Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum [Ecclesiastical History of the English People]

Sharon Rowley (Christopher Newport University)

Ed. by Richard William Dance, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.01: English Writing and Culture: Old English, 500-1066.
Vol. editors: Richard William Dance (University of Cambridge), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast)

Domains

History/ Philosophy of Religion

Dates

First circulation or publication 731

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Chronicle

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Bede's

Historia ecclesiastica (HE)

is one of our earliest and best primary sources for information about the arrival, settlement and conversion of the Germanic tribes in England. Bede wrote in Latin and dedicated this great work, completed in 731 CE, to King Ceowulf of Northumbria [see also the entry on Bede]. His audience, however, grew larger almost immediately. The

, along with fragments of or excerpts from it, survives in about 158 manuscripts from England and Europe dating from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries. It was available on the Continent by the late eighth century, and translated into English and Irish around the beginning of the tenth century. First printed in Strasbourg

1475-80, then frequently republished during the modern era, the

has been continuously…

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1960 words

Citation: Rowley, Sharon. "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 April 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4740, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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