Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England
The Venerable Bede
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Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England is a work in Latin by Bede on the history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between Roman and Celtic Christianity. It is considered to be one of the most important original references on Anglo-Saxon history. It is believed to have been completed in 731, when Bede was approximately 59 years old. Divided into five books, it covers the history of England, ecclesiastical and political, from the time of Julius Caesar to the date of its completion (731).
The History of the English Church and People has a clear polemical and didactic purpose. Bede sets out, not just to tell the story of the English, but to advance his views on politics and religion. In political terms he is a partisan of his native Northumbria, amplifying its role in English history over and above that of Mercia, its great southern rival. While Bede is loyal to Northumbria, he shows an even greater attachment to the Irish and the Irish Celtic missionaries, whom he considers to be far more effective and dedicated than their rather complacent English counterparts. His final preoccupation is over the precise date of Easter, which he writes about at length. It is here, and only here, that he ventures some criticism of St Cuthbert and the Irish missionaries, who celebrated the event, according to Bede, at the wrong time. In the end he is pleased to note that the Irish Church was saved from error by accepting the correct date for Easter. (Summary modified from Wikipedia) (13 hr 6 min)
Chapters
01 - Editor's Preface & Introduction | 32:34 | Read by Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023) |
02 - Life of Bede & Preface | 32:11 | Read by Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023) |
03 - Book I, Chapters 1-8 | 29:16 | Read by Michael Dalling |
04 - Book I, Chapters 9-17 | 28:41 | Read by bobolink |
05 - Book I, Chapters 18-26 | 24:37 | Read by Michael Kress |
06 - Book I, Chapter 27 | 32:07 | Read by Jonathan Lange |
07 - Book I, Chapters 28-34 | 18:45 | Read by David Salisbury |
08 - Book II, Chapters 1-3 | 28:16 | Read by Katherine |
09 - Book II, Chapters 4-9 | 28:10 | Read by Katherine |
10 - Book II, Chapters 10-13 | 28:24 | Read by Katherine |
11 - Book II, Chapters 14-20 | 27:26 | Read by Katherine |
12 - Book III, Chapters 1-7 | 25:42 | Read by stmacduff |
13 - Book III, Chapters 8-14 | 25:48 | Read by stmacduff |
14 - Book III, Chapters 15-21 | 28:21 | Read by Jonathan Lange |
15 - Book III, Chapters 22-24 | 18:51 | Read by Jonathan Lange |
16 - Book III, Chapters 25-26 | 22:33 | Read by Jonathan Lange |
17 - Book III, Chapters 27-30 | 20:07 | Read by Felicity C |
18 - Book IV, Chapters 1-4 | 25:37 | Read by Larry Beasley |
19 - Book IV, Chapters 5-11 | 28:43 | Read by Robert Hoffman |
20 - Book IV, Chapters 12-17 | 26:39 | Read by Robert Hoffman |
21 - Book IV, Chapters 18-22 | 23:54 | Read by Jonathan Lange |
22 - Book IV, Chapters 23-25 | 27:52 | Read by Jonathan Lange |
23 - Book IV, Chapters 26-32 | 29:14 | Read by J. A. Cook |
24 - Book V, Chapters 1-7 | 29:52 | Read by Felicity C |
25 - Book V, Chapters 8-12 | 35:40 | Read by Felicity C |
26 - Book V, Chapters 13-18 | 25:27 | Read by Felicity C |
27 - Book V, Chapters 19-20 | 20:10 | Read by Ernst Schnell |
28 - Book V, Chapter 21 | 30:30 | Read by C F de Rosset |
29 - Book V, Chapters 22-24, Continuation | 30:51 | Read by Kevin Johnson |
Reviews
Bede's History
Joe Reichert
What a treat to find this treasure read so well!
A LibriVox Listener
generally well read from a range of contributors, thank you!
Very well done!
JM
Solid reading and audio quality.
David Salisbury should have read the entire book
Ruth Tudor
David Salisbury should have read the entire book he makes the book 100% more interesting then the others the book go's well with his accent and I'd rather listen to him then anyone else to bad he only does 1 chapter... wish he did more..