The Easter Controversy of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Its Manuscripts, Texts, and Tables: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on the Science of Computus in Ireland and Europe, Galway, 18-20 July, 2008

380 Pages·2011·5.54 MB·English

by  Immo Warntjens

STUDIA TRADITIONIS THEOLOGIAE
Explorations in Early and Medieval Theology
Theology continually engages with its past: the people, experience,
Scriptures, liturgy, learning, and customs of Christians. The past is pre-
served, rejected, modified; but the legacy steadily evolves as Christians
are never indifferent to history. Even when engaging the future, theol-
ogy looks backwards: the next generation’s training includes inheriting a
canon of Scripture, doctrine, and controversy; while adapting the past is
central in every confrontation with a modernity.
This is the dynamic realm of tradition, and this series’s focus. Whether
examining people, texts, or periods, its volumes are concerned with how
the past evolved in the past, and the interplay of theology, culture, and
tradition.
STUDIA TRADITIONIS THEOLOGIAE
Explorations in Early and Medieval Theology
10
Series Editor: Thomas O’Loughlin,
Professor of Historical Theology
in the University of Nottingham
EDITORIAL BOARD
Director
Prof. Thomas O'Loughlin
Board Members
Dr Andreas Andreopoulos, Dr Augustine Casiday,
Dr Mary B. Cunningham, Dr Johannes Hoff, Dr Jonathan Wooding,
Dr Juliette Day, Dr Patricia Rumsey, Dr Paul Middleton,
Dr Simon Oliver, Prof. Andrew Prescott
THE EASTER CONTROVERSY
OF LATE ANTIQUITY AND
THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES
Its Manuscripts, Texts, and Tables
Proceedings of the 2nd International
Conference on the Science of
Computus in Ireland and Europe
Galway, 18–20 July, 2008
Edited by
Immo Warntjes
&
Dáibhí Ó Cróinín
H
F
Cover illustration: Tabula Peutingeriana © ÖNB Vienna: Cod. 324, Segm.
VIII + IX
© 2011, Brepols Publishers n.v., Turnhout, Belgium
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the publisher.
D/2011/0095/87
ISBN 978-2-503-53668-2 (printed version)
ISBN 978-2-503-53970-6 (online version)
Printed on acid-free paper
CONTENTS
abbreviations vii
foreword ix
leofranc holford-strevens, Church politics
and the computus: From Milan to the ends of the earth 1
alden mosshammer, The Computus of 455
and the Laterculus of Augustalis, with an appendix
on the fractional method of Agriustia 21
daniel mc carthy, On the arrival of the Latercus in Ireland 48
brigitte englisch, Ostern zwischen Arianismus
und Katholizismus: Zur Komputistik in den Reichen
der Westgoten im 6. und 7. Jh. 76
luciana cuppo, Felix of Squillace and the Dionysiac
computus I: Bobbio and Northern Italy
(MS Ambrosiana H 150 inf.) 110
masako ohashi, The Easter table of Victorius of Aquitaine
in Early Medieval England 137
david a.e. pelteret, The issue of apostolic authority
at the Synod of Whitby 150
immo warntjes, The Computus Cottonianus of AD 689:
A computistical formulary written for Willibrord’s
Frisian mission 173
james t. palmer, Computus after the Paschal controversy
of AD 740 213
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CONTENTS
werner bergmann, Dicuils Osterfestalgorithmus im
Liber de astronomia 242
david howlett, Computus in the works of Victorius
of Aquitaine and Abbo of Fleury and Ramsey 288
bibliography 325
indices 351
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ABBREVIATIONS
BBKL Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon.
CCCM Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Medievalis.
CCSL Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina.
CLA Codices Latini Antiquiores.
CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum.
GCS Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten
Jahrhunderte.
JE Jewish Encyclopedia.
LCL Loeb Classical Library.
LM Lexikon des Mittelalters.
MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica.
Auct. ant. Auctores antiquissimi.
Capit. Capitularia regum Francorum.
Conc. Concilia.
Epp. Epistolae (in Quart).
Epp. sel. Epistolae selectae.
LL nat. Germ. Leges nationum Germanicarum.
Poetae Poetae Latini medii aevi.
SS Scriptores (in Folio).
SS rer. Germ. Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum
separatim editi.
SS rer. Merov. Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum.
NPNF A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of
the Christian Church.
ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
PL Patrologia Latina.

