The Ecclesiastical History of the English People - 5 - More Visions, Miracles, and Hope for the Future
Book Five
Quote
The story spread far and wide and roused many people to do penance for their sins without delay. And may the reading of this account of ours have the same effect!
Notes
🔥 Oethelwald, who succeeds Cuthbert in leading the monastary (from the last book), calms a storm to help some visitors make it back home safe.
🔥 Aldfrith is the new king of Northumbria, and the new bishop during his reign is a man named John. Many miracles and healings are told of him. Bede says he heard them from "the most revered and truthful Berhthm."
🔥 Bede includes a story told first-hand by someone who falls off his horse and is badly injured, vomiting blood, and near death. But the bishop heals him.
🔥 Caedwalla, king of the West Saxons, gives up his crown to go and get baptized in Rome. The king after him, too, does the same thing and it becomes a popular thing to do.
🔥 Archbishop Theodore dies. Bede says there was more spiritual progress for English churches than ever before.
🔥 Certain monks travel around teaching Christianity to people. They do so at great risk and some of them are tortured to death by villagers who are hostile to them. These martyrs who were killed have miracles associated with them.
🔥 Bede tells a story of a man, Dryhthem, who dies and comes back to life. In death, he sees a kind of purgatory where people are being tortured to cleanse them of their sin, and others are waiting in a more heaven-like place since they'd died doing good. After he comes back, he devotes himself to prayer and reverence.
🔥 There's another story of a man on his deathbed who has a vision of two books being brought to him, one with his good deeds, the other with his bad deeds. He's told he's going to hell when he dies. He had refused to repent because he didn't want it to look like he was only doing it at the last minute to save himself. Though he went to hell, says Bede, his story helps others come to the Lord.
🔥 A priest named Adamnan is sent to the king of the Angles and helps instruct him and the people about the proper day of Easter. He also writes a book on the holy places based on the dictations of bishop Arculf of Gaul who had visited them. Bede cites some passages from the book.
🔥 Succession of kings and bishops, including one king, Osred, who takes the throne at age eight. A few more kings give up the throne to become monks.
🔥 One bishop named Adhelm writes some influential books including about the correct time to celebrate Easter.
🔥 Bishop Wilfrid dies and Bede recounts some of the adventures of his life, including his near execution, preaching and converting people in different regions. In some ways, his life demonstrates the back and forth of the influence of Catholic Christianity in the region.
🔥 King Nechtan, of the Picts, asks the bishop for help in his theology and the bishop writes a letter to help him, going into great detail about the proper time to celebrate Easter and other topics. Bede includes the letter infull.
🔥 Two comets appear, striking fear into everyone.
🔥 Bede surveys the current state of things, who the bishops are, kings, etc. The picts and the Irish live in peace next to the English, but the Britons oppose the English. Overall, things are mostly peaceful now and hopefully will continue with more men becoming monks than soldiers, says Bede.
🔥 Bede ends with a little autobiography of himself. Most of his life is spent in a monastery, studying books and writing new books. He reviews all the books he's worked on in his time. Most are commentaries on others work or on the books of the Bible.
Thoughts
Bede is pretty explicit in places in how he's viewing the purpose of this history. It's not as much for remembering and attempting to understand the past, but it's telling stories that will hopefully, for him, inspire people to become Christian.
It is interesting that he includes some space to talk about himself and his own life, too. Not sure what that's about.