Cedd and Chad . Bede also mentions an Abbot Esi as a source for the affairs of the East Anglian church, and Bishop Cynibert for information about Lindsey. The historian Walter Goffart argues that Bede based

1953-535: The Anno Domini method invented by Dionysius Exiguus . Although Bede did not invent this method, his adoption of it and his promulgation of it in De Temporum Ratione , his work on chronology, is the main reason it is now so widely used. Bede's Easter table, contained in De Temporum Ratione , was developed from Dionysius Exiguus' Easter table . The Historia Ecclesiastica was copied often in

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2046-566: The Historia Ecclesiastica , and also the Chronicon , though he had neither in the original Greek; instead he had a Latin translation of the Historia , by Rufinus, and Jerome 's translation of the Chronicon . He also knew Orosius's Adversus Paganus , and Gregory of Tours ' Historia Francorum , both Christian histories, as well as the work of Eutropius , a pagan historian. He used Constantius 's Life of Germanus as

2139-486: The Angles . Born on lands belonging to the twin monastery of Monkwearmouth–Jarrow in present-day Tyne and Wear , England, Bede was sent to Monkwearmouth at the age of seven and later joined Abbot Ceolfrith at Jarrow . Both of them survived a plague that struck in 686 and killed the majority of the population there. While Bede spent most of his life in the monastery, he travelled to several abbeys and monasteries across

2232-631: The Council of Whitby , traditionally seen as a major turning point in English history. The fourth book begins with the consecration of Theodore as Archbishop of Canterbury and recounts Wilfrid's efforts to bring Christianity to the Kingdom of Sussex . The fifth book brings the story up to Bede's day and includes an account of missionary work in Frisia and of the conflict with the British church over

2325-624: The Spanyards , as well as they from the Romans and the Romans from the Greeks ? Samuel Pegge , addressing the Society of Antiquaries in 1765, dismissed Plot's conjecture as "entirely mistaken", while lamenting that it had become received wisdom in the interim. While John of Gaunt had established a Court of Minstrels at Tutbury in 1381, the bull running appears instead to have been instituted by

2418-670: The Staffordshire and Derbyshire men, perhaps as much mischief may have been done in the triall between them, as in the Jeu de Taureau or Bull-fighting practised at Valentia , Madrid , and many other places in Spain , whence perhaps this our Custom of Bull-running might be derived, and set up here by John of Gaunt , who was King of Castile and Leon , and Lord of the Honour of Tutbury ; for why might not we receive this sport from

2511-474: The Synod of Whitby in 664. Bede is also concerned to show the unity of the English, despite the disparate kingdoms that still existed when he was writing. He also wants to instruct the reader by spiritual example and to entertain, and to the latter end he adds stories about many of the places and people about which he wrote. N. J. Higham argues that Bede designed his work to promote his reform agenda to Ceolwulf,

2604-533: The Anglo-Saxon period". His Latin has been praised for its clarity, but his style in the Historia Ecclesiastica is not simple. He knew rhetoric and often used figures of speech and rhetorical forms which cannot easily be reproduced in translation, depending as they often do on the connotations of the Latin words. However, unlike contemporaries such as Aldhelm , whose Latin is full of difficulties, Bede's own text

2697-637: The Anglo-Saxons whom he regards as having held imperium , or overlordship; only one king of Wessex, Ceawlin , is listed as Bretwalda , and none from Mercia, though elsewhere he acknowledges the secular power several of the Mercians held. Historian Robin Fleming states that he was so hostile to Mercia because Northumbria had been diminished by Mercian power that he consulted no Mercian informants and included no stories about its saints. Bede relates

2790-465: The British Isles, even visiting the archbishop of York and King Ceolwulf of Northumbria . His theological writings were extensive and included a number of Biblical commentaries and other works of exegetical erudition. Another important area of study for Bede was the academic discipline of computus , otherwise known to his contemporaries as the science of calculating calendar dates. One of

2883-673: The Elizabethan Archbishop of Canterbury, also utilised the Historia , and his works were used by both Protestant and Catholic sides in the wars of religion . Some historians have questioned the reliability of some of Bede's accounts. One historian, Charlotte Behr, thinks that the Historia's account of the arrival of the Germanic invaders in Kent should not be considered to relate what actually happened, but rather relates myths that were current in Kent during Bede's time. It

