The previous chapter attempted to indicate the reason why so many cults and related texts were developed in the late seventh and eighth centuries. As was seen, the desire for augmented status did not just manifest itself in the interactions between the kings and their monasteries, it is also evident in the internal construct of the narratives of the texts that were produced. This chapter aims to examine Bede's desire to enhance the status of Wearmouth-Jarrow in the text of the EH through a sophisticated method of textual manipulation, omission, and apparent ‘discretion’. To do this it will look at Bede's depictions of the monastic foundations and founders of Northumbria, particularly Iona/Lindisfarne – Columba and Aidan; Whitby – Hilda and Aelfflead; Ripon, Hexham, and York – Wilfrid.

Alan Thacker argued that in his EH Bede portrayed the Ionan Irish evangelists to Northumbria in an essentially positive light, but that their error concerning Easter observance needed to be accounted for. To do this, Thacker stated that Bede played down this error and stressed how similar their methods in general were to that of the orthodox Roman approaches. Thacker concludes that Bede's images of the Ionan missionaries and Iona itself were essentially defensive but favourable. Goffart too has suggested that Bede was pro-Irish in order to side against the power of Wilfrid. The text of the EH, however, indicates that these arguments are not as firmly founded as the authors have suggested.