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Title: The Early Irish Monastic Schools - A study of Ireland's contribution to early medieval culture
Author: Graham, Hugh
Language: English
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Transcriber’s Notes:
A number of obvious typos have been corrected. Except for these
corrections, the spelling and punctuation of the book have not been
changed.
Underscores are used for italic markup; the three words that end this
sentence _are in italics_.
In the source book there are 539 footnotes numbered by chapter, so
that footnote number 1 is the first footnote in each chapter. In this
e-book the footnotes and their markers have been renumbered from 1 to
539 thus giving each footnote a unique marker that consists of a
number enclosed by square brackets. All the footnotes have been moved
to the end of the book where each footnote is headed by its marker.
THE EARLY IRISH
MONASTIC SCHOOLS
THE
EARLY IRISH
MONASTIC SCHOOLS
A STUDY OF IRELAND’S CONTRIBUTION
TO EARLY MEDIEVAL CULTURE
BY
HUGH GRAHAM, M.A.
_Professor of Education, College of St. Teresa,
Winona, Minnesota, U.S.A._
[Illustration]
DUBLIN
THE TALBOT PRESS LIMITED
85 TALBOT STREET
1923
PRINTED IN IRELAND
AT
THE TALBOT PRESS
DUBLIN
TO
IRISH TEACHERS
WHO,
TRUE TO THE TRADITIONS OF THEIR RACE,
SERVE HUMANITY IN MANY LANDS
BY LIVES CONSECRATED TO
RELIGION AND LEARNING
PREFACE
The aim of the present study is to give within reasonable limits a
critical and fairly complete account of the Irish Monastic Schools
which flourished prior to 900 A.D.
The period dealt with covering as it does the sixth, seventh, eighth,
and ninth centuries is one of the most obscure in the history of
education. In accordance with established custom writers are wont to
bewail the decline of learning consequent on the Fall of the Roman
Empire in the fifth century and then they pass on rapidly to the
Renaissance in the fifteenth; a few, however, pause to glance at the
Carolingian Revival of learning in the ninth century and to remark
parenthetically that learning was preserved in Ireland and a few
isolated places on the fringe of Roman Civilization, but with some
notable exceptions writers as a class have failed to realise that
as in other departments of human knowledge there is a continuity in
the history of education. The great connecting link between the
Renaissance and the Graeco-Roman culture which flourished in Western
Europe during the early centuries of our era is the Irish Monastic
Schools. Modern research clearly points to the conclusion that the
history of these schools is in reality a chapter in the history of
education in Western Europe. While we do not claim that the Irish
schools were the sole factor in the preservation and transmission of
letters during the Early Middle Ages we are certainly convinced that
they played a leading part. The cumulative evidence which we submit
amply warrants this conclusion.
The many tributes of a complimentary nature which scholars have
bestowed on the work of the Irish Monastic Schools would indicate that
the importance of their influence has not been overlooked; yet it seems
to us that their real aim and character have not always been clearly
understood. In a certain respect these schools were unique: they were
neither purely classical schools of the type that flourished in Gaul
in the fourth century, nor were they mere theological seminaries such
as existed in certain parts of Britain and the Continent that lay
outside the Irish sphere of influence. The peculiar character of the
Irish monastic school would appear to be the result of the harmonious
combination of three distinct elements: 1, Native Irish Culture; 2,
Christianity; 3, Graeco-Roman Culture. We believe that this conception
of Irish monastic culture furnishes the key to a proper understanding
of the real significance of Irish scholarship during the Early Middle
Ages. No study of Irish monastic schools which neglected to give
due consideration to the potent influence of each of these three
constituents would be adequate even if it were intelligible. The force
of this conviction which is the result of a prolonged and critical
examination of all the relevant material to hand has determined the
form which the present study has assumed.
The first and second chapters are not merely introductory: they
are fundamental. In the first chapter we discuss the question of a
pre-Christian and pre-classical native Irish culture. The second
chapter is devoted to an examination of that difficult problem, the
beginnings of classical learning in Ireland—a matter on which modern
research has thrown considerable light. As the school was so intimately
connected with the monastic system it was necessary to devote a special
chapter to an examination of the more salient features of Irish
monasticism which differed in many ways from Continental monasticism.
Here we are impressed with the fact that the native Irish ideals
blended with those of Christianity so as to give the Irish monastic
life a peculiarly national character which was ever reflected in the
educational aims and ideals of the Irish monk even when his missionary
zeal carried him far from the environment of his native land. In the
fourth chapter the attempt is made to determine the precise relation
which existed between the Irish monastic school and the general
educational situation not only in Ireland and Britain but in Western
Europe from 650 to 900 A.D. Those three great centres of intellectual
life in every Irish monastery—the school room, the scriptorium and the
library—are treated in the fifth chapter. The particular function of
each and its relation to the others is described while their combined
influence, whether of a contemporary or permanent nature, has been
noticed. The all-important question of the nature of the curriculum
has been critically examined in the sixth chapter. Finally, a chapter
is given to a discussion of the scope of Irish scholarship and its
significance in Mediæval Culture.
While a work of this nature can scarcely claim to be original and
the acknowledgments are too numerous to recount, yet the grouping
is new and not unfrequently facts have been presented from a new
angle. Source material has been consulted where possible. The
results of previous investigation have been freely used, but even as
often happened when we have arrived at conclusions which have been
anticipated by other writers, we have maintained quite as critical
and independent an attitude as when we ventured to challenge certain
popular opinions and to make such generalizations as the result of our
own study seemed to warrant. In some instances, however, this study has
carried us into fields of inquiry where we have no credentials, but in
these cases as in every other where we have used secondary authorities
acknowledgment is always made in the foot-notes.
In various ways we have endeavoured to condense a good deal of
information into a limited space. For example, to avoid repetition
we give frequent cross references to important topics dealt with
in different parts of this study. Again, instead of attempting the
bewildering and impossible task of giving an account of individual
schools we have given a list of the more important ones and merely
referred to particular schools as occasion demanded in order to
illustrate certain points of primary importance. For similar reasons
all attempts at biographical accounts of Irish scholars have been
studiously avoided. Such references as have occasionally been made
were necessary in carrying out our general plan which was to deal with
the Irish monastic school as an educational institution. Of course it
would have served no useful purpose to ignore completely those men
whose acknowledged scholarship was the best testimony of the character
of the instruction available in the schools in which they themselves
studied and taught.
A word might be said with reference to the proportion of space occupied
by the different topics. The plan invariably followed has been to give
a minimum of space to any topic which is treated fairly fully elsewhere
in some accessible work. On the other hand no topic which appeared
to be an integral part of the general plan has been omitted and such
topics as have been inadequately treated elsewhere have here received
fuller consideration.
While quite conscious of the limitations of our treatment, it is hoped
that by pointing out many supplementary sources of information we have
done something to smooth the path of other investigators who may wish
to explore those portions of the same field which lay outside the scope
of our present inquiry.
The author wishes to express his sincere thanks to the following:
to Dr. Fletcher H. Swift, Professor of the History of Education in
the University of Minnesota, for his sympathetic interest in the
subject and for his advice and guidance; to Rev. Laurence P. Murray,
M.R.I.A., Principal of St. Brigid’s Irish College, Omeath, Co. Louth,
for the use of his excellent Irish library and for helpful suggestions
and criticisms of the earlier chapters; to Rev. Dr. Peter Guilday,
Professor of History in the Catholic University of Washington, D.C.,
for reading the MS. and for his advice and encouragement; to Mr.
Patrick O’Daly of the Talbot Press for seeing the work through the
press and for painstaking proof-reading; and finally to the publishers
for turning out the work in an attractive and scholarly form.
COLLEGE OF ST. TERESA,
WINONA, MINNESOTA, U.S.A.,
_Lá Fhéile Pádraig,
1923._
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I.—CIVILIZATION AND LEARNING IN
IRELAND IN PAGAN TIMES 1
„ II.—THE BEGINNINGS OF CLASSICAL
LEARNING 15
„ III.—IRISH MONASTICISM 30
„ IV.—THE RELATION OF THE IRISH
MONASTIC SCHOOLS TO THE
GENERAL EDUCATIONAL SITUATION
(550–900 A.D.) 71
„ V.—CENTRES OF INTELLECTUAL LIFE
IN IRISH MONASTERIES 93
„ VI.—COURSE OF STUDIES 119
„ VII.—SCOPE AND INFLUENCE OF IRISH
SCHOLARSHIP 171
BIBLIOGRAPHY:—(a) SOURCES 195
(b) SECONDARY AUTHORITIES 198
“The ages which deserve an exact enquiry are those times (for such
there were) when Ireland was the School of the West, the quiet
habitation of sanctity and literature.”
—Extract from a letter written by Dr. Samuel Johnson
(1709–1780) to Charles O’Connor (1710–1791), published in
Edward O’Reilly’s _Irish Writers_, pp. i., ii. Dublin, 1770.
“Le peuple monastique des temps barbares, le peuple missionare, et
destiné à apporter la lumière de la foi et de la science dans les
ténèbres croissantes de l’Occident, c’est le peuple Irlandais dont on
connait mieux les malheurs que les services et dont on n’a pas assez
étudié l’étonnante vocation.”
—Ozanam, Frederic. _La Civilisation Chrétienne chez les
Francs_, Ch. 4.
Roddet in cach cill caid
Etir tir is tuinnd is traig
Foglaim ecnai crabud De
Lubair cretra commairge.
—From a poem attributed to Flann Fine, the Irish name of
Aldfrith, King of Northumbria (d. 704 A.D.), who studied in
Ireland.
Text in _Eriu_, viii., p. 67. Translation, p. 71.
[Transcriber’s note.
This stanza is written in Old Irish, a language that can be read today
by only a small number of scholars. The following translation, which is
not in the source book, was made by Paul Walsh who published the entire
poem in _Eriu_.
There were yielded in every holy church,
on land and water and beach,
learning of wisdom, piety to God,
ecclesiastical duty, relics, and protection.]
[Transcriber’s note.
In the source book the following stanza is printed in an older Irish
orthography and typeface, no longer in common use. Here it is printed
using modern Irish orthography.]
Tuilleadh Feasa ar Éirinn óigh
Do chruinnigheasa ó scoith-seanóir;
Beag mo stuaim, gidh mór mo ghrádh
Ar an oileán uasal, Eire áin.
An t-Ughdar.
THE EARLY IRISH MONASTIC SCHOOLS
CHAPTER I
CIVILIZATION AND LEARNING IN IRELAND IN PAGAN TIMES
The precise state of civilization and learning in Ireland in
pre-Christian times is difficult to determine owing to the fact that
there is no native contemporary evidence of a documentary nature, while
the references in the works of foreign writers are few in number and
generally vague in character. Fortunately, however, there are a few
sources of information which have been made available by the laborious
and scholarly researches of generations of investigators. The principal
of these sources are:
1. Archæology.
2. The so-called Brehon Laws.
3. Early Irish Literature.
4. Foreign Testimony.
5. Ogam Inscriptions.
A brief survey of the evidence supplied by each of these may be helpful
in determining the nature and extent of Irish pagan culture.
ARCHÆOLOGICAL EVIDENCE:
Archæological research shows that Ireland was inhabited from very early
times though it is impossible to fix the exact chronological limit of
the earliest colonization. Passing over the beginnings of civilization
which are exemplified by the crude implements and other remains of
the Stone Age, we note that in the Bronze Age when the art of working
metals had been discovered the existing specimens of the work of these
ancient craftsmen point to a relatively advanced stage of civilization.
Indeed, an examination of the discoveries of this period amply
justifies the statement that “in point of wealth, artistic feeling and
workmanship, the Irish craftsmen of the Bronze Age surpassed those of
Britain.”[1] The doyen of prehistoric chronology, Dr. Oscar Montelius
of Stockholm, having studied the antiquities of the British Isles, gave
the result of his labours in a memoir published in 1918.[2] This work
is now the standard authority on this subject. Dr. Montelius divides
the Bronze Age into five periods. In the first period he includes the
Transitional Period where copper was in use (Copper period) which he
places between the middle of the third and the beginning of the second
millenium, B.C. One of the greatest living Irish archæologists, Mr.
George Coffey, while agreeing with the Scandinavian as to the division
into five periods, would not place the first period so early as has
been suggested by Dr. Montelius, but agrees that the first period
ended between 2000 B.C. and 1800 B.C. Both writers would
place the end of the fifth period, that is, the end of the Bronze Age
about 350 B.C. Thus we may consider the Irish Bronze Age as extending
approximately from 2000 B.C. to 350 B.C. Mr. Coffey in one of his
valuable works gives numerous illustrations representative of each
period.[3] The originals are nearly all in the National Museum, Dublin,
where Mr. Coffey is the official Keeper of Irish Antiquities. A notable
feature of the finds of this period is the abundance and variety of the
gold ornaments. The collection of gold ornaments of Irish workmanship
is the largest in the British Isles being twelve or thirteen times
more than that in the British Museum.[4] Possibly, this is but a small
fraction of the entire output of the Irish artists of pagan times; for
many Irish gold ornaments have been discovered in Scandinavia and in
Western Europe not to speak of many finds which never enter a museum.[5]
From such material remains it would appear to be a legitimate
deduction that even at this early age the Irish were skilled craftsmen
and acquired by some means at least an elementary and industrial
and technical education and that they were already cultivating the
æsthetic. Art was developing on distinctly national lines, yet the
country was not isolated. There must have been direct communication
with the Continent; for Mr. Coffey has traced Aegean and Scandinavian
influence in the incised ornament of the New Grange group[6] and
Iberian influence on some of the later type of bronze ornaments.[7]
THE BREHON LAWS:
The laws of a country dealing as they do with man in his relations
to his fellow-man and society in general are always an important
indication of the state of civilization attained by the race which
has evolved them. In this connection a valuable source of information
on the social condition and state of culture attained by the pagan
Irish is the native code of laws, generally styled the Brehon Laws,
but more correctly termed the _Féineachas_. According to a generally
accepted tradition these laws were revised and codified in 438 A.D. by
a committee of nine appointed by King Laoghaire at the suggestion of
St. Patrick. The committee consisted of three kings (Laoghaire, High
King of Ireland; Corc, King of Munster; and Daire, King of Cairnach);
three saints (St. Patrick, himself, St. Benin and St. Cairnech);
and three learned men (Ross, Dubhthach and Feargus).[8] These laws
grew up with the people from the very beginning of society and took
cognisance of them from every point of view. They professed to regulate
domestic and social relations of every kind, as well as professions,
trades, industries, occupations and wages.[9] As laws they are too
minute; but this defect renders them valuable to the student who is
interested in the social conditions of the period during which they
were evolved. As a recent commentator[10] has remarked: “The rigorously
authentic character of these laws relating to, and dealing with the
actual realities of life and with institutions and a state of society
nowhere else revealed to the same extent; the extreme antiquity both
of the provisions and the language in which they were written, and the
meagreness of Continental material illustrative of the same things
endow them with exceptional archaic, archæological and philological
interest.” The development of such a comprehensive and detailed code
of laws must have been the work of many generations of lawmakers and
suggest a relatively high degree of native culture. In this connection
one is inclined to quote the emphatic declaration of Dr. George
Sigerson who has won honours both as a litterateur and as a scientist.
He says: “I assert that, biologically speaking, such laws could
not emanate from any race whose brains had not been subject to the
quickening influence of education for many generations.”[11] In other
words, such a code of laws can be accounted for only on the assumption
of a high degree of culture as a racial heritage of the nation which
evolved them.
EVIDENCE FROM EARLY IRISH LITERATURE:
There are many passages in the oldest Irish literature, both secular
and religious, which state that the Irish had books before the
introduction of Christianity. In a memoir[12] of St. Patrick written
in the seventh century Muirchu Maccu Machteni relates how during the
contest of the saint with the druids—the learned men of the time—the
High King Laoghaire proposed that one of St. Patrick’s books and one
belonging to the druids should be cast into the water to see which
would come out uninjured—a kind of ordeal. Here it will be noticed
that Muirchu’s statement embodies a tradition which was old in the
seventh century. The same story is told in the _Tripartite Life of
St. Patrick_.[13] Both the Irish bardic tales and the oldest existing
lives of St. Patrick agree in stating that he found in the country both
literary and professional men—all pagans—druids, poets and antiquarians
or historians,[14] as well as an elaborate code of laws.[15]
Although no Irish document has been preserved which dates earlier
than the seventh century, there is ample intrinsic evidence that the
earliest existing documents were copied from manuscripts which go
back a century or two earlier and these again may have recorded the
traditions of a still earlier period. Authorities are agreed that
after the establishment of Christianity in the fifth century the Irish
scholars committed to writing not only the laws, bardic historical
poems, &c. of their own time, but those which had been preserved from
earlier times whether traditionally or otherwise.[16] In a subsequent
chapter reference will be made to a common practice of the Irish monks,
namely that of making marginal and interlinear glosses on the classical
writings they were studying, copying, or teaching. For the present it
is sufficient to note that even in the case of the earliest of the
seventh century glosses the written language was fully developed and
cultivated, with a polished phraseology and an elaborate and systematic
grammar having well established forms for its words and for all its
rich inflections. To the linguistic student it is inconceivable how
much a complete and regular system of writing could have developed in
the period which had elapsed from the introduction of Christianity in
the fifth century until the general spread of Christian learning in
the seventh. Such a period would be much too short, especially when
it is recollected that early Irish literature had its roots not in
Christianity but in the native learning which was the main, and almost
the sole, influence in developing it. This consideration points clearly
to the conclusion that native learning was carefully and systematically
cultivated before the introduction of Christianity.
Again, Irish poetry owes its development solely to the Lay Schools.[17]
It had complicated prosody—with numerous technical terms[18] all
derived from the Irish language. These vernacular terms used in Irish
grammar contrast strikingly with the terms used to designate the
offices and ceremonies of Christianity which were almost all derived
from Latin.[19] All this would go to prove that Irish prosodial rules
and technical terms, and of course Irish poetry itself, were fully
developed before the introduction of Christianity.
FOREIGN TESTIMONY:
At least one foreign writer bears witness of the fact that the pagan
Irish possessed books. A Christian philosopher of the fourth century
(some would place him as early as the second or third) whose name is
Aethicus of Istria wrote a Cosmography of the World in which he states
that on leaving Spain he hastened to Ireland where he spent some time
“examining their books” (_eorum volumina volvens_).[20] Aethicus is
not by any means complimentary. He calls the Irish sages unskilled and
uncultivated teachers, but he speaks of the Spaniards in a similar
strain. Possibly not understanding the Irish language he regarded all
learning outside of Greece and Rome as barbarous and beneath notice.
However, his statement proves that when he visited Ireland there
were books at least a century before St. Patrick’s advent; it also
shows that he found them in such abundance that he spent some time in
examining them.
OGAM INSCRIPTIONS:
The point has now been reached when it is necessary to discuss the kind
of writing used in pagan times. As has been stated, none of the books
of pre-Christian Ireland are now extant, so evidence as to the kind
of writing in use must be sought elsewhere. In the absence of books
the coinage of a country has often given valuable information in this
connection. In the case of Ireland, however, this source of information
is lacking; for though metals were worked from very early times and
gold was plentiful no trace of a native coinage has been found. Luckily
there remain in the stone inscriptions the clearest proofs that the
ancient Irish practised a peculiar kind of writing called Ogam.
DESCRIPTION OF OGAM:
Ogam or Ogham was a species of writing the letters of which were a
combination of short lines and points on, and at both sides of, a
middle or stem line called a _flesc_. In the specimens still remaining
this Ogam writing is almost entirely confined to stone inscriptions,
the groups of lines and points running along two adjacent sides of a
stone with the angular edge for the _flesc_. The arrangement may be
understood from a simple diagram.[21]
[Illustration:
(i) B L V S N (ii) H D T C QU
(iii) M G NG F R (iv) A O U E I ]
The above diagram shows the Ogam alphabet arranged in four groups. A
few other characters are occasionally used. It will be noted that crude
as this device for writing is, it is applied with considerable skill
and is framed with much ingenuity. The simpler sounds are represented
by simpler letters than the more complex. Letters in frequent use like
the vowels are the easiest to form. The arrangement of the vowels
is different from that used in the Latin and English alphabets but
corresponds to the more scientific arrangement adopted by modern
phoneticians. It is worth noting that the characters in group (ii)
stand for the initial sounds of the Old Irish words for _one_, _two_,
_three_, _four_, _five_, in the order given.
