Saint Bede was perhaps the greatest scholar in the history of the Roman Catholic Church and England. Bede’s work has given us the history of England. Bede dedicated his life to the Church and scholarly work (Meyvaert pages 89-90). Bede said of himself:
“Thus much concerning the ecclesiastical history of Britain, and especially of the race of the English, I, Baeada, a servant of Christ and a priest of the monastery of the blessed apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, which is at Wearmouth and at Jarrow (in Northumberland), have with the Lord’s help composed so far as I could gather it either from ancient documents or from the traditions of the elders, or from my own knowledge. I was born in the territory of the said monastery, and at the age of seven I was, by the care of my relations, given to the most reverend Abbot Benedict, and afterwards to Ceolfrid, to be educated. From that time I have spent the whole of my life within that monastery, devoting all my pains to the study of the Scriptures, and amid the observance of monastic discipline and the daily charge of singing in the Church, it has been ever my delight to learn or teach or write. In my nineteenth year I was admitted to the diaconate, in my thirtieth to the priesthood, both by the hands of the most reverend John, and a the bidding of Abbot Ceolfrid. From the time of my admission to the priesthood to my present fifty-ninth year, I have endeavored for my own use and that of my brethren, to make brief notes upon the holy Scripture, wither out of the works of the venerable Fathers or in conformity with their meaning or interpretation” (Thurston). At the time England was divided into several kingdoms and it was the Church that united most of them (Bede).
Bede was born near Wearmouth, England in 673. When Bede was seven he went to the monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow and there he was raised as a Benedictine monk (Introduction). At the twin monasteries Bede studied under Cleofrid who later succeeded Abbot Benedict Biscop as the leader of the twin monasteries (Kershaw). Bede excelled in his studies and became a deacon at age nineteen, which is unusual because most of the time a man has to be twenty-five. Bede became a priest at age of thirty (Introduction).
“It has always been my delight to learn or to teach or to write” Bede said (About Bede). Bede’s most popular work “Historia ecclesiastica” gives the history of ancient Britain. It was about the “Celtic peoples who were converted to Christianity during the first three centuries of the Christian era and the invasion of the Anglo-Saxon pagans in the fifth and sixth centuries, and their subsequent conversion by the Celtic missionaries from the north and west, and Roman missionaries from south and east” According to this book the church is a spiritual force that emerged from barbarism (Partner). All our information on England during and before this time came from the work of Bede the Venerable (Bede the Venerable, Priest, Monk, Scholar). Bede realized that the earth was round and he used B.C. and A.D. to date events (Bede the Venerable, Priest, Monk, Scholar). He wrote books on the saints and significant leaders of his monastery (Partner). One of those people was Hilda of Whitby (McGinley page 95). Another person Bede wrote about was Saint Augustine. He said that Augustine went to England with some sacred vessels for the churches, altar cloths, a lot of books, relics and decorations for the English churches (Ward page 285). Bede also wrote books that interpreted the Bible, books about the earth and he helped find the day that Easter was to fall on (About Bede). Bede was interested in finding the right date for Easter because that was one of the factors that separated the Roman church and the Celtic church (Meyvaert pages 89). Bede died in 735 (Bede, Saint) as he finished his translation of the Gospel according to Saint John (Meyvaert page 90). Throughout his life he left the monastery only twice (Bede, the Venerable Saint).

It is hard to tell if Bede was indeed the greatest scholar of the Church and of England. He clearly dedicated his life to studying. Historians get their knowledge of ancient Britain from 55-54 B.C. to (Bede the Venerable, Saint) to the 700s (Bede the Venerable, Priest, Monk, Scholar). After Bede died his coffin was made and the person who made it couldn’t think of a word that described Bede. The next day the man went to the coffin and next to Bede’s name was carved “the Venerable”. That is why we call Bede the Venerable (Kershaw). Because there was not enough time to investigate other great Catholic scholars and English historians the thesis statement could not be proven but there is no evidence as of yet that disproves the thesis.