De temporum ratione

work by Bede

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June 25, 2026

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De temporum ratione, meaning "On the Reckoning of Time," is a significant work by the Anglo-Saxon scholar Bede, completed around 725 CE. This treatise is primarily concerned with the calculation of Easter and the broader understanding of timekeeping.1

Bede's work was instrumental in popularizing the anno Domini (AD) method of dating events from the birth of Christ. De temporum ratione is a more comprehensive version of his earlier work, De temporibus, and it includes a detailed chronicle. Through the influence of Bede's writings, particularly his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People), the AD system became widely adopted across Western Europe. Bede's contributions to chronology and his efforts to establish accurate methods for calculating important dates like Easter highlight his role as a key figure in medieval scholarship.213

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St. Bede the Venerable
Works
His first treatise on chronology, De temporibus (“On Times”), with a brief chronicle attached, was written in 703. In 725 he completed a greatly amplified version, De temporum ratione (“On the Reckoning of Time”), with a much longer chronicle. Both these books were mainly concerned with the reckoning of Easter.…
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His first treatise on chronology, De temporibus (“On Times”), with a brief chronicle attached, was written in 703. In 725 he completed a greatly amplified version, De temporum ratione (“On the Reckoning of Time”), with a much longer chronicle. Both these books were mainly concerned with the reckoning of Easter.…
Read More