LETTERS

In search of Hadrian

I enjoyed Michael Wood’s article about Anglo-Saxon studies in your December issue (Comment). Apart from anything else it contained probably the most intriguing and thought-provoking aside I think I have ever read. In parenthesis Mr Wood commented: “(The Libyan Hadrian, a ‘man of African race’, along with the Syrian Theodore, is the most important figure in the history of education in England.)”

Theodore was archbishop of Canterbury from 668 to 690. Simon Schama’s History of Britain doesn’t mention either him or Hadrian. Rebecca Fraser’s A People’s History of Britain tells us that Theodore established training schools and ensured that “gifted children whatever their means” could attend school. He also reformed the curriculum