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Forty-three species of choanoflagellates were seen during a study of the heterotrophic nanoflagellates in Southampton Water, between 1991 and 1994. The majority of the species were loricate choanoflagellates (Acanthoecidae), and this group accounted for –8% of the total heterotrophic nanoplankton during the period of study. Aloricate choanoflagellates (Codosigidae and Salpingoecidae) were less diverse, and accounted for only 3–4% of the heterotrophic nanoplankton. The seasonal occurrence of loricate choanoflagellates was studied using light microscope whole mounts, whilst more detailed studies of lorica structure were made using electron microscope whole mounts. Two new species, described in this paper, had a markedly seasonal occurrence and were only recorded during a period of 6–10 weeks each spring. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The presence of a diverse range of epibionts was found on Pagurus bernhardus from the west coast of Scotland. The invertebrate species found on the shell inhabited by the crab were the hydrozoans Hydractinia echinata and Dycorine conferta, the cirripeds Balanus balanus and Balanus crenatus, the polychaetes Hydroides norvegica, Pomatoceros triqueter and Circeis armoricana, and the molluscs Hiatella arctica and Anomia ephippium. On the crab were observed the polychaete Circeis armoricana and the amphipod Podoceropsis nitida. In addition, on the gastropod shells occupied by P. bernhardus, ciliate protozoan species were found attached to the hydrozoan Dycorine conferta, this being hyperepibiosis. These ciliates were 6 suctorian (Conchacineta constricta, Corynophrya anisostyla, Actinocyathula homari, Actinocyathula crenata, Acineta sulcata and Acineta corophii), and one peritrich species (Zoothamnium sp.). This is the first time that this hyperepibiosis was observed. In contrast to the epibiont communities observed in previous surveys in the same sampling area, basibiont specimens without D. conferta did not show ciliate epibionts. The ciliate epibionts also were not present on the surface of the shell and crab in specimens with D. conferta; they only appeared in hyperepibiosis on the surface of the hydrozoan. The spatial distribution and abundance of the invertebrate epibiont species were analysed, as well as the morphology, taxonomy and distribution of the ciliate hyperepibionts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

During a survey of the marine rotifers of the Northern Adriatic Sea, Italy, we found a total of 20 taxa, including a new species of Lecane. This novelty, Lecane insulaconae sp. nov., occurred in the interstitial area of sandy sediment in the outlet of the Isonzo River, at a salinity of 30‰ and is therefore the first exclusively marine representative of this diverse (~200 species) genus. It is characterized by unique sets of anterolateral projections on the ventral and dorsal lorica. Here, we present the description of the species, together with scanning electron microscopy pictures of trophi of this and some other species, and an account of the marine rotifers encountered during the survey. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A large (maximum length 80 mm), tubular, corset-like problematic fossil from the early Cambrian (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3) Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of North Greenland is interpreted as the lorica of an ancestral loriciferan. In addition to the double circlet of 7 plates composing the lorica, Sirilorica carisbergi new genus, new species also preserves up to six multicuspidate cuticular denticles that are similar in shape to the pharyngeal teeth of priapulid worms, although their location is suggestive of scalids. Whilst traditionally placed as a sister group of priapulid worms within Vinctiplicata (Scalidophora), recent molecular sequence data suggest that loriciferans might be more closely related to nematomorphs. The limited morphological information available from Sirilorica is consistent with this interpretation, placing the Sirius Passet fossil within the total-group of Loricifera, within the Loricifera + Nematomorpha dade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exeter Riddle 40 presents two related problems as a translation of one of Aldhelm's Enigmata (no. c: ‘Creatura’): its dislocation, in an otherwise accurate translation, of six lines from their position in the Latin text; and its connection with the so-called ‘Lorica’ of Leiden, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit, Voss. lat. Q. 106, the only other surviving Old English translation of an Aldhelmian enigma. In his edition of the Exeter Riddles, Tupper addressed these problems by postulating that both Old English riddles were the work of one translator and that Exeter Riddle 40 was revised from an earlier version of Aldhelm's enigma now lost to us. Although Tupper's view has been widely accepted, it presents a number of difficulties. It is the purpose of the present article to suggest an alternate interpretation of the evidence: that Exeter Riddle 40 – a much later poem than the ‘Leiden Riddle’, a Northumbrian poem perhaps of the eighth century – was translated from a ninth-century continental manuscript with tenth-century English corrections: Oxford, Bodleian Library, Rawlinson C. 697. