Researchers stunned by a forgotten medieval book in Rome hiding the oldest English poem
Summary
Researchers discovered a rare copy of Caedmon’s Hymn, the oldest recorded English poem, inside an 8th-century Latin manuscript at Rome’s National Library. The poem, written in Old English by a 7th-century cowherd, was found within the Latin text of the Venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People and was identified through digital scans.Key Facts
- Caedmon’s Hymn is the oldest poem ever written down in Old English.
- It was composed by a Northumbrian cowherd in the 7th century.
- The poem appears in some versions of a Latin history book by the Venerable Bede, a monk and saint.
- The newly found manuscript dates from the 9th century and is kept at Rome’s National Library.
- Previous copies of the poem existed but were written as notes in the margins, not within the main text.
- Researchers from Trinity College Dublin examined digitized pages to locate the poem.
- This discovery supports the idea that Caedmon’s Hymn marks the beginning of English literature.
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