known as the Venerable Bede
born 672/673, traditionally Monkton in Jarrow, Northumbria [Eng.]
died May 25, 735, Jarrow; feast day May 25
Anglo-Saxon theologian, historian, and chronologist.
Raised in a monastery, he was ordained a priest at age 30. He is best known for his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (732?), tracing Britain's history from 55 BC to AD 597, a source vital to the history of the conversion to Christianity of the Anglo-Saxon tribes in Britain. His method of dating events from the time of Christ's birth (AD) came into general use through the popularity of the Historia ecclesiastica and two works on chronology.