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The spatial and seasonal variability of the microphytoplankton and ciliates communities in relation to the environmental factors were studied in the southern coastal area of Sfax. Results revealed a striking difference between seasons regarding pH, with strong acidification in autumn generated by industrial activity. Spatial distribution of pH in autumn impacted the microorganisms in different ways: acidic stations to the south showed significant correlations with Cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates and loricate ciliates whereas higher pH values in spring (pH > 8) were linked to diatoms richness. The high availability of inorganic phosphate is associated with the high release of phosphate due to residue from a phosphate treatment manufacture along the coast; consequently, N/P ratios were low (1.34–13.43) suggesting nitrogen limitation. Microphytoplankton abundance shifted from dinoflagellates dominance in autumn to dominance of diatoms during winter and of Euglenophyceae in summer. Loricate ciliates accounted for the largest proportion of the ciliates community while aloricate ciliates were relatively scarce during all seasons. Variability of ciliate community appeared not directly linked to environmental conditions, but significant positive relationships between abundance of loricate ciliates and microphytoplankton suggest that these ciliates may feed on microphytoplankton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microzooplankton community structure (species abundance, biomass, diversity) was investigated at a coastal marine station on the South-West Atlantic Ocean (34°23′S–53°45′W, Uruguay). This is a hydrographically complex site within the Subtropical Convergence zone of the SW Atlantic where knowledge of the microzooplankton is particularly scant. The main goal was to perform a first characterization of that community and evaluate its association to environmental drivers along an annual cycle. Oceanographic variables (temperature, salinity, irradiance, nutrients, chlorophyll-a) and ciliates (aloricate and loricate), and dinoflagellates were recorded monthly from July 2019 to June 2020. Over 100 microzooplankton taxa belonging to approximately 30 families and 40 genera were identified, including several subtropical and subantarctic species. Community structure followed wide transitions at the seasonal scale – particularly between summer and winter as subtropical taxa alternated with euryhaline taxa from colder subantarctic waters. The core environmental variables (temperature, salinity and dissolved inorganic nitrogen [DIN]) explained overall variance in microzooplankton community assembly. During summer, high temperatures (20.3, 16.3–22.4°C) and low nutrients (DIN: 3.5, 0.7–6.7 μM; PO4: 1.0, 0.8–1.5 μM) benefited the development of aloricate ciliates. A nutrient pulse in winter posed favourable stoichiometric conditions and the numerical abundance was dominated by dinoflagellates and loricate ciliates in the following months, while diversity remained highest (taxonomic richness: 36 [22–46]; Shannon–Wiener index: 2.5 [1.9–2.8]). Results suggested that the microzooplankton community at the study site is mainly structured by hydrographic variability linked to the seasonal replacement of offshore water masses that differed in thermohaline properties and nutrient levels, and local processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Roman villa building at Mud Hole, Boxford, West Berkshire, was examined by excavation in 2017 and 2019, and found to be of probable fourth-century date. One room of this otherwise seemingly modest villa contained a remarkable late fourth-century figured mosaic, which features a number of rare mythological subjects not previously encountered in Britain. Inscriptions suggest the name of the villa owner (Caepio) and his wife (Fortunata), with a possible Spanish connection. The mosaic's central panel is ornamented with the triumphs of Pelops and Bellerophon, the former known only from two other mosaics, in Syria and Spain. The borders also contain depictions of stories unknown on other mosaics, but all concerned with aspects of triumph. The central panel is upheld by walking telamones (giants), otherwise only known on a mosaic from Tusculum, and the mosaicists have attempted to use foreshortening to give the floor a trompe l'oeil effect. The rare subjects depicted on the floor all relate to either Poseidon, Pelops, Bellerophon or Atlas, and suggest high standards of mythological knowledge and longevity of classical culture amongst the villa-owning inhabitants of late fourth-century Berkshire. The mosaic shows a connection to earlier depictions of the Pelops story, but is highly original in its interpretation of them and follows a contemporary trend, not previously encountered in Britain, of its subjects breaking out from their ornamental borders. The mosaic is an