ABBREVIATIONS
SC Sources Chrétiennes.
TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.
TDOT Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament.
TRE Theologische Realenzyklopädie.

FOREWORD
2010 saw the publication of the Proceedings of the 1st International Con-
ference on the Science of Computus in Ireland and Europe, which took
place in Galway, 14–16 July, 2006. That first collection, which had the
sub-title Computus and its cultural context in the Latin West, AD 300–
1200, brought together papers by ten of the leading scholars in the field,
on subjects ranging from the origins of the Annus Domini to the study of
computus in Ireland c.AD 1100. All those who participated in the Con-
ference were unanimous that a second, follow-up event should be organ-
ized, and that duly took place (also in Galway), 18–20 July, 2008. The
proceedings of that Conference are published in this current colume.
Just as present-day ‘hard science’ researchers base their work on the
inherited body of scientific knowledge from all over the world, so also
the scientific knowledge that medieval computistical scholars nurtured
and developed during the years c.AD 400 to c.AD 1100 was assimilated,
in the first place, from the wider Roman world of Late Antiquity, but
was brought by them to a far higher plane of achievement. Time-reck-
oning, calendars, and the many calculations required to compute the
date of Easter all involved the minutiae of mathematics (including the
original concept of ‘digital reckoning’) and astronomical observation in
a truly scientific fashion. We were therefore keenly aware of the educa-
tional value of a conference such as ours, which had appeal equally to
those interested in the history of science in Ireland and Europe, and in
the origins of present-day mathematical and astronomical ideas.
The topics covered in the 2nd Galway Conference ranged from the
general – but vitally important – vocabulary of computus (i.e., the tech-
nical terminology developed by computists to describe what they were

FOREWORD
doing) to the origins of the different systems used to calculate the date
of Easter in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In addition, there
was discussion also of the great debates about Easter, epitomized by
the famous Synod of Whitby in ad 664, and the role of well-known
individuals in the evolution of computistical knowledge (e.g., Anato-
lius of Laodicea, Ambrose of Milan, the African Augustalis, Sulpicius
Severus, Victorius of Aquitaine, Dionysius Exiguus, Cassiodorus, Wil-
librord, and the ninth-century Irish scholar-exile, Dicuil, as well as the
late tenth-century Abbo of Fleury).
The conference again attracted speakers and experts from Australia,
Belgium, Canada, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Scot-
land, and the USA, as well as a lively and interested native Galway audi-
ence. In fact, so great was the interest at the 2008 Conference that a deci-
sion was taken to hold a third such event – with Galway as the favourite
venue! – and the proceedings from that gathering will also appear in
print before long.
Just as we had the honour in 2006, at the 1st Galway Conference,
to launch the three volumes of Arno Borst’s Schriften zur Komputistik,
so also, at the 2nd Galway Conference we were honoured to be able to
launch two new publications in the field: Alden Mosshammer’s monu-
mental study, The Easter computus and the origins of the Christian Era
(Oxford 2008), and Dan Mc Carthy’s equally monumental The Irish
annals: their genesis, evolution and history (Dublin 2008). Both these
volumes represent milestones in the modern study of annals and compu-
tistics, and we were proud to be able to continue the Galway tradition of
welcoming such landmark publications into the world.
It remains only to thank all those whose encouragement and help
have made the three Galway Computus Conferences to date such out-
standing successes. These include the authorities in the National Univer-
sity of Ireland, Galway, which has hosted all three events and provided
generous funding for them, the Director and staff of the Moore Institute
for the Humanities, where the talks took place, the Royal Irish Acad-
emy, and a number of generous private benefactors. Friends and col-
leagues (some formerly associated with the Foundations of Irish Culture
research project based at NUI Galway) were particularly supportive: Dr
Eric Graff, Dr Mark Stansbury, Dr Pádraic Moran, and – last but cer-
tainly not least! – Dr Immo Warntjes. Maura Walsh (Ó Cróinín) once
again designed the Conference poster and programme, while Dr Eugene
Jordan helped greatly with website facilities and Daniel Frisch with the
electronic typesetting of the proceedings.
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