It was at the monastery of Jarrow[2] that Bede wrote in rude Latin the
Church history of England. It was at that in Whitby that the poet
Caedmon composed his poem on the Creation, in which, a thousand years
before Milton, he dealt with Milton's theme in Milton's spirit.
[2] Jarrow, Whitby, etc.; see note 1, above.
It was at the great monasteries of Peterborough and Canterbury that
the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" was probably begun (S99). It was the
first history of England written in English, and the one from which we
derive very important knowledge of the period extending from the
beginning of the Christian era down to a time nearly a hundred years
after the Norman conquest of the island. Furthermore we find that the
history of the country was written by the monks in the form of
independent narratives, some of which are of very great value as
sources of information.[1]
[1] See six extracts from the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," in
E. K. Kendall's "Source-Book of English History," chaps. ii and iii;
also William of Malmesbury's "Conquered and Conquerors" (1066) and
Matthew Paris's "England in 1257," in the same book, pp. 41 and 78.
See also Bogn's "Six Old English Chronicles."