Characters who shaped the world 3

The band of brothers

When Benedict of Nursia wrote his Rule for the monks, he created a set of regulations to allow a community of monks to live together in prayer and harmony. It was probably this Rule that Benedict Biscop learned at Lérins, and one of a number of Rules that influenced the Rule that he developed for his community at Wearmouth-Jarrow, for which he drew on ideas from 17 of the best monasteries he had visited on his travels. His Rule combined a daily routine of prayer and manual work on the monastery's farms, with a concern for reading, writing and scholarship.

The faithful follower

If Benedict Biscop created a place where genius could thrive, then his successor Ceolfrith made sure that it did. When plague struck the monastery, he and the boy Bede were the only survivors. He nurtured Bede's talent and not only preserved but extended the legacy that Biscop had left. His name is carved on the dedication stone at St. Paul's in Jarrow, and he oversaw the creation of three large single-volume Bibles – one of which survives as the world-famous manuscript now called the Codex Amiatinus.