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103-589: Humeima was occupied from about 90 BC until the Early Islamic period , and has Nabataean , Roman , Byzantine and Islamic remains, including a Roman bath and fort, five Byzantine churches , and a qasr or fortified palace from the Umayyad Period. The settlement was founded by Aretas III as a stop on the trade route from Petra to Gulf of Aqaba . During the Greco-Roman era, it

206-457: 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

309-523: 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

412-596: A slippery slope scenario in his style guide that, "if we do end by casting aside the AD/BC convention, almost certainly some will argue that we ought to cast aside as well the conventional numbering system [that is, the method of numbering years] itself, given its Christian basis." Some Christians are offended by the removal of the reference to Jesus, including the Southern Baptist Convention . The abbreviation BCE, just as with BC, always follows

515-541: A year zero . In 1422, Portugal became the last Western European country to switch to the system begun by Dionysius. The term "Common Era" is traced back in English to its appearance as " Vulgar Era" to distinguish years of the Anno Domini era, which was in popular use, from dates of the regnal year (the year of the reign of a sovereign) typically used in national law. (The word 'vulgar' originally meant 'of

618-408: 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:

721-626: A matter of convenience. There is so much interaction between people of different faiths and cultures – different civilizations, if you like – that some shared way of reckoning time is a necessity. And so the Christian Era has become the Common Era. Adena K. Berkowitz, in her application to argue before the United States Supreme Court , opted to use BCE and CE because, "Given the multicultural society that we live in,

824-624: 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 ,

927-715: A period of 138 years in which the traditional BC/AD dating notation was used. BCE/CE is used by the College Board in its history tests, and by the Norton Anthology of English Literature . Others have taken a different approach. The US-based History Channel uses BCE/CE notation in articles on non-Christian religious topics such as Jerusalem and Judaism . The 2006 style guide for the Episcopal Diocese Maryland Church News says that BCE and CE should be used. In June 2006, in

1030-595: 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

1133-522: 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

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1236-524: 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

1339-520: 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

1442-519: 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

1545-750: 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

1648-684: 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

1751-480: Is a direct reference to Jesus as Lord . Proponents of the Common Era notation assert that the use of BCE/CE shows sensitivity to those who use the same year numbering system as the one that originated with and is currently used by Christians , but who are not themselves Christian. Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has argued: [T]he Christian calendar no longer belongs exclusively to Christians. People of all faiths have taken to using it simply as

1854-794: 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

1957-560: 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

2060-485: Is in particularly common use in Nepal in order to disambiguate dates from the local calendar, Bikram or Vikram Sambat. Disambiguation is needed because the era of the local calendar is quite close to the Common Era. In 2002, an advisory panel for the religious education syllabus for England and Wales recommended introducing BCE/CE dates to schools, and by 2018 some local education authorities were using them. In 2018,

2163-463: 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

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2266-589: 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

2369-576: 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

2472-556: 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

2575-629: 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

2678-535: 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

2781-566: 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

2884-631: 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

2987-655: The Gregorian calendar without the AD prefix. As early as 1825, the abbreviation VE (for Vulgar Era) was in use among Jews to denote years in the Western calendar. As of 2005 , Common Era notation has also been in use for Hebrew lessons for more than a century. Jews have also used the term Current Era . Some academics in the fields of theology , education , archaeology and history have adopted CE and BCE notation despite some disagreement. A study conducted in 2014 found that

3090-520: The Incarnation of Jesus. Dionysius labeled the column of the table in which he introduced the new era as " Anni Domini Nostri Jesu Christi " (Of the year of our Lord Jesus Christ]. This way of numbering years became more widespread in Europe with its use by Bede in England in 731. Bede also introduced the practice of dating years before what he supposed was the year of birth of Jesus, without

3193-518: The Kingdom of Northumbria of 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

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3296-723: The National Trust said it would continue to use BC/AD as its house style. English Heritage explains its era policy thus: "It might seem strange to use a Christian calendar system when referring to British prehistory, but the BC/AD labels are widely used and understood." Some parts of the BBC use BCE/CE, but some presenters have said they will not. As of October 2019, the BBC News style guide has entries for AD and BC, but not for CE or BCE. The style guide for The Guardian says, under

3399-474: 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,

3502-614: The date of birth of Jesus . Since the year numbers are the same, BCE and CE dates should be equally offensive to other religions as BC and AD. Roman Catholic priest and writer on interfaith issues Raimon Panikkar argued that the BCE/CE usage is the less inclusive option since they are still using the Christian calendar numbers and forcing it on other nations. In 1993, the English-language expert Kenneth G. Wilson speculated

