The Ecclesiastical History of the English People - 3 - Christian Kings and Miraculous Signs
Book Three
Quote
It seems to me, brother, that you have been unreasonably harsh upon your ignorant hearers: you did not first offer them the milk of simpler teaching, as the apostle recommends, until little by little, as they grew strong on the food of God's word, they were capable of receiving more elaborate instruction.
Notes
🔥 After Edwin's death, the king who comes after rejects Christianity. There's some chaos as a bunch of other kings all start killing each other. Until Oswald, the brother of one of the kings, and a Christian, comes in and conquers.
🔥 Before the battle, Oswald put up a cross and prayed. Many miracles and healings have become associated with that cross since, and Bede records some of them. "It is not irrelevant," he says, to narrate these miracles as part of this story. He believes they add credibility to Oswald, and to the idea that following Christianity is right for the English nation.
🔥 Oswald invites Bishop Aidan to come back and take up his position again.
🔥 In 565, a monk named Columba comes from Ireland to Britain to preach to the kingdoms of the northern Picts. He sets up an influential monastery. Even though it's remote, he was diligent in following the correct Easter day in the calendar, and had a sophisticated way of marking time.
🔥 Bishop Aidan lives modestly and is generous to the poor. He taught the values of Christianity through the way he lived. And he also studies diligently. Bede says, "Aidan's life was in great contrast to our modern slothfulness."
🔥 Before Aidan was sent to the English, another guy was sent, but he was rejected by the people. When he came back and discussed his experience, Aidan proposed a better way (see quote at the top) and showed himself to be the man for the job.
🔥 Oswald is a good and powerful king. Bede tells a story which demonstrates Oswald's generosity, and a bishop notices and he holds up Oswald's hand and says, "May this hand never decay." Apparently, says Bede, this came true when, later, Oswald's hand was cut off in battle where he was eventually defeated, but that hand did not decay...?
🔥 Bede tells the story of a daughter of one of the kings in the surrounding areas who dedicates her to serve in the monastery. There are miracles and healings told about her, too.
🔥 Oswald is eventually killed in battle by the same heathens who killed his predecessors. But more miracles and healings happen at the place where he is killed. People later take the soil from the spot to use for healing. Bede shares a few stories when those healings apparently took place.
🔥 When Oswald's bones were moved more miracles happened then, too. A column of light shines down on his bones, and a demon-possessed man is healed. Even the stake of wood that Oswald's severed head was stuck on, some people take a splinter from the wood and put it in a drink which gave it a healing power.
🔥 There are miracles associated with Bishop Aidan, too, and Bede assures the reader he "heard the story of this miracle from no dubious source." There are stories of healings, but also there is a buttress in the church which Aidan leaned up against in his final days before he died. Even though that church later was burned by invaders, that buttress remained intact.
🔥 But Aidan was not perfect. Bede remarks, "as a truthful historian, I have described in a straightforward manner those things which were done by him or through him (Aidan), praising such of his qualities as are worthy of praise and preserving their memory for the benefit of my readers." But his observance of Easter was completely wrong, Bede says, "indeed I heartily detest it." But he is still generous enough to say that Aidan observed Easter in spirit even if he had the dates wrong.
🔥 Fursa, a holy man from around this time, sees a vision of angels. He sees four fires consuming the world — falsehood, covetousness, discord, and injustice. The angel says you'll only be burned by the fire that you kindle.
🔥 Over time there's a succession of kings and bishops. Some of those kings convert to Christianity. The Mercians, who are the heathens who've killed many Christian kings including Oswald, come back for more. King Oswiu, Oswald's brother who succeeded him, promises his daughter will be dedicated as a lifelong virgin to God if he wins. He does win, and so he sends his daughter away.
🔥 The arguments about the proper day to celebrate Easter continues to be very contentious. It's decided they should all hold a council to discuss the issue and get it figured out. Bede records some of the speeches from this council meeting, and they seem to come to an agreement in the end, though there are also some aggrieved parties who didn't get their way.
🔥 A plague comes and it leads many people to abandon Christianity. But the bishops help to restore people's faith. King Oswiu wants to build more ties with the Catholic church.
Thoughts
A couple things to note, but the biggest one is how Bede views miracles as evidence for someone's credibility. He spends a lot of time retelling stories of miracles all associated with King Oswald, for example, and emphasizes that it's "not irrelevant". It seems like in his mind, the miracles are proof that Oswald was a good king worthy to be imitated and revered. He doesn't arrive at this conclusion through a discussion of what Owswald did or how he approached things as king. It's more about these signs from God that prove it.
He also sees himself as an objective, or "truthful", historian, in that he's not papering over people's flaws. He makes a point about this when he's talking about the bishop Aidan, who's views on Easter, and the proper date to observe Easter, he strongly disagrees with. So he has some sense for the fact that human beings are kind of mixed.