Bede and the Monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow

The Monastic Life of the Scholar Known as England’s First Historian

Aug 10, 2009 Rachel Bellerby

Bede wrote more than 60 books but despite his immense scholarship, he rarely left the monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow, where he was brought up and spent most of his life.

The monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow was a religious house on two separate sites, which flourished during the seventh century, a golden age of learning and culture in Northumbria, when Bede was alive. The church of St Peter’s, at Wearmouth, was founded by Northumbrian noble Benedict Biscop, who also founded St Paul’s at Jarrow, seven miles away. Together, the two monasteries acted as one monastic site, which Bede was to call ‘one monastery in two places’.

Bede’s Entry to Monastic Life at Wearmouth

Bede was born in Northumbria, in around the year AD673. He was taken by his family to St Peter’s Monastery, Wearmouth at the age of seven. During the early Middle Ages, it was fairly common practice for families to give a child to the care of a religious house, knowing that that child would be educated and cared for until adulthood.

At the time of Bede's entry, the monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow had recently been founded by Benedict Biscop, and monks at the twin site seem to have spent their time split between the two monasteries, moving freely as the need arose. Biscop set up the religious houses following six inspiring visits to Rome, after which, he decided to try to replicate what he had seen in Italian churches, using vestments, books, pictures and vessels which he had collected overseas.

Bede’s Life in the Wearmouth-Jarrow Monastery of St Peter and St Paul

Bede’s life in the twin monasteries of St Peter and St Paul was like that of so many monks who went before and after him. He was part of a religious community where each day was made up of prayer, physical work, eating, and sleeping, with little time for personal interests or conversing with others.

The monastic buildings were among the finest of their time. Biscop was one of the first to use glass windows within a church setting, and also employed European workmen to ensure that the stone churches (among the first stone-built churches in the UK) were built to a high standard.

Bede obviously found himself well suited to the rigours of monastic life; he was ordained as a deacon at the age of nineteen and became a priest by the age of thirty.

It may seem unusual that a medieval monk who hardly left his monastery, wrote so many manuscripts, many of which are still in use today. However, the Wearmouth-Jarrow monasteries were, in their day, among the wealthiest and best-supported in England. They had one of the finest libraries in the country, and Bede no doubt made use of the many works available to him at this library when preparing his own literary works.

Bede died in AD735, at the age of around 62, leaving behind him a wealth of written manuscripts, on many subjects, including astronomy, history, grammar and theology. He died in his own monastic cell, and almost immediately, a cult developed around this remarkable man.

Wearmouth-Jarrow is now a candidate World Heritage Site, in recognition of the area’s importance as a place of culture and learning in the seventh and eighth centuries.

Sources:

Tristram, Kate The Story of Holy Island [Canterbury Press, 2009]

Bede’s World website

The copyright of the article Bede and the Monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow in Medieval History is owned by Rachel Bellerby. Permission to republish Bede and the Monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Bede's World Museum, Jarrow