Decrees of the Seventh Ecumenical Council (A.D. 787) which was summoned to address the issue of iconoclasm. The council declared the production and exposure of art representing Christ and the saints to be an authentic ecclesiastical tradition in harmony with the spread of the gospel. Image above links to Tanner translation. ISBN recommendation: 0-87840-490-2. For a more detailed defense of holy art, see St. John of Damascus: Apologies Against Those Who Attack the Divine Images in Appendix I.
Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum) is a true classic of both early English history and ecclesiastical history. It provides a chronicle of the English people beginning with the invasion by Gaius Julius Caesar (c. 55 B.C.) and continuing through to A.D. 731. Image links to Medieval Sourcebook translation. ISBN recommendation: 0-14-044565-X
Decrees of the Sixth Ecumenical Council (A.D. 680-681) which proclaimed and confirmed, against the teaching of the Monothelites, two natural volitions and two natural principles of action in Christ, His human will following and subject to His Divine Will. Image above links to Tanner translation. ISBN recommendation: 0-87840-490-2
History of the Franks written by the sixteen successor of St Martin to the See of Tours. Begins from the Jewish/Christian creation tradition and continues through to A.D. 591. Image links to Thorpe translation. ISBN recommendation: 0140442952
Decrees of the Fifth Ecumenical Council (A.D. 553), summoned by the Emperor Flavius Justinian, which condemned (as Nestorian and heretical) teachings expounded by Theodore, bishop of Mopsuestia; Theodoret; and the so called letter of Ibas to Mari the Persian. Image above links to Tanner translation. ISBN recommendation: 0-87840-490-2
Near contemporary account of the life and miracles of Saint Benedict of Nursia (A.D. 480-547) by Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church. Image above links to the P. W., Gardner, & Saint Pachomius Orthodox Library translation. ISBN recommendation: 978-0-8132-1322-4
Decrees of the Fourth Ecumenical Council (A.D. 451) which affirmed along with Pope St. Leo I that Jesus Christ was both fully human and fully divine: having two natures and two wills perfectly united in his one person. Image above links to Tanner translation. ISBN recommendation: 0-87840-490-2
Autobiographical testimony of St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland (born c. 387, died c. 460 – 493). Image links to Royal Irish Academy translation. ISBN recommendation: 0-8091-0254-7
Decrees of the Third Ecumenical Council (A.D. 431) which explained and confirmed, against the teaching of Nestorius of Constantinople, that the Marian title Theotokos (Mother of GOD) is not in contradiction to the Catholic Faith. Image above links to Tanner translation. ISBN recommendation: 0-87840-490-2
History of the Catholic Church from A.D. 323 to 425. Completed around 443 A.D., it serves as an informative supplement to Socrates Scholasticus’ Ecclesiasical History. Image above links to Schaff and Wace edition. ISBN recommendation: 0-8028-8116-5