Writers

Bede (Baeda, The Venerable Bede) (Writer)

(673-735) historian, scholar, commentator, biographer, treatise writer, poet Bede was born in a small village in the vicinity of Jarrow in Northumbria, near the present-day city of Newcastle in northern England. In 679, at age seven, as was the culture in those times, Bede was fostered at the monastery in Wearmouth in the care of […]

Beatrice of Nazareth (Writer)

  (1200-1268) mystic,diarist, treatise writer Beatrice of Nazareth was born to a merchant family of Tienen, near Brussels, Belgium. As a very young child she showed an aptitude for scholarship, and at age seven, upon the death of her mother, her father sent her to live for a year with a group of beguines. The […]

Bardic poetry (Writer)

  (sixth-13th centuries) Bardic poetry refers to an oral tradition of verse composition and performance largely associated with the Celtic cultures of Anglo-Saxon England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. The forms of bardic poetry followed precise metrical and alliterative patterns since the word-music, made from the sounds of the language itself, was considered as important as […]

Bai Juyi (Po Chu-i) (Writer)

  (772-846) poet Bai Juyi, the son of a minor government official, was born in Hsin-cheng, China. Though his family was poor, Bai received a good education that prepared him for his government service examinations in 800 and 803. After passing his examinations, he was assigned to a job in Ch’ang-an, the Tang dynasty capital. […]

Bacchylides (Writer)

  (fifth century b.c.) lyric poet During the Golden Age of ancient Greece, all forms of literature reached new heights. The writing style known as lyric poetry, which was designed to be sung by a performer, was of particular importance. One of the most important Greek lyric poets of this era was Bacchylides. The nephew […]

Bible, Hebrew (Writer)

  (ca. 10th-first centuries b.c.) The Hebrew Bible is a collection of 24 different books of history, poetry, stories, and moral instruction, compiled toward the end of the first millennium b.c. It is the most sacred book of the Jewish religion and also forms the largest part of the Christian Bible. As such, it is […]

Bhagavad Gita (Bhagavad-gita, Bhagavadgita) (Writer)

  (first century b.c.) Sanskrit text The Bhagavad Gita is a philosophical poem that summarizes and explains the key concepts underlying Hindu religious belief and practice. The poem is staged as a dialogue between the warrior Arjuna, one of the five Pandava brothers, and his charioteer Krisna, an engaging and remarkable young man. In these […]

Bestiary (Writer)

  medieval literary genre The bestiary is a literary genre of the European middle ages generally consisting of a collection of stories, each detailing the qualities of an animal, plant, or even stone. These stories were often presented in the form of Christian allegories for moral enlightenment. The bestiaries are derived from the Greek text […]

Bernard de Ventadour (Bernart de Ventadorn) (Writer)

  (fl. ca. 1147-ca. 1170) troubadour Bernard de ventadour was born in the province of Limousin in south-central France. One biographer, writing long after his subject’s death, claimed that Bernard was a lowly servant in charge of heating the ovens at the viscount of Ventadorn’s castle. According to this biographer, Bernard fell in love with […]

Beowulf (Writer)

  (10th century) epic poem One of the finest epic poems of Anglo-Saxon literature, Beowulfis a stirring adventure story and a deeply serious commentary on human life. It tells the story of the life and death of the legendary hero Beowulf in his great battles with supernatural monsters and in his reign as a cultured […]

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