Editing Cædmon (section)

===Dates===
Bede gives no specific dates in his story. Cædmon is said to have taken [[Holy Orders|holy orders]] at an advanced age and it is implied that he lived at Streonæshalch at least in part during Hilda's abbacy (657&ndash;680). Book IV Chapter 25 of the ''Historia ecclesiastica'' appears to suggest that Cædmon's death occurred at about the same time as the fire at [[Coldingham Priory|Coldingham Abbey]], an event dated in the E text of the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' to 679, but after 681 by Bede.<ref>See [[#ireland1986|Ireland 1986]], pp. 228; [[#dumville1981|Dumville 1981]], p. 148</ref>  

The reference to ''his temporibus'' "at this time" in the opening lines of Chapter 25 may refer more generally to Cædmon's career as a poet. However, the next datable event in the ''Historia ecclesiastica'' is King [[Ecgfrith of Northumbria|Ecgfrith]]'s raid on [[Ireland]] in 684 (Book IV, Chapter 26). Taken together, this evidence suggests an active period beginning between 657 and 680 and ending between 679 and 684.