The question of Ogam writing has occupied the attention of many
antiquarians and though some of the theories projected by the earlier
investigators have been rejected as untenable our knowledge of Ogam at
the present time is fairly definite but somewhat limited. It was once
thought that Ogam was a cryptic alphabet, but many of the inscriptions
have been read by means of the above key which is to be found in the
Book of Ballymote. Owing to the fact that a few of the later Ogams have
been found with duplicates in Roman letters they have been deciphered
independently. As to the distribution of these Ogam inscribed stones
it is worthy of note that in Ireland they are found chiefly in the
south-west, and in Britain they are confined to those parts where it
is known the Irish Gael had settled.[22] Owing to the lack of criteria
for dating certain sound-changes in the Irish language it is impossible
in the present stage of our knowledge to assign definite chronological
limits to these Ogam inscriptions.[23] Mr. Quiggin in his account of
Ogam[24] asserts that the earlier inscriptions cannot be later than the
fifth century and if pagan they may be a century or two earlier. All
Ogam inscriptions with accompanying Roman letters he would assign to
a later period than 500 A.D. with the sole exception of the bilingual
inscription of Killen Cormac (Cillin Cormac) which is believed to be
earlier than 500 A.D.[25] Over three hundred Ogam inscriptions have
been found and where they have not been injured or defaced they can
generally be interpreted.
Heroes and druids in the older epics are represented as making constant
use of Ogam letters, sometimes inscribing them on wooden staves.
The state of civilization depicted in these ancient poems and prose
narratives seems to belong mainly to pre-Christian Ireland.
There is some difference in opinion as to the means whereby the Irish
discovered the use of letters. One thing is certain, the Ogam alphabet
is based on the Latin alphabet. Some think that the Irish first became
acquainted with the Roman alphabet through direct trade with the
Continent, but it is more probable as MacNeill has shown[26] that this
knowledge was acquired from the Romanized Britons from the first or
second century onward. But how or why they invented the Ogam alphabet
instead of using the Roman letters, or else Greek ones like the Gauls,
is a profound mystery. There can, however, be no doubt that the Ogam
alphabet at whatever time invented, is the peculiar possession of the
Irish Gael and is to be found only where he had his settlements.
SUMMARY:
From the preceding discussion we may safely conclude:
1. That long before the
Christian era the Ancient Irish had developed many useful arts
and were skilled and artistic craftsmen.
2. That they had a code of laws that was well suited to the
state of society that then existed, and that with slight
alterations it was well adapted to meet the requirements of the
higher civilization of Christianity. (A corroboration of this
view is the well-known fact that at a much later date many of
the Anglo-Norman settlers abandoned their own code of laws and
adopted the Brehon Code to which they became as much attached
as the Irish themselves).
3. That native learning was actively cultivated and
systematically developed before the introduction of
Christianity.
4. That there was a learned class called druids who were the
priests, teachers, poets, historians and judges. (The same man
in early times combined in himself all these functions, but in
later times there was a tendency to specialize).
5. That the Pagan Irish had a knowledge of letters and that
they wrote their learning or part of it in books and cut Ogam
inscriptions on stone and wood, but how they obtained this
knowledge we have no certain means of determining.
CHAPTER II
THE BEGINNINGS OF CLASSICAL LEARNING
Hitherto our study has been limited to a discussion of native Irish
culture influenced but slightly from the outside. Here the attempt is
made to trace the beginnings of classical learning. In this connection
it is worth noting that Ireland occupies the unique position of being
the only part of the Celtic world that was not brought under the
sway of Roman arms. The consequence is that she is one of the very
few nations of Western Europe whose civilization was free to develop
along native lines. Yet it must not be supposed that Ireland remained
completely aloof from the Graeco-Roman culture to which the world owes
so much.[27] The great difference between Ireland and the other Celtic
countries such as Britain and Gaul lies in this: in Gaul the combined
forces of Roman arms and Roman culture wiped out almost every trace of
native culture, the same is true of the greater part of Britain.[28]
In Ireland, on the other hand, Roman learning was introduced in a
peaceful manner (at least as early as the fifth century, as will
be shown later). Now as we have seen native learning was already
developing along national lines, the result was that not only did the
native learning continue to flourish unchecked by the arrival of the
new learning but the former actually received a fresh impulse,[29]
while classical learning was cultivated to an extent that is without
parallel in contemporary Europe.[30]
The precise way in which letters reached Ireland and the causes which
led to “that remarkable outburst of classical learning towards the
close of the sixth century”[31] are matters on which most writers
express themselves vaguely, or assume that certain ill-defined
influences emanating from Britain or Gaul somehow reached her shores,
but at what time or by what means they have not been able to determine.
The introduction of classical learning as well as of Christianity is
popularly ascribed to St. Patrick whose missionary work began 432 A.D.
This opinion though widespread will not stand a critical examination.
It is true, however, that St. Patrick is the first person whose name
is associated with the introduction of classical learning of whom it
can be said that the writings ascribed to him are really his. In the
_Book of Armagh_ (completed c. 806 A.D.) there is a document called
his “Confession,” or apology which was copied by the scribe Torbach
from the original.[32] Although the “Confession” and other writings
attributed to St. Patrick may be admitted as genuine, it must not be
assumed that the learning for which Ireland became famous during the
sixth, seventh and eighth centuries could have been the result of his
labours.[33] Most people who have read St. Patrick’s writings will
admit that he makes no claim to be a scholar but on the contrary he
has a very humble opinion of himself and reminds us frequently of his
ignorance of letters. As Bury says,[34] “His Latin is as ‘rustic’ as
the Greek of St. Mark and St. Matthew,” and Whitley Stokes infers from
his writings that he knew no Greek.[35] In this respect St. Patrick was
no worse than many of his famous contemporaries and successors, for
example—his Latin is no more ‘rustic’ than that of Gregory of Tours
who lived a century later. Indeed St. Patrick’s claim to fame rests on
higher grounds than those of classical scholarship. He was a preacher
and organizer rather than a man of letters. He was a _homo unius libri_
but with that book, the Christian Scriptures, he was extraordinarily
familiar.[36] Yet some writers have attributed the introduction of
learning and even of the Roman alphabet to St. Patrick. It is true that
in the _Tripartite Life_ there are frequent statements that he wrote
_Abgitoria_ (usually translated Alphabets) for his noble or bardic
converts.[37] It is very probable that these do not mean alphabets, as
is usually supposed, like that on the pillar stone of Kilmakedar in
Kerry,[38] but _elementa_, the A B C of the Christian Doctrine. This
explanation seems justified by the words _Abgitir Crabaid_ glossed
_initium fidei_ in a Würzburg MS.[39] In the Tripartite occur the
words, _Aibgitir in Crabaid_—translated the Alphabet of Piety—where
a specimen is given of a work so entitled.[40] For these and other
reasons which will be stated presently the weight of evidence is
against attributing to St. Patrick the introduction of the Roman
alphabet or any liberal measure of classical learning.
It has also been suggested[41] that some of the Britons or Gauls
who accompanied St. Patrick brought these studies to Ireland, but
Meyer thinks this most improbable and dismisses the idea that any
missionaries whether Gallic or British introduced classical learning
into Ireland. The origin of that deep culture embracing not only the
classical authors but also grammar, metrics, and other sciences such as
astronomy he would attribute to a much broader and deeper influence.[42]
Basing his argument on a document found among Zimmer’s papers, Meyer
contends that the seeds of classical learning were sown in Ireland
during the first and second decades of the fifth century by Gallic
scholars who fled their own country owing to the invasion of the latter
by the Goths and other barbarians.[43] The same explanation seems to
have occurred to De Jubainville, for he says: “La culture des lettres
classiques et latins a cessé en Gaule depuis la conquête germanique
au cinquième siècle; _l’Irlande_ qu’à cette époque n’a pas encore
envahie les barbares des contrées situées à nord-ouest de la Gaule,
_paraît avoir donné asile aux hommes d’étude chassés de la Gaule_ par
les armes et la domination sauvage des Burgundes, des Wisigoths et des
Francs.”[44] To Meyer, however, we owe the development of this theory.
He quotes from a sixth century entry in a Leyden MS. This note states
that owing to a barbarian invasion “all the learned men fled from
Gaul, and in transmarine parts, _i.e._ in Ireland and wherever they
betook themselves, brought about a great advancement of learning to
the inhabitants of these regions.”[45] This theory is supported by a
passage in St. Patrick’s “Confession”[46] where evidently replying to
the attacks of certain rhetoricians who were hostile to him, the saint
exclaims: “You rhetoricians who know not the Lord hear and search who
it was that called me up, fool though I be, from the midst of those
who call themselves wise and skilled in the law and mighty orators and
powerful in everything.”[47] Meyer maintains that the reference is to
the pagan rhetoricians from Gaul whose arrogant presumption founded on
their own learning made them regard with disdain the illiterate apostle
of the Scots. His few and forcible epithets well describe the type of
rhetorician common in Gaul.
If Meyer’s theory is correct, and it seems the most tenable that has
been advanced, then we may conclude that Ireland derived her classical
learning from Gaul when Gallic scholarship was at its best. This would
explain the excellence of the Latin and the acquaintance with Greek
which, as we shall show, was exhibited by the Irish scholars who
visited the Continent from the time of Columbanus (543–615) to that of
Johannes Scottus Eriugena (c. 810–c. 875).
The more one examines this subject the more he is inclined to accept
this theory which gets over the difficulty of assuming that the Irish
obtained their classical learning from Britain where as Zimmer has
shown there was not any classical learning wide and profound enough to
produce such results;[48] nor were the High Schools of Gaul a quiet
place for learning in the fifth century[49] though Colgan would have us
believe—we know not on what authority—that St. Patrick sent St. Olcan
to Gaul to study sacred and profane learning so that he might return to
Ireland to establish “publicas scholas.”[50]
There is nothing improbable in supposing that these rhetoricians should
flee to Ireland for safety just as refugee Christians fled to the same
island from the persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian more than a
century before St. Patrick’s time.[51] Indeed Ireland was well known
to Roman geographers, though their ideas of its location were rather
inaccurate. Tacitus informs us that Ireland is situated between Spain
and Britain,[52] a conception which points to direct communication with
the Empire. The same author further informs us that the harbours of
Ireland were well known to merchants through trade and commerce.[53]
As the researches of Mr. George Coffey and Mrs. Greene have shown,
intercourse and commerce between Ireland and Gaul had been constant
and regular for centuries before the fifth.[54] There were even Gallic
mercenaries in the service of Irish kings during the early centuries
of our era.[55] Moreover, Irishmen at this time were familiar figures
on the Continent. Amongst these may be mentioned Mansuetus, Bishop of
Toul about 350 A.D.[56] There can be little doubt that Sedulius, the
great Christian poet, author of _Carmen Pascale_, was an Irishman.[57]
Sedulius, sometimes called Sedulius the Elder (to distinguish him
from another Sedulius who was at Compostella in the eighth century
and still another Sedulius who was at Liège in the ninth), flourished
between 423–450 A.D.[58] His work treating of the chief events recorded
in the Old and New Testament was “the first Christian Epic worthy
of the name.”[59] Dr. Sigerson by a scholarly analysis[60] of the
verse structure traces the influence of the Irish school of prosody
referred to in the previous chapter. Though Sedulius wrote in Latin and
followed the classical forms of verse, yet he infused into them certain
characteristics of Irish poetry, such as systematic alliteration,
assonance and rhyme—qualities that reveal the Gael.
Ireland is also credited with the doubtful honour of having given
birth to Pelagius and his associate Caelestius.[61] Both flourished
in the beginning of the fifth century. Zimmer contended that Pelagius
was an Irishman,[62] but Healy shows that he was a British monk of
Irish origin.[63] Healy also endeavours to prove that the assumption
that Caelestius was an Irishman is based on a misconception.[64]
Against this view we must place Meyer’s opinion. The latter asserts
that whether Pelagius was an Irishman or not “his faithful henchman,
Caelestius, he of the plausible tongue, certainly was.”[65] The weight
of evidence seems to point to the conclusion that one or other, if not
both, of these heresiarchs was Irish or at least of Irish descent.
Enough was written to show that some Irish families at least were
in reach of a classical literary education and were prompt to grasp
it even before the middle of the fifth century.[66] Hence we cannot
attribute the introduction of classical learning to St. Patrick as
has been so often asserted. Nor can we attribute to St. Patrick the
introduction of Christianity itself. According to Zimmer there were
missionaries at work in the third century in the southern part of
Ireland.[67] It would seem, however, that Zimmer makes too sweeping a
statement when he says that Ireland was a Christian land before the
fifth century; for, as MacCaffery has pointed out, the Irish Hero
Tales which were taken down about the beginning of the eighth century
represent the life of the first, second and third centuries and paint
the social life as unaffected by Christianity.[68]
That there were some Christians in Ireland before the time of St.
Patrick there can be no doubt. Bede distinctly states that Palladius,
the predecessor of St. Patrick, was sent by Pope Celestine to the Irish
who believed in Christ—“_ad Scottos in Christum credentes_.”[69] Here
it should be pointed out that the word _Scoti_ or _Scotti_ wherever it
occurs in writings prior to the tenth century means the _Irish_, and
the Irish alone, the inhabitants of Scotia Major (Ireland). Later the
term was extended to include the Irish colony in North Britain (Scotia
Minor). Eventually the name was still further extended to include the
inhabitants of the whole country now called Scotland.[70]
It has been necessary to go into some detail in order to refute a
popular fallacy that it was due to the labours of St. Patrick that
Ireland owes the introduction of Christianity as well as the beginnings
of classical learning. However, as Professor Bury points out, the
fact that the foundations of Christianity had been laid sporadically
in certain parts of Ireland does not deprive St. Patrick’s mission
of its eminent significance. He did three things: he organised the
Christianity which already existed; he converted many districts which
were still pagan, especially in the West; he brought Ireland into
connection with the Church of the Empire and made it formally a part
of universal Christendom.[71] While as has been shown he did not
introduce classical learning, his indirect influence must have been
considerable. The very fact that Latin was the ecclesiastical language
of the new religion gave it an importance and a dignity. Besides
St. Patrick and his fellow workers would naturally help to diffuse a
knowledge of ecclesiastical Latin at least in every part of the island
which Christianity reached,[72] but it must be remembered that Ireland
was not a completely Christian land even at his death.[73] Paganism
still lingered in many parts and its influence can be traced in the
early native literature,[74] and even in the early Lives of the Irish
Saints.[75] To complete the work which he did so much to promote as
well as to supply the spiritual wants of the converted, a native
ministry was essential. In order to equip such a ministry Christian
schools had to be established. Unable to give proper attention to the
instruction of these ecclesiastical students, St. Patrick after about
twenty years’ peripatetic teaching established c. 450 A.D. a school at
Armagh of which St. Benin or Benignus was given charge. The primary
aim of this school was to train subjects for the priesthood.[76] A
knowledge of Latin and perhaps Greek were acquired. To supply the
various churches with books there was a special house in which students
were employed as scribes.[77]
From what has been said about the presence of Gallic scholars in
Ireland we may infer that there were classical schools in existence
in certain localities, but in the foundation of the School of Armagh
we have the first recorded attempt at the organization of instruction
in Christian theology and classical learning in Ireland. We append a
list of other schools which the most reliable authorities ascribe to
the latter half of the fifth century. It is doubtful whether these
were really monastic schools at first for reasons that will be given
in the next chapter. It is more likely that they were ecclesiastical
seminaries during the time of the First Order of Saints (c. 440–534
A.D.).[78]
The significance of these fifth century schools from the point of view
of the present study lies in the fact that they were the precursors of
the great monastic schools which sprang up in such numbers in the sixth
century. We have good reason for believing that it was in these early
schools and by the labours of Gallic scholars and their pupils that the
foundations were laid of that classical scholarship that drew the eyes
of Europe upon Ireland during the sixth, seventh and eighth and ninth
centuries.
IRISH SCHOOLS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY
SCHOOL DATE LOCATION FOUNDER
Ardagh[1a] —[1b] Co. Longford St. Patrick, d. 465
A.D.[1c] and St. Mel,
d. 488 A.D.
Ardmore[2a] —[2b] Co. Waterford St. Declan*[2c]
Armagh[3a] 450–5 A.D.[3b] Co. Armagh St. Patrick[3c]
Arran[4a] ante Co. Galway St. Enda[4c]
484 A.D.[4b]
Beg Eri[5a] —[5b] Co. Wexford St. Ibar*[5c]
Dysart[6a] c. 450 A.D.[6b] Co. Louth SS. Patrick and
Dachonna[6c]
Emly[7a] —[7b] Co. Tipperary St. Ailbe*[7c]
Elphin[8a] —[8b] Co. Roscommon St. Asicus, d. 470
A.D.[8c]
Kildare[9a] c. 487 A.D.[9b] Co. Kildare SS. Brigid, d. 525
A.D.[9c] and Conlaeth,
d. 419 A.D.
Louth[10a] c. 454 A.D.[10b] Co. Louth St. Mochta[10c]
Nendrum[11a] c. 450 A.D.[11b] Co. Down St. Caelan or Mochaoi
[11c] d. 497–9
Rath —[12b] Co. Antrim St. Patrick[12c]
Muighe[12a]
Saul[13a] —[13b] Co. Down St. Patrick[13c]
Slane[14a] —[14b] Co. Meath St. Patrick[14c]
Seir[15a] —[15b] King’s Co. St. Ciaran,* the
Elder[15c]
Trim[16a] —[16b] Co. Meath St. Patrick[16c]
For a discussion of the chronology of SS. Declan, Ibar, Ailbe and
Ciaran the Elder, see Power, Rev. Patrick, _Lives of SS. Declan and
Mocuda_, pp. xix–xxii, _Irish Texts Series_.
1a. Conyngham, D. P., _Irish Saints and Martyrs_, p. 540. Conyngham
relies mainly on Walter Harris’s ed. of Ware’s _Monasticon
Hiberniae_ and Lanigan’s _Ecclesiastical History of Ireland_. 1b.
Unknown. 1c. St. Patrick’s death, see Conyngham, D. P., _op. cit._
p. 2; St. Mell’s _op. cit._ p. 117.
For the various dates assigned to St. Patrick’s death, see
Healy, John. _Life and Writings of St Patrick_, pp. 635–7.
Bury, J. B. _op. cit._ p. 206 places his death as early as
461 A.D., while the _Annals of the Four Masters_, I., pp.
154–6 give the traditional date as 493 A.D. Modern scholars
are inclined to accept one of the earlier dates as the more
probable.
2a. Conyngham, D. P., _op. cit._ p. 541. 2b. Unknown. 2c. Power P.,
_op. cit._ pp. xix–xxii.
3a and 3b. Healy, John, _Ireland’s Saints and Scholars_, p. 114 gives
455 A.D. as the date of foundation, the Four Masters give 457 A.D.
I, p. 142. Bury, J. B., places the date of foundation as early as
444 A.D. _op. cit._ p. 154. 3c. See Note 1c above.
4a, 4b, and 4c. Conyngham, D. P., _op. cit._ p. 182. See also Healy,
John, for an account of the School of St. Enda. _op. cit._
5a and 5b. Conyngham, D. P., _op. cit._ p. 538. 5c. See Note 1c above.
6a, 6b and 6c. For this and other monasteries see Article by (Rev.)
Laurence P. Murray, _Monasteries of County Louth_, in the _Louth
Journal of Archaeology_, I, pp. 22–36.
7a. See Healy’s account of this school, _op. cit._ 7b. Unknown.
7c. The _Annals of Ulster_, sub anno 526 record St. Ailbe’s death, but
see Note 2c above.
8a, 8b, and 8c. Healy, John, _op. cit._ 161.
