Biblical Commentaries from the Canterbury School of Theodore and Hadrian: (Series Number 10 Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England)

This volume includes the first edition of a previously unknown text which throws light on the intellectual history of early medieval Europe. The biblical commentaries represent the teaching of two gifted Greek scholars who came to England from the Byzantine East. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury (668–90) and his colleague Hadrian (d. 710) taught the Bible to a group of Anglo-Saxon scholars, who recorded their teaching. The resulting commentaries illustrate the high point of biblical scholarship between late antiquity and the Renaissance. The commentaries, found by Professor Bischoff in Milan in 1936, constitute one of the most important medieval texts discovered this century. The edition is introduced by substantial chapters on the intellectual background of the texts and their manuscript sources. The Latin texts themselves are accompanied by facing English translations and extensive notes.

Table of Contents:
Preface; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. Archbishop Theodore; 3. Abbot Hadrian; 4. Theodore and Hadrian in England; 5. The sources of the Canterbury biblical commentaries; 6. The nature of the Canterbury biblical commentaries; 7. The manuscripts; Part I: Texts and Translations: 8. First commentary on the Pentateuch (PentI); 9. Supplementary commentary on Genesis, Exodus and the gospels (Gn-Ex-EvIa); 10. Second commentary on the gospels (EvII); Part II. Commentary to the texts: Appendices; Figures; Bibliography; Indexes.

Review :
"...a marvellous piece of work, packed with new material, which tranforms our own understanding not only of English intellectual culture in the seventh century but also of what knowledge might have been available in early medieval Europe as a whole." Times Literary Supplement "For the general reader, especially one versed in modern biblical studies, these commentaries provide a good view of how the Bible was studied in the medieval west. Highly recommended." The Reader's Review "...the entire apparatus makes this ensemble of texts almost immediately accessible to the thoughtful, nonspecialist reader while serving the needs of specialists as well." Journal of Religion "The book succeeds quite splendidly in situating the extraordinarily rapid development of Christian learning in England in the late seventh century with a patristic background." T.M. charles-Edwards, Albion "...one could scarcely ask for a more fulfilling or stimulating book not just on Theodore but on the entire seventh sentury." Richard W. Pfaff, Speculum "Despite the massiveness of the learning displayed...the book is actually fun to browse through, and is one more blow (a knockout punch?) against the term Dark Ages." Richard W. Pfaff, Church History