The inflected nature of the Latin language allows the secular and the spiritual once again to be juxtaposed and intertwined – the English nation is framed and defined by the history of the church in England. After a few gracious remarks on the pleasure CeolwulfÊs interest in his work gives him, Bede outlines his purpose in writing – to instruct his monarch in how to behave, setting out the deeds of good men for Ceolwulf to imitate and those of bad men for him to avoid. The opening section ends with Bede praising Ceolwulf for his concern for the spiritual well-being of his people and for his intention to see to the wider dissemination of BedeÊs History, for the edification both of himself and of Âthose over whom divine authority has appointed you to rule.Ê Ceolwulf, as king, is expected to consider Âwhat is good and pleasing in the sight of GodÊ when he acts and to have a proper concern for the spiritual, as well as the physical, well-being of his subjects – the kingÊs role here is effectively defined by his Christianity. 4 By the end of this first paragraph, the staged humility of BedeÊs opening self-description has fallen away as he has adopted an increasingly didactic tone towards the king. The humility was, in any case, always more apparent than real – the opening dedication is carefully balanced to give equal weight to dedicatee and author, with Ceolwulf and Bede each allotted 11 syllables. Moreover, the contrast Bede sets up between  gloriosissimo regi Ê and  famulus Christi et presbyter Ê does not work entirely to the benefit of the former. In describing himself as a Âservant of Christ and priestÊ, Bede looks beyond the secular world that honours Ceolwulf and stresses his own connection with the divine. 5 It is BedeÊs voice that is authoritative here – he speaks in the first person as the subject of all the main verbs in the first sentence ( edideram⁄transmisi⁄transmitto ) – and Ceolwulf, despite his active role in
demanding a copy and offering criticisms, is syntactically subordinate, reduced to present participles and gerunds ( tibi desideranti⁄ad legendum ac probandum ). Bede takes it upon himself to praise Ceolwulf (Â satisque studium tuae sinceritatis amplector Ê) and, when Ceolwulf does become grammatically active, he has the essentially passive role of listener or reader (Â aurem sedulus accommodas⁄auditor sollicitus⁄religiosus ac pius auditor sive lector Ê). Ceolwulf implicitly acknowledges this by looking to Bede for instruction (Â historiam memoratam in notitiam tibi⁄desiderasÊ) and he is reminded that his power rests upon the will of God (Â quibus te regendis divina praefecit auctoritas Ê). BedeÊs praise of Ceolwulf does not so much recognize his superlative characteristics as a ruler as argue for BedeÊs own status as CeolwulfÊs authoritative teacher, in whose hands lies the power to praise or criticize. Bede seeks to bind Ceolwulf to the historianÊs vision of a kingÊs role, in which the monarch, recognizing that his power is dependent upon following GodÊs will, listens to the advice of his clergy and acts for the spiritual welfare of the people he rules. 6 BedeÊs ability to persuade Ceolwulf of his case rests upon his authority as a teacher and he uses the rest of the preface to establish this more securely. We learn of the scrupulous care Bede has taken to gather his material and the unimpeachable authority of his sources. For the Gregorian mission to Kent, he has drawn on the resources of Abbot Albinus of the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul outside Canterbury, and also on the researches of the priest Nothhelm in the papal archives in Rome. It was again Albinus, together with named local sources and the writings of unnamed earlier writers, who supplied Bede with information concerning the church in the other Anglo- Saxon kingdoms. For his native Northumbria, Bede relied on both his own 6 Higham (Higham, N.J., (Re-)Reading Bede: The Ecclesiastic History in context (London 2006), p.184) rightly argues that the most important lesson Bede aims to teach Ceolwulf is the need for kings to listen to their clerical advisors.
4 McClure and Collins, Ecclesiastical History, p.3
5 Bede is not merely a priest ( presbyter ) but also a member of ChristÊs household ( famulus ), claiming a personal relationship of service to the Son of God.
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