CHAPTER III. FROM THE DEATH OF COLUMBKILLE TO THE DEATH OF ADAMNAN, A.D. 597 TO A.D. 704. IRISH MISSIONARIES, IRISH SEMINARIES, AND IRISH CIVILIZATION. IN the seventh century Ireland was known by the designation of "The Isle of Saints." It was largely indebted for this honourable title to its monastic establishments-not a few of which were under the management of abbots eminent for piety and literature. The number of ascetics reported as connected with these seminaries is indeed amazing;1 and we could not be charged with unreasonable scepticism were we to suspect exaggeration. Even prior to this period three thousand monks 2 are said to have been under the care of Comghall of Bangor-a teacher who had acquired wide celebrity. We must, however, recollect that these institutes were then almost the only schools for the education of the rising generation; that the early monks were not bound by irrevocable vows; 3 that multitudes, who cared little for 1 Some high authorities have asserted that in the seventh century the Irish monks were equal in number to all the other inhabitants of the kingdom. See Archdall's Monasticon Hibernicum, Introduction, p. xi. 2 * Lanigan, ii. 63, 67. We must bear in mind that, according to the second Life quoted by Lanigan, all these monks were not congregated at Bangor-the head establishment. The 3,000 comprehended all under Comghall's jurisdiction. It is said that Finnian of Clonard had also 3,000 disciples, Lanigan, ii. 21. See also Reeves's Adamnan, 336. 3 Waddington's History of the Church, p. 370, London 1833; Gieseler's Text-book of Eccl. Hist. i. 274, Philadelphia, 1836. The Senchus Mor speaks of "a young nun who has not renounced her veil," vol. ii. p. 405, Dublin, learning, were drawn to the monasteries by the attractions of novelty or the love of excitement; and that, in a country covered with timber, a rude people, accustomed to provide themselves with extemporaneous dwellings in the woods, could have found small difficulty in obtaining anywhere the usual amount of accommodation. Though Ireland was disturbed by domestic feuds, it was, as compared with other lands, in the enjoyment of quiet and prosperity. When South Britain was conquered by the Saxons, and when the West of Europe was invaded and desolated by the Northern Barbarians, it remained free from foreign aggression. Thus it was that, for the greater part of the seventh century, the island was regarded as the abode of peace, and the asylum of literature. Students flocked to its shores from the Continent, as well as from England; and its reputation rapidly extended over the whole of Western Christendom. On other grounds, Ireland, in the seventh century, might have claimed the designation of "The Isle of Saints," for its missionaries laboured with singular success in France,2 Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, as well as in Great Britain. Among the most distinguished of these heralds of the cross was Columbanus, the disciple of Comghall, abbot of Bangor. Columbanus was a native of Leinster; he is said to have been of respectable parentage; and, as he grew up, he commended himself to general favour by a pleasing address and a handsome person. He had a great thirst for information; he applied himself with much ardour to the study of rhetoric, geometry, and other branches of education then taught in Ireland; he was an excellent Latin scholar; he had a know 1 It would appear that the young scholars lived in huts erected extempore in the immediate neighbourhood of the church. It is said that they were wont to build a village, or villages, of huts as near to the school-which was kept in the churchas they conveniently could. See the account of Columbkille's hut in O'Curry's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish by Sullivan, vol. ii. 80, 81, London 1873. 2 Ebrard gives the name of 48 Culdee monasteries established in France. Zeitschrift für historische Theologie, 1863, p. 526. His life has been written by Jonas, a monk of the monastery of Bobbio, who flourished in the seventh century, not long after the time of Columbanus. It may be found in Migne's Patr. Cursus, tom. lxxxvii. See also Lanigan, ii. 263. "ISLE OF SAINTS" ColumBANUS ledge of Greek 1-an attainment then rare in the Western Church; and he was not ignorant of at least the elements of Hebrew. But his great delight was in the study of the Holy Scriptures. About A.D. 589, when somewhat advanced in life, he was seized with an irrepressible desire to preach the gospel to the heathen; and, setting out, like Columbkille, with twelve companions, he at first passed over into South Britain. Obtaining, as it would appear, no encouragement in that country, he almost immediately removed to France, and settled in Burgundy. At a place called Luxovium-even then famous for its hot springs-he erected a monastery which soon became famous; and two other