the English nation, & the obseruance of the feast of Ester appointed by the whole catholike church, yet (both diuine and humane force vtterlie resisting them) they were not able in neither behalfe to atteine to their wished intentions, as they which though they were partlie free, yet in some point remained still as thrall and mancipate to the subiection of the Englishmen:  who (saith Beda) now in the acceptable time of peace and quietnesse, manie amongst them of Northumberland, laieng armour and weapon aside, applied themselues to the reading of holie scriptures, more desirous to be professed in religious houses, than to exercise feates of warre:  but what will come therof (saith he) the age that followeth shall see and behold.  With these words dooth Beda end his historie, continued till the yeere of our Lord 731, which was from the comming of the Englishmen into this land, about 285 yeeres, according to his account.

[Sidenote:  732. Wil.  Malm.] In the yeere following, that is to say 732, in place of Wilfrid the second, Egbert was ordeined bishop of Yorke.  This Egbert was brother vnto an other Egbert, who as then was king of Northumberland, by whose helpe he greatlie aduanced the see of Yorke, and recouered the pall:  so that where all the other bishops that held the same see before him sith Paulins daies, wanted the pall, and so were counted simplie but particular bishops:  now was he intituled by the name of archbishop.  He also got togither a great number of good books, [Sidenote:  733.] which he bestowed in a librarie at Yorke. ¶ In the yeere 733, on the 18 kalends of September, the sunne suffered a great eclipse about three of the clocke in the after noone, in somuch that the earth seemed to be couered with a blacke and horrible penthouse.

[Sidenote:  735 Beda departed this life] In the yeere 735, that reuerend and profound learned man Beda departed this life, being 82 yeeres of age, vpon Ascension day, which was the 7 kalends of Iune, and 26 of Maie, as Matt.  Westm. hath diligentlie obserued.  W. Harison addeth hitherto, that it is to be read in an old epistle of Cutbert moonke of the same house vnto Cuthwine, that the said Beda lieng in his death-bed, translated the gospell of saint Iohn into English, and commanded his brethren to be diligent in reading and contemplation of good bookes, and not to exercise themselues with fables and friuolous matters.  Finallie he was buried in the abbeie of Geruie, distant fiue miles from Wiremouth, an abbeie also in the north parts, not far from Newcastell (as is before remembred.) He was brought vp in those two abbeies, and was scholar to John of Beuerley.  How throughlie he was seene in all kinds of good literature, the bookes which hee wrote doo manifestlie beare witnesse.  His judgement also was so much esteemed ouer all, that Sergius the bishop of Rome wrote vnto Celfride the abbat of Wiremouth, requiring him to send Beda vnto the court of Rome for the deciding of certein questions