Venerable
Venerable Bede
672/673 — †25 мая 735
Venerable Bede — an Anglo-Saxon Benedictine monk of the monastery of Jarrow in Northumbria, the greatest scholar and theologian of early medieval England, author of the "Ecclesiastical History of the English People" — the most important source on the history of early Christianity in the British Isles; venerated as a saint of the era of the undivided Church.
Venerable Bede was born around 672/673 in Northumbria (England). From the age of seven he was raised at the monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul at Wearmouth and Jarrow, where he spent his entire life in scholarly labor, prayer, and monastic obedience. He became the greatest theologian, historian, and scholar of early medieval Europe, author of numerous works on theology, biblical exegesis, natural science, and chronology. He is best known as the author of the "Ecclesiastical History of the English People" (Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum) — a foundational work that became the most important source of information on early Christianity in Britain and earned Bede the honorary title "Father of English History." He died on May 25, 735, at the monastery of Jarrow. For his learning and holiness of life he was called "the Venerable" soon after his death. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church. As a saint of the era of the undivided Church (before 1054), he is also venerated in Orthodoxy — his memory is kept on the movable Sunday of All Saints who shone forth in the land of Britain (3rd Sunday after Pentecost); in the Catholic Church, on May 27.