9a, 9b, and 9c. Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 132, gives 527 A.D. as
the date of foundation. The _Chronicon Scottorum_ gives 510 A.D.;
but this is evidently too late, as St. Brigid died in 525 A.D.,
according to the Chronology in Miss Hull’s _Early Christian
Ireland_, introductory pages. St. Conlaeth died in 519 A.D.
Conyngham, D. P., _op. cit._ p. 133. The same author places the
date of her birth at 453 A.D., so it is fair to assume that the
date of the foundation of this school is 487 A.D. and not 467 A.D.
10a, 10b, 10c. Murray, L. P., _ibid._
11a and 11b. Reeves, Wm., _Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor,
and Dromore_, p. 10; 11c. Reeves, Wm., _op. cit._ p. 138.
12a, 12b, and 12c. Founded by St. Patrick according to the tradition
accepted by Conyngham, _op. cit._ p. 540, and others, but more
probably at a later date by St. Comgall, d. 601 A.D. See Reeves’
_Ecc. Antiq._, p. 70.
13a, 13b, and 13c. Conyngham, D. P., _op. cit._ p. 540.
14a, 14b, and 14c. „ „ „ p. 539.
15a, 15b, and 15c. „ „ „ p. 538.
16a, 16b, and 16c. „ „ „ p. 539.
This list does not claim to be complete. The above dates agree with
those given by the most careful authorities. The four saints whose
names are marked (*) are usually called the pre-Patrician Saints. Their
chronology is very difficult. Some authorities place them as early as
the fourth century and some as late as the sixth.
CHAPTER III
IRISH MONASTICISM
As the organization of the Irish monastic schools was so intimately
connected with the Irish monastic system it is impossible to form
a clear idea of the character, aims, curriculum, or the scope
of scholarship of these schools without some reference to Irish
monasticism and its relation to other types of monasticism.
Monasticism in general is a system of living that owes its origin to
those tendencies of human nature which are summed up in the words
mysticism and asceticism. Mysticism may be defined as the efforts to
give effect to the craving for union with the Deity even in this life;
and asceticism, as the effort to give effect to the hankering after
an ever progressive purification of the soul, and an atoning for sin
by the renunciation and self-denial of things lawful.[79] These two
tendencies would appear to be inseparable from humanity, because though
not always called into activity, they are always liable to be invoked,
and in all ages and among all peoples they have frequently asserted
themselves.[80] In one form or another monasticism had appealed to
people of various countries long before it became associated with
Christianity. In the early years of Christianity monasticism took a
definite shape in Syria, Egypt and Armenia. From Egypt and Syria it was
brought to Rome about the middle of the fourth century by Athanasius,
the great champion of the Divinity of Christ; by Honorius, the founder
of the island monastery of Lerins; and by Cassian whose “Institutes”
were a kind of manual for all the earlier monasteries of the West.[81]
As to the origin of Irish Monasticism opinions are divided: some have
ascribed it to an Eastern origin, while others insist that it can be
directly traced to Gaul. The most commonly accepted view is that of Mr.
Willis Bund[82] which ascribes to it a purely indigenous development.
As such general statements are at best but partly true and utterly fail
to give an adequate idea of the characteristics of Irish monasticism we
propose to examine the subject in the light derived from such native
sources of information as:
1. The Irish Monastic Rules,[83]
2. The Lives of the Early Irish Saints,[84]
3. Ecclesiastical History, and
4. Social and Political History.
From the first and second sources we shall learn much about the spirit
of monastic life, its ideals, obligations, and daily routine. From the
third and fourth sources, and incidentally from the other two, we learn
much about the relation which existed between the monastery and the
community in which it was located.
An examination of Irish Monastic Rules, so far as they have come down
to us, reveals the fact that they are not identical with any Eastern
or Western Code. In the general severity of their regulations they are
found, on comparison, to resemble the former rather than the latter.
It was doubtless this austerity that caused the Irish Rules to give
way eventually before the milder Rule of St. Benedict.[85] It is
possible, however, that the ideas and literature of Gallic and Egyptian
monasticism may have influenced to some extent the development of Irish
monasticism.[86]
Whether Irish monasticism was of native origin or not there can be
little doubt that British monasticism exercised a very potent and
direct influence on its development. In an Irish document which is
generally accepted as historical, we are informed that there were Three
Orders of Saints.[87] The First Order flourished c. 440–534 A.D. Many
of the saints in this Order lived in the time of St. Patrick. They were
all bishops and founders of churches. Their number was 350 and included
Britons, Romans, Franks and Scots. The Second Order (534–572 A.D.) was
made up of few bishops and many priests: they numbered 300. Unlike the
First Order these refused the services of women separating them from
their monasteries. They received a Mass from SS. David, Gillas, and
Docus the Britons. The Third Order consisted of holy priests and a few
bishops. The number of this Order was 100; they dwelt in desert places
living mainly on herbs and water; they depended upon alms and possessed
no private property.
The Second Order interests us especially as in all probability the
monasteries owe their origin to its members. Whether St. Patrick
actually founded monasteries is uncertain. We know that he spent some
years at Lerins, the island monastery of the Mediterranean, but his
life was too full of missionary labours to have time for the foundation
and government of monasteries.[88] In strong contrast with the First
Order who were mainly foreigners, the Second Order of Saints were all
natives of Ireland. However, they came under the influence of British
monasticism in two ways. We have seen above that three British or
Welsh saints visited Ireland during this period, and indeed so did
several others.[89] Of equal importance is the fact that several Irish
saints visited Britain about this time. In South Wales there were two
centres of attraction, Llancarvon under St. Cadoc and Menevia under St.
David.[90] St. Finnian of Clonard, “the tutor of the Saints of Erin,”
was a pupil of St. Cadoc at Llancarvon, as was St. Cainnech. Maedoc was
a pupil of St. David’s, as were Modomnoc and Scuithin, while we hear of
Finnian of Clonard, Declan, Bairre and Senan as visitors there.[91] The
saints of the North of Ireland tended to gravitate towards a monastery
in the territory of the Niduari Picts, sometimes called Strathclyde, in
the South-west of Scotland. This monastery was called Whitern (Rosnat
in Irish sources). Among the Irish saints who visited Whitern are SS.
Enda, Tighernach, Eoghan of Ardstraw and Finnian of Movilla.[92]
INFLUENCE OF CLONARD MONASTERY:
About the middle of the sixth century a great monastic movement
took rise from the monastery established at Clonard by Finnian c.
525 A.D.[93] Under him were trained for missionary work many of the
most illustrious fathers of the Irish church including the “Twelve
Apostles of Erin,”[94] viz. Ciaran of Seir, Ciaran of Clonmacnoise,
Columba (Colum Cille), Brendan of Clonfert, Brendan of Birr, Columba
or Colman of Terryglass, Molaise of Devenish, Canice of Aghaboe,
Ruadan of Lorrha, Mobi of Glasnevin, Sinnel of Cleenish, and Ninnidh
or Nennius of Inishmacsaint.[95] According to another authority, the
names of Finnian of Clonard, Finnian of Movilla, and Comgall of Bangor
are substituted for those of Ciaran of Seir, Molaise of Devenish, and
Sinnel of Cleenish.[96] The remaining nine names occur in both lists.
These men going forth in all directions founded numerous monasteries
and schools which afterwards became famous throughout Europe.[97] St.
Columba (Colum Cille) styled in an old record “_Monasteriorum Pater et
Fundator_” is said to have founded 300 monasteries. Even allowing for
the poetic imagination of the early chronicler, it is significant that
Reeves in his investigations was able to compile a list of at least 90
monasteries founded by, or dedicated to, this saint. Of this number 37
were located in Ireland, 32 amongst the Scots (of Alba) and 21 amongst
the Picts, _i.e._ 53 in the country now called Scotland.[98] It was
mainly through the efforts of these saints that Ireland was completely
converted to the Christian faith.[99] It would appear that after St.
Patrick’s death the druids recovered some of their former influence
and exerted themselves to the utmost to retard and limit the spread
of the new faith.[100] Thanks to the zeal and energy of the saints of
this Second Order the influence of the druids was completely broken
down, though the druids still lingered on obscurely and feebly many
generations.[101]
When monasticism became general in the sixth century most, if not
all, of those ecclesiastical seminaries which we have listed as being
founded in the fifth century, became monastic schools. Some of them
such as the School of Armagh attained a high degree of excellence
ranking with Clonard, Bangor, and the other great schools which date
from the sixth century. We give a list of the better-known monastic
schools which were founded during the sixth and seventh centuries,
the most famous being printed in CAPITALS. These schools were all
established in Ireland by Irishmen, who, as far as we have been
able to discover, received their own education for the most part in
schools already in existence in Ireland. This list makes no pretence
to completeness. According to the calculations of Sir James Ware the
number of famous schools in Ireland amounted to 164.[102] Another
writer[103] gives the names of 168 monasteries founded prior to 900
A.D. Even this list is incomplete. We have checked this latter list
for Co. Louth with one compiled by a recent reliable investigator[104]
with the result that 19 or 20 should be credited to Co. Louth whereas
there are only 2 out of the 168 so accredited. Similarly, we find
only 4 monasteries ascribed to St. Columba while, as we have shown,
Reeves found 37 monasteries in Ireland whose foundation is accredited
to this energetic saint. As we have reason to believe that all these
monasteries had schools, we can easily see how abundant were the
facilities for acquiring such an education as these schools provided.
MONASTIC SCHOOLS FOUNDED IN IRELAND BETWEEN 500 AND 700 A.D.
SCHOOL DATE LOCATION FOUNDER
Aghaboe[1a] —[1b] Co. Kilkenny St. Canice,
528–600 A.D.[1c]
BANGOR[2a] 559 A.D.[2b] Co. Down St. Comgall,
d. 601–2 A.D.[2c]
Birr[3a] c. 560 A.D.[3b] King’s Co. St. Brendan of Birr
[3c] ? 490–573 A.D.
Cleenich[4a] 6th cent.[4b] Co. Fermanagh St. Sinnel[4c]
Clogher[5a] —[5b] Co. Tyrone St. Macartin,
c. 506 A.D.[5c]
CLONARD[6a] c. 520 A.D.[6b] Co. Meath St. Finnian,
470–549 A.D.[6c]
Clonenagh[7a] c. 548 A.D.[7b] Queen’s Co. St. Fintan, 525–592
A.D.[7c]
Clonfert[8a] 553–7 A.D.[8b] Co. Galway St. Brendan the
Navigator[8c]
484–577 A.D.
Cork[9a] —[9b] Co. Cork St. Finnbar,
570–630 A.D.[9c]
CLONMACNOISE 544–8 A.D.[10b] King’s Co. St. Ciaran,
[10a] d. 549 A.D.[10c]
Cluainfois c. 500 A.D.[11b] Co. Galway St. Iarlaith,
[11a] c ? 510 A.D.[11c]
Devenish[12a] 530 A.D.[12b] Co. Fermanagh St. Molaise,
d. 563–71 A.D.[12c]
Derry[13a] 545–6 A.D.[13b] Co. Derry St. Columba,
520–597 A.D.[13c]
Dromore[14a] c. 500 A.D.[14b] Co. Down St. Colman[14c]
Durrow[15a] 553 A.D.[15b] King’s Co. St. Columba,
520–597 A.D.[15c]
Glasnevin —[16b] Co. Dublin St. Mobi,
[16a] d. 544 A.D.[16c]
Glendalough —[17b] Co. Wicklow St. Kevin,
[17a] d. 618–22 A.D.[17c]
Inishmacsaint —[18b] Co. Fermanagh St. Ninnidh,
[18a] d. post 530 A.D.[18c].
Kells[19a] 550 A.D.[19b] Co. Meath St. Columba,
520–597 A.D.[19c]
Kilkenny[20a] —[20b] Co. Kilkenny St. Canice,
528–600 A.D.[20c]
LISMORE[21a] 635 A.D.[21b] Co. Waterford St. Carthach[21c]
MONASTERBOICE c. 500 A.D.[22b] Co. Louth St. Buite,
[22a] c. 521 A.D.[22c]
Mayo[23a] 665 A.D.[23b] Co. Mayo St. Colman[23c]
Movilla[24a] 540–55 A.D.[24b] Co. Down St. Finnian[24c]
MUNGRET[25a] c. 551 A.D.[25b] Co. Limerick St. Nessan,
d. 551 A.D.[25c]
Ros-Ailithir 6th cent.[26b] Co. Cork St. Fachtna[26c]
[26a]
Swords[27a] —[27b] Co. Dublin St. Columba,
520–597 A.D.[27c]
Scattery Is. c. 537 A.D.[28b] Co. Clare St. Senan[28c]
[28a]
Terryglass 634 A.D.[29b] Co. Tipperary St. Colman of
[29a] Terryglass[29c]
Tuam[30a] —[30b] Co. Galway St. Iarlaith,
c. 545 A.D.[30c]
1a. Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ pp. 14, 15. 1b. Unknown. 1c.
Conyngham, D. P., _op. cit._ p. 268. _ibid._ Joyce, P. W.
_Short History of Ireland_, p. 180, gives (517–600).
2a. Plummer, Charles, _op. cit._ I, p. lxxix. 2b. Joyce, P. W.,
_Concise History of Ireland_, p. 82. 2c. _Revue Celtique_, XXX,
p. 113.
3a, 3b, 3c. Plummer, C., _op. cit._ I, xlii.
4a, 4b, 4c. Conyngham, D. P., _op. cit._ p. 541.
5a, 5b. Conyngham, D. P., _op. cit._ p. 541. 5c. _op. cit._ p.
132.
6a, 6b, 6c. Joyce, P. W., _Con. Hist. of Ir._, p. 92.
7a, 7b, 7c. Healy, John, _Ireland’s Ancient Schools and
Scholars_, p. 404, but Plummer, C., _op. cit._ I, lxx, gives
603 A.D. as the date of St. Fintan’s death.
8a, 8b, 8c. Plummer, C., _op. cit._ p. I, xxiv.
9a, 9b, 9c. Joyce, P. W., _Con. Hist, of Ir._, p. 92;
Conyngham, D. P., _op. cit._ p. 329.
10a. Plummer, C., _op. cit._ I, p. lxiv. 10b. Chronicles give
no date, _ibid._ 10c. Dalton, Canon, _Hist. of Ireland_, I, 71.
11a, 11b, 11c. Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 160.
12a, 12b, 12c. Plummer, C., _op. cit._ I, p. lxxiv.
13a, 13b, 13c. Hull, Eleanor, _Early Christian Ireland_,
Chronological Table; Dalton, Canon, _op. cit._ I, p. 62.
14a, 14b, 14c. Reeves, Wm., _Ecclesiastical Antiquities_, p.
138.
15a, 15b, 15c. Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan’s Vita Columbae_, p. 276;
Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ pp. 14, 15.
16a, 16b, 16c. Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ pp. 14, 15.
17a, 17b, 17c. Plummer, C., _op. cit._ I, p. xxxiii; Joyce, P.
W., _Concise History of Ireland_, p. 92.
18a, 18b, 18c. Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ pp. 14, 15; Conyngham,
D. P., _op. cit._ p. 541.
19a, 19b, 19c. Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan_, p. 276.
20a, 20b, 20c. Plummer, C., _op. cit._ I, p. lxxix; Joyce, P.
W., _op. cit._ p. 92.
21a, 21b, 21c. Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ p. 81; Dalton, _op.
cit._ I, p. 74.
22a, 22b, 22c. Macalister, R. A. S., _Muiredach, Abbot of
Monasterboice_. Introduction, Murray, L. P., _op. cit._
23a, 23b, 23c. _Chronicon Scottorum_, p. 104; Conyngham, D. P.,
_op. cit._ p. 543.
24a, 24b, 24c. Reeves, Wm., _Ecclesiastical Antiquities_, p.
138.
25a, 25b, 25c. Joyce, P. W., _Concise Hist. of Ireland_, p. 92.
26a, 26b, 26c. Joyce, P. W., _ibid._; Conyngham, D. P., _op.
cit._ p. 541.
27a, 27b, 27c. Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan_, p. 279.
28a, 28b, 28c. Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ p. 81.
29a, 29b, 29c. Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ pp. 14, 15; Conyngham,
D. P., _op. cit._ p. 542.
30a, 30c. Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 160. 30b. Date of the
foundation is uncertain. Conyngham, D. P., _op. cit._ p. 543
states that it was founded in the Fifth Century.
EDUCATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE IRISH CHURCH.
From what has been said about the spread of monasticism in Ireland
in the sixth century it is evident that the whole organization of
the Church in Ireland was being placed on a monastic basis. The
importance of this type of organization from an educational standpoint
will be evident when we recall the actual condition of society at
this particular period. Closely related to the monastic character
of the Irish Church was its missionary character. How far reaching
the influence of the Irish Monastic Church was, can be judged from a
brief survey of the distribution of Irish monasteries in Britain and
on the Continent. A list of 122 monasteries founded by Irish monks in
Scotland, in England and on the Continent was collected by Colgan in
a lost work of which the index has been preserved and printed.[105]
Another writer has shown that Ireland sent 115 missionaries into
Germany, 45 into France, 44 into England, 36 into Belgium, 25 into
Scotland and 13 into Italy.[106] According to the testimony of Jonas,
biographer of Columbanus, about 620 missionaries went into Bavaria
from Luxeuil, the headquarters of the missionary work of Columbanus.
No doubt, some of these were natives of Gaul, but there must have been
many Irish amongst them. Miss Stokes gives the names of 63 missionaries
who in the seventh century spread the Columban Rule from Luxeuil.[107]
In the light of these facts we see how just is the judgment of Green,
the English historian, when he declared that as the Irish Church
overflowed its own territorial limits and invaded the Continent of
Europe, it was for a time doubtful whether the monastic ideal of
Christendom would come from a Celtic or from an Italian source, whether
it would be represented by the Rules of SS. Columba and Columbanus, or
that of St. Benedict.[108]
IMPOSSIBILITY OF COMPILING A COMPLETE LIST OF MONASTIC SCHOOLS AND
SCHOLARS:
The number of monastic schools and scholars given in the preceding
section though at first sight somewhat startling is really
an under-estimate. This assertion is based on the following
considerations:—
1. The desire which prevailed in the early centuries of Christianity to
imitate even the accidental features of the Apostolic system naturally
suggested the adoption of the number _twelve_ in the adjustment of
missionary societies. Thus we find it recorded that in Clonard the
“Twelve Apostles of Erin” were educated. St. Columba set out about 562
A.D. with _twelve_ companions to convert the Picts. St. Columbanus
with _twelve_ brethren left Ireland about 612 to undertake his great
missionary work on the Continent. St. Killian was the chief of a
company of _twelve_ who founded a monastic institution in Würzburg. St.
Eloquius, disciple of St. Fursa, with _twelve_ companions whose names
are preserved, propagated the Gospel in Belgium.[109] Thus except
in the case of the founders of monasteries there is a very natural
tendency to overlook the other workers, sometimes their names are not
even recorded.
2. During the Danish incursions of the ninth and tenth centuries many
of the Irish monasteries were destroyed and the monks went to Europe
and set up monasteries wherever they settled. Sometimes they carried
their books with them, but more frequently their libraries were burned
or “drowned” by the pagan invaders who hated Christianity and learning,
thus the Irish Annals and other documents are very defective as a means
of supplying the necessary data for the compilation of a tolerably
complete list.[110]
3. Even when the names of Irish missionaries are recorded in
Continental MSS. there is often a difficulty in recognising an Irish
name in its Continental dress. Many of the Irish monks who went
abroad were “re-christened,” sometimes Biblical names like Joseph
or Isaias were adopted, or the Irish name was latinized to make it
more euphonious to Continental ears. Hence we find _Moengal_ figuring
as Marcellus, just as _Maelmuire_ appears as Marianus and Mylerius,
_Maelmeadhog_ as Malachy, _Giolla Iosa_ and even _Cellach_ become
Gelasius, _Giolla an Coimded_ figures as Germanus, _Tuathal_ as
Tutilo, _Domnall_ or _Donal_ as Donatus, _Aed_ as Aidan and Hugh,
_Siadhal_ as Sedulius, _Cellach_ sometimes became Gall, while others
chose to remain anonymous or describe themselves vaguely as _Exul_, or
_Hibernicus_, or _Scottus_. In the Continental libraries there are many
MSS. in Irish script and the scribes have concealed their identity in
the vague manner just described.[111]
4. Naturally there were many others whose work was teaching rather than
writing, consequently there is no record in such cases. Columba and
Columbanus were lucky in having biographers but many others were less
fortunate.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF IRISH MONASTIC SCHOOLS:
We give a partial list of the better-known monastic institutions which
were at one and the same time advance posts of civilization and centres
of Christian learning. Many of these date from that great period of
Irish missionary activity, the seventh century.
