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Medieval Lives
Bede and the Theory of Everything
An accessible biography of the venerable Bede, regarded as the father of English history.
This book investigates the life and world of Bede (c. 673–735), the foremost scholar of the early Middle Ages and the “father of English history.” It examines his notable feats, including calculating the first tide tables, creating the Ceolfrith Bibles and the Lindisfarne Gospels, writing the earliest extant Old English poetry, and composing his famous Ecclesiastical History of the English People . In addition to providing an accessible overview of Bede’s life and work, Michelle P. Brown describes new discoveries regarding Bede’s handwriting, his historical research, and his previously lost Old English translation of St John’s Gospel, dictated on his deathbed.
This book investigates the life and world of Bede (c. 673–735), the foremost scholar of the early Middle Ages and the “father of English history.” It examines his notable feats, including calculating the first tide tables, creating the Ceolfrith Bibles and the Lindisfarne Gospels, writing the earliest extant Old English poetry, and composing his famous Ecclesiastical History of the English People . In addition to providing an accessible overview of Bede’s life and work, Michelle P. Brown describes new discoveries regarding Bede’s handwriting, his historical research, and his previously lost Old English translation of St John’s Gospel, dictated on his deathbed.
312 pages, Hardcover
Published December 5, 2023
15 people are currently reading
175 people want to read
About the author
Michelle P. Brown
41 books13 followersMichelle P. Brown is Professor Emerita of Medieval Manuscript Studies at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. She was previously (1986–2004) Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library. She has been a historical consultant and on-screen expert on several radio and television programmes. She has published books on the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Luttrell Psalter and the Holkham Bible.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 3, 2025
Overall an excellent introduction to Bede and his world. The reader is introduced to Bede's monastic life, scriptorium activity, and the full breadth of his academic accomplishments. Color illustrations, art, and photographs throughout make this book a valuable exhibit on the life of Bede.
Readers may come away with some misunderstandings about church history relative to the work of Bede. The author is sympathetic to Pelagianism and represents it in a positive light (74). The author compares the medieval willingness to believe in such things as miracles as akin to modern audiences' willingness to suspend disbelief when watching virtual reality (117). On several occasions (132, 155, 182, among elsewhere) the book (rightly!) praises Bede's work of translating biblical text into (old) English, but then laments that the translation projects of Wycliff and Tyndale did not receive similarly positive reception later. Because of the frequency of this assertion, an explanation as to how Bede's translation project was analogous in any way to Wycliff and Tyndale would have been welcome. Bede's English translation project would have been perfectly acceptable to and celebrated by the Church in the 7th or the 16th centuries, while Wycliff and Tyndale would have been similarly rejected in either era. The Church's concerns with Wycliffe and Tyndale had nothing to do with the work of translation.
These minor points aside, the book is nevertheless a wordhorde of Bede and his times. Bede's love of singing, iconography, history, saints and relics, etc. etc. made this a joy to read.
Readers may come away with some misunderstandings about church history relative to the work of Bede. The author is sympathetic to Pelagianism and represents it in a positive light (74). The author compares the medieval willingness to believe in such things as miracles as akin to modern audiences' willingness to suspend disbelief when watching virtual reality (117). On several occasions (132, 155, 182, among elsewhere) the book (rightly!) praises Bede's work of translating biblical text into (old) English, but then laments that the translation projects of Wycliff and Tyndale did not receive similarly positive reception later. Because of the frequency of this assertion, an explanation as to how Bede's translation project was analogous in any way to Wycliff and Tyndale would have been welcome. Bede's English translation project would have been perfectly acceptable to and celebrated by the Church in the 7th or the 16th centuries, while Wycliff and Tyndale would have been similarly rejected in either era. The Church's concerns with Wycliffe and Tyndale had nothing to do with the work of translation.
These minor points aside, the book is nevertheless a wordhorde of Bede and his times. Bede's love of singing, iconography, history, saints and relics, etc. etc. made this a joy to read.
November 19, 2024
I’m now a fan of The Venerable Bede.
November 6, 2024
This is something of an odd book and I don't quite know entirely what to make of it. Michelle Brown rescues Bede from the simply being the Father of English History to a more well-rounded polymath whose contribution to English language, Biblical studies and the marking of time and seasons is too little known now. He is the only English-born doctor of the Church, and the only Englishman to get into Dante's Paradiso (there are a few more in Inferno, if memory serves me right). The book itself is sumptuously produced with lots of very attractive colour plates of manuscripts and archaeological sites.
And yet the writing doesn't quite match the subject or the presentation. At times Michelle Brown seems a little uncertain as to which readership she writes for. For the casual reader we are told that Bede studying in his Jarrow-Monkwearmouth cell was a precursor of the modern internet (really?) and other odd contemporary references abound, including an allusion to Frankie Goes to Hollywood in one place, yet elsewhere there are quite detailed chapters on Bede's handwriting and intellectual and scribal archeological digging to suggest Bede's influence on the Codex Amiatinus (which is indeed as spectacular as she describes - I was fortunate enough to see it in a British Library exhibition a couple of years ago).
Most frustrating are the continual repetitions. We are told, I think, four times that Iona conformed to the Roman paschal dating in 715 and that Caedmon's song was the earliest English poem. These repetitions - and plenty more could be cited - give the impression of a book cobbled together of various other writings, which can happen in lengthy books of essays, but not in a book of this size.
The above frustrations aside, I did learn much from this study. I loved the idea of the patristic concept of the mental inner library, akin to a personal ark of the covenant in which Scripture and study is treasured and revered. I have also learned what a colophon is.
