[Bell Historians] Re: Oldest Christian Bell

[nitramwe]

--- In bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com, Richard Smith <richard at ...> wrote:

> In any case, the real value of the quote is that it tells us 
> that a bell was commonly used to wake the nuns and call them 
> to prayer.  And for that purpose, we don't need to assume a 
> bell of any significant size.  It may have been bigger, but 
> I don't think we can infer that from the text.

 Quite so.. it seems irrelevant that the two monasteries were 13 miles apart (Even though Bede thought it relevant to tell us this fact!)
We are told that the sound of the bell was part of her dream or vision. To add to the confusion,in telling of another miracle where a monk who had become almost totally paralyzed,  began a miraculous recovery shortly after the sound of the midnight bell for prayers, for 'bell' Bede chose the word `signum'. But it must be significant that in choosing the word 'campana' Bede tells us that there is something about this bell in addition to its being used as a signal. As I've said:

> >  Had he been referring to 
> > crotals or door-bells, why not use the established words 
> > `tintinnabula' or `signa'? but no, he uses the new word 
> > `campana'

> 
> Bede's use of the word 'campana' is one of the earliest uses 
> of it to mean a bell, and just because a century later in a 
> different country, Strabo tells us that 'campana' meant a 
> large bell, doesn't mean that it had yet evolved that 
> specific meaning.  For example, in the 1st century BC, 
> Horace uses the word, probably meaning bronzeware.

Isidore (died 636)also supports this by noting that a specific alloy was so called because it originated in Campania...which certainly suggests to me that if a bell is referred to using the word Campana at the least it signifies that it was cast and not cobbled together out of bits of iron. But, this still leaves us wondering whether or not Bede's bell was portable.

I don't think we have to wait for Strabo. I believe that as well as by Bede in Northumbria (710) `campana' had been used by Cummian at Iona (665) You have mentioned that The Liber Pontificalis has it that at St. Peter's Rome, Pope Stephen II (752 - 757) had a tower erected to house three bells. According to my notes the word used to describe these obviously tower bells was 'campanae' but I have not been able to double check this
Eddie
P.S. Our droning on about this may be tedious for others and have we actually answered the original question? I  think George Dawson came close but I have become so embroiled that I don't know!!!
mew