Introduction Summary and Analysis

The Age of Bede presents five texts that historians regard as providing valuable information about England and Ireland's early Christian Church. The saints covered in the texts lived within the sixth or the seventh century and were innovators within monasticism and spirituality generally. They are also written about as if they were heroes who fought against the devil and his demons with prayer, fasting and solitude. However, these men also contributed to the construction of Christian towns and other monasteries. They were all venerated by their successors.

The earliest monk is an Irishman named Brendan. However, the Navigatio, the piece written about him, was written latest and includes the fewest reliable details about him. Cuthbert was Northumbrian and was born in 634, and Wilfrid was Northumbrian also. Both men were trained as Irish monks and became bishops. Cuthbert spent much of his...