3605-489: The Abbasids which was a large qasr had a roughly square plan, approximately 61 by 50 m, with a recessed entrance facing east, and a large central court, arguably one of the so-called desert castles , of which very little remains today. As rainfall is only 80 mm annually, an extensive water storage and irrigation works lies in the ruins. Chronologically: Before Common Era Common Era ( CE ) and Before

3708-533: 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

3811-637: 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

3914-596: The BCE/CE notation is not growing at the expense of BC and AD notation in the scholarly literature, and that both notations are used in a relatively stable fashion. In 2011, media reports suggested that the BC/AD notation in Australian school textbooks would be replaced by BCE/CE notation. The change drew opposition from some politicians and church leaders. Weeks after the story broke, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority denied

4017-465: 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

4120-579: The Christian Era, it was sometimes qualified, e.g., "common era of the Incarnation", "common era of the Nativity", or "common era of the birth of Christ". An adapted translation of Common Era into Latin as Era Vulgaris was adopted in the 20th century by some followers of Aleister Crowley , and thus the abbreviation "e.v." or "EV" may sometimes be seen as a replacement for AD. Although Jews have their own Hebrew calendar , they often use

4223-461: The Common Era ( BCE ) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar ), the world's most widely used calendar era . Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the original Anno Domini (AD) and Before Christ (BC) notations used for the same calendar era. The two notation systems are numerically equivalent: "2024 CE" and "AD 2024" each describe

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4326-673: 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

4429-564: 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

4532-495: The Gregorian Calendar as BCE and CE without compromising their own beliefs about the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth." In History Today , Michael Ostling wrote: "BC/AD Dating: In the year of whose Lord? The continuing use of AD and BC is not only factually wrong but also offensive to many who are not Christians." Critics note the fact that there is no difference in the epoch of the two systems—chosen to be close to

4635-461: 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

4738-527: 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

4841-585: 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

4944-625: The United States, the Kentucky State School Board reversed its decision to use BCE and CE in the state's new Program of Studies, leaving education of students about these concepts a matter of local discretion. The use of CE in Jewish scholarship was historically motivated by the desire to avoid the implicit "Our Lord" in the abbreviation AD . Although other aspects of dating systems are based in Christian origins, AD

5047-604: The Venerable Bede , and Bede 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

5150-416: 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

5253-466: 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

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5356-481: 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

5459-464: 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

5562-462: 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

5665-458: 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

5768-613: 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

5871-444: 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

5974-437: The current year; "400 BCE" and "400 BC" are the same year. The expression can be traced back to 1615, when it first appears in a book by Johannes Kepler as the Latin : annus aerae nostrae vulgaris ( year of our common era ), and to 1635 in English as " Vulgar Era". The term "Common Era" can be found in English as early as 1708, and became more widely used in the mid-19th century by Jewish religious scholars. Since

6077-406: 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

6180-606: 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

6283-409: The early 20th century. The phrase "common era", in lower case , also appeared in the 19th century in a "generic" sense, not necessarily to refer to the Christian Era, but to any system of dates in common use throughout a civilization. Thus, "the common era of the Jews", "the common era of the Mahometans", "common era of the world", "the common era of the foundation of Rome". When it did refer to

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6386-428: The entry for CE/BCE: "some people prefer CE (common era, current era, or Christian era) and BCE (before common era, etc.) to AD and BC, which, however, remain our style". In the United States, the use of the BCE/CE notation in textbooks was reported in 2005 to be growing. Some publications have transitioned to using it exclusively. For example, the 2007 World Almanac was the first edition to switch to BCE/CE, ending

6489-402: 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

6592-453: The first of which was but eight days", and also refers to the common era as a synonym for vulgar era with "the fact that our Lord was born on the 4th year before the vulgar era, called Anno Domini, thus making (for example) the 42d year from his birth to correspond with the 38th of the common era". The Catholic Encyclopedia (1909) in at least one article reports all three terms (Christian, Vulgar, Common Era) being commonly understood by

6695-411: 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,

6798-496: 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

6901-434: 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

7004-427: 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

7107-410: 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

7210-521: 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:

7313-428: The late 20th century, BCE and CE have become popular in academic and scientific publications on the grounds that BCE and CE are religiously neutral terms. They have been promoted as more sensitive to non-Christians by not referring to Jesus , the central figure of Christianity , especially via the religious terms " Christ " and Dominus ("Lord") used by the other abbreviations. Nevertheless, its epoch remains

