Columbanus

225 Pages·2015·1.565 MB·English

by  Saint Columban;Richards, Carol

Contents
APrayerfromStColumbanus iv
1 Columbanus:FatheroftheEuropeanUnion 1
2 EarlyLife 4
3 TheEgyptianInfluence 19
4 ChristianDruidism 40
5 WhydidColumbanusleaveIreland? 54
6 WhendidColumbanusleaveIreland? 63
7 TheSonsofLothar 83
8 TheNeroandHerodofOurTimes 91
9 WhoMurderedKingChilperic? 102
10 Backwoodsmen 113
11 RuleandPenitential 129
12 ThePerfectDiplomat 139
13 Shipwreck 156
14 TheConstantSea 172
15 ANewStart 186
16 TheRoadtoRome 193
17 TheFameofMortalLife 205
References 213
Index 215
Columbanus
Poet,Preacher,Statesman,Saint
CarolRichards
imprint-academic.com
Copyright©CarolRichards,2010
Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted.
Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedinanyform
withoutpermission,exceptforthequotationofbriefpassages
incriticismanddiscussion.
PublishedintheUKby
ImprintAcademic,POBox200,ExeterEX55YX,UK
PublishedintheUSAby
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2015 digital version by Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
PassagesfromCardinalTómasO’Fiaich,ColumbanusinhisOwn
Words,VeritasPublications,Dublin,1974/1990;usedwithper-
mission.
CopyrightmaterialfromTheHistoryoftheFranksbyGregoryof
Tours,translatedwithandIntroductionbyLewisThorpe,
PenguinClassics,1974;usedwithpermission.
QuotationsfromEcclesiasticalHistoryoftheEnglishPeople,edited
byJudithMcClure&RogerCollins,OUP,1999;bypermissionof
OxfordUniversityPress.
QuotationsfromLostScriptures,byBartD.Ehrman,OUP,2003;
bypermissionofOxfordUniversityPress,Inc.
APrayerfromStColumbanus
Grant,OLord,thatthelightofyourlove
mayneverbedimmedwithinus.
Letitshineforthfromourwarmedheartstocomfortothers
intimesofpeaceandinseasonsofadversity
andinbrightbeamsofyourgoodnessandlove
maywecomeatlasttothevisionofyourglory
throughChristourLord.Amen.
Chapter 1
Columbanus
Father of the European Union
… to live without offence, each retaining what he has
receivedand“remainingwhereinhehasbeencalled”.
Columbanus,
LettertothenewlyelectedPope(604or607AD)1
InseekingtoexplaintheconceptofmodernEuropeanunity
one of its founding fathers, Monsieur Robert Schuman,
described a sixth century wandering Irish monk as ”the
patron saint of those who seek to construct a united
Europe”(Lehane,2005).
He was speaking of the saint known as Columbanus
—although he referred to himself as Columba—which in
Latinmeans“TheDove”—theLatinsuffixwasaddedlater
todistinguish himfromhisoldercontemporaryColumba
ofIona,whomforthesakeofconveniencewewillhereafter
refer to by his other name Columcille (”The Dove of the
Church”).
The addition of the suffix to the name of Columba the
Youngerasheisalsosometimesknownindicatesthatacen-
turyaftertheirdeathstheirliveshadalreadybecomesome-
[1] “Thisiswhattheholyfathers,namelyPolycarpandPopeAnicetus
taught—to live without offence to the faith, nay persevering in
perfectcharity—eachretainingwhathehasreceivedand‘remaining
whereinhehasbeencalled’”(O’Fiaich,1990,p.77).Cf.StPaul:“Let
every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called”
(1Corinthians7.20).
2 Columbanus
what confused.2 It is instructive that both men chose the
same monastic name because the chances are they left
Irelandunderverysimilarcircumstancestoredeemthem-
selvesinmissionaryactivities.
However,whatwedoknowforcertainis,thatColumcille
searchedforhisredemptioninthewesternislesofScotland
andthatsignificantlyhedidnotgoveryfarfromIrelandor
exilehimselfforlife.Columbanus,ontheotherhand,went
intopermanentexileinperegrinatione. Inthecontextofthe
lifeofasaintthisisusually translatedas“onpilgrimage”
but peregrinaggio3—the Italian form of the word—is also
translated as “travels and adventures” a description that
might be better applied to the story of Columbanus’ life,
althoughthespiritualelementwasneverfarfromthesur-
face,andonewhichmightbeofmoreusetouswhenexam-
iningthemotivesbehindhismission.
His travels and adventures, in the course of a long life,
tookhimfromBrittanyinthewestrightuptheRhinevalley
acrosstheSwissAlpsintoLombardy—whatisnownorth-
ernItaly—finallycomingtorestatBobbiowhere,aftercre-
atinghislastfoundation,hediedattheageofseventy,for
thetimeaveryoldman.
Hewasthereforetheepitomeofthe“wanderingmonks”
whocarriedacrossEuropetheirbrandofCelticChristianity
which,evenmoreinterestingly,camebackbymoreorless
the same route many centuries later in the form of the
ProtestantReformation.
For us, Columbanus holds the secret to the intellectual
and spiritual schism that lies at the heart of the Europe
M. Schuman4 was so keen to unite. For many centuries
