Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Revised) (Penguin Classics) by Bede

'With God's help, I, Bede ... have assembled these facts about the history of the Church in Britain ... from the traditions of our forebears, and from my own personal knowledge'

Written in AD 731, Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People is the first account of Anglo-Saxon England ever written, and remains our single most valuable source for this period. It begins with Julius Caesar's invasion in the first century BC and goes on to tell of the kings and bishops, monks and nuns who helped to develop government and convert the people to Christianity during these crucial formative years. Relating the deeds of great men and women but also describing landscape, customs and ordinary lives, this is a rich, vivid portrait of an emerging church and nation by the 'Father of English History'.

Leo Sherley-Price's translation from the Latin brings us an accurate and readable version of Bede's History. This edition includes Bede's Letter to Egbert, denouncing false monasteries; and The Death of Bede, an admirable eye-witness account by Cuthbert, monk and later Abbot of Jarrow, both translated by D. H. Farmer.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Table of Contents:
Ecclesiastical History of the English PeopleAcknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Notes to the Introduction
Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Author's Preface: To the Most Glorious King Ceolwulf

Book One
1. The situation of Britain and Ireland: their earliest inhabitants
2. On Gaius Julius Caesar, the first Roman to reach Britain
3. Claudius, the second Roman to reach Britan, annexes the Isles of Orkney to the Roman Empire: under his direction Vespasian subdues the Isle of Wight
4. Lucius, a British king, writes to Pope Eleutherus and asks to be made a Christian
5. Severus divides Roman Britain from the rest by an earth work
6. The reign of Diocletian: his persecution of the Christian Church
7. The martyrdom of Saint Alban and his companions, who shed their life-blood for Christ at this time
8. The Church in Britain enjoys peace from the end of this persecution until the time of the Arian heresy
9. During the reign of Gratian, Maximus is created Emperor in Britain, and returns to Gaul with a large army
10. During the reign of Arcadius, the Briton Pelagius presumptuously belittles the grace of God
11. During the reign of Honorius, Gratian and Constantine set up as despots in Britain: the former is killed shortly afterwards in Britain, and the latter in Gaul
12. The Britons, harassed by the Irish and Picts, seek help from the Romans, who come and build a second wall across the island. Notwithstanding, these enemies again break in and reduce the Britons to worse straits
13. During the reign of Theodoius the Younger, Palladius is sent to the Christians among the Irish. The Britons make an unsuccessful appeal to the Consul Aëtius
14. The Britons, made desperate by famine, drive the Barbarians out of their land. There soon follows an abundance of corn, luxury, plague, and doom on the nation
15. The Angles are invited into Britain. At first they repel the enemy, but soon come to terms with them, and turn their weapons against their own allies
16. Under the leadership of Ambrosius, a Roman, the Britons win their first victory against the Angles
17. Bishop Germanus sails to Britain with Lupus: with God's help he quells two storms, one of the sea, the other of the Pelagians
18. Germanus gives sight to the blind daughter of a tribune. He takes some relics from the tomb of Saint Alban, and deposits relics of the Apostles and other Martyrs
19. Germanus is detained by illness. He puts out a fire among houses by his prayer, and is healed of his sickness by a vision
20. The two bishops obtain God's help in battle, and return home
21. The Pelagian heresy revives, and Germanus returns to Britain with Severus. He heals a lame youth, and after denouncing or converting the heretics, restores the British Church to the Catholic Faith
22. The Britons enjoy a respite from foreign invasions, but exhaust themselves in civil wars and plunge into worse crimes
23. The holy Pope Gregory sends Augustine and other monks to preach to the English nation, and encourages them in a letter to persevere in their mission
24. Pope Gregory writes commending them to the Bishop of Arles
25. Augustine reaches Britain, and first preaches in the Isle of Thanet before King Ethelbert, who grants permission to preach in Kent
26. The life and doctrine of the primitive Church are followed in Kent: Augustine establishes his episcopal see in the king's city
27. Augustine is consecrated bishop: he sends to inform Pope Gregory what has been achieved, and receives replies to his questions
28. Pope Gregory writes to the Bishop of Arles, asking him to help Augustine in his work for God
29. Gregory sends Augustine the pallium, a letter, and several clergy
30. A copy of the letter sent by Pope Gregory to Abbot Mellitus on his departure for Britain
31. Pope Gregory writes to Augustine, warning him not to boast of his achievements
32. Pope Gregory sends letters and gifts to King Ethelbert
33. Augustine repairs the Church of Our Saviour and builds a monastery of Saint Peter the Apostle. A note on Peter, its first Abbot
34. Ethelfrid, King of the Northumbrians, defeats the Irish and drives them out of England

Bede (c. 672 or 673 - May 25, 735), was a Benedictine monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow (see Wearmouth-Jarrow), both in the English county of Durham (now Tyne and Wear). He is well known as an author and scholar, and his most famous work, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ( The Ecclesiastical History of the English People) gained him the title "The father of English history".

D.H. Farmer was Reader in History at Reading University until 1988. He is author and editor of several books on ecclesiastical and monastic history such as The Oxford Dictionary of Saints.

Target Age: 18+

Penguin Classics

Pub Date: May 01, 1991

1.1" H x 8.24" L x 5.08" W

400 pages

paperback