Bede the Venerable (673-735), Anglo-Saxon scholar and historian. Bede is best known for his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People), which he completed in 731. This was the first work to date events by the AD (Anno Domini) system. Bede also wrote about the Bible, astronomy, music and a wide range of subjects. Bede was entrusted to the care of the monastery of St Peter in Wearmouth (Monkwearmouth, England) at the age of seven. He was ordained as a deacon at St Paul's, Jarrow (the twin monastery of St Peter's), at the age of 19. He became a priest at age 30, and spent his life performing monastic duties, learning, teaching and writing.