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2976-564: The Germanic peoples in England. Monkwearmouth's sister monastery at Jarrow was founded by Ceolfrith in 682, and Bede probably transferred to Jarrow with Ceolfrith that year. The dedication stone for the church has survived as of 1969 ; it is dated 23 April 685, and as Bede would have been required to assist with menial tasks in his day-to-day life it is possible that he helped in building the original church. In 686, plague broke out at Jarrow. The Life of Ceolfrith , written in about 710, records that only two surviving monks were capable of singing

3069-461: The Gregorian mission, Goffart feels was modelled on Life of Wilfrid . Most of Bede's informants for information after Augustine's mission came from the eastern part of Britain, leaving significant gaps in the knowledge of the western areas, which were those areas likely to have a native Briton presence. Bede's stylistic models included some of the same authors from whom he drew the material for

3162-527: The Middle Ages, and about 160 manuscripts containing it survive. About half of those are located on the European continent, rather than in the British Isles. Most of the 8th- and 9th-century texts of Bede's Historia come from the northern parts of the Carolingian Empire . This total does not include manuscripts with only a part of the work, of which another 100 or so survive. It was printed for

3255-585: The Northumbrian king. Bede painted a highly optimistic picture of the current situation in the Church, as opposed to the more pessimistic picture found in his private letters. Bede's extensive use of miracles can prove difficult for readers who consider him a more or less reliable historian but do not accept the possibility of miracles. Yet both reflect an inseparable integrity and regard for accuracy and truth, expressed in terms both of historical events and of

3348-541: The Venerable ( Latin : Beda Venerabilis ), was an English monk , author and scholar. He was one of the greatest teachers and writers during the Early Middle Ages , and his most famous work, Ecclesiastical History of the English People , gained him the title "The Father of English History ". He served at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom of Northumbria of

3441-416: The abbess of Ely. Wilfrid had been present at the exhumation of her body in 695, and Bede questioned the bishop about the exact circumstances of the body and asked for more details of her life, as Wilfrid had been her advisor. In 733, Bede travelled to York to visit Ecgbert, who was then bishop of York . The See of York was elevated to an archbishopric in 735, and it is likely that Bede and Ecgbert discussed

3534-466: The abbot during this visit, and it may be that Adomnán sparked Bede's interest in the Easter dating controversy . In about 692, in Bede's nineteenth year, Bede was ordained a deacon by his diocesan bishop, John , who was bishop of Hexham . The canonical age for the ordination of a deacon was 25; Bede's early ordination may mean that his abilities were considered exceptional, but it is also possible that

3627-481: The achievements of Mercia and Wessex, omitting, for example, any mention of Boniface, a West Saxon missionary to the continent of some renown and of whom Bede had almost certainly heard, though Bede does discuss Northumbrian missionaries to the continent. He is also parsimonious in his praise for Aldhelm , a West Saxon who had done much to convert the native Britons to the Roman form of Christianity. He lists seven kings of

3720-464: The aim of all his scholarship, was a belief common among historians in the past but is no longer accepted by most scholars. Modern historians and editors of Bede have been lavish in their praise of his achievement in the Historia Ecclesiastica . Stenton regards it as one of the "small class of books which transcend all but the most fundamental conditions of time and place", and regards its quality as dependent on Bede's "astonishing power of co-ordinating

3813-513: The animals to be slaughtered were often first used for sport: "[T]he youth are entertained in a morning with boars fighting to the last gasp, as likewise with hogs full tusked, intended to be converted into bacon; or game-bulls, and bears of a large bulk, are baited with dogs." It was reported on 23 January 1792 that a mad ox was run in the Market-place, Peterborough . "it was one of the finest but most ferocious creatures ever seen. Another of

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3906-466: The breed is to be run next week". It was reported in February 1799 "About a fortnight since J.W Draper, Esq. of Peterborough, gave a bull- running at that place,- which afforded much entertainment to the inhabitants, and the more so, as no mischief endued. The beast was afterwards killed, and distributed amongst a number of indigent families, which proved a great relief to them at this inclement season. It

3999-460: The bull running that took place in November occurred in the calendar around Martinmas , which "traditionally marked the slaughtering time for the beef, swine and geese not being maintained through the winter on stored feed." During the Anglo-Saxon period, November was called Blōtmōnaþ ("sacrifice month") or Blōdmōnaþ ("blood month"). Langeslag cautions: "Whether the [Anglo-Saxons'] slaughter

4092-438: The bulls, enraging them further and causing them to stampede through the town tossing about men, women and children. Earl Warenne joined the wild mêlée on horseback and so enjoyed himself that he gave to the butchers of Stamford that piece of mating ground, thereafter called "Bull-meadow", on condition that they replicate the event yearly thereafter. A similar origin-story involving a noble is found at Tutbury, Staffordshire, where

