Concept analysis and character study in the Opera Historica of the Venerable Bede with particular reference to his account of early papal policy in Britain

There are several avenues open to the student of history when he finds himself confronted with the task of appraising the abilities and methods of a man who wrote works of history some twelve hundred years ago. A student in such a situation may find it useful to read what others have written of the man, his life, his works and proceed to either accept or refute these arguments according to his own preference. Another avenue open is for that scholar to go immediately to the opera historica of the author for himself and in that manner formulate some views of his own prior to reading the opinions of others, whether they be contemporaries of the author, subsequent commentators on his works, or contemporaries of the scholar himself. available for many have written of this venerable monk, of his cloistered life at Jarrow, of the influence his sacred and secular works have had upon the course of English literature and of the monumental nature of his great works of history. Yet even more rewarding an experience is it when the reader goes straight to the original for himself and comes to know Bede in an intimate manner by means of reading his works. Someone once said that "Great history was also great literature" - never was truer word said in relation to the Ecclesiastical History of the English People of Bede.