institutions of the same character, and in the same district, which were occupied by his disciples, remained subject to his jurisdiction." The discipline of the establishments over which Columbanus presided was exceedingly austere. No one was at liberty to question the authority of the superior; and the will of the abbot was to be the rule of the monastery. The food of the inmates-consisting of herbs, meal and water, and bread of the coarsest description-was barely sufficient to sustain life. Very little conversation was allowed. Whipping was the grand ordinance employed for the correction of the brotherhood. He who neglected to repeat the Amen, when the blessing was asked, was to receive six lashes; and he who did not keep silence at meals was to be visited with the same 1 In his Ad Fedolium Epistola, he exhibits his acquaintance with the Greek poets. See Patr. Cursus, tom. lxxx. 292. It has been very properly observed that his classical knowledge must have been acquired before he left Ireland. 2 In his Epistle to Boniface IV. Columbanus gives evidence of some knowledge of Hebrew when referring to his own name. See Migne, Patr. Curs., tom. 1xxx. 274. 3 At this time he must have been nearly fifty years of age. The year 559, the date often assigned for his birth—is obviously erroneous. He died A.D. 615; and, some time before, he had attained the age of 72. See Lanigan, ii. 296–7. According to the present text of his biographer Jonas he was only twenty when he left Ireland; but this must be a mistake-perhaps for fifty. 4 Now Luxeuil. Ibique aquae calidae cultu eximio constructae habebantur. Vita S. Columbani, abbatis auctore Iona, § 17. Patr. Cursus. lxxxvii, 1022. 5 See Lanigan, ii. 267. 6 "Regula Coenobialis," caput ii. Patr. Curs., Ixxx, 210. IN BURGUNDY amount of chastisement.1 Sometimes the discipline of fasting was substituted for the discipline of flagellation. "If any brother be disobedient, let him," said the Rule of Columbanus, "be two days on one biscuit and water. If any one be contradictory, or breaks a command or regulation, let him be two days on one biscuit."2 Certain psalms and prayers were to be repeated at appointed times; and the length of the exercises varied according to the length of the nights at different seasons. Columbanus and his companions had not long taken up their abode in Burgundy when they won the favour of almost the whole surrounding population. Their benevolence commended them to the poor; their learning secured the regard of the higher classes. Their popularity eventually awakened the jealousy of the native clergy; and their nonconformity, particularly in the mode of keeping Easter, exposed them to much obloquy. At this time Gregory I-known as Gregory the Great-filled the papal chair; and Columbanus deemed it prudent to apply by letter to him for advice—not because he was prepared to submit implicitly to his decision, whatever it might be but because he expected salutary counsel from a bishop of such reputed sanctity and wisdom. In this letter he shows that he is well acquainted with the history of the controversy; and he does not hesitate to express his disapproval of the conduct of Gregory's predecessor, Victor, who, four hundred years before, had disturbed the Church by his dictatorial bearing. He boldly asks the Pope his opinion of such bishops as ordained for money; and naively intimates that those who scruple to communicate with him, because he differed from them in a matter comparatively trivial, overlooked questions of the gravest importance. He does not appear to have received any reply to this outspoken communication; and when the French clergy met in Synod to consider how they were to act, he addressed to them an epistle in which he strenuously contends for the mode of 3 This letter is addressed: "Dominis sanctis, et in Christo patribus, vel fratrihus, episcopis, presbyteris, caeterisque sanctae ecclesiae ordinibus." SUCCESS observance practised in the Irish Church. "Let us," said he, New trials awaited Columbanus. Clovis, known as the founder of the French monarchy, and the eldest son of the Catholic Church, was a Christian only in name; his kingdom was divided after his death; and his descendants were noted for their ungodliness. Perjury, polygamy, adultery, and murder continually stain the annals of these crowned personages. No wonder that the spirit of Columbanus was stirred within him when he visited the Court of Thierry, or Theodoric, who reigned over the Burgundians. The intrepid abbot, like 1 This letter appears to have been written about A.D. 601. 2 Patr. Cursus. tom. lxxx. 266–7. 3 In Migne's Patr. Curs., (lxxx. 268), this letter is addressed to Boniface IV; but the title of the Pope is not given in the superscription itself, and it was probably addressed to the immediate successor of Gregory-Sabinian-who became Pope A. D. 604, and died in the beginning of A.D. 606. |