Then and Now -- Two Histories

 

When I was doing the historical research for my book Lexington:Anatomy of a Novel, it was easy in comparison to what Bede, The Father of English History living in the eighth century, had to do. 

I could research by email, internet or old-fashioned telephone. An incredible Lexington National Park Ranger, who if he didn't have the answer to my many questions, sent me to someone who did. He told me about books that I could download or order. I watched videos and special programs at his suggestion. Getting an answer or a fact could take minutes and seldom longer than a few days.

Bede could not have imagined such speed. Because he wrote before books were printed he had to wait long amounts of time for answers from other monks or from the few libraries that existed. He might get dribs and drabs of things that happened long before in Egypt, Rome or elsewhere. No way could he double check against other sources.

Bede, when he did talk to people face-to-face, is said to have jotted notes on parchment. Unlike today, he didn't have transcription services that could change the notes into verbal words or his verbal words into text. 

Our travels were limited for different reasons. I couldn't hop on a plane from Geneva to Boston to visit the real site of the battle starting the American Revolution whenever I had a question. Fortunately, I once lived close, and had been at the battlefield several times. Photos from the internet, videos and books filled in where my memory faltered. Bede spent most of his time on monastery grounds with some trips to other monasteries in England.

Then there is the difference in ease of getting notes into a readable form. All I have to do is turn on my laptop hoping it will behave. 

I could always pick up a pen from my collection of beautiful pens which use either ink or cartridges,  but I use them infrequently.

Poor Bede used feather quills, and the thickness of the point depended on the thickness of the tip. What he selected depended on how he wanted the manuscript to look, which I suppose is no different from my choosing a font and type size. 

As frustrated as I get if my printer or pen runs out of ink, it's a matter of going to the store to buy new. I do not have to make it.

One medieval recipe for ink included bark from dried hawthorn branches pounded into pieces and soaked for eight days. Wine was added to the process. The liquid was put into bags and hung in the sun.When dry, the mixture was mixed with more wine. Iron salts were added over an open fire. 

Parchment and ink do not come with autocorrect and/or delete keys. There is no historical record of Bede, dropping something on a parchment that he almost finished and trying to remove the stain, but I can't imagine with all that he produced, it must have happened at least once. Did he ever read his day's work and think, "I wish I'd said it differently?"

He helped determine the calendar the way Easter is calculated today. His work, although once put him in danger of being charged with heresy.

To read more: 

 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bede-and-the-theory-of-everything-michelle-p-brown/1143199884?ean=9781789147889

  

www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ecclesiastical-history-of-the-english-people-bede/1116800555?ean=9780140445657

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 https://www.harvard.com/book/9781733269667