altogether exceptional discovery and can be considered an important example of late Roman art so far found in Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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New occurrences of flask-shaped and envelope-bearing microfossils, including the predominantly Cambrian taxon Granomarginata, are reported from new localities, as well as from earlier in time (Ediacaran) than previously known. The stratigraphic range of Granomarginata extends into the Cambrian System, where it had a cosmopolitan distribution. This newly reported Ediacaran record includes areas from Norway (Baltica), Newfoundland (Avalonia) and Namibia (adjacent to the Kalahari Craton), and puts the oldest global occurrence of Granomarginata in the Indreelva Member (< 563 Ma) of the Stáhpogieddi Formation on the Digermulen Peninsula, Arctic Norway. Although Granomarginata is rare within the assemblage, these new occurrences together with previously reported occurrences from India and Poland, suggest a potentially widespread palaeogeographic distribution of Granomarginata through the middle–late Ediacaran interval. A new flask-shaped microfossil Lagoenaforma collaris gen. et sp. nov. is also reported in horizons containing Granomarginata from the Stáhpogieddi Formation in Norway and the Dabis Formation in Namibia, and flask-shaped fossils are also found in the Gibbett Hill Formation in Newfoundland. The Granomarginata–Lagoenaforma association, in addition to a low-diversity organic-walled microfossil assemblage, occurs in the strata postdating the Shuram carbon isotope excursion, and may eventually be of use in terminal Ediacaran biostratigraphy. These older occurrences of Granomarginata add to a growing record of body fossil taxa spanning the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five specimens of the priapulid Maotianshania cylindrica preserved inside their lined burrows were described from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang deposits near Kunming, southern China. The exceptional preservation suggests that this worm made a dwelling tube by lining within the uppermost sediment layers. This seems to be unique among priapulids in comparison with the Cambrian Selkirkia and Paraselkirkia, as well as some modern priapulid larvae and loriciferans. Taphonomic evidence indicates that the burrowand-worm specimens are not buried in situ but were moved by storm, tsunami, or turbidity generated currents that are thought to have brought sedimentary material intermittently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Aldhelm came to compose a collection of Latin riddles in the late seventh century, the riddle was already an established literary genre in Greek and Latin. Although Aldhelm's main source was the Latin Aenigmata of Symphosius, he introduced a number of innovations that transformed the genre. To account for these innovations, it has been suggested that Aldhelm also knew and was influenced by Greek riddles, which are otherwise unattested in Anglo-Saxon England. This article first reviews the evidence for Aldhelm's knowledge of Greek riddles, especially in his Aenigma 32 about a writing tablet. It then argues that the peculiar features of Aenigma 32 were not derived from Greek riddles but rather from the Hisperica famina, a work that Aldhelm very likely knew. His transformation of the genre therefore can be accounted for by his use of Latin sources available in seventh-century England without appealing to speculative Greek ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the phenomenon of so-called North African-style pottery made in early third-century York. The pottery, which was produced in significant quantities in late Ebor ware, is strikingly different from vessels in circulation in Roman Britain and the north-west provinces – so much so that the late Vivien Swan argued that it was 'made by Africans for the use of Africans'. The present study reassesses the evidence of ceramic genealogical influences, production waste, fabric supply, consumption patterns and contextual finds associations. The results shed new light on the manufacture and use of late Ebor ware by York's military community, qualifying claims made about the repertoire's links with novel culinary practices, cultural diversity and the unique historical circumstances of Severan York. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article will discuss the importance of the phalanx as a way to point out cultural links and cultural competition between Greeks and Romans. It will argue that there is a wider discourse in military literature on the phalanx as a cultural commodity, by both historians and authors of 'military manuals', each author building on the arguments of the other, and that the Taktika of Aelian and Arrian are a key link in understanding this discourse in the context of the second century AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the Romans in the early Republic adopted Celtic panoply, in the process abandoning Greek-style hoplite equipment. The first part details the Celtic aspects of the major pieces of Rome's new military equipment: La Tène sword, oval shield (scutum), javelin (pilum), mail armour and Montefortino helmet. The next section seeks possible military and cultural explanations for this transition, suggesting among other factors that the new kit may have been driven by increased recruitment from beyond the narrow hoplite class. The panoply eventually coalesced into a symbol of specifically Roman identity, especially as the Romans deployed distinctively equipped armies into Magna Graecia and the Hellenistic East. