Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England. A Revised Translation. With Introduction, Life, and Notes by A. M. Sellar late Vice-Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Latin: Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), written by the Venerable Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between the pre-Schism Roman Rite and Celtic Christianity. It was originally composed in Latin, is considered to be one of the most important original references on Anglo-Saxon history and has played a key role in the development of an English national identity. It is believed to have been completed in 731 when Bede was approximately 59 years old. There are, it has been estimated, in England and on the Continent, in all about 140 manuscripts of the