Edoardo Albert : The Venerable Bede (716)

In this episode we head back to the Anglo Saxon Age with Edoardo Albert to meet the 'Father of English History' – the Venerable Bede.

Bede is a beguiling character. He lived just a few generations after the arrival of Christianity in Britain in remote Northumbria, a place that Pope Gregory regarded as being on the very edge of the known world.

But from these outer limits, Bede redefined the world in which he lived. 'It has ever been my delight', he wrote, 'to learn and teach and write'. Throughout his life he produced a steady stream of books on subjects from history to natural philosophy.

Edoardo Albert takes us back to see Bede at the peak of his powers, in the monastery at Jarrow in the year 716. This, as Albert explains, was a pivotal year for Bede as the quiet world in which he lived was disturbed by the departure of a beloved elder.

Find out more about Edoardo Albert's Bede: The Man Who Invented England.

Scene One: 4 June 716. A walk around St Paul's Monastery at Jarrow.

Scene Two: 4 June 716. Abbot Ceolfrith, Bede's friend and mentor, sets off for Rome.

Scene Three: 4 June 716. Bede at work in his cell.

Memento: A copy of the Rule of the monastery at St Paul along with a recording of the monks singing.

Presenter: Peter Moore 

Guest: Edoardo Albert

Producer: Maria Nolan

Theme music: Firelight by Minka

Partner: ACE Cultural Tours.