The Venerable Bede

Born 672

Died 735

Anglo-Saxon historian and theologian

Al-Mas'udi
Died 957
Arab historian

Ssu-ma Kuang
Born 1019
Died 1086
Chinese government official and historian

Anna Comnena
Born c. 1083
Died 1148
Byzantine princess and historian

"As such peace and prosperity prevail these days, many … have laid aside their weapons … rather than study the arts of war. What the result of this will be, the future will show."

The Venerable Bede

The work of historians is always important, seldom more so than in the Middle Ages. Not only did people then lack modern forms of communication, but in Western Europe at least, the medieval period was a time when the pace of learning slowed for several centuries. Thus it became all the more important to access the wisdom of the past, a...