ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates how Venerable Bede’s interest in the apocalypse overlaps with his reformist ideals through a detailed study of De die iudicii, a hexameter poem witnessed in more than 40 medieval manuscripts. It discusses the poem’s circumstances of composition, before considering where it sits within the tradition of Latin eschatological verse. De die iudicii is consistent with some of the major principles of Bede’s eschatological thought. The chapter describes the apocalypticism of De die iudicii with reference to Bede’s wider corpus of writings and examines the De die iudicii in light of Bede’s interest in reform. Most scholars who have had reason to comment on the issue have accepted De die iudicii as a genuine work of Bede’s. A strong case can be made that the most important interpersonal relationship that Bede engaged in as an adult was the one he shared with Acca.