SCOTLAND:
Almost the whole of the country now called Scotland was converted
to Christianity by Irish missionaries. With the foundation of the
monastery of Iona in 563 A.D. by St. Columba, “_pater et fundator
monasteriorum_,” began a period of great monastic activity in Britain.
Reeves found that 63 monasteries were founded by or dedicated to St.
Columba; of these 32 were in the territory occupied by the Scots and
21 were among the Picts.[112] Other important monasteries were Deer
founded by St. Drostan, a disciple of St. Columba, Lismore founded
by St. Moluag in 592 A.D., and Righ-Monadh or Kilrimont founded
by St. Canice near the place where St. Andrew’s University is now
located.[113] There were also numerous small monasteries on the islands
round the Scottish coast.[114] The beneficent influence exercised
by these foundations as civilizing and educational agencies is
acknowledged by modern Scottish historians.[115]
ENGLAND:
Just as Iona was the great headquarters of monastic activity for
Scotland, so Lindisfarne founded by the Irish St. Aidan in 635 A.D.
became the base of operations for the Irish missionaries in the North
of England, especially in Northumbria. At this time Northumbria was
an extensive kingdom extending as far south as the Humber and into
modern Scotland as far north as the Firth of Forth. To the influence
of Aidan and other Irish monks we trace the foundation of Lindisfarne,
Coldingham, Mailros, Lastingham, in Northumbria, Ripon and Streanshalch
(now Whitby) in Yorkshire, Burgh Castle in Suffolk, St. Bees in
Lancashire, Malmesbury among the West Saxons, Bosham or Bosanham
in Sussex, and “Glastonbury of the Gael” in Somerset.[116] In most
histories the missionary work of St. Augustine is grossly exaggerated
and the important missionary and educational work of the Irish monks is
either completely ignored or accorded an amount of space utterly out of
proportion to its importance.[117]
IRISH FOUNDATIONS ON THE CONTINENT:
In _Netherlands_: Namur, Liège, Gueldres, Fosse, Haumont, Soignes.[118]
In _France_: Remiremont, Lure, Besançon, Poitiers (f. 511), Bezieres,
Romain-Moutier, Brezille, Cusance, St. Ursanne, Fleury (f. 629), St.
Riquier (f. 625), Jouarre, Reuil, Rébais (f. 634), Faremoutier, St.
Maur-des-Fossés, Lagny, Montier-la-Celle, Caudabec, Hautvilliers,
Montier-en-Der, St. Salaberga, Meaux, St. Saens, Fontennelle,
Jumieges, Stavelot (f. 656), Corbie (f. 662), Anegray, LUXEUIL (f. 599),
Fontaines, Ferrières (f. 630), Peronne (f. 650) or _Perrona Scottorum_,
Toul, Amboise, Beaulieu, Strasbourg, in addition to the countless and
nameless _Hospitalia Scottorum_ alluded to in the Capitularies of
Charles the Bald in 846 A.D.[119]
In _Germany and Switzerland_: Hohenaug, Würzburg, Memmingen, Erfurt,
Freyburg, Schuttern, Ettenheimünster, Mentz, Cologne, Nuremburg,
Altomünster, Ratisbon or Regensburg, Constance, ST. GALL (f. 614), Mont
St. Victor, Bregens (f. 610), Reichenau, Seckingen.[120]
In _Italy_: BOBBIO (f. 612), Taranto, Lucca, Faenza, Fiesole.[121]
RELATION OF THE IRISH MONASTIC CHURCH TO THE ROMAN CHURCH:
The preceding section will enable us to understand what an important
influence from a religious, as well as from an educational, standpoint
the Irish monastic system began to exercise throughout the West of
Europe. The relation which existed between the Irish Church and the
Roman Church has given rise to considerable polemic discussion. Indeed
there are so many points in common between the Irish monastic church
of the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries and the British or Welsh
church of the same period that both are often spoken of as the “Celtic
Church” in contradistinction to the Roman Church. This distinction is
based not on any essential difference of doctrine[122] but on certain
differences of ritual, liturgy, and discipline. As we have shown the
Irish monastic system extended far beyond the territorial limits
occupied by the Celtic race. Hence when we refer to the Celtic Church
we have in mind a widespread organization rather than a locality, and
we emphasize differences of custom and not essentials of dogma. The
differences that existed between the Roman Church and the Celtic Church
with regard to the date of Easter and to the tonsure of the monks gave
rise to an important controversy in the seventh century.[123]
THE CALCULATION OF EASTER:
Prior to the Council of Nice 325 A.D. the date of Easter in the
nascent Celtic Church harmonized with that of the Roman Church.
Owing, however, to isolation the Celtic Church had never adopted the
various alterations and improvements which on astronomical—not on
theological—grounds had been accepted by the Continental Church.[124]
THE TONSURE CONTROVERSY:
The Roman tonsure was formed by shaving the top of the head in a circle
leaving a crown of hair around it. The Eastern tonsure, sometimes
called the Pauline tonsure, was total. The Celtic tonsure was formed
by shaving all the hair in front of a line drawn from ear to ear.[125]
In the controversy of the seventh century the Roman party traced
their form to St. Peter and attributed that of their opponents to
Simon Magus.[126] The Irish form, _ab aure ad aurem_, existed in St.
Patrick’s time[127] and was probably druidical in origin.[128]
These two questions, though in themselves of minor importance, gave
rise to a controversy of many years’ duration. Eventually the Roman
practice was adopted by the whole Celtic Church, but not without a
struggle, some localities clinging tenaciously to the traditional usage
long after the general acceptance of the Continental practice. The
Southern Irish were the first to conform. Having received an admonition
from Pope Honorius they convened a Synod about 630 A.D. and as a result
of their deliberations decided to adopt the Roman usage. The North
of Ireland held out much longer, being influenced by Iona and its
dependent monasteries in Ireland.[129] The dates at which the different
parts of the Celtic Church conformed with the Roman practice in regard
to the celebration of Easter are given below.[130] Possibly the coronal
form of tonsure was adopted at the same time.
YEAR.—DISTRICT AFFECTED BY THE CHANGE:[130]
630 A.D. South of Ireland.
664 Northumbria converted by Irish missionaries
from Iona.
692 North of Ireland.
705 East Devon and Somerset, the Celts
under Wessex.
710 The Picts of Scotland.
716–718 Iona.
721 Strathclyde, the South-west of Scotland.
768 North Wales.
777 South Wales.
909 Parts of Cornwall.
EFFECT OF THE EASTER CONTROVERSY ON EDUCATION:
The Irish monks who visited the Continent, as well as the adherents
of the Roman usage in Britain, advocated and even urged the necessity
of conforming to the Continental practices, but their compatriots
did not yield without a struggle. As we have shown, certain parts of
Britain in which the Celtic Church held sway were even more reluctant
to give up the traditional usages. So far as the general interests
of education are concerned this controversy had a somewhat harmful
effect. It diverted the attention of scholars from matters of greater
moment and created a certain prejudice against those Irish teachers
who were not prepared to give up the cherished customs of the founders
of their monasteries. For example, after the Synod of Whitby in 664
A.D. when Celtic usage was abolished, St. Colman and a number of
Anglo-Saxon followers retired from Lindisfarne and founded a monastery
on Inisbofinn, an island off the west coast of Ireland. It must not,
however, be assumed that the Irish influence in England ceased with
the departure of St. Colman and his followers. At the Synod of Whitby
some of the most vigorous advocates of the Roman usage were Irishmen,
while amongst the Anglo-Saxons there were many champions of the Celtic
usage.[131] For at least thirty years after the Synod of Whitby the
Irish influence was felt. A native ministry having been trained the
Irish monks had accomplished their work.[132] In one respect the Easter
controversy had a good effect on learning. It led to a careful study
of the computation and astronomy and created the necessity of becoming
familiar with all the classical and ecclesiastical literature which was
calculated to throw any light on that vexed question. The consequence
of this study was that the Irish monks became the greatest astronomers
of the seventh, eighth and ninth centuries. It is enough to read the
Paschal Epistle of Cummian Fada (d. 661)[133] or the famous letter of
Dungal who in 810 A.D. was asked by Charles the Great to explain the
double eclipse of the sun which was supposed to have occurred in that
year,[134] to be convinced of the superiority of their scholarship.
ORGANIZATION OF THE IRISH MONASTERY ON A TRIBAL BASIS:
In marked contrast with the other Western churches which were organized
on a national and episcopal basis the Irish Church was tribal and
monastic. This was quite natural. The conversion of the chieftain
was followed by the conversion of the clansmen and a tribal character
was thus given to the nascent church.[135] At an early date the Irish
Church took a monastic form which accorded so well with the native
social system. The abbot became chief of an ecclesiastical clan most
of whose members were descended from the same common ancestor as the
abbot himself. No wonder the native name for the monastic community
was _muintir_, usually translated _familia_.[136] Even the successor
of the abbot—the _coarb_, literally heir—could often claim lineal
descent from the same chieftain as the abbot whom he succeeded. Of
course, as the abbot was unmarried, there could be no direct lineal
succession from the first abbot, but there was a succession in the
manner indicated. There was thus a close resemblance between the
succession of the abbot and that of the chieftain. The successor of the
chieftain was not necessarily his son, but a member of the clan by whom
he was selected on account of his personal fitness for the position.
In the case of the monastery of Iona it has been noted that Columba
and thirteen of his successors were descended from a common ancestor,
an Irish chief named Conall Gulban.[137] The monastic family consisted
of _fratres_: those of tried devotion were called _seniores_; those
who were strong for labour were _operarii fratres_; and those under
instruction were _juniores_, _alumni_, or _pueri familiares_. Besides
the congregation—_collectio_—of professed members there were usually
present _peregrini_, sometimes called _proselyti_, _poenitentes_, or
_hospites_ whose sojourn was of varied duration.[138]
The number of officers was relatively small, the more important
being the _abbot_, the _prior_, the _episcopus_, the _scriba_, and
the _Erinach_ or _Airchinneach_. The _abbot_ was the superior of the
monastic family and frequently had several houses under his supreme
control. He generally lived at the mother house. The branch houses were
governed by local superiors called _priors_ who were subject to removal
by the abbot. There was also a prior at the mother house who assisted
the abbot and took his place in administration when his superior
was absent. The prior in this latter capacity is sometimes styled
_custos monasterii_, sometimes _oeconomus_, and in the Irish Annals,
_Fertighis_.[139]
An interesting fact in connection with the Irish monastic organization
is that the abbot was not necessarily a bishop.[140] In matters of
discipline and jurisdiction the abbot was supreme whether he was a
bishop or not. But if he were not a bishop there were certain duties
which he could not perform. The bishop (episcopus) as such and in
virtue of his office performed such functions as administration
of Confirmation and Holy Orders just as at present. Of course the
abbot was frequently a bishop and consequently was vested with
correspondingly increased powers.[141]
The abbot sometimes combined the office of scribe with his other
duties. The special work of the scribe will be dealt with later; here
it is sufficient to note that the office of scribe was held in such
honour that we often find it recorded of a certain saint that he was an
excellent scribe, while as if of secondary importance, it is added that
he was an abbot, or bishop.[142]
The lands belonging to the monastery or church were usually managed by
an officer called an erinach, or herenach (in Irish, Airchinneach). The
erinach, who was usually a layman, first deducted his own stipend and
gave the residue for the purposes intended—the support of the church,
or the relief of the poor. It was generally understood to be the duty
of the erinach to keep the church clean and in proper repair, and
the grounds in order. There were erinachs in connection with nearly
all the monasteries and churches.[143] Lay erinachs were usually
tonsured.[144]
REVENUES AND MEANS OF SUPPORT.
The monasteries derived their means of support from a variety of
sources, the chief being: _Lands_, _Tithes_, _Fees_ and _Dues_, and
_Gifts_.
By far the most important of all these means of support were the
lands attached to the monastery. These lands, called _Termon_ lands
in Ireland, derived their name in all probability from the _termini_,
pillar stones, or crosses set up to mark their boundaries within which
there was right of sanctuary, and a freedom from the taxes and tributes
of the secular chieftains.[145] These lands were tilled by the monks
themselves and formed the staple support of the establishment.[146] It
was a maxim in all the primitive monasteries that the monks support
themselves by the labour of their own hands. The mendicant orders,
who depended largely upon alms were a later institution, first
introduced into Ireland about 1225 A.D.[147] The monastic lands were
sometimes increased by special grants from kings, or chiefs. These
special grants when added to the foundation grant sometimes made up
an extensive territory.[148] When the lands became too large for the
community to work, a portion of them was rented to tenants. Part of
the duty of the erinach was to collect the rents and other tributes
from the tenants.[149] Ordinarily the monastery was a self-supporting
institution. The community produced everything they needed for food,
clothing, and shelter. They owed little to society in general but
society owed much to them.[150] There was no privileged class in these
early monasteries. All who were physically fit had to take part in the
manual labour, nor were the scribes or even the abbot exempt.[151]
In parts of the _Senchus Mór_,[152] one of the ancient books of law, it
is prescribed as a duty of society to pay tithes, as well as to bestow
alms and first fruits to the Church, but tithes were not generally
nor regularly paid until after the Norman invasion in 1172 A.D.[153]
Another subsidiary, but occasionally substantial, means of support was
the dues paid by the tribe to the abbot for the performance of various
religious functions.[154] The Brehon Laws lay down specifically the
reciprocal obligations of the clergy and laity in this manner.[155]
In this connection[156] it should be pointed out that owing to its
position in the native social system “the Church in Ireland never
became as in other lands by turns the servant, the ally, or the master
of the State. It was the companion of the people, and an important
element in the national life.”
Gifts, or voluntary offerings, were a further source of income, but a
fluctuating one, depending largely on the location of the monastery,
its reputation, the social condition of its patrons, and a variety
of other accidental circumstances. Almost all persons who visited a
monastery left something of value, if their means permitted. In early
times the offerings, like other payments, were in ounces of gold or
silver, or in kind. When Brian Boru visited Armagh in 1004 A.D.
he laid on the great altar an offering of twenty ounces of gold,
equivalent to $5000 or $7000 at the present day.[157]
THE BUILDINGS:
The monastery including the whole group of monastic buildings was
generally, but not always, surrounded by a strong rampart, commonly
circular or elliptical, after the manner of the homesteads of the
laity. The enclosure with its bounding rampart was designated in Irish
by various names. When the wall was of earth it was called a _rath_,
or _lios_. If surrounded by a stone wall it was known as a _caiseal_
or sometimes a _cathair_.[158] Sometimes the monks located themselves
in a rath or lios surrendered by a friendly chief,[159] and sometimes
the monks built the enclosure themselves.[160] So much was the rampart
a feature of the Irish monastery that we find it in connection with
the monasteries founded by Irish monks in foreign lands. A _vallum
monasterii_ is mentioned by Adamnan,[161] and Columbanus utilised the
walls of the old Roman _castrum_ to serve as the _vallum_ for his
monastery at Luxeuil.[162] The monastery proper was the space enclosed
by the vallum and included the church or churches, the oratories, the
refectory, the kitchen, the school, the armarium—a chamber for the
preservation of books and literary apparatus, sometimes a special
scriptorium, the hospice or guest house, the cells for the monks,
and the officinae or workshops for the smith and the carpenter.[163]
Outside of the vallum were the various other indispensable buildings
connected with the monastery of which the storehouse and the mill are
the most important. There was usually a byre for the cows situated
in convenient pasture land. If the monastery was located inland
there was a fish pond; or a convenient harbour, if near the sea. The
various buildings occupied different situations according to local
convenience.[164]
The structure of these early monasteries was of a simple and
inexpensive character. Like the early Celtic churches, they were built
at first of earth, wattles, or wood. It was not until the eighth
century that stone buildings began to be substituted for wooden ones,
as a protection against the ravages of the Danes.[165] The simplicity
and temporary character of these early foundations would account for
the quickness with which monastic cities sprang up as well as for
the fact that comparatively few material remains of these monastic
settlements are now to be seen. They are now remembered chiefly for
the great spiritual and literary heritage which they were the means of
transmitting.
They were of various sizes. Those planted on barren islands off the
coast of Ireland and Scotland must have been small. In each of the
great monasteries of Clonard, Bangor and Clonfert there were 3000,
including probably both monks and students. St. Molaise had 1,500 at
Mungret, St. Gobban had 1000 and so on down to the school of St. Mobi
at Glasnevin with 50. This last number, fifty, seems to have been the
usual number in the smaller monastic schools.[166]
DAILY LIFE IN AN IRISH MONASTERY:
The investigations of scholars in recent years brought to light several
Rules[167] which were written by early Irish saints for the direction
and guidance of their monks. These Rules were frequently referred to in
ancient documents, but some historians doubted their existence until
their discovery set all doubts aside and furnished another proof of the
trustworthiness of Irish records. By comparing these Rules with the
references in the _Lives of the (Irish) Saints_[168] to the domestic
and religious discipline of the monks we are able to form a tolerably
correct picture of the real character of monastic life in Ireland
during the period under consideration. While these Rules are neither
so elaborate nor so systematic as the famous _Rule of St. Benedict_,
to which they eventually gave place, yet they enable us to realize the
austere simplicity of Irish monasticism.
However they may differ in details these “Rules of the Irish Saints”
are in agreement as to the character of the daily work. St. Columbanus
thus tersely describes the work of an Irish monastery: “Ergo quotidie
jejunandum est, sicut quotidie orandum est, quotidie laborandum,
quotidie est legendum.”[169] Fasting and prayer, labour and study were
the daily task of the monk in every Irish monastery.
FASTING:
During the whole year Wednesday and Friday were fast days in Iona and
no food was taken before noon unless some “troublesome guest”[170]
rendered a dispensation desirable; for charity went before sacrifice
in the old Irish Canon. During Lent and Advent only one meal was
allowed and that was taken in the evening.[171] Though the custom
of Iona was severe, it was mildness itself as compared with that of
Bangor. Only one meal was allowed the whole year round and that not
eaten until evening.[172] The quality of food in Bangor was inferior
to that of Iona where, as Reeves has shown, the dietary consisted
of bread (sometimes made of barley), milk, fish, eggs, and probably
seal’s flesh. On Sundays and festivals the monks were sometimes allowed
some additional luxury.[173] In Bangor, as later in Luxeuil, Anegray,
and Bobbio the food apparently consisted of cabbage, pulse, flour
mixed with water, a little portion of biscuit and fish.[174] Beer
was sometimes allowed as a drink even by Columbanus,[175] but on the
other hand St. Maelruan of Tallaght was such a strict disciplinarian
that not only did he prohibit the use of beverage, but even music was
forbidden.[176]
PRAYER:
A considerable portion of both day and night was given to the work of
praising God. Eight times[177] a day did the monks attired in their
white robes wend their way to the church for the great work of their
life—the _Opus Dei_, the “Celebration of the Divine Praises.” Mass
was generally celebrated at an early hour each morning before the
labour of the day began. The ordinary Canonical Hours were chanted in
choir—Matins and Lauds generally at midnight. The Divine Office was
made up of the Psalms and Lessons from the Old and New Testament. The
entire Psaltery appears to have been recited during the daily office
at least at certain times of the year.[178] Sometimes the choir was
divided into groups which in turn chanted the Divine Praises day and
night without intermission. In the monastery of Tallaght the Gospels
were read in the refectory at meal times, the Gospels being taken in
turn, one for each season of the year.[179]
LABOUR:
We have referred to the obligation that was placed upon all members of
the monastic community to engage on some kind of manual labour.[180]
Tasks requiring special skill were assigned to monks who had a natural
aptitude for such work. Thus the duties of carpenter, smith, and
brazier were assigned to specially qualified monks.[181] Yet even the
scribes and artistic craftsmen were required to spend part of their
time at ordinary manual work.[182] The word _laborare_ is used in a
wider sense than our term _manual labour_. The Rule of St. Columba
defines the term “work” in these words: “Work is divided into three
parts: viz., thine own work, and the work of the place as regards
its real wants; secondly, thy share of the brethren’s work; lastly,
helping the neighbours by instruction, or writing, or sewing garments,
or whatever labour they may be in want of.”[183] Never to be idle for
one moment was the monastic ideal. Accordingly Adamnan represents his
hero as unable “to pass the space of one hour without applying himself
either to prayer or reading, or writing, or else some manual work.”[184]
STUDY:
In subsequent chapters we shall deal with the monks in their capacity
as teachers and scribes. Here we shall refer briefly to their fourth
task—legendum, reading or study. The study of the Sacred Scriptures was
practised daily by the more learned members of the community, while
the younger members learned by rote a portion of the Psalter each day
until they could repeat the whole of it from memory. The story of how
St. Columba when a tiny boy took up the Psalm where his tutor broke
down is well known, while the numerous glosses on the Psalms and other
portions of the Bible are convincing proofs of the intensive study of
the Scriptures by these early monks.[185] Homilies or Lives of the
Saints formed part of the sacred reading and we may reasonably suppose
that the reading of the Gospels in the refectory during meal hours was
a practice which was not confined to the monastery of Tallaght, nor was
such reading limited to this particular time of the day. Indeed early
Irish religious literature clearly points to a familiarity with the
Holy Book.
