730-749 Lindisfarne Gospels & Anglo Saxon History

In this twenty year period the Lindisfarne Gospels were being written and down the road in a monastery in Jarrow the Venerable Bede (pictured) wrote "The Ecclesiastical History of the English People" in 731 which, while religious based, elevates the English people -- the Angles and the Saxons -- as God's people.

It was the first account of Anglo-Saxon England ever written and he became “the Father of English History”.

Starting with Julius Caesar's invasion in the 1st century BC, it goes on to tell of the kings, bishops, monks and nuns who helped to develop government and convert people to Christianity.

Bede was put in a monastery at Wearmouth when he was seven, became a deacon at 19 and a priest at 30. Being a soldier or a priest -- or both -- was the only occupation open to most young men without a farm to inherit, and he was perfectly aware of the comfort of his life compared to that of others.

He also describes landscape, customs and ordinary lives -- such as famines where starving South Saxon families, hold hands and jump off white cliffs in tragic suicide pacts -- and includes the famous analogy comparing life to a sparrow's experience of flying out of the darkness into a great hall:

 "After a few moments of comfort the bird vanishes from sight into the wintry world that he came from." 

710-729 Moslems Conquer Spain, Bede Suggests AD Calendar

This twenty year period saw the start of the Moslem Arab conquest of Visigoth Spain during which the Christian nobles of Spain rapidly converted to Islam and many Spanish scholars fled to other parts of Christian Europe, enriching their new countries with the texts they brought with them.

When Spain was being conquered and converted to Islam, the Eastern Emperor Justinian II and the Pope in Rome, Constantine -- a Syrian as was the former pope -- met at Nicomedia in 711. Emperor Justinian dutifully kissed Constantine's feet and took communion -- only to be murdered soon after, as was his successor.

The new Emperor Leo III (717-741) and the new Pope Gregory II (715-731) were not so cosy. Leo III imposed enormous taxes on Italy and ordered Gregory II to break all images of worship. Pope Gregory II was having trouble at home with the Lombards and Emperor Leo III's impositions acted to draw the Lombards and the pope into an alliance against imperial rule.

Also, when Spain was being conquered and converted to Islam, the Venerable Bede -- a monk living on the banks of the River Tyne -- wrote "On the Reckoning of Time" in 725 arguing that the Church should not rely on the pagan system of dating according to the accession dates of the Roman Emperors.

Instead, he suggested a new way of dating by the birth of Christ -AD anno domini.

When those entrusted and empowered to rule over us are busy kissing feet, taking communion, breaking images and raising enormous taxes to pay for their opulent lifestyles is it no wonder that the Arabs were able to conquer and convert Spain to Islam so easily.