The Middle Ages were, in a certain way, a time of darkness. Stories and history were primarily passed on through the ages by word of mouth. However, this changed when a man, a monk named Bede, took pieces of history and wrote books describing these historical events. Bede was able to learn through his monastery’s library and became the Middle Ages’ greatest scholar. Without him, our knowledge of this time period might have been limited and historical events lost. Around the time of Bede’s birth, two twin monasteries, St. Peter and St. Paul, were founded in Wearmouth and Jarrow, respectively. The monasteries were meant to work as one whole unit. Their founder, Benedict Biscop, was a scholar much like Bede. Unlike Bede, however, Benedict travelled
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His documented life history begins at the age of seven. It was custom of young boys, who were of noble birth, to be sent away for study, so Bede was sent to the St. Peter monastery of Wearmouth to study with the abbot Benedict Biscop. In approximately the year 682, Bede transferred to the twin monastery, St Paul’s, in Jarrow to study and learn from Ceolfrith, Benedict Biscop’s “apprentice.” During the sixth and seventh centuries, the Justinian Plague, named after ruling King Justinian, was sweeping through Europe. The plague infected thousands of people, including King Justinian. In about the year 686, the Justinian Plague reached Jarrow, claiming the lives of all monks except two: Ceolfrith and a young Bede. Together, Ceolfrith and Bede conducted every part of the liturgy. At the age of nineteen, Bede was ordained a deacon and remained a part of the diaconate until he was ordained a priest at age thirty. Bede spent almost his entire life within monastery walls studying scripture and completing his priestly …show more content…
Indications were 15-year cycles starting with the year 312 AD. Regnal times, however, referred to the times of a ruler or king. For example, “the time of King Alfred” would have been used to distinguish that the event occurred when King Alfred was seated at throne. Bede used both, but used a third option more often. Anno domini refers to “the year of our Lord.” Bede did not invent this method, but because he used anno domini so often in his chronology, it became the common way of labeling time and
His documented life history begins at the age of seven. It was custom of young boys, who were of noble birth, to be sent away for study, so Bede was sent to the St. Peter monastery of Wearmouth to study with the abbot Benedict Biscop. In approximately the year 682, Bede transferred to the twin monastery, St Paul’s, in Jarrow to study and learn from Ceolfrith, Benedict Biscop’s “apprentice.” During the sixth and seventh centuries, the Justinian Plague, named after ruling King Justinian, was sweeping through Europe. The plague infected thousands of people, including King Justinian. In about the year 686, the Justinian Plague reached Jarrow, claiming the lives of all monks except two: Ceolfrith and a young Bede. Together, Ceolfrith and Bede conducted every part of the liturgy. At the age of nineteen, Bede was ordained a deacon and remained a part of the diaconate until he was ordained a priest at age thirty. Bede spent almost his entire life within monastery walls studying scripture and completing his priestly …show more content…
Indications were 15-year cycles starting with the year 312 AD. Regnal times, however, referred to the times of a ruler or king. For example, “the time of King Alfred” would have been used to distinguish that the event occurred when King Alfred was seated at throne. Bede used both, but used a third option more often. Anno domini refers to “the year of our Lord.” Bede did not invent this method, but because he used anno domini so often in his chronology, it became the common way of labeling time and