OTHER PRACTICES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF IRISH MONASTIC LIFE: OBEDIENCE:
The ideal of prompt and unhesitating obedience to the commands of his
superiors, so characteristic of the Irish monk, is one which cannot
be understood apart from the Irish conception of Monasticism as
“fighting for Christ.” In all things lawful the monk yielded prompt
and unquestioning obedience and was ready to go to the ends of the
earth if his superior should only speak the word. The conception
that the monk should be a “_miles Christi_”[186] was particularly
adapted to the native temperament. To the pagan ideals of “truth,
courage, and strength” were added the Christian virtues of obedience
to authority, self-sacrifice, and devotion to the welfare of mankind
without distinction of race or country. With such ideals they bravely
encountered all privations and dangers when they undertook their
“peregrinatio pro Christo.” _Humility_ was prized as a Christian virtue
and was exemplified in many ways. The superiors though exacting prompt
obedience and due respect from their monks were not tyrannical and led
as strict and simple a life as the other members of the community.
There was no private property, all things were owned in common, and
their wealth was limited to the means of supplying their few and simple
wants. The members of the community exemplified their humility both in
their demeanour towards their superiors and in dejection after sin.[187]
MORAL COURAGE:
Notwithstanding their humility these monks could, and did, show a
high degree of moral courage when occasion demanded. This is shown by
the action of St. Columba when he confronted the Irish King and the
assembled chieftains at the Convention of Drumceat (575 A.D.).[188]
Against great popular opposition he pleaded the cause of the Bardic
Order and appealed for the freedom of the Irish colony in Scotland.
In both cases success crowned his efforts. Still more daring was the
action of St. Columbanus in his dealings with the Merovingian King,
Theuderic, to whom he wrote a letter full of the bitterest reproaches
and threatening to excommunicate him, if he did not immediately amend
his sinful life. Thus did Columbanus draw upon himself not only the
anger of the king but that of the crafty and cruel Brunechildis.
Nothing daunted, however, he defied alike both their threats and
violence. He adhered steadfastly to principle even though that
adherence caused him to be driven from the kingdom of the Franks.[189]
SILENCE:
There was silence in the refectory during meals so that the reader
could be distinctly heard, and silence was compulsory at other times
also. Indeed, in their intercourse with each other the conversation of
the monks was reserved at all times, but as regards their relation to
society at large the objects of their system were too practical and
their engagements too much characterized by common sense to impose
any restraint in conversation but such as conduced to dignity and
decorum.[190]
HOSPITALITY:
The monastery was usually located so as to be easily accessible to
visitors for whom a special Hospice or Guest-house was provided.
We have seen that when a guest arrived there was a relaxation of
the fast—so strongly had the national characteristic of hospitality
pervaded the monastic life.[191] Women, however, were rigidly excluded
from the monastery.[192]
LOVE OF NATURE:
Another notable characteristic was the love of the monks for nature,
animate and inanimate. This is shown in many ways, such as in the
selection of the sites of their monasteries, and in their treatment
of animals. Moreover, they often gave expression to their feelings
for nature in verse, with the result that they are acknowledged to
be pioneers in the field of “Nature Poetry” as well as in many other
spheres of intellectual activity.[193]
Having regard to all the facts we have brought together Dr. Healy’s
eloquent tribute to Irish monasticism appears to be amply justified. It
is worth quoting:
“Fasting and prayer, labour and study are the daily task of the monks
in every monastery. How well and unselfishly that toil was performed
the history of Europe tells. The monks made roads, cleared the forests,
and fertilised the desert. Their monasteries in Ireland were the sites
of our cities.... They preserved for us the literary treasures of
antiquity; they multiplied copies of the best and newest books; they
illumined them with loving care. They taught the children of rich and
poor alike; ... they were the greatest authors, painters, architects
since the decline of the Roman Empire. They were the physicians of
the poor; they served the sick in their hospitals and in their homes.
And when the day’s work was done in the fields or in the study, they
praised God, and prayed for men who were unable or unwilling to pray
for themselves. Ignorant and prejudiced men have spoken of them as an
idle and useless race. They were in reality the greatest toilers, and
the greatest benefactors of humanity the world has ever known.”[194]
CHAPTER IV
THE RELATION OF THE IRISH MONASTIC SCHOOLS TO THE GENERAL EDUCATIONAL
SITUATION (550–900 A.D.):
The wide distribution of Irish monastic schools throughout Ireland,
Scotland, England, France, Belgium, Germany, and even Italy, was
discussed in the previous chapter. Reference was also made to the
numerous Irish missionaries who going abroad were regarded as
“representative of a higher culture than was then to be found on
the Continent.”[195] Here we shall consider the general educational
situation in Ireland with a view to determine the causes which produced
results of such moment to the spread of Christianity and to restoration
of learning.
During the sixth, seventh and eighth centuries the greater part
of Britain and Europe was in a state of turmoil consequent on the
barbarian invasion while Ireland escaped the ravages such an invasion
entails. During this period of relative domestic peace Ireland was an
oasis in the educational desert of Europe; then, if ever, she deserved
to be styled “the school of the West, the quiet habitation of sanctity
and literature.”[196] In bringing about this desirable state of
affairs, no doubt, the monastic schools took a leading part, but there
were other contributory factors the chief of which was the lay schools
whose relation to the monastic will now be touched upon very briefly.
We shall also endeavour to determine the extent to which education
prevailed among the different classes of society—and finally we shall
discuss the question of the admission of foreign students to Irish
monastic schools.
DUAL SYSTEM OF SCHOOLS:
The schools of ancient Ireland were of two classes, lay and
ecclesiastical. The ecclesiastical or monastic schools as we have seen
were of Christian origin, and were conducted by monks. The lay, or
secular, schools existed from a period of unknown antiquity, and in
pagan times were taught by druids. The monastic schools were celebrated
all over Europe during the Middle Ages: the lay schools though playing
an important part in spreading learning at home are not so well known.
These two classes of schools are quite distinct all through the
literary history of Ireland, and without conflicting with each other
worked contemporaneously from the sixth to the nineteenth century.[197]
LAY SCHOOLS:
As we are mainly interested in the monastic schools we shall deal with
the lay schools only so far as is necessary to explain the general
educational situation in Ireland during the period we have chosen.
Originally pagan and taught by druids these lay schools held their
ground after the general spread of the new faith, but were now taught
by Christian _ollamhna_ or doctors, laymen who took the place of the
druid teachers of earlier times.[198]
The aim of these schools at first was apparently to prepare a limited
number of men as _brehons_ or judges, and _filí_ or poets, and
_senachidhe_ or historians. In very early times the same man performed
two or more of these offices. In later times there was a tendency
to specialization. A lay college generally comprised three distinct
schools. We are told that Cormac MacAirt, King of Ireland (254–277
A.D.) founded three schools, one for the study of Military Science,
one for Law and one for General Literature.[199] It would appear that
schools of this last type developed into the “Bardic Schools” in which
were taught poetry, history, and vernacular literature in general.
The law schools and military schools were evidently exclusively
professional, whereas the “Bardic Schools” were attended by those
seeking admission to the Bardic Order and others desiring a liberal
education.[200]
RE-ORGANIZATION OF BARDIC SCHOOLS:
The members of Bardic Order became so numerous and exacting in their
demands as to arouse widespread dissatisfaction with the result
that the complete abolition of the Order was contemplated. Owing to
the timely intervention of St. Columba reform was substituted for
abolition. At the Convention of Drum-Ceata in 573 A.D. St. Columba who
had received part of his own education in a Bardic School pleaded the
cause of the bards with such success that the whole system of public
secular education was reorganized. The scheme was devised by the chief
poet (_ard-ollamh_) of Ireland, Dallan Forgaill. There was to be a
chief school or college for each of the five provinces; and under
these were several smaller schools, one for each _tuath_ or district.
They were all endowed with lands and all those persons who needed
it received free education in them. The heads of these schools were
_ollamhna_ doctors of literature and poetry, and were all laymen.[201]
There was now a great tendency towards specialization. Many schools
became noted for the excellency of their teaching in particular
branches of learning according to the individual tastes or bent of
mind of the teachers or the traditions of the several schools. These
subjects whether Law, History, Antiquities, Poetry, etc. were commonly
taught by the same family for generations.[202]
EDUCATION OF LAYMEN:
It has sometimes been asserted that in early times learning in Ireland
was confined to ecclesiastics, but this assertion is quite erroneous.
We have shown that there were numerous facilities afforded laymen both
for a professional and a general education. Nearly all the professional
men, physicians, lawyers (Brehons), poets, builders, and historians
were laymen; lay tutors were employed to teach princes; and in fact
laymen played a very important part in the diffusion of knowledge and
in building up that character for learning that rendered Ireland famous
in former times.[203] A glance through Ware’s _Irish Writers_, or
O’Reilly’s _Irish Writers_, or Hyde’s _Literary History of Ireland_ or
Miss Hull’s _Text Book of Irish Literature_ is enough to convince the
most sceptical on this point.[204]
RELATION OF THE LAY SCHOOL TO THE MONASTIC SCHOOL:
Though differing in aim, both the lay school and the monastic school
were so closely related to the social system that there does not appear
to have been any actual antagonism between them. They were to a large
extent complementary. As an instance of the friendly relations which
obtained between the ecclesiastics and the lay school we might cite
the fact, already referred to, that St. Columba pleaded the cause
of the bards. St. Columba himself had practical experience of the
bards as teachers. We are told that after he had spent some years at
the monastic school of Finnian of Movilla and having been ordained
deacon he placed himself under the instruction of an aged bard called
Gemman.[205] Nor did his monks in the severe and pious solitude of
Iona lose their love for their national poetry. On one occasion it is
recorded they inquired from the saint why he did not ask an Irish poet
who visited Iona to recite a poem for them after the sermon—a question
that did not scandalize the saint in the least.[206] We know also
that much of the pagan literature was preserved by monastic scribes,
and some of the finest Old Irish poems that have been discovered were
written by monks on the margin of MSS. they were copying.[207] These
examples are given for the purpose of removing a false impression that
there was a clear cut line of demarcation between the study of native
and classical literature. As a learned French Celticist writes: “On
aurait tort de croire qu’en Irelande il y eût entre les savants addonés
aux lettres classiques où à la théologie, alors leurs inseparable
associée,—et les gens des lettres voués à la culture de la littérature
nationale, la ligne de séparation presque infranchissable qu’on
remarque pendant le moyen âge sur le continent.”[208]
On the other hand many laymen attended Monastic schools at some period
of their lives not only to get religious instruction but to get a
wider general education.[209] Besides laymen were sometimes professors
in the monastic schools, and even occupied the important position of
Fer-leighinn or Principal of a monastic school, for example Flann
Mainistrech (d. 1056 A.D.), a layman and the most learned scholar in
Ireland of his time, was appointed Fer-leighinn of Monasterboice. About
a century earlier the lay ollamh, Mac Cosse, held a similar position
in the great school of Ros-Ailithir, now Ros Carbery, in Cork.[210]
Owing to the increasing popularity of the monastic schools and the
appointment of laymen as professors in monastic schools there was a
tendency to introduce into the Bardic school some of the subjects
which attracted lay students to monastic schools. St. Bricin’s College
at Tomregan (recte Tuaim Drecain) near Ballyconnel in Cavan, founded
in the seventh century, though having an ecclesiastic for Principal
was typical of the lay schools. It had one school for law, one for
classics, and one for poetry and general Gaelic learning. Each school
was under a special _druimcli_, or head professor,[211] corresponding
apparently to a Dean in a modern university.
HOME EDUCATION AND FOSTERAGE:
Thus far we have dealt with literary and professional education.
It remains to add a few words in regard to what may be called home
education. This education was partly literary and partly technical in
nature, and differed according to the age, sex, and social position of
the child.
In addition to the usual literary education the sons of the chiefs were
instructed in archery, swimming, and chess-playing,[212] while the
daughters were taught sewing, cutting-out and embroidery. The sons
of chiefs were also taught horsemanship. The children of the wealthy
class were often put to fosterage and the foster father was held
responsible for the instruction in these branches for neglect of which
he was punished by a fine of two-thirds the fosterage fee. The Brehon
Law clearly defines the relation between the teacher and pupil in the
following words:
“The social position that is considered between the foster-pupil
and his foster-father is that the latter is to instruct him without
reserve, and to prepare him for his degree, and to chastise him without
severity; to feed and to clothe him while he is learning his lawful
profession unless he obtains it (food and clothing) from another
person. On the other hand, the foster son is to assist his tutor in
poverty, and support his old age, and to give him the honour price of
the degree for which he is being prepared, and all the gains of his art
while he is earning it, and the first earning of his art after he has
left the house of his tutor; and moreover the literary foster father
has power of judgment and proof and witnesses upon his foster son as
the father has upon his son.”[213]
In the case of children who were put to fosterage the parents were
apparently left to their own discretion as to the training of their
children in their own homes. In such a case the instruction was of the
more or less technical type that all must master to a greater or less
extent in order to discharge the ordinary duties of life.[214]
Notwithstanding the facilities afforded by the numerous lay and
monastic schools the great body of the people were probably neither
able to read or write, yet they were not uneducated. They had an
education of another kind, reciting poetry, historical tales, and
legends, or listening to recitation in which all took delight. In
every hamlet there was one or more amateur reciters. This practice of
listening to the recitation of stories and poems was then as general as
the reading of newspapers and story-books is at the present day.[215]
Anyone acquainted with the social life of the Irish-speaking peasantry
even in modern Ireland and has listened to a story told, or poem
recited, by a _seanchaidhe_ (raconteur) will realise that this was
true education, a real exercise for the intellect and a refined source
of enjoyment. Taking education then in the broad sense we see that
the great body of the Irish people in these early times were really
educated.
EDUCATION OF WOMEN:
We have ample evidence that education in ancient Ireland was not
confined to men. As we have already seen, the Brehon Laws made
provision for the education of girls as well as for that of boys. In a
convent established by St. Brigid (d. 525 A.D.) at Kildare we are told
that St. Mel was employed to instruct herself and her nurse,[216] and
the history of that school would lead us to infer that it compared not
unfavourably with some of the great monastic schools. St. Brendan of
Clonfert (d. 577 A.D.) when a child about one year old was placed in
fosterage in the convent of St. Ita at Killeedy, Co. Limerick, where
he remained for five years. This young saint always looked upon St.
Ita as his foster mother and often had listened to her counsels.[217]
On one occasion she advised him not to study with women lest some
evilly disposed person might revile him.[218] We may safely infer
from this that it was not unusual for young children to receive the
rudiments of education from the nuns, but that by the time they reached
the age of six or more probably seven years[219] they were sent to
the monastic school. Moreover, St. Ita’s words of advice clearly
suggest that education was provided for girls but that except in the
case of children of pre-adolescent age she was decidedly opposed to
co-education. Unlike St. Brendan and some other saints, St. Columbanus
was not put to fosterage and his childhood’s days were spent in
his father’s home under his mother’s care.[220] His latest and best
biographer informs us that he received his earliest literary education
from an elderly lady who lived near his parent’s home.[221] One of the
First Order of Saints named Mugint founded a school in Scotland to
which girls as well as boys were admitted.[222] It is evident likewise
that the Irish missionaries in Northumbria did much for the education
of women. Among the more noteworthy convents or monasteries for women
that owe their origin to Irish missionaries were St. Bees, Coldingham,
Streanshalch or Whitby which are all referred to by Bede.[223] It was
in this last-named monastery and by the enlightened patronage of Abbess
Hilda that the earliest Anglo-Saxon poet, Caedmon, was encouraged in
his efforts.[224] That women were sometimes accomplished scribes is
quite probable. In an old record we are informed that in the sixth
century King Branduff’s mother had a writing style (delg graiph), so
that she must have practised writing on waxen tablets,[225] this being
spoken of in old MSS. as a common practice among ladies.[226]
There is not sufficient evidence to justify the assertion that girls
were admitted as students to monastic schools, though we read that one
of the daughters of the King of Cualann was sent to Clonard to learn to
read her Psalms (in Latin),[227] and Plummer thinks that women taught
in this school.[228] Probably there was a separate school for women.
From what we know of the Second Order of Saints to which St. Finnian,
the founder of Clonard, belonged we cannot believe that co-education
would be likely to receive any sanction as a desirable practice in a
monastic school. On the other hand, with Mugint and the other saints of
the First Order such a practice may possibly have been quite usual; for
“strong in faith they feared not the breath of temptation.”[229]
Many other instances of educational facilities for women might be
adduced, but enough has been said to prove the position for which we
have been contending, namely, that though education was not universal
nor compulsory there was ample facilities for all to acquire a
liberal education. That a very large proportion of both sexes availed
themselves of this privilege there can be no reasonable doubt.
FOREIGN STUDENTS IN IRELAND:
The fame of the Irish monastic schools of the seventh, eighth and ninth
centuries attracted a large number of students from foreign lands. To
these the Irish monks extended freely the benefits of education which
during this period were not available in their own less favoured lands.
The _Felire of Aengus_[230] which according to linguistic and other
internal evidence was written as early as the seventh century[231]
mentions various nationalities who have died in Ireland: Romans,
Gauls, sometimes called Franks, monks of Egypt, and Saxons (more
correctly Angles). The well-known stone inscription “VII ROMANI” in
the churchyard of St. Brecan in Arranmore[232] testifies to this day
of presence of Romans. It is also known that in times of persecution
Egyptian monks fled to Ireland.[233] In this same calendar of Aengus
mention is made of seven Egyptian monks who died in one place.
Scattered through the _Lives of Irish Saints_ there are innumerable
passages recording the arrival and departure of foreign pilgrims or
students, or noting their residence or death. Thus we hear of Britons,
including a British bishop, at Clonfert; of British monks at Rahen,
Lynally, Taghmon, Clonard, Ferns, and Tallaght; of a British priest
at Hare Island in Lough Ree; of British “peregrini” at Tullach Bennan.
We even know the names of many British saints who studied or resided
in Ireland: Cadoc under St. Mocuda at Lismore, Gildas, Carantoc, Cybi,
Petroc, and Sampson.[234] Aldhelm, bishop of Shereboree (705–707 A.D.)
in a letter to Eadfrid, bishop of Lindisfarne, states that “fleet
loads” of Angles went to Ireland.[235] A passage in Bede corroborates
Aldhelm’s testimony. Speaking of the ravages of the Yellow Plague in
664 A.D. Bede says: “This pestilence did no less harm in the island of
Ireland. Many of the nobility and of the lower ranks of the English
nation were there at the time who in the days of the Bishops Finan
(651–661) and Colman (661–664), forsaking their native island retired
thither either for the sake of divine studies, or a more continent
life: and some of them presently devoted themselves to monastic life;
others chose rather to apply themselves to study, going from one
master’s cell to another. The Scots willingly received them all, and
took care to supply them with food as well as to furnish them with
books to read and their teaching all gratis.”[236] The bishop Finan
and Colman who are referred to by Bede were respectively the second
and third abbots of Lindisfarne. After the Synod of Whitby (644 A.D.)