4185-462: The classroom. He continued to write for the rest of his life, eventually completing over 60 books, most of which have survived. Not all his output can be easily dated, and Bede may have worked on some texts over a period of many years. His last surviving work is a letter to Ecgbert of York , a former student, written in 734. A 6th-century Greek and Latin manuscript of Acts of the Apostles that

4278-458: The conjugal duty because as often as I perform what is due to my wife I am not able to pray." Another passage, in the Commentary on Luke , also mentions a wife in the first person: "Formerly I possessed a wife in the lustful passion of desire and now I possess her in honourable sanctification and true love of Christ." The historian Benedicta Ward argued that these passages are Bede employing

4371-613: The coronation of Charlemagne in 800. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church . He is the only native of Great Britain to achieve this designation. Bede was moreover a skilled linguist and translator, and his work made the Latin and Greek writings of the early Church Fathers much more accessible to his fellow Anglo-Saxons , which contributed significantly to English Christianity . Bede's monastery had access to an impressive library which included works by Eusebius , Orosius , and many others. Almost everything that

4464-444: The correct dating of Easter. Bede wrote a preface for the work, in which he dedicates it to Ceolwulf , king of Northumbria. The preface mentions that Ceolwulf received an earlier draft of the book; presumably Ceolwulf knew enough Latin to understand it, and he may even have been able to read it. The preface makes it clear that Ceolwulf had requested the earlier copy, and Bede had asked for Ceolwulf's approval; this correspondence with

4557-569: The departure of the Romans, earn Bede's ire for refusing to help convert the Anglo-Saxons; by the end of the Historia the English, and their church, are dominant over the Britons. This goal, of showing the movement towards unity, explains Bede's animosity towards the British method of calculating Easter: much of the Historia is devoted to a history of the dispute, including the final resolution at

4650-705: The earlier parts of his history. His introduction imitates the work of Orosius, and his title is an echo of Eusebius's Historia Ecclesiastica . Bede also followed Eusebius in taking the Acts of the Apostles as the model for the overall work: where Eusebius used the Acts as the theme for his description of the development of the church, Bede made it the model for his history of the Anglo-Saxon church. Bede quoted his sources at length in his narrative, as Eusebius had done. Bede also appears to have taken quotes directly from his correspondents at times. For example, he almost always uses

4743-475: The feast of St. Martin, this gild, by custom beyond reach of memory, has a bull; which bull is hunted [not baited ] by dogs, and then sold; whereupon the bretheren and sisteren sit down to feast." The phrase "custom beyond reach of memory " leaves uncertainty about whether the custom pre-dated the guild—which was established by 1329—or was instituted by the guild itself. Local folklore in Stamford maintained that

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4836-514: The first attempts to evangelise Northumbria. These ended in disaster when Penda , the pagan king of Mercia, killed the newly Christian Edwin of Northumbria at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in about 632. The setback was temporary, and the third book recounts the growth of Christianity in Northumbria under kings Oswald of Northumbria and Oswy . The climax of the third book is the account of

4929-411: The first time between 1474 and 1482, probably at Strasbourg . Modern historians have studied the Historia extensively, and several editions have been produced. For many years, early Anglo-Saxon history was essentially a retelling of the Historia , but recent scholarship has focused as much on what Bede did not write as what he did. The belief that the Historia was the culmination of Bede's works,

5022-713: The floor of his cell, singing "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit" and was buried at Jarrow. Cuthbert, a disciple of Bede's, wrote a letter to a Cuthwin (of whom nothing else is known), describing Bede's last days and his death. According to Cuthbert, Bede fell ill, "with frequent attacks of breathlessness but almost without pain", before Easter. On the Tuesday, two days before Bede died, his breathing became worse and his feet swelled. He continued to dictate to

5115-434: The fragments of information which came to him through tradition, the relation of friends, or documentary evidence ... In an age where little was attempted beyond the registration of fact, he had reached the conception of history." Patrick Wormald describes him as "the first and greatest of England's historians". The Historia Ecclesiastica has given Bede a high reputation, but his concerns were different from those of

5208-427: The full offices; one was Ceolfrith and the other a young boy, who according to the anonymous writer had been taught by Ceolfrith. The two managed to do the entire service of the liturgy until others could be trained. The young boy was almost certainly Bede, who would have been about 14. When Bede was about 17 years old, Adomnán , the abbot of Iona Abbey , visited Monkwearmouth and Jarrow. Bede would probably have met

