Hee. Wikipedia tells me Bede was a saint, although I was not previously aware of this either (I knew he was venerable, but that doesn't seem like it does or should necessarily imply sainthood...)

I think you would like it! It sounds like your mother would definitely like it. I think it's quite a bit more dense than Stewart's Merlin trilogy (which I remember being a fairly quick read), but yes, politics reminiscent of that, to the best of my memory. I should go back and read it again... I've forgotten quite a bit of those books.