St Cuthbert's Deathbed Speech: Why Did Bede Write a Second Prose Life?

Abstract

St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne was a massively important saint in medieval Europe—his cult following flourished for over 500 years. Four different hagiographies concerning his life and miracles, and over 50 manuscripts still in existence bear witness to his popularity. The first account was written in prose by an anonymous monk of Lindisfarne at around 702 A.D.—about fifteen years after St Cuthbert’s death. The remaining three accounts were all written by the Venerable Bede: a metrical Life completed around 710, a prose Life in 721, and a miniature hagiographical account within the famous Historica Ecclesiastica, which was completed in 731. In this paper, I explore the complex and unresolved question of why Bede wrote a second prose account so soon after Anonymous wrote the first; for, the bishop who commissioned the first prose Life to be written was the same bishop who commissioned Bede to write another prose Life. Consequently, our inquiry also includes a discussion of why Anonymous' account was, apparently, insufficient, such that a second was needed.