5301-533: The history of England, beginning with Caesar's invasion in 55 BC. A brief account of Christianity in Roman Britain, including the martyrdom of St Alban , is followed by the story of Augustine 's mission to England in 597, which brought Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons . The second book begins with the death of Gregory the Great in 604 and follows the further progress of Christianity in Kent and

5394-578: The king indicates that Bede's monastery had connections among the Northumbrian nobility. The monastery at Wearmouth-Jarrow had an excellent library. Both Benedict Biscop and Ceolfrith had acquired books from the Continent, and in Bede's day the monastery was a renowned centre of learning. It has been estimated that there were about 200 books in the monastic library. For the period prior to Augustine's arrival in 597, Bede drew on earlier writers, including Solinus . He had access to two works of Eusebius:

5487-402: The last of them had just died and Brice resumed his duties. He built a chapel dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul to protect the tomb of his predecessor Martin. He served with such humility that on his death in November 444 he was venerated as a saint. Brice is described in various biographies as a controversial figure. Church historians see in the various relevant legends an expression of

5580-470: The letters imply that Bede had met his correspondents, it is likely that Bede travelled to some other places, although nothing further about timing or locations can be guessed. It seems certain that he did not visit Rome, however, as he did not mention it in the autobiographical chapter of his Historia Ecclesiastica . Nothhelm , a correspondent of Bede's who assisted him by finding documents for him in Rome,

5673-512: The materials in his history. Modern studies have shown the important role such concepts played in the world-view of Early Medieval scholars. Although Bede is mainly studied as a historian now, in his time his works on grammar, chronology, and biblical studies were as important as his historical and hagiographical works. The non-historical works contributed greatly to the Carolingian Renaissance . He has been credited with writing

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5766-480: The minimum age requirement was often disregarded. There might have been minor orders ranking below a deacon; but there is no record of whether Bede held any of these offices. In Bede's thirtieth year (about 702), he became a priest, with the ordination again performed by Bishop John. In about 701 Bede wrote his first works, the De Arte Metrica and De Schematibus et Tropis ; both were intended for use in

5859-437: The more important dates Bede tried to compute was Easter, an effort that was mired in controversy. He also helped popularize the practice of dating forward from the birth of Christ ( Anno Domini — in the year of our Lord), a practice which eventually became commonplace in medieval Europe. He is considered by many historians to be the most important scholar of antiquity for the period between the death of Pope Gregory I in 604 and

5952-529: The prior of Tutbury Priory (founded c.1080 as a dependency of the abbey at Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives ) as part of the Feast of the Assumption celebrations which, as early as 1230, required the prior to provide "a great feast". Pegge also notes that the bull used for running was provided by the prior, and that the animal "was turned out antiently at the abbey-gate, and by the prior; John of Gaunt or his officers being no way employed in that service." Walsh observed that

6045-420: The proposal for the elevation during his visit. Bede hoped to visit Ecgbert again in 734 but was too ill to make the journey. Bede also travelled to the monastery of Lindisfarne and at some point visited the otherwise unknown monastery of a monk named Wicthed, a visit that is mentioned in a letter to that monk. Because of his widespread correspondence with others throughout the British Isles, and because many of

6138-401: The reckoning of Bede's time, passage from the old day to the new occurred at sunset, not midnight, and Cuthbert is clear that he died after sunset. Thus, while his box was brought at three o'clock Wednesday afternoon of 25 May, by the time of the final dictation it was considered 26 May, although it might still have been 25 May in modern usage. Cuthbert's letter also relates a five-line poem in

6231-401: The sons of the Saxon founder of Portsmouth . The Liber Vitae of Durham Cathedral names two priests with this name, one of whom is presumably Bede himself. Some manuscripts of the Life of Cuthbert , one of Bede's works, mention that Cuthbert 's own priest was named Bede; it is possible that this priest is the other name listed in the Liber Vitae . At the age of seven, Bede was sent as

6324-403: The story of Augustine's mission from Rome, and tells how the British clergy refused to assist Augustine in the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. This, combined with Gildas's negative assessment of the British church at the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions, led Bede to a very critical view of the native church. However, Bede ignores the fact that at the time of Augustine's mission, the history between

6417-433: The structure of the Historia on three works, using them as the framework around which the three main sections of the work were structured. For the early part of the work, up until the Gregorian mission , Goffart feels that Bede used De excidio . The second section, detailing the Gregorian mission of Augustine of Canterbury was framed on Life of Gregory the Great written at Whitby. The last section, detailing events after