And yet the writing doesn't quite match the subject or the presentation. At times Michelle Brown seems a little uncertain as to which readership she writes for. For the casual reader we are told that Bede studying in his Jarrow-Monkwearmouth cell was a precursor of the modern internet (really?) and other odd contemporary references abound, including an allusion to Frankie Goes to Hollywood in one place, yet elsewhere there are quite detailed chapters on Bede's handwriting and intellectual and scribal archeological digging to suggest Bede's influence on the Codex Amiatinus (which is indeed as spectacular as she describes - I was fortunate enough to see it in a British Library exhibition a couple of years ago).
Most frustrating are the continual repetitions. We are told, I think, four times that Iona conformed to the Roman paschal dating in 715 and that Caedmon's song was the earliest English poem. These repetitions - and plenty more could be cited - give the impression of a book cobbled together of various other writings, which can happen in lengthy books of essays, but not in a book of this size.
The above frustrations aside, I did learn much from this study. I loved the idea of the patristic concept of the mental inner library, akin to a personal ark of the covenant in which Scripture and study is treasured and revered. I have also learned what a colophon is.
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October 23, 2025I'm never going to complain too much about reading a book about my favorite monk, but I must say that this book was not as great as it might have been. I still have no idea why the title refers to "the theory of everything". The author said this a couple of times, but it never really made any sense. Bede did not have 'a theory of everything', except maybe in the sense that God is in charge of our lives and governs everything in the universe. I jokingly think that she says this because she wanted to see Bede's hand in anything and everything with some connection to eighth-century Northumbria—the Ceolwulf Bibles, the Lindisfarne Gospels, etc. I mean I love Bede too, but I don't think we have to attribute anything to him beyond the long list of works he left behind him. And the author kept saying or suggesting such things—the book got to be a bit repetitive in that way.
I will say that the production value of the book was awesome—color photos of manuscripts and artifacts scattered throughout the book! I might recommend the book just for that, but really there are better books about Bede and his life out there.
I will say that the production value of the book was awesome—color photos of manuscripts and artifacts scattered throughout the book! I might recommend the book just for that, but really there are better books about Bede and his life out there.
April 10, 2025
Author Brown has given us a jewel of a book. It's sort of a soup-to-nuts summary of the life of Bede (c.637-735).
The Venerable Bede, as he was named a few decades after his death, lived in interesting times. What we now call, England, in Bede's time was really a patchwork of petti-kingdoms and tribal enclaves. The Roman had departed several hundreds of years before the 7th century of Bede's birth but the country had not yet been invaded and amalgamated by William the Bastard's victory at Hastings in 1066.
The region in which Bede was born, lived and worked all his life had only been won over to Christ for 60-100 years. The vacuum created by the collapse of Roman rule was partly filled by pagan Jutes and various Germanic tribes invading from Europe. Booty-grasping Viking raids were also a continuing menace.
Our man, Bede, is well remembered for his monumental "Ecclesiastical History of the English People" but he wrote many other works as well. He authored commentaries on the old testament books of Ezra and Nehemiah as well as a commentary of the NT book of Revelations. Bede was the first to translate Holy Scripture into his native tongue, Old English: specifically, the Gospel of John. All in all, there are more than forty documents that can be directly traced to Bede on a variety of subjects with some scholars holding that this total may really be as high as sixty.
My only wish currently is an appeal for the author to add a map of England to her next edition since many of her readers (like me) are not thoroughly familiar with the geography of the Bede's home turf. Get the book, learn about this worthy English monk/priest and spread the word on the Venerable Bede!
The Venerable Bede, as he was named a few decades after his death, lived in interesting times. What we now call, England, in Bede's time was really a patchwork of petti-kingdoms and tribal enclaves. The Roman had departed several hundreds of years before the 7th century of Bede's birth but the country had not yet been invaded and amalgamated by William the Bastard's victory at Hastings in 1066.
The region in which Bede was born, lived and worked all his life had only been won over to Christ for 60-100 years. The vacuum created by the collapse of Roman rule was partly filled by pagan Jutes and various Germanic tribes invading from Europe. Booty-grasping Viking raids were also a continuing menace.
Our man, Bede, is well remembered for his monumental "Ecclesiastical History of the English People" but he wrote many other works as well. He authored commentaries on the old testament books of Ezra and Nehemiah as well as a commentary of the NT book of Revelations. Bede was the first to translate Holy Scripture into his native tongue, Old English: specifically, the Gospel of John. All in all, there are more than forty documents that can be directly traced to Bede on a variety of subjects with some scholars holding that this total may really be as high as sixty.
My only wish currently is an appeal for the author to add a map of England to her next edition since many of her readers (like me) are not thoroughly familiar with the geography of the Bede's home turf. Get the book, learn about this worthy English monk/priest and spread the word on the Venerable Bede!
May 20, 2025
I read this along side The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. This was a dense and not east read, but the illustrations are beautiful as are the deep dives into Bede's thinking. The last third especially going into Bede's involvement with Lindisfarne and the Cult of Cuthbert was fascinating and the last chapter made me cry!
I'd recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Bede, Anglo Saxon Northumberland, the development of the English Church - but it is quite an academic text so go in prepped and willing to Google.
I'd recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Bede, Anglo Saxon Northumberland, the development of the English Church - but it is quite an academic text so go in prepped and willing to Google.
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November 24, 2023This was chosen by Eleanor Parker, Lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Brasenose College, Oxford and columnist at History Today, as one of History Today’s Books of the Year 2023.
Find out why at HistoryToday.com.
Find out why at HistoryToday.com.
September 7, 2024
I found this book at the library and decided to take it home. It fits in with my Ancient Rome project. Bede is best known for his image of life as a sparrow flying through a mead-hall.
October 14, 2024
i gave it two stars as it has some good pics. The writing is dreadful
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews