Researchers in Ireland have discovered what is now believed to be the oldest surviving English poem, “Caedmon’s Hymn,” hidden within a medieval manuscript in a Roman library.

The text was found inside a 9th-century copy of the Venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, where the Old English poem appears within the main Latin text rather than as a marginal addition.

Scholars were astonished by the find, noting it pushes back the known history of written English literature by several centuries.

The manuscript itself has a complex history, moving through monasteries, private collections, and international owners before being acquired by Italy and stored largely unnoticed in Rome, CBS News has reported.

Researchers say the discovery highlights both the early importance of the English language and the value of reexamining long-studied historical texts.