What is Historiography?

• The history of historical writing

• The study of the way history has been written

• Studying changing interpretations of the events of the past

Christian Historiography

• Christian historians found aspects of Classical Historiography hard to accept

– Saw History as the unfolding of God’s plan, not a cyclical pattern as previously proposed

– Christian persecution – hard to view Roman Empire positively

Christian Historiography

• Christian Historiography was propagandist

– Persuade by appealing to emotions– Propagating the truth of faith– History was an important weapon in centuries

when paganism was popular– Sins (often of entire people) became

explanation for great events, wars

Christian Historiography

• Relied on written accounts – Old & New Testaments

• Classical historians preferred oral or eyewitness accounts

Bede - Background• Monk, author, scholar

• Born AD 673 on lands of a monastery, raised by the monastery founder

• Father of English HistoryHistoria Ecclesiastica Gentis

AnglorumThe Ecclesiastical History of the

English People

Bede ‘It has always been my delight to learn or to

teach or to write. I have made it my business, for my own benefit and that of my brothers, to make brief extracts from the works of the venerable fathers on the holy scriptures, or to add notes of my own to clarify their sense and interpretation.’

Bede - Works

• The Ecclesiastical History of the English People

– Primary source for understanding the beginnings of the English people and coming of Christianity

– Covered from time of Caesar to AD 731

– Use of something similar to Anno Domini (AD), anno incarnationis dominicae

Bede - Works

• Commentaries on Old & New Testaments– It was said of him, he

‘shone forth as a lantern in the church by his scriptural commentary’ and his commentaries on books of the Bible were widely sought and widely circulated

Bede - Works• Scientific Writings

– On the Nature of Things– On Time– On the Reckoning of Time

• Became cornerstone of clerical scientific education during 9th century.

• Discussed how spherical earth influenced length of daylight, changing appearance of moon, changing tides.

• Computed the date of Easter

Bede – Purpose

Religious Purposes

• ‘Instruction of Posterity’

• Evangelical – had a view that God’s providence was working through history – frequent accounts of miracles (named eyewitnesses where possible)

• Providing moral guidance – history of good men should inspire imitation, and history of bad should deter people from evil

Bede - Purpose

Political Purposes• Contemporary political

situation in mind

• Dedication of book to King Edwin (AD 616 – 632)– Bede looked at King

Edwin’s reign as the Golden Age of Northumbria in both secular and religious terms

– Wanted this age to come again, wrote with this in mind

Bede - Sources

• Historical technique ahead of his time

– Went to great lengths to obtain and verify historical data

– Named sources and types of information

– Copied documents directly into text

– Oral sources explained in detail – the relationship of the source to the subject

Bede - Historical Legacy• Ecclesiastical History owes its lasting reputation

to Bede’s ability as a historian.• Grasp of historical method unique in middle ages

– Chronology– Competence in collected data– Exploited all resources– Names most sources – literary, documentary and

oral