Colman and his English adherents who refused to adopt the Roman usage
with regard to the date of Easter and the form of tonsure retired to a
small island called Inisbofinn off the coast of Mayo and there founded
a monastery about 667 A.D. A little later Colman founded another
monastery on the mainland which he placed in charge of his English
companions and disciples. As late as 730 A.D. at least this monastery
was occupied by English monks and was named by the Irish “Mayo of the
Saxons.”[237] We know too that one of the divisions of Armagh was
called “Trian Saxon” or the Saxon’s Third from the great number of
English students inhabiting it, and we learn incidentally that in the
eighth century seven streets in a town called Kilbally near Rahen in
King’s Co. were wholly occupied by Galls, or foreigners.[238]
Among the foreign students there were sometimes princes. Of the more
illustrious of these we may mention Oswald (d. 642) and Ailfrid (d.
704), kings of Northumbria, and Dagobert II. (d. 679) king of France,
all of whom were educated in Ireland. Owing to one of those wars so
common in England in the seventh century Oswald, son of King Ethelfrid
of Northumbria, had to seek refuge in Ireland when he was fifteen
years old. He was educated in a monastery and became a Christian.
On regaining his kingdom he sought the aid of the monks of Iona
to convert his heathen subjects. In 635 A.D. St. Aidan arrived in
Northumbria and founded a monastery on the island of Lindisfarne which
was destined to become the Iona of the North of England.[239] Ailfrid,
another Northumbria king, spent his schooldays in Ireland. While there
he was called the Irish Flann Fina (literally Fina’s Flann) from
his mother Fina who was an Irish princess. There is still extant a
very ancient Irish poem[240] which he composed in praise of Ireland.
He would appear to have got a very good education; for Aldhelm in
dedicating to him an epistle on Latin prosody congratulates him on
having been educated in Ireland.[241] After the death of King Sigibert
his little son, who eventually became Dagobert II., was brought by
Didon, bishop of Pointers, to Ireland to be educated. This was done
at the command of Grimoald, Mayor of the Palace.[242] The greatest of
English missionaries, Wilibrord (657–739) was educated in Ireland where
he spent thirteen years. With twelve companions, some of them Irish,
and other English whom he selected from the Irish schools, he set sail
for Friesland and converted that country to the Christian faith.[243]
As Alcuin says so tersely, Britain gave him birth but Ireland reared
and educated him. (“Quem tibi iam genuit fecunda Britannia mater
doctaque nutrivit studiis sed Hibernia sacris.”)[244] Bede mentions
other Anglo-Saxon missionaries who in addition to Wilibrord received
their training in Irish schools; of these the most familiar names are
Victbert and Hewald.[245] Agilbert, a native of Gaul, after spending
some time in Ireland studying the Scriptures, was appointed bishop
of the West Saxons in 650 A.D. and later occupied the episcopal see
of Paris.[246] Other distinguished students were the Angles, Chad
and Egbert. Bede tells us that Egbert spent a long time in exile in
Ireland studying the Scriptures.[247] Apparently the prestige of the
Irish schools continued to draw many students from England even after
the establishment of schools in their own country; for we find Aldhelm
(d. 709 A.D.) writing in a somewhat bitter mood to three young men
who had just returned from the Irish schools: “Why does Ireland pride
herself on such a priority that such numbers of students look there
from England, as if upon this fruitful soil there were not abundance
of _Argivi didasculi_ (or Greek masters), to be found fully capable
of solving the deepest problems of religion and satisfying the most
ambitious of students.”[248] Zimmer looks upon the reluctance of
Aldhelm to acknowledge the superiority of the Irish monastic schools as
an additional testimony in their favour.[249]
There are some grounds for believing that Alcuin whose name is
intimately connected with the Carolingian revival of learning studied
in Ireland, probably in Clonmacnoise. Meyer,[250] Joyce,[251] and
Healy,[252] do not hesitate to claim him as a student of Clonmacnoise.
Turner[253] thinks it more probable that he was a student of the
school of York (in which case he came under Irish as well as Roman
influence[254]) but regards him as representative of Irish rather than
English scholarship. The opinion that Alcuin studied at Clonmacnoise
is based on a letter[255] which is evidently one of a series written
by Alcuin to Colchu (d. 792 A.D.), Fer-leighinn, or Headmaster of the
school of Clonmacnoise. This Colchu was a very distinguished scholar
and teacher. There is no evidence that he ever left Ireland, but his
name was well known on the Continent. The general opinion of his
contemporaries was that “no one in any age or any country was equal to
him in learning, or equal to him in sanctity.”[256] In this letter,
which is of a very cordial nature, Alcuin styles Colchu his holy father
and speaks of himself as his son. The writer complains that for some
time past he was not deemed worthy to receive any of those letters
so precious in his sight, and concludes by saying he is sending a
messenger with presents from himself and King Charles (Charlemagne) to
Clonmacnoise and other Irish monasteries.[257] Dr. Healy points out
that some of these gifts are of such a nature as to suggest that Alcuin
had a personal knowledge of the needs of Irish monasteries.[258]
No doubt, further research would reveal many other instances of
foreign students who sought in Ireland and there were freely given the
education which was not available in their own lands. In summarising
the conclusions which we believe are justified by the facts presented
in this chapter we would say:
1. That both the monastic schools and the bardic schools were so
intimately connected with the native Irish social system that they were
not antagonistic but rather complementary to each other.
2. That these two classes of schools exerted a mutual influence on each
other: the aim of the monastic schools was frankly religious, yet
owing to the influence of the bardic schools vernacular learning was
not neglected; moreover, as we shall see later, the monks were led for
a variety of reasons to study the writings of the classical authors;
on the other hand, the bardic schools though mainly devoted to the
cultivation of native learning followed the example of the monastic
schools in introducing classical learning, thus widening their own
curriculum.
3. That with the abundant facilities thus afforded there was ample
opportunity for everyone who so desired to acquire liberal education in
either a lay or ecclesiastical school.
4. That though education was not universal nor compulsory, the great
body of the people without distinction of class or sex was not
uneducated.
5. That the educational advantages enjoyed by the Irish in their native
land were as freely extended to others irrespective of race or country.
6. That the educational influence of the Irish monastic schools reached
Britain and the Continent in two ways: first, numerous students from
foreign countries who studied in the schools of Ireland would on
returning to their own country naturally endeavour to transmit the
culture they had acquired during their residence in Ireland; secondly,
still more important was the influence of the numerous bands of Irish
missionaries who, as we have shown, established monasteries all over
Western Europe and whose love of learning was equalled only by their
zeal for Christianity.
CHAPTER V
CENTRES OF INTELLECTUAL LIFE IN IRISH MONASTERIES
In an Irish monastic school, as in the case of every other school,
the most important centre of intellectual life was the class-room.
Unlike our modern schools, however, these schools had to produce their
own text-books. This work was carried on in a special room called
the scriptorium. The work of the scriptorium was not limited to the
production of text-books. Often valuable books of more permanent
interest were written in the scriptorium and stored for reference in
a special room, the library. In this way copies of many of the most
treasured books of antiquity have been preserved for posterity. Indeed
the educational work of the scriptorium and the library was scarcely
less important than that of the class-room, or school proper. These
three centres of intellectual life were closely related to each other,
but each is sufficiently important to warrant a separate treatment.
THE SCHOOL:
In the last chapter we stated that the _aim_ of the monastic school
was frankly religious. In our next chapter we hope to prove that in
practice this did not necessarily mean a narrow _curriculum_. Here we
shall briefly state that the particulars we have been able to glean
on a miscellaneous collection of topics are of some interest to the
educationist. The data are so few on each topic that the treatment is
necessarily somewhat disconnected. In general these topics refer to
school age, accommodation of students, school buildings, methods of
teaching and pedagogical principles so far as they are revealed in the
meagre materials to hand.
Seven years was the age at which it was thought schooling should
begin.[259] We do not know exactly what provision was made for young
boys of this tender age, but we know that in case of the older students
a few resided in the school itself, so it is possible that the younger
children also resided in the school or in the houses of the teachers.
Many of the students lived in the houses of people in the neighbourhood
of the school, but the majority lived in huts which they built for
themselves near the school. Where the school was a large one these
huts were arranged in streets.[260] The poorer students lived in
houses with the richer ones whom they waited upon and served, receiving
in return food, clothing, and other necessities. Some even chose to
live in this matter, not through poverty but through a self-imposed
penance.[261]
There were no spacious lecture halls; the master taught and lectured
and the pupils studied very much in the open air, when weather
permitted.[262] Judging by the large number of monks in every monastery
and recalling the fact that teaching was regarded as a most meritorious
form of labour, we are inclined to think that there was a great deal of
individual teaching, or at least teaching in small groups, especially
when the weather was unfavourable for outdoor lectures. This conjecture
derives some support from Bede, who informs us that of the Anglo-Saxons
who went to Ireland many of them passed from one master’s cell to
another for instruction.[263]
METHODS OF TEACHING:
In teaching _reading_ it was usual to begin with the _Alphabet_.
St. Columba’s first alphabet was written or impressed upon a cake
which he afterwards ate as he played by the side of a stream near
his tutor’s home.[264] Sometimes the alphabet was engraved upon a
large stone.[265] The Psalms in Latin seem to have been the earliest
subject of instruction.[266] As we have seen these were learned by
rote, but judging by the numerous glosses and annotations[267] thereon
it is almost certain that the teachers were not satisfied with mere
repetition but explained the meaning thoroughly.
It may seem strange that the reading of Latin should be taught before
the reading of the vernacular. The explanation is simple. The Irish
alphabet is based on the Latin (as are the alphabets of most European
languages) and consequently suits the phonetic system of the Irish
language less perfectly than it does the Latin. Having learned the
alphabet the reading of Latin is comparatively easy even for young
students. At a later stage when the reading of the vernacular was
introduced progress was no doubt rapid since the student had merely to
associate the written symbols with sounds that were familiar to him.
The next stage was to teach writing. The letters were formed on a waxen
tablet (_polaire_ in Irish) with a pointed metal style (_graib_).[268]
One of these old-time tablets is now in the National Museum,
Dublin.[269] The writing on it is in Latin, apparently a pupil’s class
notes.
Joyce thinks that there were no elementary books for teaching Latin and
that the pupil had to face the difficulties of the language in a rough
and ready manner, beginning right away at the author.[270] With this
view we do not agree. There are still extant numerous vocabularies,
paradigms, treatises on declensions, and several copies of Priscian’s
grammatical tract all in the style of writing practised by Irish
scribes. In such works we have clear evidence of preparations made to
smooth the path for beginners. Our view is in harmony with the maxim
laid down in the eighth century gloss: “It is the custom with good
teachers (dagforcitlidib) to praise the understanding of their pupils
that _they may love what they hear_.”[271] There is a similar reminder
in another eighth century gloss.[272] This quotation is interesting
as showing that oral teaching was practised, that good teaching was
appreciated, that the methods of good teachers were commended for
imitation and further that the learning process was to be as pleasant
as possible. It would be a mistake to imagine that the desire to make
learning attractive began and ended with the carving of alphabets on
cakes. In the same connection we may refer to the practice of many
eminent teachers who were wont to compose educational poems embodying
the leading facts of history and other branches of instruction. A
considerable number of compositions in old Irish MSS. are of this
class. These poems were explained and commented upon by their authors
and learned by rote by the pupils. Flann of Monasterboice followed this
plan and we still have several of his educational poems on historical
subjects.[273]
There is a curious geographical poem[274] forming a sort of text-book
on general geography which was used in the school of Ros-Ailithir in
Cork of which the author MacCosse was Principal (Fer-gleighinn). This
poem contained practically all that was then known of the principal
countries of the world. It was written about the beginning of the tenth
century. The tenth century map of the world drawn in England for an
Anglo-Saxon is supposed to have been the work of an Irish artist.[275]
Although inaccurate in many particulars this map is historically
interesting as showing the state of geographical knowledge at this time.
In teaching Greek the Irish monks used the _Nermeneumata_ of the
Pseudo-Dositheus, the work of Macrobius _De Differentiis et Societatibus
Graeci Latinique Verbi_, Latin glosses and interlinear versions.[276]
With regard to the Pseudo-Dositheus and the book of Macrobius, Traube
believes that were it not for the fact that these books were used by the
Irish in teaching Greek both would have been lost to the afterworld.
Mrs. Concannon conjectures that the earliest teachers of Latin brought
with them to Ireland the third century _Disticha Catonis_ and used them
as materials for teaching as well as for moral instruction.[277] The
many copies of Priscian with numerous glosses thereon would suggest that
this work was extensively used in Irish monastic schools. Traube has
shown conclusively that the St. Gall copy of Priscian was written by
some friends of Sedulius (of Liège) and supposes it was copied in some
Irish monastery about the beginning of the ninth century and brought by
Irishmen to the Continent.[278] Indeed, the glosses everywhere furnish
objective proofs that the Irish monks were skilled practical teachers as
well as accomplished classical scholars. In all these interlinear and
marginal notes so abundant in the MSS. of the Old Irish period (prior to
900 A.D.) we see clear evidence of preparation for the work of teaching.
It is worthy of note that in the earlier stages of instruction the
pupil was encouraged to ask questions about the difficulties which he
encountered and the tutor was expected to explain everything that was
obscure to the learner. At a later stage the learner was questioned
to test whether he had grasped the meaning of what he read, and to
raise difficulties which he was required to explain.[279] In fact the
instruction would seem to have been thorough and in many respects was
at least equal in efficiency, if not in technique, to that imparted in
many of our modern schools. We are told that it was the special merit
of the tutor who obtained the degree known as _Sruth-do-aill_ that “he
was able to modify his instruction to the complexion of the information
in mercy to the people who were unable to follow the instruction of
a teacher of higher degree. In other words he was able to make hard
things easy to weak students who might get frightened in the presence
of the formidable scholar.”[280] This would show that the question of
“individual differences” was a live one in pedagogical circles in those
days and that a genuine attempt was made to solve it. When we come in a
later chapter to discuss the characteristics of the groups of figures
represented on the sculptured crosses we shall see that the value of
“visual instruction” was appreciated.
THE SCRIPTORIUM:
The function of the scriptorium was to supply text-books for the
school, service books for the church and monastic community, and works
of a more general and ambitious nature for the library. Our knowledge
of the internal life of the scriptorium is unfortunately very limited
and is deduced almost entirely from an examination of the MSS. produced
therein. It would seem that the scriptorium was not unlike a modern
school-room in some respects. In silence the younger members of the
monastic community and other students sat there writing out and
multiplying books, sometimes from dictation, sometimes by copying.
An invigilator sat there also to preserve silence and to act as task
master. On the margins of the MSS. we sometimes find short fragmentary
notes devoid of literary value, but of deep human interest as showing
that unregenerate human nature had its opportunities even in a monastic
scriptorium as much as in a modern school-room. These notes[281] are
supposed to be fragments of conversations carried on _sotto voce_
to evade the rule of silence and doubtlessly notes were scribbled
surreptitiously to companions. Though all too few these vivid human
touches add not a little to our knowledge of student life in those far
off days.
The scribes made all the _writing materials_: tablets, vellum, ink,
pens. We have shown that _wax tablets_ were used in teaching writing.
They were also used in teaching reading, and for such temporary
purposes as taking notes of a sermon or lecture.[282] Adamnan writing
in the seventh century mentions that he inscribed certain writings
first on wax tablets and afterwards on vellum.[283] For memoranda
a _slate and pencil_ were also used, as we learn from the story of
Cinnfaela the Learned. When he was at the school of Tuaim Drecain, now
Tom Regan in Co. Cavan, he wrote down roughly on slates what he heard
during the day, but at night he transferred the entries into a vellum
book.[284] These tablets were made of long strips of wood and covered
with beeswax. In shape they were sometimes like short swords.
The schools prepared their own vellum or parchment from the skins of
goats, sheep, and calves. This parchment was usually finely polished,
but sometimes it was hard and not well cleaned. The parchment prepared
by the Irish scribes was much thicker than that used by the French from
the seventh to the tenth century: thus we have an additional means
whereby we can identify Irish MSS. on the Continent.[285]
The ink was made of carbon. It has been found to resist all the
chemical tests for iron. The blackness of the ink even at the present
day is quite remarkable. The writing of the _Book of Armagh_, for
instance, is as black as if it were written yesterday.[286]
The ink was very likely made of lampblack, or possibly of fish bone
black.[287] When we come to describe the illuminated MSS. which remain
to attest the artistic skill of the monastic scribes we shall see
that not only were they experts at making a superior quality of ink
but, what is still more remarkable, they manufactured a large variety
of pigments which even at the present day have lost little of their
original brilliancy after a lapse of one thousand years.
PENS:
The beauty, neatness, and perfect uniformity of the handwriting in
old Irish MSS. have led some antiquarians to express an opinion that
the scribes used metal pens; but such an opinion is quite untenable.
Keller has shown that the pens were made from the quills of geese,
swans, crows, and other birds.[288] This is also the opinion of Miss
Stokes.[289] One of the pictures in the _Book of Kells_ confirms this
view. This is a picture representing St. John the Evangelist engaged in
writing the Gospel. He holds a pen in his hand the feather of which can
be clearly detected.[290] The inkstand is also represented by a slender
conical cup fastened to the corner of the chair on which he is sitting
or upon a stick stuck in the ground.
The old scribes sometimes wrote with the book resting upon the knees
using a flat board for support. But when writing became more elaborate
and ornamental a desk was used and, if necessary, a maulstick to
support the wrist.[291]
THE SCRIBE:
In almost every monastery there was at least one especially expert
scribe who was selected partly because of his scholarship, and partly
because of his skill in penmanship. Outside of the time set apart
for religious exercises the scribe devoted almost his whole time to
the work of copying and multiplying books. At a time when there were
no printed books we can easily imagine the important part played by
the scribe in the educational life of the monastery. Not only did
the scribes produce the necessary books for class use, but by their
indefatigable industry they preserved those valuable relics of the
past—a large mass of historical records and numerous specimens of the
literature of ancient times. To copy a book was considered a highly
meritorious work, especially if it were a part of the Scriptures, or
any other book on sacred or devotional subjects.[292] The scribe was
therefore highly honoured. The Brehon Laws prescribed the same penalty
for the murder of a scribe as for that of an abbot or bishop and, as we
pointed out,[293] the Annals in recording the death of a man otherwise
learned or eminent whether bishop, abbot, priest, or lay professor
considered it an enhancement of his dignity to add that he was an
excellent scribe, _scribhneoir tocchaidhe_. The _Four Masters_ record
the obits of 61 eminent scribes before the year 900 A.D. of whom 40
lived between 700 and 800 A.D. One has only to glance at some of the
MSS. that have come down to us to realise what excellent penmen these
ancient scribes were. Such skill could only be acquired after years of
careful training. As will be shown later the scribe was an accomplished
artist as well as an expert penman.
