Review of ‘Bede’s ecclesiastical history of the English Nation’

This year at Nottingham Trent University, one of my lecturers set up a challenge to his students to read 20 books and 6 films from a select bibliography during their time as an undergraduate. As I am now three months away from starting the dreaded third year, it may appear at first glance that I have left this too late, but for me it only makes it an even greater challenge to complete. I have decided that the best way to truly appreciate what I am reading and watching is to blog individual reviews about them.

To start the challenge I read Bede‘s ecclesiastical history of the English Nation. I had wanted to read this for a very long time and reading what is deemed a history book and was written in the eight century is certainly an intriguing prospect. Written before Alfred the Great and even Charlemagne this book gives a very interesting portrayal of Britain before the country of England was born. I will cut to the chase here, the book made for a very tedious read and many times I wanted to put it down or throw it away but I soldiered on. Some of this ‘boredom’ may have been an unfair criticism however, as it is not Bede’s fault that before picking up his book I had just finished book three of George R.R. Martins epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire.

If there is one thing Bede does that makes part of his work very readable, it is his contribution to the national identity of Britons. This island was made up of Britons, Scots, Picts and Romans, and then in the fifth century the Angles, Jutes and Saxons came over to settle and eventually make the country and people of the English Nation. In terms of Britain in the Roman Empire, there is a lot to be learnt such as a detailed version of the story of St. Alban and even the tale of how a Roman man called Ambrosius united the Britons in the south-west against the ‘greedy’ Saxons. Many people nowadays agree that Ambrosius is most likely the man behind the world-famous King Arthur legend so I found this very interesting. BUT what stands out for me is the non-appearance of Boudicca and I find it startling that a man with so many historical documents of Britain has none of one of Britain’s most iconic historical figures.

To end of the Roman period, Bede’s history of Hadrian’s wall seems a dodgy but it is important to realise that most of, if not, all of his work is copied from other sources and he cannot be entirely blamed for inaccuracies only for lack of investigation and examining. Also in 730, Europe was very catholic and Bede was a monk, something I had to remind myself often as I became slightly annoyed at the ridiculous religious stories. The conversion process of Britain does however look to be accurate, and instead of being a violent affair, it was a long process in which most people chose to adopt the faith and were not forced into it. Another interesting aspect is the fact it was written before the battle of Poitiers in 732 A.D, and for those who do not know, that is the battle where Charles Martel defeated the Islamic forces invading Europe and is arguably the reason why christianity is the dominant world religion today. The end of the Roman Empire is also worth mentioning as he acknowledges that the Western Empire fell, but continues to treat the Eastern Roman Emperors at Constantinople as if they now had (only symbolic) power.

To sum up my first review of the reading challenge the main historical point I have learnt from Bede’s ecclesiastical history of the English Nation, is that the English were very late comers (but not as lagging behind as the Normans) to the big party that eventually became Great Britain. One thing that was reinforced is that not much changes and everyone on this island hated the English from a very early stage, including most of the English!