Lives of the saints

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This volume contains "The Voyage of St Brendan", Bede's "Life of Cuthbert", and Eddius's Life of Wilfred. They are all set in the sixth and seventh centuries - a period which witnessed the clash between Roman episcopal orthodoxy and the democratic monasticism that was spreading over Ireland and Northern England. Brendan's whimsical travelogue shows us Celtic monasticism before it was challenged; Bede describes its canalization into missionary activity by Cuthbert at Lindisfarne; and Eddius tells of Wilfred's enforcement of decisions made by the Synod of Whitby. The individual character of each of these three classics of the early church is clearly preserved in J.F. Webb's translation. -----from the back cover.