IRISH SCRIPT:
The Irish style of writing played an important part in development not
only of the modern Irish hand, but of the style of writing practised
for centuries in England and to some extent on the Continent also,
hence the necessity of giving a brief account of its history. There
is little doubt that Ireland modelled her national script on the
Roman half-uncial hand, but, as Reeves has pointed out, the Greek and
Roman letters as written by the Irish scribes mutually affected each
other and gave the Irish alphabet, especially in the capitals that
peculiar form which distinguishes it from all others.[294] The Roman
half-uncial hand, however, was the basis from which the characteristic
Irish had developed. In the words of a recognised authority,[295] “The
Irish scribe adopted the Roman half-uncial script and then with his
own innate sense of beauty of form he produced from it the handsome
literary hand which culminated in the native half-uncial writing as
seen in perfection in the _Book of Kells_ and contemporary MSS. of
the latter part of the seventh century. But the round half-uncial
hand thus formed was too elaborate for the ordinary uses of life. It
was necessary to produce a script that would serve all the duties
of a current hand. Therefore, taking the Roman half-uncial hand the
Irish scribe adapted it to commoner uses, and writing the letters more
negligently he evolved the compact, pointed minuscule hand which became
the current form of handwriting of the country and which again in
its turn was in the course of time moulded into the book hand which
superseded the half-uncial.” The absence of an extraneous influence
was an important factor in aiding the development of a strongly
characteristic national hand which ran its uninterrupted course down to
the late Middle Ages and is still retained with slight variations in
the writing of Modern Irish. The high degree of cultivation of Irish
writing did not result from the genius of single individuals, but
from the emulation of various schools of writing and the improvements
of several generations. “There is not a single letter in the entire
alphabet which does not give evidence both in the general form and in
its minutest parts of the sound judgment and taste of the penman.”[296]
IRISH HAND ABROAD:
Not only did the Irish perfect this script in the schools of their
native land, but they carried it with them when they went abroad and
taught it in the schools which they founded in foreign countries. Owing
to the fact that the Irish schools kept up the tradition of Greek
and Latin learning, philologists and palaeographers have studied the
development of Irish writing very carefully with a view to determining
the dates of classical MSS. which were transcribed by Irish monks or
their pupils. The most important of these studies are those made by
Keller[297] and Lindsey.[298] The work of these scholars has placed the
question of the influence of the Irish style of writing beyond dispute.
“England borrowed it _en bloc_; and in the Early Middle Ages the Irish
missionaries who spread over the continent of Europe and who became the
founders of religious houses carried their native script with them and
taught it to their pupils. Thus in such centres as Luxeuil in France,
Würzburg in Germany, St. Gall in Switzerland, and Bobbio in Italy,
Irish writing flourished and MSS. in the Irish hand multiplied. At
first there was no difference between the writing in these MSS. and
that in the Irish codices actually written in Ireland. But as might be
expected the script thus employed in isolated foreign places gradually
deteriorated as the bonds with the native hand relaxed and the Irish
monks died off.”[299] From these MSS. written in the characteristic
Irish script we are able to form some idea, though an inadequate
one, of the magnitude and importance of the work done by the Irish
monks in preserving the ancient classics. Moreover, in addition to
those MSS. described as _Scottice Scripta_ by continental librarians,
Zimmer has shown that many of the MSS. ostensibly the work of the
continental scholars are in reality the work of Irish monks.[300] The
explanation is that those monks who studied on the Continent tried as
far as possible to accustom themselves to the forms of the letters
used by continental scholars. For instance, this is the case of all
the documents written by Moengal at St. Gall between the years 853–860
A.D.[301]
LIBRARIES:
An important feature of every monastic school was the library, or _tech
screptra_, as it is styled in the older Irish MSS. When we recall
the fame of these schools, the needs of the students, and the number
of scribes whose business it was to cater to these needs we might
reasonably infer that these libraries were provided with text-books
and with books for general reading. These libraries differed widely
from our modern libraries. There were no shelves for rows of books,
but there was another arrangement which was more suitable for the type
of book then in use. The books were kept in satchels hung on pegs or
racks round the room. Each satchel containing one or more volumes
was labelled on the outside. The satchels were of embossed leather
beautifully adorned with designs of interlaced ornament so common
in Irish art. Many specimens of these satchels are on view in the
National Museum, Dublin, and there is one in Corpus Christi College,
Oxford.[302] These satchels were also used when carrying a book from
place to place.
The book itself was of parchment. Manuscripts which were greatly valued
were usually kept in elaborately embossed leather covers of which two
are still preserved, namely, the cover of the _Book of Armagh_,[303]
and that of the Shrine of St. Maidoc.[304]
Books abounded in Ireland when the Danes made their appearance there
about the end of the eighth century; hence the pride with which the
old writers referred to “the hosts of the books of Erin.” But with
the first Danish incursions began an era of burning and pillaging the
monasteries and consequently a woeful destruction of MSS., the records
of the ancient learning. The special fury of the invaders appears
to have been directed against books, monasteries, and monuments of
religion. All the books they could lay hands upon they either burned
or “drowned” by throwing them into the nearest river, or lake. For two
centuries this wanton destruction continued, and ceased only when the
Danes were finally crushed at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 A.D.[305]
During the Danish period missionaries and scholars who went abroad
carried with them great numbers of MSS. As a result of the exportation
as well as of the destruction of MSS. we can merely conjecture as to
the extent and value of the books in a library attached to a great
Irish monastic school during the period covered by our investigation.
Fortunately, however, we are able to describe the contents of the
libraries of the Irish establishment of St. Gall in Switzerland, and
Bobbio in Italy, and this may serve to give us some idea of the wealth
of material the Irish libraries once possessed, but most of it is now
irreparably lost.
A catalogue of the Bobbio library was made between the years 967–972
A.D. It is attributed to the Abbot Gerbert who afterwards became
Pope Silvester II.[306] At this time the library contained about 700
volumes,[307] of which 479 had been acquired gradually from various
unstated sources, and over 220 had been presented by scholars who
are named with the list of books they had given,[308] 43 having been
a donation from the famous Irish monk Dungal who presided over the
school of Pavia.[309] This catalogue itself is strong objective
evidence for the claim we are making that the classical authors were
read. The list of MSS. shows that both Greek and Latin classics, were
well represented. Among others we find works by the following authors:
Terence, Lucretius, Virgil, Ovid, Lucian, Martial, Juvenal, Claudian,
Cicero, Seneca, and the Elder Pliny;[310] also Persius, Flaccus,
Horace, Demosthenes, and Aristotle.[311]
The greater part of the Bobbio collection has been dispersed through
the libraries of Rome, Milan, Naples, and Vienna.[312] It is
practically certain that the Ambrosian palimpsest of Plautus and those
of several of Cicero’s orations and of the letters of Fronto discovered
in the Ambrosian Library (Milan) early in the ninth century all came
from the monastery founded by the Irish monk of Bobbio.[313] Among
other MSS. which once belonged to Bobbio may be mentioned fragments
of Symmachus (in Milan) and the Theodosian Code (formerly in Turin),
Scholia on Cicero (v. century) MSS. of St. Luke (v.–vi. cent.), St.
Severinus (vi. cent.), Josephus (vi.–vii.), Gregory’s Dialogue (c. 750)
and St. Isadore’s (before 840). Last but not least we must mention the
“Muratori Fragment” (viii. cent., or earlier), the earliest extant list
of Books of the New Testament.[314]
St. Agilius (St. Aile), a pupil of St. Columbanus the founder of
Bobbio, was first abbot of the monastery founded at Resbacus (Rébais,
east of Paris) in 634 A.D.[315] The MSS. copied there included the
works of Terence, Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Donatus, Priscian and
Boethius.[316]
The libraries of the Irish monasteries of Würzburg and Reichau seem
to have been large and important. Many existing Irish MSS. come from
these two monasteries. Unfortunately, no old catalogue of the Würzburg
collection seems to have come down to us. In the case of Reichau (Augia
Major) on Lake Constance a catalogue was made while Erlebald was abbot
between 822 and 838 A.D. The number of MSS. given in this catalogue is
415 of which 30 were written in Erlebald’s time.[317]
Important though the collections of Rébais, Würzburg and Reichau
undoubtedly were they are overshadowed by the greater fame of Bobbio.
Indeed there is only one library that could compare with Bobbio either
for the extent or the value of its MSS., and that was the library
of St. Gall or Sangallen in Switzerland. This great monastery was
founded by St. Gall (in Irish Cellach), the pupil and companion of
St. Columbanus, about the year of 612 A.D. In the ninth century
the library of St. Gall possessed 533 volumes, nine of them being
palimpsests.[318] This library was famous during the Middle Ages. The
Fathers who attended the Council of Constance depended mainly for
reference on the valuable MSS. in this library to which they had free
access; and, sad to relate, when the Council broke up in 1418 A.D. many
of these holy men neglected to return these valuable old theological
works in Latin and Greek.[319] This same library came to another loss
two years earlier, in 1416, when Poggio, the Florentine scholar, with
two learned friends who had been engaged at the Council visited St.
Gall. Having a season of leisure they made a search for some missing
volumes of Cicero, Livy, and other classical writers. Nor were they
disappointed. Among other precious tomes they discovered the well-known
_Argonauticon_ of Flaccus, copies of eight of Cicero’s orations with
valuable commentaries by Asconius Pedianus, the works of the Roman
architect Vitruvius, also the works of Priscian, of Quintilian, of
Lucretius, and of other great scholars.[320]
In many libraries of Europe there are MSS. written, or copied, by
Irish monks during the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries. These
MSS. are bound together into Codices which are named either after the
principal work included therein, or after the monastery where they
were written, or sometimes from the library where they are at present
deposited. These Codices contain copies of the classics, treatises
on grammar, the Psalms, the Epistles of St Paul, and other portions
of the Scriptures, Lives of the Saints, Hymns, Bede’s Ecclesiastical
History of England, &c. Scribes when studying these often added glosses
and scholia either on the margin or between the lines to explain the
Latin and Greek words of the text. Sometimes as in the case of the
Psalms and of Priscian’s grammatical tract these glosses were copious
and show that the scribe had availed himself freely of the work of
earlier commentators. These glosses have been a rich mine to students
of philology and have been extensively used for linguistic purposes
containing as they do many of the most archaic forms of the Irish
language. The meaning of these Old Irish words can now be obtained from
the Greek and Latin words which were originally explained by the Irish
words. Some of these MSS. were written by Irishmen on the Continent,
while others were written in Ireland and carried to the Continent by
other monks who deposited them in the libraries of their monasteries.
LIST[321] OF LIBRARIES CONTAINING MSS. WITH IRISH GLOSSES THEREON NOT
LATER THAN END OF NINTH OR BEGINNING OF TENTH CENTURY:
1. Trinity College Library, Dublin.
2. Library of the Franciscan Monastery, Dublin.
3. Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.
4. British Museum, London.
5. Lambert Library, South London.
6. University Library, Cambridge, England.
7. Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
8. St. John’s College, Cambridge.
9. Bodleian Library, Oxford, England.
10. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
11. Library of Nancy.
12. Library of Cambray.
13. University Library, Leyden.
14. University Library, Würzburg.
15. Hof-und Landesbibliothek, Carlsruhe.
16. Royal Library, Munich.
17. Library of the Monastery of Engelberg.
18. Library of St. Paul’s Kloster in Carinthia.
19. Royal Library, Dresden.
20. Stadtbibliothek, Schaffhausen.
21. Royal Library, Vienna.
22. Stifsbibliothek, St. Gall.
23. Stadtbibliothek, Berne.
24. Ambrosian Library, Milan.
25. Vatican Library, Rome.
26. University Library, Turin.
27. Biblioteca Nazionale, Turin.
28. Laurentian Library, Florence.
These numerous and valuable MSS. that have come down to us are in
themselves the most convincing evidence of the zeal of the Irish
monks for the promotion and transmission of classical learning. There
can be little doubt that these Irish scholars under the most adverse
circumstances fostered learning during the dark ages that preceded
the Renaissance and, as we have seen, when the great awakening came
one of the sources from which the treasures of classical antiquity
emerged were the monastic libraries that contained the MSS. copied, or
preserved, with loving care by Irish scribes and scholars.
In this chapter we have endeavoured to show how the zeal for learning
which inspired the teacher in the class-room was carried into the
scriptorium; how the scribes with patient industry copied, and so
transmitted, the relics of classical antiquity; and how these relics
were preserved to the afterworld in the great monastic libraries. The
direct contribution made by the Irish monks of the Early Middle Ages
to contemporary education will be studied in the next chapter. Here
we would emphasise the fact that the full significance of the Irish
monastic schools as an educational factor cannot be understood unless
we realize the importance of the combined, as well as the separate,
contribution of these three great centres of intellectual activity, the
school, the scriptorium and the library.
CHAPTER VI
COURSE OF STUDIES
Perhaps the question of greatest interest to the student of the
history of Education of the Early Middle Ages is the character of
curriculum taught in the Irish Monastic Schools during the period
under investigation. Most writers have conveniently avoided all
reference to this question or they have contented themselves with
vague generalizations which may mean much or little in proportion to
the reader’s own familiarity with the history of the period. We are
told, for example, that the Irish monks were possessors of a higher
culture than was found elsewhere in Europe and that they taught all
the knowledge of their time. Such statements are not particularly
helpful. Dr. Joyce, however, has tried to be more explicit. Utilising
the materials brought to light through the publication of the Brehon
Laws and availing himself of the researches of O’Curry and other Irish
scholars, he has compiled[322] two Tables of Degrees and Subjects
of Study. In the first he gives the courses of study for Monastic
and Bardic Schools in parallel columns. This course appears to have
been carefully graded and extends over a period of twelve years. The
second table is quite different from the first. It is designated the
“Seven Grades or Orders of Wisdom.” The former scheme would seem to
have the students in view while the latter has reference mainly to the
professors or teachers of whom three of the lower grades, or orders,
were themselves learners. This shows that in the Irish schools the
functions of teaching and learning were closely related, and it often
happened that the same person was at one time under instruction of
the professors in the grades above him while at another time he was
employed in teaching junior scholars.
From an examination of these two schemes we feel justified in drawing
the following conclusions:
1. That the scheme of education was carefully graduated and extended
over a period of several years, probably from 7 to 26 years in the case
of monastic students and from 7 to 30 years for lay students.
2. The lay or bardic studies were limited originally to native secular
learning.
3. That the monastic course included both secular and religious
studies, that both Latin and the vernacular were used as a medium of
instruction, and that the study of native literature was not neglected.
4. That in the monastic school special attention was given to the study
of the Sacred Scriptures—both the Old and the New Testament.
5. That there would appear to have been more rote memory work in the
Bardic than in the Monastic school.
6. That there was frequent questioning and explanation in the Monastic
school.
7. That the degree of Ollamh or Doctor was reserved for those whose
learning was profound. That this great scholar was entitled to the
highest honour: when he visited the palace he had the privilege of
sitting in the banqueting-house with the king.
While we believe the above conclusions fully warranted, we confess
that many of the terms used in both schemes are either so vague or so
obscure that we do not feel satisfied that an adequate idea of the
course of study in the Irish monastic schools can be derived from
this source. We propose to supplement Dr. Joyce’s helpful but rather
meagre account by many additional facts which have been gleaned from an
examination of the acknowledged works of Irish writers of this period
and such references as are met with in the works of other writers.
We hope to show that the curriculum was a comparatively broad one,
including not only the study of the Sacred Scriptures with the
commentaries of the Greek and Latin Fathers, but also the study of
the pagan authors of Greece and Rome. Nor was the study of the Irish
language and literature neglected. Science in the modern sense of the
word was unknown, but as regards Geography, Computation, and Astronomy
the Irish Monastic Schools were quite as far advanced as any in Europe
and certainly far ahead of their neighbours. At least in the ninth
century philosophy and dialectic were eagerly studied. We shall have a
word to say about the Irish school of church music. Art too flourished,
especially the illumination of manuscripts, various ornamental forms of
metal work and stone-carving.
No doubt the primary aim of the Irish monastic school was the teaching
and study of Christian theology, but just as Christianity itself did
not mean the abolition but rather the fulfilment of Hebrew ideals and
traditions, so when Christianity was introduced into Ireland where an
ancient native culture was flourishing the new culture did not displace
the old but rather combined with it to form a new type of culture
which in course of time became at once both Irish and Christian.
In the schools everything that was not absolutely opposed to the
ideals of Christianity was utilised to enrich the course of study.
Thus the native laws, literature, music and art became the handmaid
of Christianity. The same liberal and enlightened conception of
education would explain the success with which the Irish monks pursued
the study of the pagan classics. The literary taste already acquired
through a study of native literature was entirely favourable to the
appreciation and enjoyment of the great authors of antiquity. Besides
the Christianity of the Irish monk was sufficiently robust to prevent
any of those scruples of conscience which were said to have haunted the
continental monk who loved his Virgil.[323] Indeed the stories in the
classics about gods and goddesses would be regarded by the Irish purely
from a literary and artistic standpoint and could have little religious
significance for them since there was little in common between the
paganism of Greece and Rome and such remnants of paganism as still
survived in Ireland. On the Continent the case was different, hence
the suspicion with which continental ecclesiastics regarded the study
of writings other than those of the Fathers and as they were ignorant
of Greek they had to confine themselves solely to the Latin Fathers.
Not so the Irish monks as we shall see later. Moreover, the anxiety
to obtain more perfect copies of the Scriptures was an additional
and perhaps more powerful incentive to the Irish monk to make himself
familiar with the classical forms of Greek and Latin.
If this is a correct interpretation of the educational situation
confronting the Irish monastic schools—and the evidence we shall
produce is overwhelming—then we shall see how unwarranted is the
statement of a recent writer[324] that the learning of the Irish
was wholly psalm-singing and theology—not the classics; and that
the _maiora studia_ referred to by Bede meant the Scriptures,—not
philosophy and literature.
STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES:
We admit that the Scriptures were the great, but by no means the only,
subject of study.[325] As early as the fifth century the Irish poet
Sedulius wrote his _Carmen Pascale_ in which he recounts the chief
events of the Old and New Testament giving us “the first Christian epic
worthy of the name.”[326] The Psalms were learned by rote.[327] The
_Book of Armagh_ written by an Irish scribe and finished in 807 A.D.
contains the only complete copy of the New Testament which has come
down from the days of the Celtic Church.[328] The Old Testament must
have been well known judging from the many existing fragments with
glosses and scholia thereon in the handwriting of Irish scribes,[329]
not to speak of commentaries like that of Aileran The Wise (d. 665
A.D.)[330] and innumerable Scriptural references in the religious
literature of Ireland which is written both in the Gaelic and Latin
languages. Indeed so famous were the Irish monastic schools for
Scriptural studies that one of the causes which drew foreigners to the
Irish schools was the prospect of reading the Sacred Writings in the
MSS. so abundantly furnished through the untiring industry of the Irish
scribes. Among the more noteworthy visitors who came for this purpose
was Agilbert, a native of Gaul, who came in 650 A.D. to Ireland where
“he sojourned some time and read the Scriptures.”[331] On his return he
became bishop of the West Saxons, and later occupied the episcopal see
of Paris.[332] The Angle Egbert also spent some time in Ireland “as an
exile for Christ that he might study the Scriptures.”[333]
The religious education of the Irish monastery was not confined to the
singing of hymns and the recitation of psalms as has been asserted.
Indeed such exercises formed but a minor part in the monastic scheme.
The monks had advanced beyond this elementary stage long before they
came to the larger schools.[334] The sacred reading consisted in the
study and interpretation of the Bible.[335] Their aim was to search
for the spiritual sense and message of the great Book. The higher
criticism of these days was then unknown. The investigation of the
question of more or less enlightening dates, the details regarding
natural life and environment, as well as questions of authorship, the
history of particular books, as also all discussion of linguistic and
literary form were matters that were wisely left to later times. In
the _Interpretatio mystica progenitorum Christi_[336] of Aileran we
have an interesting example of a style of commentary which must have
been usual in the Irish schools of the seventh century. Aileran quotes
not only St. Jerome and St. Augustine but what is more remarkable he
cites Origen, the great genius of the Alexandrine school as well as
Philo, the Alexandrine Jew.[337] Aileran was not the only Irish monk
of the seventh century who showed ability and diligence in research.
We have a still more striking example in the case of Cummian Fada (d.
661). Cummian flourished during the years of the Paschal controversy.
About the year 630 A.D. a National Synod was held to discuss the
advisability of adopting the Roman method of calculating Easter.
There was a sharp difference of opinion and owing to insufficiency of
information it was necessary to suspend judgment. Cummian was requested
to investigate the matter. He tells us how he retired for a whole year
into the sanctuary of sacred study to examine as best he could the
testimonies of the Scriptures, the facts of history, and the nature of
the various cycles in use. The results of his year’s study he sums up
in his Epistle.[338] He quotes St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Cyprian
and St. Gregory on the unity of the Church. He then refers to the
cycles of Anatolius, Theophilus, Dionysius, Cyril, Morinus, Augustine,
Victorius, and Pachomius.[339] In other words his researches showed a
wonderful familiarity with the whole subject. In other fields, too, an
astonishing range of reading is noticeable; for example, Aengus in his
Felire[340] written about 800 A.D. cites Jerome, Ambrose and Eusebius
as well as “the countless hosts of the illuminated books of Erin.”
