Bede, Or Beda, called the Venerable Bede, a Saxon ecclesiastic, and the earliest historian of England, born probably at Monkton in Durham in 672, died at Girvy, May 26, 735. He was sent in bis childhood to the monastery of Saint Peter at Wearmouth, and was educated there under the abbots Benedict Biscop and Ceolfrid. He was made a deacon at the age of 19, and ordained a priest at 30. His learning and ability were remarkable, and he acquired a wide reputation as a scholar and writer. William of Malmesbury even says, though the truth of the statement is doubtful, that Pope Sergius sent to Bede's superiors, begging them to request him to go to Rome to enter the immediate service of the pontiff. He did not leave his monastery, however, but spent his whole life at Wearmouth, absorbed in study and in writing. His greatest work, the "Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation," occupied him for many years, and has remained the best and most trusted authority on the early period of which it treats. It was compiled from chronicles, the traditions handed down in the convents, and miscellaneous evidence of many kinds; but it is remarkably free from the exaggerations and distortions which fill the books of many of the later monkish historians.

Bede produced a great number of other and smaller works, principally essays and treatises on ecclesiastical matters. His literary activity was extraordinary, and his devotion to his work most enthusiastic. Even during his last illness he continued to dictate to an amanuensis the conclusion of a translation of the Gospel of St. John (as is supposed) into Anglo-Saxon; immediately after completing the last sentence he requested his assistant to place him on the floor of his cell, said a short prayer, and expired as the last word passed his lips. Bede's Historia Ecdesiastica was first printed in Germany about 1475. There is a copy of this edition in the British museum, and one in Paris. The history was translated from the Latin into Anglo-Saxon by King Alfred, and his version may be found in several English editions, as those of Cambridge, 1644 and 1722. An English translation by Thomas Stapleton was published at Antwerp in 1565. The best modern edition of Bede's Latin text is that of the English historical society (1838). A later English version is that of Dr. Giles (London, 1840), who has also published Bede's complete works, as far as extant, in 6 vols. (1843-'4); and a new translation appeared in 1871.