6510-403: The task of writing the Historia Ecclesiastica . His interest in computus, the science of calculating the date of Easter , was also useful in the account he gives of the controversy between the British and Anglo-Saxon church over the correct method of obtaining the Easter date. Bede is described by Michael Lapidge as "without question the most accomplished Latinist produced in these islands in

6603-437: The tensions between the regular clergy and the secular priests in Tours at that time. His bones were transferred by Gregory of Tours to Clermont and are now in the church of San Michele in Pavia. Churches were named after him. His memorial day is 13 November. The killing of the Danes in England on 13 November 1002 is called the St Brice's Day massacre . In the town of Stamford in Lincolnshire , 13 November, St Brice's Day,

6696-553: The terms "Australes" and "Occidentales" for the South and West Saxons respectively, but in a passage in the first book he uses "Meridiani" and "Occidui" instead, as perhaps his informant had done. At the end of the work, Bede adds a brief autobiographical note; this was an idea taken from Gregory of Tours' earlier History of the Franks . Bede's work as a hagiographer and his detailed attention to dating were both useful preparations for

6789-413: The thought of such a bishop did not arouse enthusiasm, asked Martin to send the troublemaker away; but Martin replied: "If Christ could put up with Judas, why should I not put up with Brice?" It is said that Brice left the monastery "to live with beautiful horses in his stables and pretty slaves in his house." When Martin died in 397, Brice succeeded him as Bishop of Tours. Brice performed his duties, but

6882-539: The time was known as the Six Ages of the World ; in his book, Bede calculated the age of the world for himself, rather than accepting the authority of Isidore of Seville , and came to the conclusion that Christ had been born 3,952 years after the creation of the world, rather than the figure of over 5,000 years that was commonly accepted by theologians. The accusation occurred in front of the bishop of Hexham, Wilfrid , who

6975-495: The time was politically rather uncertain. According to legend, Brice was an orphan. He was rescued by Bishop Martin and raised in the monastery at Marmoutier . He became Martin's pupil, although the ambitious and volatile Brice was rather the opposite of his master in temperament. Brice became a monk and later, Martin's archdeacon. In one account, when Martin prophesied that Brice would become his successor as bishop, but would have many difficulties. The clerics of Tours , where

7068-601: The title of Doctor Anglorum and why he was declared a saint. Bede synthesised and transmitted the learning from his predecessors, as well as made careful, judicious innovation in knowledge (such as recalculating the age of the Earth—for which he was censured before surviving the heresy accusations and eventually having his views championed by Archbishop Ussher in the sixteenth century—see below) that had theological implications. In order to do this, he learned Greek and attempted to learn Hebrew. He spent time reading and rereading both

7161-517: The tomb of St. Martin, showing the unburned cloak as proof of his innocence. The people of Tours, however, did not believe him and forced him to leave Tours or be stoned by them. He could return only after he had traveled to Rome and been absolved of his sins by the Pope. After seven years of exile in Rome, Brice returned to Tours, completely exonerated by the pope. During his absence several other bishops had been appointed to Tours; but when he came back,

7254-455: The tradition was begun by William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey , during the reign of King John (1199—1216). The story, recorded by Richard Butcher in his The Survey and Antiquitie of Stamford Towne (1646), and described by Walsh as "patently fictional", relates how Warenne: ...was looking out of his castle window one 13 November and spied out on the meadow two bulls fighting over a cow. The Stamford butchers then came with their dogs to part

7347-407: The tradition was said to have been started by John of Gaunt shortly after he married his Spanish wife, Constance of Castile , in 1372, in an effort to remind her of her home. The story was first advanced—purely as speculation—by Robert Plot in his The Natural History of Stafford-Shire (1686), where he writes: ...through the emulation in point of manhood , that has long been cherish't between

7440-436: The two was one of warfare and conquest, which, in the words of Barbara Yorke , would have naturally "curbed any missionary impulses towards the Anglo-Saxons from the British clergy." At the time Bede wrote the Historia Ecclesiastica , there were two common ways of referring to dates. One was to use indictions , which were 15-year cycles, counting from 312 AD. There were three different varieties of indiction, each starting on

7533-412: The vernacular that Bede composed on his deathbed, known as " Bede's Death Song ". It is the most-widely copied Old English poem and appears in 45 manuscripts, but its attribution to Bede is not certain—not all manuscripts name Bede as the author, and the ones that do are of later origin than those that do not. Bede's remains may have been transferred to Durham Cathedral in the 11th century; his tomb there

