2026 Jarrow Lecture – Bede, Providence, and Early Medieval Kingship

Posted On: April 8th, 2026

Image: Death of King Sigeberht of the East Angles. Public Domain. Wikimedia

Announcing this year’s Jarrow Lecture: Bede, Providence, and Early Medieval Kingship

This year’s lecture will be delivered by Dr Tom Pickles, Associate Professor of Early Medieval History at the University of Chester. It will take place on Friday 22nd May 2026 at 7:30pm at St. Paul’s Church, Jarrow (NE32 3DZ). Free entry and refreshments provided.

Bede’s Jarrow was a royal foundation as the dedication makes clear and may subsequently have hosted kings of the Northumbrians. His Ecclesiastical history of the English people, as its Preface explains, was sent to King Ceolwulf of the Northumbrians and revised according to his comments. Modern commentators on this work have often remarked that it contains a lot of material about kings and have wondered whether Bede had a particular providential message for kings about the rewards of Christian conversion and Christian behaviour. Building on a recent emphasis on the influence of Augustine of Hippo on Bede, this Lecture will revisit this problem – why did Bede’s Ecclesiastical history include so much material about kings and what providential message was Bede seeking to convey to them?