Bede

Bede, also known as the Venerable Bede, was an English monk, author, and scholar. He was one of the best-known writers during the Early Middle Ages. His most famous work, *Ecclesiastical History of the English People*, gained him the title 'The Father of English History'. He served at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom of Northumbria. Born in Northumbria, Bede was sent to Monkwearmouth at age seven and later joined Abbot Ceolfrith at Jarrow. Both survived a plague in 686 that killed the majority of the population. Bede traveled to several abbeys and monasteries across the British Isles, visiting the archbishop of York and King Ceolwulf of Northumbria. His theological writings included biblical commentaries and exegesis. He also studied *computus*, the science of calculating calendar dates, and popularized the practice of dating forward from the birth of Christ (*Anno Domini*). He is considered an important scholar of antiquity and a skilled linguist and translator, making Greek and Latin writings accessible to Anglo-Saxons. A cult formed around him by the tenth century, and he was canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1899. He is the first native of Great Britain to achieve this designation.