7626-428: The works of Cassiodorus , and there was a copy of the Liber Pontificalis in Bede's monastery. Bede quotes from several classical authors, including Cicero , Plautus , and Terence , but he may have had access to their work via a Latin grammar rather than directly. However, it is clear he was familiar with the works of Virgil and with Pliny the Elder 's Natural History , and his monastery also owned copies of

7719-501: The works of Dionysius Exiguus . He probably drew his account of Alban from a life of that saint which has not survived. He acknowledges two other lives of saints directly; one is a life of Fursa , and the other of Æthelburh ; the latter no longer survives. He also had access to a life of Ceolfrith. Some of Bede's material came from oral traditions, including a description of the physical appearance of Paulinus of York , who had died nearly 90 years before Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica

7812-571: Was a contemporary of Augustine of Hippo and lived in the time of the Council of Ephesus . Gaul was part of the Roman Empire, where Christianity was the official state religion since the end of the 4th century, and was in the process of advanced Christianization. However, the Western Roman Empire was already very close to collapse, and in the course of the migration of peoples in the fifth century, various Germanic empires formed;

7905-574: Was accompanied by a celebration, and whether such a celebration would have been secular or religious, is not known, although a twelfth-century reader of Bede gave the month name the explanation 'because this is when they offered the cattle to be killed to their gods'. Whether this should be read as speculation or report, it is certain that the necessary conditions for a gathering, secular or religious, were in place at this time of year." William Fitzstephen , writing in 1173, indicates that, in London at least,

7998-419: Was also said to succumb to worldly pleasures. He was repeatedly accused of secular ambition, and various other mistakes during this time, but church official investigations each time released him. In the thirtieth year of his episcopate, a nun who was a washerwoman in his household gave birth to a child that, owing to calumny, was rumored to be his. He submitted to a ritual of carrying hot coals in his cloak to

8091-541: Was looted in 1541, but the contents were probably re-interred in the Galilee chapel at the cathedral. One further oddity in his writings is that in one of his works, the Commentary on the Seven Catholic Epistles , he writes in a manner that gives the impression he was married. The section in question is the only one in that work that is written in first-person view. Bede says: "Prayers are hindered by

8184-436: Was present at a feast when some drunken monks made the accusation. Wilfrid did not respond to the accusation, but a monk present relayed the episode to Bede, who replied within a few days to the monk, writing a letter setting forth his defence and asking that the letter also be read to Wilfrid. Bede had another brush with Wilfrid, for the historian says that he met Wilfrid sometime between 706 and 709 and discussed Æthelthryth ,

8277-476: Was traditionally the day that a bull-running took place. Brice is depicted as a bishop, with glowing coals in his robe or with a baby in his arms. [REDACTED] Media related to Saint Brice at Wikimedia Commons Bede Bede ( / b iː d / ; Old English : Bēda [ˈbeːdɑ] ; 672/3 – 26 May 735), also known as Saint Bede , the Venerable Bede , and Bede

8370-553: Was uncongenial to Bede's monastic mind; it may also be that the events of Wilfrid's life, divisive and controversial as they were, simply did not fit with Bede's theme of the progression to a unified and harmonious church. Bede's account of the early migrations of the Angles and Saxons to England omits any mention of a movement of those peoples across the English Channel from Britain to Brittany described by Procopius , who

8463-518: Was well-to-do. Bede's first abbot was Benedict Biscop , and the names "Biscop" and "Beda" both appear in a list of the kings of Lindsey from around 800, further suggesting that Bede came from a noble family. Bede's name reflects West Saxon Bīeda (Anglian Bēda ). It is an Old English short name formed on the root of bēodan "to bid, command". The name also occurs in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , s.a. 501, as Bieda , one of

8556-439: Was writing in the sixth century. Frank Stenton describes this omission as "a scholar's dislike of the indefinite"; traditional material that could not be dated or used for Bede's didactic purposes had no interest for him. Bede was a Northumbrian, and this tinged his work with a local bias. The sources to which he had access gave him less information about the west of England than for other areas. He says relatively little about

8649-462: Was written. Bede had correspondents who supplied him with material. Albinus, the abbot of the monastery in Canterbury, provided much information about the church in Kent, and with the assistance of Nothhelm , at that time a priest in London, obtained copies of Gregory the Great 's correspondence from Rome relating to Augustine's mission . Almost all of Bede's information regarding Augustine

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