Bede and the beginnings of English racism / W. Trent Foley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Foley, William Trent, 1954- author.

Series:

Studia traditionis theologiae ; 2294-3617 49.

Studia traditionis theologiae (STT) ; 49

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bede, the Venerable, Saint, 673-735. Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum--Criticism and interpretation.

Bede.

Racism--England--History--To 1500.

Racism.

Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Bede, the Venerable, Saint).

England.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

History.

Physical Description:

221 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Turnhout, Belgium : Brepols, [2022]

Summary:

"This book examines how the Venerable Bede constructs a racial order in his most famous historical writing, 'Ecclesiastical History of the English People', a remarkable eighth-century work known for how it combines myth and history into a compelling, charming narrative of the English conversion to Christianity. Yet Bede's 'History' also disturbingly deploys Scripture's tropes and types, many of them anti-Jewish, to render unflattering sketches of some of Britain's "races" (gentes) - especially the Britons. To uncover the 'History''s characterizations of what it identifies as the British, Irish, English, and Latin races, Foley examines three of its episodes that narrate attempted conversions of the first three races - respectively - either to Christianity or to a better, more orthodox, catholic, Latin version of it. This close analysis exposes the theological dimensions of each episode's racial constructions. Foley argues that, unlike modern conceptions of race, which are grounded in imagined biological difference, Bede's is rooted in his perception of a particular race's affective disposition, its habits of the heart. More than that, Bede closely ties a race's disposition to its relative proximity to theological orthodoxy and catholicity. This book's close reading also highlights surprising similarities between Bede's medieval Christian discourse and modern, secular and white discourses on race" -- Information provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Bede's Historia and the Victorian Anglo-Saxonists

2. Was Bede Racist?

ch. 1 Reading the Historia Racially and Religiously

1. Reading the Historia Racially

2. Reading the Historia Religiously

ch. 2 The `Latin' Race and the Church Universal

1. The Early Church as a Model for Establishing Deliberative Consent

2. Catholicity and the Christian Latin Tradition: Cyprian and Augustine

3. Obstacles to Catholic Unity in the Narrative World of the Historia

ch. 3 Racing the Britons

-Augustine's Oak and its Aftermath

1. The Oak Meeting Episode: Augustine's First Meeting with the British Bishops and Teachers

2. The Spurning Episode: Augustine's Second Meeting with the British Bishops and Teachers

3. The Battle Episode: King Asthelfrith's Slaughter of British Monks and Soldiers at the Battle of Chester

4. Excursus: A Remnant of Righteous Britons

5. The Oak Chapter as Aftermath and Prologue

6. Summary: The Embarrassed Narrator

ch. 4 Racing the English

-King Edwin's Council

1. Peculiar Features of the Northumbrian Conversion Narrative

2. King Edwin the Footdragger

3. Interpreting the Northumbrians' Conversion Story through its Narrative Inversions

4. Reevaluating King Edwin

5. Reading Racially the Northumbrians' Council and Conversion Story

ch. 5 Racing the Ionan Irish

-The Synod of Whitby

1. The Opening Frame: The Lindisfarne Church as Building

2. Conflicts that Occasioned the Synod of Whitby

3. King Oswiu's Introduction of the Debate

4. Antiquity or Catholicity?

5. John or Peter?

6. Columbaor Anatolius?

7. Heading for Home

8. The Closing Frame: Lindisfarne as a Holy Community

9. The Historia's Depiction of the Irish as a Holy but Uninformed Race

ch. 6 The Historia and its Legacy of Racist Discourse

1. The Final State of the Races

2. The Historia's Understanding of Sin and Its Construction of Race: Faithfulness vs. Faithlessness

3. The Historia and the Darker Side of Christian Universalism

4. The Historia's Racism: A Concluding Assessment

Bibliography

Ancient and Medieval Authors

Modern Authors.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9782503599267

2503599265

OCLC:

1325673083