The History of the English Church and People (also known as The Ecclesiastical History of England), completed in 731 and possibly revised and updated over the next few years, is arguably the greatest and most influential work of history of the Middle Ages. Written by the Anglo-Saxon scholar and monk the Venerable Bede, the work is at once a national history and a witness to the greatness of God and His church on earth. An immensely popular work, the History contributed to the adoption of the Annus Domini dating system, which Bede used throughout his great work. Although Bede included discussion of numerous miracles in the work, he collected evidence and evaluated sources in an almost modern way that has led many to identify Bede as the "father of English history."