Researchers were stunned by the discovery of a forgotten medieval book in Rome that contains the oldest known English poem. The rare, long-lost copy of Caedmon's Hymn, the first poem ever written down in Old English, was found in an 8th-century manuscript at Rome's National Library. The poem is visible in five lines above the final line of the left page from the manuscript, which is a copy of the Venerable Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
Discovery Details
The manuscript, dating back to the 8th century, had been overlooked for centuries until a team of researchers recently examined it. The poem, Caedmon's Hymn, is a short Old English poem praising God's creation. It is attributed to Caedmon, a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon poet. The discovery provides new insights into the transmission of early English literature and the work of Bede.
Significance of the Find
This copy is particularly valuable because it predates other known versions and offers a unique textual variant. The poem was previously known only from later manuscripts, making this find a crucial piece of the puzzle for scholars studying the origins of English poetry. The manuscript's location in Rome suggests a wider circulation of Bede's work than previously thought.
The Associated Press reported that the discovery was made on Thursday, May 8, 2026, and the photograph shows the poem's faint lines on the page. Researchers are now analyzing the manuscript to understand its provenance and how it ended up in the Roman library.
