HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES - Julian Emperor
HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES - Julian Emperor HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES - Julian Emperor
CHRISTIAN BIOGRAPHY: FOUNDATION TO MATURITY 149of Ulster ca. 561; see also the Annals of the Four Masters ca. 555). 81He became a force in western Scotland, possibly converting Bridei,the king of the Picts. He performed the first Christian consecrationof a Celtic king, that of Aedán mac Gabráin of the Dál Riata. 82 Hefounded monastic dependencies in the Hebrides, in Scotland andIreland, and created from a windswept island on the edge of theworld a center with an international reputation whose brethren, likeColman, became Abbot of Lindisfarne. 83 His foundations left suchmasterpieces as the Book of Kells, the Book of Durrow and his ownCatach. 84Adomnán’s depiction of Columba borrows liberally from the livesof Anthony, Martin, Benedict, Germanus, Sylvester and Hilarion, toname the most important, and was massively influential in laterhagiographies. While the VC illustrates his asceticism, charisma, andhealing gifts—gifts he shared with these worthy predecessors—Adomnánstresses his role as a founder, very possibly reflecting Gregory’sdepiction of Benedict. Columba began the monastic settlement onIona and was responsible for the spread of its dependent houses andits international reputation. The VC reads like a literary palimpsestof these saintly predecessors. Like Athanasius’s Anthony, Columbaembodied an ascetic ideal, leaving his native land for a ‘desert’ island;like Jerome’s Hilarion, his ministry required frequent and arduoustravel; like Sulpicius’s Martin he was a miracle worker who evangelizednon-Christians, and, like Gregory’s Benedict, he founded agreat monastic tradition and nurtured his brethren as their first abbotto ensure the success of his dependencies throughout the British Isles.Lastly, like four of these saintly predecessors, Columba’s undertakingwas most original, according to Adomnán.It is unclear if copies of these lives were available on Iona in thelate sixth century. Certainly Gregory’s Dialogues reached Iona by theearly seventh century. Adomnán knew them and used them in constructingthe life of his founder and spiritual father. The VC specificallyshows the influence from these lives, from the Gospels and fromVirgil and Juvencus. 85 Since Adomnán believed that Columba shared81Bieler (1963), 65; O’Neill (1997), 96.82Macquarrie (1997), 76.83Macdonald (1984), 272.84O’Neill (1997), 96.85Brüning (1917), 241.
150 THOMAS J. HEFFERNANin the same grace given to his saintly predecessors, he used encomium,recursivity, anagnorisis, and mimesis throughout to make importantconnections between Columba and these earlier heroes of the Churchand, thus, to solidify the reputation of his monastery and founder.The VC has at least three specific goals: to present Columba asa great saint, equal to any of his predecessors; to deflect criticism ofColumba by the Northumbrians and others, concerning the Irishdate for the celebration of Easter; and, lastly, to refute the idea,gaining ground at the time, that Iona was a backward center, “barbarousand rustic” according to Bede. 86 Moreover, Adomnán, as theninth Abbot of Iona (ca. 679–704) and a member of the same familyas Columba, was obliged to protect the reputation of the monasteryand maintain the dignity of the family name, an important issuesince the practice in Irish monasteries was to appoint the abbot fromthe founding family. A monastery’s poor reputation would reflectbadly on the family and could damage the family’s political standing.Adomnán used the continental tradition of hagiography to illustrateto the civilized world that Iona was a community of greatlearning, second to none and blessed by God.Adomnán intended that those who read the VC recognize hisscholarship and Columba’s rightful connection to the existing traditionof Christian biography. 87 He makes these associations obviousfrom the outset. For example, the VC’s three books deliberately followthe three-fold structure of Gregory’s Dialogues. There are fourteenclear allusions to the Dialogues in the VC. Adomnán opens hislife with two prefaces, a calculated borrowing from Sulpicius Life ofMartin who, in turn, borrowed it from Evagrius’s translation ofAthanasius’s Life of Anthony. There are ten references in the VC toSulpicius’s Life of St. Martin, his Dialogues and Epistles. 88 The VC, againlike Sulpicius’s Life of St. Martin, exhibits the influence of hellenisticbiography. Columba’s life is presented in a three-fold manner, examiningdeeds ( praxeis), virtues (aretai), and relationships with others( politeia). Adomnán begins with a nod to Sulpicius in his adoptionof the classical captatio benevolentiae trope, taking ideas and sentences,sometimes verbatim, from Sulpicius. For example, Adomnán’s second86Picard (1984), 60.87Picard (1982), 170. See also Picard (1985), 69.88Brüning (1917), 244.
- Page 107 and 108: 98 MICHEL SOTand it has been listed
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- Page 123 and 124: 114 MICHEL SOTnumerous relics of ap
- Page 125 and 126: 116 THOMAS J. HEFFERNANin contrast,
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- Page 167 and 168: 158 ROLF SPRANDELepochs of the worl
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- Page 191 and 192: 182 NORBERT KERSKENformulated by Is
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150 THOMAS J. HEFFERNANin the same grace given to his saintly predecessors, he used encomium,recursivity, anagnorisis, and mimesis throughout to make importantconnections between Columba and these earlier heroes of the Churchand, thus, to solidify the reputation of his monastery and founder.The VC has at least three specific goals: to present Columba asa great saint, equal to any of his predecessors; to deflect criticism ofColumba by the Northumbrians and others, concerning the Irishdate for the celebration of Easter; and, lastly, to refute the idea,gaining ground at the time, that Iona was a backward center, “barbarousand rustic” according to Bede. 86 Moreover, Adomnán, as theninth Abbot of Iona (ca. 679–704) and a member of the same familyas Columba, was obliged to protect the reputation of the monasteryand maintain the dignity of the family name, an important issuesince the practice in Irish monasteries was to appoint the abbot fromthe founding family. A monastery’s poor reputation would reflectbadly on the family and could damage the family’s political standing.Adomnán used the continental tradition of hagiography to illustrateto the civilized world that Iona was a community of greatlearning, second to none and blessed by God.Adomnán intended that those who read the VC recognize hisscholarship and Columba’s rightful connection to the existing traditionof Christian biography. 87 He makes these associations obviousfrom the outset. For example, the VC’s three books deliberately followthe three-fold structure of Gregory’s Dialogues. There are fourteenclear allusions to the Dialogues in the VC. Adomnán opens hislife with two prefaces, a calculated borrowing from Sulpicius Life ofMartin who, in turn, borrowed it from Evagrius’s translation ofAthanasius’s Life of Anthony. There are ten references in the VC toSulpicius’s Life of St. Martin, his Dialogues and Epistles. 88 The VC, againlike Sulpicius’s Life of St. Martin, exhibits the influence of hellenisticbiography. Columba’s life is presented in a three-fold manner, examiningdeeds ( praxeis), virtues (aretai), and relationships with others( politeia). Adomnán begins with a nod to Sulpicius in his adoptionof the classical captatio benevolentiae trope, taking ideas and sentences,sometimes verbatim, from Sulpicius. For example, Adomnán’s second86Picard (1984), 60.87Picard (1982), 170. See also Picard (1985), 69.88Brüning (1917), 244.
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