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Choanoflagellates and sponges feed by filtering microscopic particles from water currents created by the flagella of microvillar collar complexes situated on the cell bodies of the solitary or colonial choanoflagellates and on the choanocytes in sponges. The filtering mechanism has been known for more than a century, but only recently has the filtering process been studied in detail and also modelled, so that a detailed picture of the water currents has been obtained. In the solitary and most of the colonial choanoflagellates, the water flows freely around the cells, but in some forms, the cells are arranged in an open meshwork through which the water can be pumped. In the sponges, the choanocytes are located in choanocyte chambers (or choanocyte areas) with separate incurrent and excurrent canals/pores located in a larger body, which enables a fixed pattern of water currents through the collar complexes. Previous theories for the origin of sponges show evolutionary stages with choanocyte chambers without any opening or with only one opening, which makes separation of incurrent and excurrent impossible, and such stages must have been unable to feed. Therefore a new theory is proposed, which shows a continuous evolutionary lineage in which all stages are able to feed by means of the collar complexes., (© 2022 Cambridge Philosophical Society.)

The Roman fortress at Carpow, Perthshire, was excavated in 1961–62 and 1964–79. The gates of the fortress are the key to our understanding of its occupational history. The suggestion made here is that they were initially constructed in timber, at the same time as the associated turf rampart, but were soon replaced in stone specifically to support heavy dedication slabs set above them. A new arrangement of the surviving inscribed fragments at the East Gate is proposed, and new readings adopted, which confirm their traditional Severan dating. The Supplementary Material which includes detailed descriptions of the fragments and possible restorations is available at https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X19000138. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article challenges the conventional wisdom that enthusiastic state support is a prerequisite to building strong participatory institutions. Through an analysis of Colombia's planning councils, this study develops the concept of the societydriven participatory institution, in which civil society actors, rather than the state, undertake the core tasks involved in implementing participatory institutions. The article argues that while state neglect limits their involvement in decisionmaking, society-driven participatory institutions can still develop important policymaking roles in agenda setting and in monitoring and evaluating public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed intestinal contents of two late-glacial mastodons preserved in lake sediments in Ohio (Burning Tree mastodon) and Michigan (Heisler mastodon). A multi-proxy suite of macrofossils and microfossils provided unique insights into what these individuals had eaten just before they died and added significantly to knowledge of mastodon diets. We reconstructed the mastodons' habitats with similar multi-proxy analyses of the embedding lake sediments. Non-pollen palynomorphs, especially spores of coprophilous fungi differentiated intestinal and environmental samples. The Burning Tree mastodon gut sample originates from the small intestine. The Heisler mastodon sample is part of the large intestine to which humans had added clastic material to anchor parts of the carcass under water to cache the meat. Both carcasses had been dismembered, suggesting that the mastodons had been hunted or scavenged, in line with other contemporaneous mastodon finds and the timing of early human incursion into the Midwest. Both mastodons lived in mixed coniferous-deciduous late-glacial forests. They browsed tree leaves and twigs, especially Picea. They also ate sedge-swamp plants and drank the lake water. Our multi-proxy estimates for a spring/summer season of death contrast with autumn estimates derived from prior tusk analyses. We document the recovered fossil remains with photographs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article assesses the rhetorical uses of the main kinds of non-functional alliteration that are attested in Old English poetry, and gives complete lists of their incidence in all of the poems. Two main general types are isolated. Supererogatory alliteration does not depart from the known alliterative rules, and is deployed ornamentally with some freedom by at