I’ve said before that I am reading Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Written in the year 731. I have to confess, that for the first time since I started this blog project, I am having major problems writing about a book that I am reading.
For the time being, I think I am going to read into it a bit more before commenting, if I do comment at all here. I have to say though, that it is a fascinating book, that gives you an opportunity to think about how things were in the times leading up to the 7th & 8th centuries. Where the focus of life lay, if you were in a position to write about it at that time. In some respects it parallels the history of Art, and what the subject of most pictures were before artists realised that they could and should paint what they want rather than what was expected.
In parallel with Bede’s book I also have a available volume 2 of the Oxford History of England, which deals with Bede’s time and the period from 550 – 1087. It gives the modern interpretation of the available facts. It is of course a fascinating counterpoint.
Given that Bede’s book is an Ecclesiastical history, the focus is naturally upon religious events. Whilst it is as already said a fascinating read, I’m not quite ready to discuss that aspect of it yet.
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