The Ecclesiastical History of the English People - 4 - Miracles in a Plague
Book Four
Quote
... divine providence ordained a time such as Ecclesiastes speaks of, 'a time for scattering stones and a time for gathering them together'. A plague sent from heaven came upon them which, through the death of the body, translated the living stones of the church from their earthly sites to the heavenly building.
Notes
🔥 A new archbishop for England is sought out and a man named Theodore is chosen. Theodore is a respected archbishop and holds the position for over 20 years.
🔥 Around this time, a plague comes down "from heaven", which lasts a long time and kills lots of people.
🔥 Theodore selects a man named Chad to be the bishop of Mercia. Chad is extremely reverent and he has the the habit of bowing and praying intensely whenever the wind rises or a thunderstorm comes, since he interprets those as some kind of warnings from God.
🔥 One of the monks is working outside when he hears some singing. Apparently, it's a group of angels calling Chad home to heaven. Chad does indeed die soon after. There are miracles reported by the site where he is buried. There is even an opening in his coffin so that people can come and grab some "healing dust" from inside it.
🔥 Oswiu, king of Northumbria, dies and his son Ecgfrith becomes king.
🔥 Theodore is hard at work, holding council meetings with the bishop to standardize certain rules and practices, including the proper dates for observing Easter. He continues appointing new bishops for various regions.
🔥 The plague continues to rage, but more miracles are reported throughout it. One strange one is that a heavenly light shines down on a site pointing out where the bodies of dead and dying nuns should be buried (...?). Many other reports of heavenly visions from those who are on the verge of death.
🔥 One of the sisters (nuns) of that community, a very devout servant of God, suffers badly under the plague, but does so in a very Christian way. Bede describes it like this: "Now in order that her strength, like the apostle's, might be made perfect in weakness, she was suddenly afflicted with a most serious bodily disease and for nine years was sorely tried, under the good providence of our Redeemer, so that any traces of sin remaining among her virtues through ignorance or carelessness might be burnt away by the fires of prolonged suffering."
🔥 Wilfrid is the new bishop of Mercia (after Chad dies), but the Mercian king turns away from God and Wilfrid has to flee. He travels around preaching to various peoples. One group who had been suffering from a famine is baptized and the famine miraculously ends.
🔥 More kings rise and fall, conquer and are conquered. Some bringing Christianity, others driving it out.
🔥 Archbishop Theodore hears of heresies spreading nearby. He gathers his bishops to make sure none of them have been infected and writes in a synodical book to declare their unity in believing all the right Catholic things as a way of preserving their belief and protecting against the heresy into the future. Bede records these writings.
🔥 Aethylthryth, the wife of a king, serves in a monastary and has miracles associated with her during the plague as well. She has a tumor on her neck and she says God gave this to her because she used to wear so many necklaces before, so now he is humbling her.
🔥 The Mercians are again causing havoc and starting wars with their neighbours, but Theodore helps to bring back peace.
🔥 There is another story which Bede says "may lead to the salvation of many," so it must be included. It goes like this: One of the king's retainers, Imma, is wounded and thought to be dead. His brother is a monk and gives him a proper burial, thinking that he had actually found the body. But Imma recovers, though he is then captured. But he can't be bound down. His captor thinks something supernatural is happening. Imma returns to his brother and inspires many to the faith with his story. Bede says he heard this story from people who say they heard it from Imma himself.
🔥 A woman named Hild, who once served a king, founds a monastary where everything is held in common and people come from different places to join. Some who join later go on to become bishops. Hild's life is an inspiration to many.
🔥 Caedmon is a monk at this monastary and is known for his songs and poems.
🔥 Not all monastaries are made equal, though. There is a story about a man at one monastary who is told by an angel that this monastary is going to burn because of the sins of the people there. Bede includes this story as a warning about the "workings of the Lord."
Thoughts
It really seems like Bede's view of history is that it is more a vehicle for Christian evangelism, and not as much a deep study of the past as such. He focuses on stories that can serve as examples of virtuous and biblical living, or stories of miracles that can inspire people in their Christian lives.
When recounting stories of miracles, he does make a point of including where he heard the story and that the source can be trusted, but beyond that he doesn't inquire too deeply into it. He's much more like Herodotus who would rather include the stories he heard than not, even if they end up not being true. Bede was actually explicit about this in the beginning of the book.