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As the major writer and thinker of the Anglo-Saxon period, the Venerable Bede is a key figure in the study of the literature and thought of this time. This "Companion", written by an international team of specialists, is a key introductory guide to Bede, his writings, and his world. The first part of the volume focuses on Bede's cultural and intellectual milieu, covering his life, the secular-political contexts of his day, the foundations of the Latin learning he inherited and sought to perpetuate, the ecclesiastical and monastic setting of early Northumbria, and the foundation of his home institution, Wearmouth-Jarrow. The book then considers Bede's writing in detail, treating his educational, exegetical and historical works. Concluding with a detailed assessment of Bede's influence and reception from the time of his death up to the modern age, the "Companion" enables the reader to view Bede's writings within a wider cultural context.
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t h e c a m b ri d g e c o m p a n i o n t o b e d e As the major writer and thinker of the Anglo-Saxon period, the Venerable Bede is a key figure in the study of the literature and thought of this time. This Companion, written by an international team of specialists, is a key introductory guide to Bede, his writings and his world. The first part of the volume focuses on Bede’s cultural and intellectual milieu, covering his life, the secular-political contexts of his day, the foundations of the Latin learning he inherited and sought to perpetuate, the ecclesiastical and monastic setting of early Northumbria, and the foundation of his home institution, Wearmouth-Jarrow. The book then considers Bede’s writing in detail, treating his educational, exegetical and historical works. Concluding with a detailed assessment of Bede’s influence and reception from the time of his death up to the modern age, the Companion enables the reader to view Bede’s writings within a wider cultural context. sco tt d egregorio is Associate Professor of English Literature at the University of Michigan – Dearborn. He has published extensively on Bede as a biblical exegete and Church reformer. His books include, as editor, Innovation and Tradition in the Writings of the Venerable Bede, and, as translator, Bede: On Ezra and Nehemiah, which won the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists’ prize for best edition/translation published in Anglo-Saxon studies, 2005–7. A complete list of books in the series is at the back of this book.
THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO
BEDE EDITED BY
SCOTT DEGREGORIO University of Michigan – Dearborn
cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521730730 © Cambridge University Press 2010 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2010 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data The Cambridge companion to Bede / edited by Scott DeGregorio. p. cm. – (Cambridge companions to –) isbn 978-0-521-51495-8 (hardback) 1. Bede, the Venerable, Saint, 673–735. I. DeGregorio, Scott. II. Title. III. Series. pa8260.c27 2010 270.2′092–dc22 2010000702 isbn 978-0-521-51495-8 Hardback isbn 978-0-521-73073-0 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party in