attemptshavebeenmadetocreateaunitedEurope. Many
[2] TofurtherconfusemattersanotherColumbatheYoungerwasalso
amongthegroupthataccompaniedColumbanus.
[3] Cfthe1557VenetianbookPeregrinaggioditregiovanifiglivolidelRedi
Serendippo byChristoferoArmenotranslatedas“TheTravels and
Adventures of Three Princes of Serendip” (Merton & Barber,
Princeton,2004).
[4] RobertSchuman(1886–1963),aFrenchstatesmanandadrivingforce
behindtheEuropeanCoalandSteelCommunitythatdevelopedinto
theEuropeanUnion.
Columbanus 3
times the attempt, however successful for a period, has
ultimatelyfailed.Itssuccessorfailure,eveninthetwenty-
firstcentury,mayequallybelaidatthedoorofthistemper-
amentally volatile itinerant Irishman—typically Irish—a
handsome man with a poetic temperament, volcanic
temperandamindrigorousinpursuitofintellectualsatis-
faction.
Columbanus, as father of the Protestant Reformation,
may be said to have destroyed the European unity of the
MiddleAges. It’sironicthatheisnowsaidtobetheinspira-
tion for its unity in its modern form. However, in a sense
both claims are perfectly justified as he continues to be
revered as a saint by both Protestants and Catholics in
roughlyequalmeasuresandIwilltryandunravelthispara-
doxbytellinghisextraordinaryandfascinatingstory.
Chapter 2
Early Life
Spurnnowthesweetdeceitsoflifebelow
SoftLustcanuprightvirtueoverthrow…
Columbanus,ToHunaldus1
In the first place we should examine what is meant by a
saint.Notallsaintsaremartyrswhodiedfortheirfaith.
A saint in the early days of Christianity was simply
someonewhobelongedtothechurch—hencethe“Ibelievein
the communion of saints” in the Apostles’ Creed and the
Puritan use of the term to indicate anyone who belonged to
theirsect.
By the early middle ages the termsaint had come to be
attachedtoanyonewhohadspentalifetimeintheserviceof
Christianity,whetherparticularlysaintlybymodernstan-
dardsornot.Intheearlyliveswefindsaintsindulgingin
somevery unsaintly activities. TheextenttowhichChris-
tianitycametodominatetheBritishIslesisevidencedbythe
largenumberofplace-nameswhicharededicatedtosaints.
ItbecametheLandofSaints.
Someoftheseearlysaintscanwithcertaintybeidentified
aslocalpagandeities,spiritsofnature,whoweretranslated
intoChristiansaintstolegitimisetheircontinuedworship,a
practicethatinitselfisconsistentwiththetheologyofChris-
tian Druidism,2 that brand of Christianity peculiar to the
British Isles and Northern Europe and quite distinct from
RomanCatholicism.
Sincetherewasofficiallyonlyonewesternchurchbefore
theProtestantReformation,attheoutsetbothversionswere
[1] O’Fiaich,1990,p.97.
[2] SeeChapter4.
Early Life 5
essentiallycatholic.Inreality,however,therewerealways
tworeligions—twospiritualtempers—andtheschismthat
tookplace,althoughalongtimecomingwasprettymuch
inevitable.
StColumbanuswasamongthosecalledasaintbecause
he spent his life dedicated to the pursuit of intellectual
excellenceintheserviceofthechurch,notbecausehewas
particularly“saintly”bynature.
Ofhisearlylifenotmuchisknown.Hewasbornaround
theyear543ADsomewhereontheCarlow-Wexfordborder
inthesouthofIreland(modernEire).3
Thesocietyhewasbornintowasbasedonaruralecon-
omy,aworldofshepherds,cattle-herders,and,asweknow
fromthetaleoftheBrownBullofCooley,cattle-rustlers.
It was essentially a feudal society ruled by a clutch of
pettykings,manyprobablynotmuchmorethanprovincial
chieftains,answerabletoanoverlord,theArdRi—theHigh
KingofIreland—whoheldhiscourtatTara.
Below him came a warrior-caste who in turn acted as
overlordstotheirtenantsandserfs.
Somewhere in the middle came a professional class of
brehonswhowerelawyersandadministrators,doctorsand
mostimportantlypoets.
Thepoetwasnotjustanentertainer,althoughhewasthat
too,butalsoamusician,andmusicwashighlyprizedinthe
classical world as a form of higher mathematics. He was
alsoagenealogist—averyimportantroleinasocietywhere
everything is based on kinship—and an historian. A poet
alsohadacertainlicencetocriticisehisbettersandanotable
aspectofhisworkincludedthekindofcomicverseandsat-
irethatlaterfounditsapogeeinEnglandinChaucer.
Thevalueplacedonthepoeticartsmaybejudgedfrom
thefactthatpoetrywasalsoregardedasaroyal,althoughat
[3] Thereissomedisagreementregardinghisdateandplaceofbirthas
follows:Lehane,2005,p.148,543AD;Cahill,1995,p.188,circa540AD
inLeinster;O’Fiaich,1990,p.13,543ADonthebordersofCarlow
andWexford;Durant,1950,p.532,543ADinLeinster;Dictionaryof
IrishBiography,?543AD;OxfordCompaniontoIrishLiterature,?543AD
borninLeinster;Woods,2000,“Columbanwasbornabout543in
LeinstersomewhereneartheCarlow-Wexfordborder”.