2009/04/16 by W. Trent Foley, Nicholas J. Higham · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Historical and Linguistic Studies #Byzantine Studies and History #Medieval Literature and History #Conviction #History #Charge (physics) #Political science #Law
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1468-0254.2009.00258.x
openalex publication_date 2009/04/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/23
This paper addresses the many facets of Bede's portrayal of the Britons in the Historia ecclesiastica , first by illustrating his attempts to cast the Britons generally in the role of usually villainous biblical types and then by examining his often more positive portrayal of certain Britons and British groups independently of those types. His recommendation of certain British Christians as saints to be imitated as well as his conviction that God has not abandoned them to perdition exempts him from the charge of being unqualifiedly anti‐British. Nevertheless, his singular stereotyping of them among all the peoples of Britain reveals an especial virulence not easily explained by his biblically informed world‐view.