in 674 ecgfrith had given benedict biscop, a northumbrian nobleman, fifty hides of land at the mouth of the river wear. this was to build the first of two great monasteries. in 682 king ecgfrith gave another forty hides of land to benedict for a second monastery. it was to be at the mouth of the river trent at jarrow. the two monasteries were administered as a single community and came to be called monkwearmouth-jarrow abbeys. they became a center of learning and were where bede wrote most of his works. ecgfrith was at the dedication of jarrow abbey in 685 about a month before his death.