Scott Bruce
Fordham University
This paper examines the evidence of surviving manuscripts, book inventories, and authorial
citations in insular monastic communities between the seventh and eleventh centuries for information
about the availability of Latin translations of the Greek fathers in early medieval England. The initial
findings are meagre, but the picture of the reception of Greek patristics among early English readers that
emerges from the sum of this evidence allows us to make useful comparisons with information from the
continent about the availability and relative popularity of the works of particular Christian Greek authors,
like Origen of Alexandria, Eusebius of Caesarea, and John Chrysostom. It also brings to light aspects of
this reception history that are unique to England, like the use of translated eastern sources for the
instruction of students in both Latin and Greek. This presentation is part of a broader study of the history
of eastern patristics in the medieval Latin tradition called “The Lost Patriarchs Project.”