least some of the poets. Five sub-types are examined in turn: double alliteration in the a-verse, consonant cluster alliteration, alliteration which is continued across lines, patterned alternation of alliteration across lines, and enjambed alliteration (where the last stress of a line initiates the alliteration of the next). Secondly, licentious alliteration draws a line's final stress into alliteration in its own line. Four sub-types are considered: crossed, postponed, and transverse alliteration, and double alliteration in the b-verse. Whilst crossed alliteration appears quite freely, the primary alliteration of a line on the final stress is shown to be avoided almost completely. Most of the unusual uses of extra alliteration congregate in non-traditional or late poetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sympagic microzooplankton were studied during late winter in the northern Weddell Sea for diversity, abundance and carbon biomass. Ice cores were collected on an ice floe along three dive transects and seawater was taken from under the ice through the central dive hole from which all transects were connected. The areal and vertical microzooplankton distributions in the ice and water were compared. Abundance (max. 1300 ind. l-1) and biomass (max. 28.2 µg C l-1) were high in the ice cores and low in the water below the sea ice (max. 19 ind. l-1, 0.15 µg C l-1, respectively). The highest abundances were observed in the bottom 10 cm of the ice cores. The microzooplankton community within the sea ice comprised mainly aloricate ciliates, foraminifers and micrometazoans. In winter, microzooplankton represent an important fraction of the sympagic community in the Antarctic sea ice. They can potentially control microalgal production and contribute to particulate organic carbon concentrations when released into the water column during the ice melt in spring. Continued reduction of the sea ice may undermine the roles of microzooplankton, leading to a reduction or complete loss of diversity, abundance and biomass of these sympagic protists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kefir is fermented milk produced from grains that comprise a specific and complex mixture of bacteria and yeasts that live in a symbiotic association. The nutritional composition of kefir varies according to the milk composition, the microbiological composition of the grains used, the time/temperature of fermentation and storage conditions. Kefir originates from the Caucasus and Tibet. Recently, kefir has raised interest in the scientific community due to its numerous beneficial effects on health. Currently, several scientific studies have supported the health benefits of kefir, as reported historically as a probiotic drink with great potential in health promotion, as well as being a safe and inexpensive food, easily produced at home. Regular consumption of kefir has been associated with improved digestion and tolerance to lactose, antibacterial effect, hypocholesterolaemic effect, control of plasma glucose, anti-hypertensive effect, anti-inflammatory effect, antioxidant activity, anti-carcinogenic activity, anti-allergenic activity and healing effects. A large proportion of the studies that support these findings were conducted in vitro or in animal models. However, there is a need for systematic clinical trials to better understand the effects of regular use of kefir as part of a diet, and for their effect on preventing diseases. Thus, the present review focuses on the nutritional and microbiological composition of kefir and presents relevant findings associated with the beneficial effects of kefir on human and animal health. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The structure of the microbial food web was studied in six estuary areas along the eastern Adriatic coast during March, July and October 2012. Limitation by phosphorus, not nitrogen, was a common feature for all studied estuaries. Heterotrophic bacteria and autotrophic picoplankton (APP) (particularly picoeukaryotes and Synechococcus) can reach notable abundances and biomasses, suggesting potential importance of the picoplankton community in P-limited estuarine environments. The main features of the microbial community structure in these environments included: (1) higher heterotrophic biomass in comparison to autotrophic biomass within the picoplankton community; (2) general domination of picoeukaryotes within the APP community, and increase of absolute and relative biomass of prokaryotic autotrophs (Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus) in the total APP in P-limited conditions; (3) domination of Synechococcus over Prochlorococcus biomass in all studied conditions, and common spatial distribution of these two groups of cyanobacteria, which was mostly determined by concentration of phosphorus; (4) relatively high contribution (about 50%) of LNA bacteria in the total bacterial abundance; and (5) relatively high contribution (about 33%) of heterotrophic pico-flagellates in the total flagellate abundance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Exeter Book Riddles are anonymous, and the generally formulaic character of all Old English verse discourages attempts to establish unity or diversity of authorship for them; but correlations between the sequence of Riddles in the manuscript and the recurrence from poem to poem of aspects of form, content (including solutions), presentation and style sometimes suggest common authorship for particular runs of texts, or reveal shaping episodes in the collection's transmission. Investigation along these lines throws up clear differences between the two main blocks of Riddles (1–59 and 61–95), and evidence emerges that the composition of many (at least) of Riddles 61–95 was influenced by a reading of Riddles 1–59. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Battle of Clontarf was fought in A.D. 1014 by the forces of Brian Boru, over-king of Munster, and his allies against the forces of Viking Dublin, Leinster and their foreign allies. The saga ‘The War of the Irish and the Foreigners’ (Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib) was written about events leading up the conflict and gives a dramatic account of events on the battlefield. It became the archetype for many later legends about Clontarf. This paper explores stylistic contrast in the saga between the terse description of events in the early Viking Age and the florid account of the reign of Brian Boru. This contrast has led some readers to conclude that two separate narratives were conflated in Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib – the first being a summary of annals and the second being a saga. However this paper argues that there is a unity of purpose throughout the work and that its stylistic divisions were deliberately contrived to help glorify Brian’s victory at the Battle of Clontarf. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An oceanographic cruise conducted during June 2008 in the Gulf of Gabes revealed the existence of different water masses; the Modified Atlantic Waters (MAW) circulated in the upper 100 m in the offshore area, the Mixed Mediterranean Water (MMW) was confined to the inshore region and the Ionian Water (IW) was in deep offshore water. The thermal stratification was indicated by the vertical profiles of temperature generated from a coast-offshore section. Phosphorus limitation was induced by the thermal stratification as shown by the high N/P ratio. Heterotrophic and mixotrophic dinoflagellates were the major contributors to total phytoplankton biomass. Ciliates were less abundant and dominated by tintinnids. Small planktonic copepods (≤1.45 mm) contributed to 93.64% of total copepod abundance in the inshore area as a result of the high density of Oithona similis, Oithona nana, Clausocalanus furcatus and Euterpina acutifrons in this area characterized by warm and salty MMW. In fact, small copepods were significantly correlated to both temperature and salinity. Small copepod fraction prevailed also in the MAW contributing to 71.05% of total copepod abundance as a result of the dominance of O. nana and C. furcatus. Nonetheless, the large copepod Nannocalanus minor was more adapted to the deep IW where it contributed to 44.05% of total copepod abundance. Invasive species were encountered in the offshore region intruded by the Atlantic waters. The Atlantic copepods were scarce and less abundant reflecting the weakening of the Atlantic flow in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The superior learning of King Aldfrith of Northumbria (685–704) was acknowledged in both Anglo-Saxon and Gaelic contemporary sources by such renowned scholars as Bede of Wearmouth-Jarrow, Aldhelm of Malmesbury, Adomnán of Iona, Stephen of Ripon, and Alcuin of York. Both Aldhelm and Adomnán knew him personally, and texts composed by these two scholars and presented to Aldfrith help delineate the breadth of his educational background. He was educated among the Gaels, and their records described him as sapiens. By examining texts of other seventh-century Gaelic sapientes, and the comments of Aldhelm and Bede about Gaelic intellectual life and educational opportunities, we can expand our purview of the scope of his education. The nature of seventh-century schooling was peripatetic, and Aldfrith's dual heritage requires a broad search for locations. Many scholars accept Iona as the likely source of his learned background, but this essay will argue that, among other likely locations in Britain and Ireland, Bangor in Northern Ireland is best supported by surviving evidence. His benign reign is placed at the end of the first century of the Anglo-Saxon conversion, but his education benefited the kingdom of Northumbria through generations of Gaelic scholarship, as exemplified by peregrini such as Columba and Columbanus, and sapientes like Laidcenn mac Baíth, Cummíne of Clonfert, Ailerán of Clonard, Cenn Fáelad mac Ailello, and Banbán of Kildare. Aldfrith's rule ushered in a period of cultural florescence in Northumbria that saw the first hagiography and earliest illuminated manuscripts produced in Anglo-Saxon England and that culminated in the extensive library authored by Bede (d. 735). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]