Researchers stunned by a forgotten medieval book in Rome hiding the oldest English poem

Scholars uncovered a digitized 9th‑century manuscript in Rome that contains Caedmon’s Hymn — the oldest surviving English poem — tucked into the main Latin text of Bede’s history.
The find pushes evidence of English in major medieval manuscripts back by about three centuries, showing the language’s importance much earlier than thought.
The book wandered from an Italian abbey through private collectors to Rome and is now digitized and publicly available, so more surprises could be waiting.