7416-470: 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,

7519-512: 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

7622-480: 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

7725-437: 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

7828-492: The ordinary people', with no derogatory associations. ) The first use of the Latin term anno aerae nostrae vulgaris may be that in a 1615 book by Johannes Kepler . Kepler uses it again, as ab Anno vulgaris aerae , in a 1616 table of ephemerides , and again, as ab anno vulgaris aerae , in 1617. A 1635 English edition of that book has the title page in English that may be the earliest-found use of Vulgar Era in English. A 1701 book edited by John Le Clerc includes

7931-496: The phrase "Before Christ according to the Vulgar Æra,   6". The Merriam Webster Dictionary gives 1716 as the date of first use of the term "vulgar era" (which it defines as Christian era). The first published use of "Christian Era" may be the Latin phrase annus aerae christianae on the title page of a 1584 theology book, De Eucharistica controuersia . In 1649, the Latin phrase annus æræ Christianæ appeared in

8034-553: The phrase "before the common era" may be that in a 1770 work that also uses common era and vulgar era as synonyms, in a translation of a book originally written in German. The 1797 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica uses the terms vulgar era and common era synonymously. In 1835, in his book Living Oracles , Alexander Campbell , wrote: "The vulgar Era, or Anno Domini; the fourth year of Jesus Christ,

8137-420: 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

8240-401: 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

8343-595: The rumours and stated that the BC/AD notation would remain, with CE and BCE as an optional suggested learning activity. In 2013, the Canadian Museum of Civilization (now the Canadian Museum of History) in Gatineau (opposite Ottawa ), which had previously switched to BCE/CE, decided to change back to BC/AD in material intended for the public while retaining BCE/CE in academic content. The notation

8446-475: The same as that used for the Anno Domini era. The idea of numbering years beginning from the date that he believed to be the date of birth of Jesus , was conceived around the year 525 by the Christian monk Dionysius Exiguus . He did this to replace the then dominant Era of Martyrs system, because he did not wish to continue the memory of a tyrant who persecuted Christians. He numbered years from an initial reference date (" epoch "), an event he referred to as

8549-562: 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

8652-458: 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

8755-433: 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

8858-456: 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

8961-553: 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

9064-539: 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

9167-601: 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

9270-468: The title of an English almanac. A 1652 ephemeris may be the first instance found so far of the English use of "Christian Era". The English phrase "Common Era" appears at least as early as 1708, and in a 1715 book on astronomy it is used interchangeably with "Christian Era" and "Vulgar Era". A 1759 history book uses common æra in a generic sense, to refer to "the common era of the Jews". The first use of

9373-497: The traditional Jewish designations – B.C.E. and C.E. – cast a wider net of inclusion." In the World History Encyclopedia , Joshua J. Mark wrote "Non-Christian scholars, especially, embraced [CE and BCE] because they could now communicate more easily with the Christian community. Jewish, Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist scholars could retain their [own] calendar but refer to events using

9476-436: 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

9579-412: 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

9682-428: 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

9785-501: 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

9888-796: The year number. Unlike AD, which still often precedes the year number, CE always follows the year number (if context requires that it be written at all). Thus, the current year is written as 2024 in both notations (or, if further clarity is needed, as 2024 CE, or as AD 2024), and the year that Socrates died is represented as 399 BCE (the same year that is represented by 399 BC in the BC/AD notation). The abbreviations are sometimes written with small capital letters, or with periods (e.g., " B.C.E. " or "C.E."). The US-based Society of Biblical Literature style guide for academic texts on religion prefers BCE/CE to BC/AD. Bede Bede ( / b iː d / ; Old English : Bēda [ˈbeːdɑ] ; 672/3 – 26 May 735), also known as Saint Bede ,

9991-601: Was called "Auara" ( Greek : Αὔαρα ), derived from "Hawara", which means " white " in Aramaic . The town was the home of the Abbasid , or Banu Abbas family, around AD 700, who eventually overthrew the Umayyad dynasty and took over the title of caliph , and as such it was the birthplace of the first three Abbasid caliphs: As-Saffah (r. 750–754), Al-Mansur (r. 754–775) and Al-Mahdi (r. 775–785). The family residence of

10094-541: 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

10197-436: 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 ,

10300-553: 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

10403-518: 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

10506-439: 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

10609-515: 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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