Bede’s Medical Books

Abstract This paper re-examines the medical texts used by Bede in De temporum ratione and Retractatio in Actus apostolorum. It has long been accepted that he had access to works by Pseudo-Hippocrates, Vindicianus and Cassius Felix. Yet idiosyncrasies evident from his quotations complicate matters. Each highlights connections with distinctive textual traditions evident in early continental manuscripts and, especially in the case of the alleged influence of Vindicianus, other works. It shows the close affinities that Bede’s compendia had with Frankish medical miscellanies. In the process, we can also see something of how Bede dealt with a non-Christian body of knowledge, using it critically within his own intellectual projects.