These examples would at least go to show that the Irish monks had an
intimate acquaintance with the writings of the Latin and Greek Fathers
but it still remains to be shown that the pagan classical authors were
studied.
STUDY OF THE LATIN CLASSICAL AUTHORS:
We have three sources of evidence that the writings of the great
classical writers were not neglected as has sometimes been asserted.
These sources are: 1, the numerous works of classical authors which
have been copied and preserved in the Irish monastic libraries
especially those of St. Gall in Switzerland and Bobbio in Italy; 2, the
marginal and interlinear glosses on various MSS. earlier than the tenth
century; 3, the quotations and imitations of classical writers which
are revealed by study of the actual writing of early Irish mediæval
writers.
In the section of Chapter V dealing with Irish libraries we discussed
fully the first source of evidence and pointed out the influence of
these libraries in late mediæval times. In more than one instance
we had occasion to refer to the glosses as exemplifying different
phases of intellectual activity in the Irish monastic school. Here
we would emphasise the fact that these glosses furnish another
objective proof that the Irish monks studied and taught the classics
as well as the writings of the Fathers. There is considerable variety
in the glosses. Generally they are in the nature of explanations
written usually in Irish or Latin but occasionally in Greek. They
consist mainly of explanations of obscure passages. They give various
historical, mythological, and archæological details. They contain
definitions, translations of individual words, free translations of
idiomatic expressions, illustrations of the correct use of certain
words, a summary of the observations of previous commentators and an
elucidation of obscure allusions. In short they contain all that varied
and supplementary matter which is essential when making an intensive
study of a difficult book. These notes were at once grammatical and
encyclopædic.[341]
A good example of this kind of work occurs in the _Codex Sangallensis_
containing one of the many copies of Priscian’s Grammar which were
written by Irish scribes. Traube has shown that it was written by
some of the friends of Sedulius (of Liège) and supposes that it was
copied in some Irish monastery and brought by wandering Irishmen to
the Continent. The text is in different hands. The glosses too are
in different hands from those which wrote the Latin text. At least
three different hands are distinguished. The authorities relied upon
by the glossators are: Origen, Isidore, Jerome, Augustine, Gregory,
Hilary, Primascius, Virgilius, Ambrosius, Boethius, Cassianus,
Dionysius, Thrax, Gaudentius, Baeda, Orascius, Cicero (not the orator,
but an obscure grammarian), Hieronymus, Lactantius, Maximianus,
Papirinus, Polibius, Medicus, and Probus.[342] The very fact of
being familiar with such an array of grammarians and authors is
enough to justify Sedulius (at Liège 840–860 A.D.) in describing
himself and his fellow-countrymen as _docti grammatici_.[343] One
of them wrote a treatise on the Art of Versification, _Tractus de
Metrica Ratione_,[344] which Zimmer styles a grammatical treatise
of importance.[345] Clement (d. 826 A.D.) who succeeded Alcuin as
Instructor to the Imperial Court of Charles the Great,[346] _magister
palatinus_ as he was called, wrote a grammatical work[347] which is
famous for its erudition and for the wide range of reading which it
shows, especially interesting is his reference to the Greeks “who are
our masters in all branches of learning.”[348]
These grammatical treatises were much more than books on formal
grammar. They dealt with the principles of rhetoric and the art of
versification and when enriched by commentaries they must have occupied
a prominent place in the educational literature of their own as well
as of the succeeding centuries; for we should remember that in those
days scholars were inclined to supplement existing works by adding
commentaries rather than to attempt anything along original lines.
However, many of the Irish monks were accomplished scholars and authors
as well as commentators. In this connection many names might be cited,
one of the most versatile being Sedulius who taught at Liège from
840 to 860 A.D.[349] Besides writing commentaries on the Scriptures,
a grammatical treatise, and a work on the theory of government, he
composed numerous poems of much merit.[350] With Sedulius we might
rank Donatus (824–874 A.D.), bishop of Fiesole, who was also a poet.
Among his poems there is one in which he gives a beautiful description
of Ireland and shows that he has a high ideal of the mission of his
race. He describes himself as _Scottorum sangine creatus_ and tells
how he united the duties of bishop to those of teacher of grammar and
poetry.[351]
Such varied activities as copying and glossing the writings of
classical authors, teaching poetry, and writing treatises on grammar
are sufficient to suggest that the literary interests of the Irish
monks extended beyond psalm-singing and a study of the writings of
the Fathers. Even if their primary interest was the study of the
Scriptures this very interest created a need for an abundance of
correct texts. This naturally led to a careful study of orthography
and the production of treatises on grammar in the broad sense in which
we have defined the term. Possibly at first the rudiments of grammar
were all that was necessary, but as Mr. Roger so aptly remarks,[352]
“l’émulation créée par l’expansion du monachisme, la hardiesse et la
curiosité naturelles des Irlandais, le désir d’approcher de plus en
plus la pensée divine en pénétrant le sens d’Écriture, le goût pour
l’étude qui n’était pas une nouveauté en Irlande, les entraînent au
delà de ces éléments.” Thus having surmounted preliminary difficulties
it was but natural that they whose literary taste had been developed by
the study of their vernacular literature should not hesitate to study
the classical authors. There was no fear of the return of paganism;
to the Irish the Greek and Latin deities made no appeal. As they were
not likely to sacrifice their faith to pagan rhetoric there was no
necessity to confine themselves to rustic Latin as was the custom with
the early Christians on the Continent who were daily drawing farther
and farther away from correct classical forms. Hence _a priori_ there
are many reasons why we should expect to find traces of the classics in
the writings of the Irish monks. This view is confirmed by an actual
analysis of the existing works of writers of this period.
In the case of the prose works which we have mentioned the more or
less technical nature of the subject did not afford scope for the
cultivation of a classical style. What was essential was a lucid
exposition of the thought-content expressed in clear, correct,
intelligible language and this they undoubtedly possessed.[353]
With poetry, however, the case was different. Here naturally enough
we find clear traces of the influence of the classical poets, and
even in the prose of Irish scholars this same influence is often
noticeable. Virgil in particular would appear to have been a special
favourite. In this connection it is significant to find Old Irish
seventh century glosses on the scholia of Iunius Philargyrius on the
Bucolics.[354] Adamnan (624–704 A.D.) knew Virgil well. In his _Vita
Sancti Columbae_, as Reeves has pointed out, there is clear evidence
that he was familiar with the Georgics.[355] Roger has found traces
of both the Georgics and the Aeneid as well as allusions to the
authors Plautus and Suetonius.[356] Indeed it has been rigorously
established that the extracts from Philargyrius already referred to
are the work of no other than Adamnan himself.[357] Muirchu who
wrote the _Memoirs of St. Patrick_, in obedience to the command of
Bishop Aed of Sletty (d. 698 A.D.) was inspired by Virgil and perhaps
by Apollonius of Rhodes.[358] Columbanus (540–615 A.D.) was in many
ways the most striking figure of his time. We have referred to the
success of his missionary work.[359] As a classical scholar he was
no less remarkable. He did not arrive on the Continent until he was
fifty[360] years old and as his life there was filled with missionary
work his scholarship must be considered as representative of the
Bangor school where he spent so many years of his life as a student
and a teacher. Columbanus arrived in Gaul about twenty years before
the death of Gregory of Tours. But, as a distinguished French author
remarks, it is sufficient to glance at the writings of Columbanus
to recognise immediately their marvellous superiority over those of
Gregory, or of the Gallo-Romans of his time.[361] He wrote an ode in
Adonic verse which abounds in apt classical allusions.[362] In his
poetry he imitated or cited Horace and Virgil and he has at least one
quotation from the satires of Juvenal. Gundlach who submitted both the
prose writings and the poetical Epistolae of Columbanus to a careful
investigation, discovered in them quotations from, or reminiscences
of, Persius, Virgil, Horace, Sallust, Ovid, Juvenal, as well as of the
Christian poets Juvencus, Prudentius and Ausonius.[363] The familiarity
with the writings of the classical authors so noticeable in the case of
Columbanus is by no means an isolated phenomenon. A period spent in a
continental library in exploring the collection of mediæval MSS. seldom
fails to be rewarded by the discovery of additional writings of Irish
scholars.[364] Thus in recent years Traube found in a MS. in Florence
verses[365] composed by an abbot named Cellanus who has been identified
with Cellach or Cellanus, the abbot of Peronne who succeeded Ultan, the
brother of St. Fursey. Cellanus (d. 706 A.D.) is supposed to be the
anonymous monk who wrote a letter to Aldhelm in which the educational
influence of Irish scholars in England is referred to.[366] Cellanus,
like his contemporary Adamnan, is familiar with Virgil;[367] while
Cadoc, a student of Lismore, is said to have known Virgil by rote.[368]
We might give many more instances showing the continuity of Irish
classical scholarship during the sixth, seventh and eighth centuries,
but enough have been given to appreciate the tribute of Kerr when he
says:[369] “The Latin education in Ireland began earlier and was better
maintained than in other countries. The English and Teutonic nations
received instruction from the Irish, and that not only at the beginning
of their studies: Irish learning did not exhaust itself in missionary
work and was not merged in the progress of its German pupils; it kept
its vivifying power through many generations, and repeated in the ninth
century the good works of the fifth, again contributing fresh material
and a still rarer spirit of inquiry to the common erudition of the
Continent.”
That the classical learning carried back into Gaul by the Irish monks
did not immediately produce any very encouraging results can be largely
accounted for by the disturbed social conditions. The rivalries and
weakness of the Merovingian kings prolonged the period of disorder
and violence. Besides, according to Jonas,[370] the negligence of the
bishops consequent on the troubled situation was as culpable as the
frequency of wars for the decay of religion. Hence the activities of
the Irish monks were naturally directed partly at least into other
channels in trying to bring about a reform in the morals of the people.
To quote Roger:[371] “Tandis que saint Benoît trace, avec sérénité, un
plan complet de la vie monastique, saint Columban oppose a la violence
des vices, dans une société corrompue, la violence dans la penitence;
il trace un plan d’attaque où il met toute la fouge de son caractère.
La vertu de la religion était presque abolie; il s’efforce de la
ranimer et de rendre à la foi l’efficacité qu’elle avait perdue.”
Under the enlightened policy of Charlemagne there was a distinct
improvement in the social condition of the people, but the part
played by the Irish monks during the seventh and eighth centuries in
helping to bring about the moral regeneration of the people must not
be overlooked; for even though this aspect of their work lies outside
our present study, we cannot completely ignore those social factors
which delayed the realization of a literary renaissance until the
ninth century. Whether or not the efforts of Charlemagne “resulted
in a revival of learning far more important in its consequences than
that which is known as _the_ Renaissance”[372] it can no longer be
questioned that “during the reign of Charlemagne and his immediate
successors the chief share of the literary revival which belongs to
that period and is known as the Carolingian Renaissance fell to the
Irish teachers in Frankland, and if we except Alcuin, Rhabanus and
Fredegis, the men who founded that educational system to which the
latter Middle Ages owe everything and the modern world more than it
generally acknowledges were Irishmen.”[373]
STUDY OF GREEK IN EARLY MEDIÆVAL IRELAND:
Having shown that there was an unbroken tradition of classical Latin
learning in early mediæval Ireland, having examined the scope and
character of that learning and noted its influence in the history of
European education, we may fittingly examine the position which Greek
occupied in the curriculum of Irish monastic schools. The traditional
belief that the study of Greek was pursued in these schools cannot
be accepted without investigation in view of the doubts raised by
such scholars as Manitius, Roger, and Esposito in recent years.[374]
The most important objection raised by these writers is that the
evidence is insufficient to justify the claim that the Irish schools
possessed a knowledge of Greek prior to the ninth century. Even in
the ninth century Esposito will allow the Irish schools no credit
for Greek scholarship. According to this writer men like Johannes
Scottus Eriugena learned Greek from the books which they found on the
Continent, especially in Gaul. We might retort that these assertions
require more proof than has been advanced on their behalf, that these
conclusions derive no support from the authorities adduced by Esposito
as evidence, and that the views expressed by him are contradicted by
the contemporary evidence contained in the well-known passage from Eric
the Auxerre.[375]
We believe, however, that the knowledge of Greek for which the Irish
schools have been given credit can be established to the satisfaction
of the unbiased, just as we have demonstrated the fact that classical
Latin was cultivated. In attempting to prove that Greek studies were
pursued we are confronted with a difficulty which we did not encounter
in our investigation of the question of classical Latin. An examination
of the actual writings of Irish scholars who flourished during the
sixth, seventh and eighth centuries revealed numerous quotations from,
and reminiscences of classical Latin authors, thus we had incontestable
evidence of an intimate acquaintance with classical Latin. In studying
Greek the aim was not, as in case of Latin, to acquire a new medium
of expression, consequently its study would be conducted on different
lines. The necessity for such a knowledge existed nevertheless. The
great object of study being the Scriptures,[376] the aim of the whole
course of study was to prepare men’s minds for the “Lectio Divina,”
their one great science to which all the other “disciplinae” were but
auxiliaries. It is therefore but reasonable to suppose that the Irish
monks were impelled towards a study of Greek, a knowledge of which was
so necessary in studying the Scriptures. This view is corroborated
by an examination of native Irish sources. Thus Dallan Forgal in his
eulogy of Colmcille (composed c. 576 A.D.) says: “Atgaill grammataig
greic,” that is, “he taught Greek Grammar.”[377] The early glossaries
swarm with Greek words quoted for etymological purposes.[378] The hymns
in the _Antiphonary_ of Bangor contain numerous Greek words.[379]
Indeed, the charms of the Greek language had such a fascination for
Irish writers that many of them had developed a pedantic turn as early
as the seventh century.[380] Zimmer has pointed out the Greek of these
early writers was not merely bookish learning but a living speech.[381]
Meyer’s tabulation of the peculiarities in the transcription of Greek
as practised by Irish writers confirms the accuracy of Zimmer’s
observation.[382] We are informed that a Greek taught Mosinu MacCuimin
“the art of computation.”[383] Keller gives numerous examples of
Hiberno-Greek characters.[384] In an eighth century MS. of Adamnan’s
_Vita Sancti Columbae_ there are many instances which suggest that
the Greek and Roman characters, as written by the Irish scribes,
mutually affected each other and gave the Irish alphabet especially
in the capitals that peculiar character which distinguishes it from
all others.[385] In the _Book of Armagh_ written about 807 A.D. there
are several Greek words and the Lord’s Prayer is written in Greek
characters.[386] In the glosses on Priscian’s Grammar Greek words and
phrases are explained by Irish equivalents and we note a familiarity
with the rules of Greek grammar.[387] The most remarkable evidence
is that of Aldhelm[388] who in a letter to Eahfrid fresh from the
Irish schools finds fault with him for having gone to the “didasculi
Argivi” of that country instead of staying in England where Theodore
of Tarsus and Hadrian of Nisida[389] had introduced Greek studies. It
is significant that this letter of Aldhelm’s abounds in Hellenisms
to a greater extent than any of his other writings, his object being
apparently to impress Eahfrid with the Greek learning to be obtained in
England.
We have referred to a common practice of the Irish monks, viz., the
making of marginal and interlinear glosses in which were explained
Latin, Greek and even sometimes Hebrew words and expressions by Irish
equivalents. They also compiled lists of Irish words which were
considered difficult or obsolete at the time the glosses were written.
These words were explained by giving their more modern equivalents.
Frequently the meaning was given in Latin and Greek also. The most
famous glosses of this class are Cormac’s[390] and O’Mulconry’s
glosses.[391] Dr. Hyde describes[392] Cormac’s glossary “as by far
the oldest attempt[393] at a comparative vernacular dictionary made
in any language of modern Europe. The king-bishop (Cormac, d. 903
A.D.) was a most remarkable man and an excellent scholar. He appears
to have known Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Danish and to have been one of
the finest old Gaelic scholars of his day and withal an accomplished
poet.” In the library of St. Paul in Lavanthale (Steyermark) there is
a MS. full of extracts written by an Irish monk. It contains Irish
poems of the eighth century, Latin hymns, the commencement of a
commentary on Virgil, a treatise on astronomy, _Greek declensions and
paradigms as well as a Greek vocabulary_.[394] The Greek Creed was
sung in the churches of St. Gallen.[395] Under the title _Proverbia
Graecorum_ there is a collection of sayings translated by some Irish
scholar from Greek into Latin before the seventh century.[396] In the
eighth century Boniface brings Clement the Irishman to task for not
accepting the teaching of the Latin Fathers Jerome, Augustine and
Gregory, just as a century later Scottus Eriugena was charged with
being inclined too much to the Greek Fathers and with under-rating the
Latin Fathers.[397] In the library of Laon there is a MS. written by
an Irish scribe between the years 850–900 A.D. This MS. contains two
glossaries in the Greek and Latin languages with occasional passages
in the Irish language. It also contains a Greek grammar.[398] It is
believed that the _Hermeneumata_ of the Pseudo-Dositheus, a text used
by Roman boys in studying Greek, as well as the work of Macrobius were
only saved for the afterworld because they were used by the Irish.[399]
The interlinear Latin versions of Greek texts are of exclusively Irish
origin.[400] In the department of Biblical study Zimmer recalls two
important examples: the Gospel Codex of St. Gallen written in Greek
with a Latin translation and the Codex Boernerianus, now in Dresden,
which contains the Epistles of St. Paul in Greek together with an
interlinear Latin version. Both belong to the ninth century.[401]
These various examples of a knowledge of Greek and of the necessary
materials for teaching it, such as grammars, paradigms, vocabularies
and glosses, as well as interlinear translations clearly point to
the conclusion that Greek was taught in the Irish monastic schools of
the seventh and eighth centuries. In our next chapter when we come to
examine the scope of Irish scholarship, the knowledge of Greek will
be so evident in the case of the great ninth century scholars like
Sedulius of Liège, Dungal of Pavia, Clement the successor of Alcuin
at the Palace School and Scottus Eriugena that it is unnecessary to
discuss the matter further at present. The question as to where these
scholars got their classical training can be answered best by saying
that they got it in the monastic schools of Ireland where we have shown
that the classical tradition was unbroken from at least as early as the
sixth century, possibly a century or two earlier.[402]
De Jubainville declares that in the ninth century the Irish scholars
were the only persons in Western Europe who knew Greek.[403] Traube
claims that in the time of Charles the Bald at least the Irish were the
sole representatives of Greek scholarship: “they could read and write
Greek, they could transcribe it, nay, they even ventured occasionally
to make Greek verses.”[404] Anyone who in the time of Charles the Bald
was credited with a knowledge of Greek was, according to Traube, an
Irishman, or had learned it from an Irishman, or his reputation for
Greek scholarship was a fraud.[405] It is significant that the copy of
the work of Dionysius the Areopagite, which Pope Paul had presented to
King Pippin had to wait for an Irishman, Johannes Scottus Eriugena, to
translate it for Charles the Bald.[406]
That a knowledge of Greek was indispensable for a study of the
Scriptures would in itself be sufficient to account for the study of
Greek in the Irish monastic schools. A further reason for the Irish
love of Greek has been suggested by several writers. Michelet says:
“Le génie celtique, qui est celui de l’individualité, sympathise
profondément avec le génie grec.”[407] As we have pointed out, the
Greek views in philosophy and theology appealed in an especial
manner to Irish scholars of this period. According to Healy, “the
Irish mind, like the Greek, has a natural love for speculation, is
quick, subtle, and far-seeing, has greater power of abstraction and
generalization—that is, greater metaphysical power than the phlegmatic
Anglo-Saxon.”[408] We venture no opinion as to whether this proposition
will stand a critical examination but would merely record the fact
that other able writers when dealing with this period have also
discerned much in common between the Hellenic and the Celtic mind.
Mullinger notes “a certain speculative, outlooking quality certainly
not very apparent in the school of York.”[409] Cardinal Newman declares
that as Rome was the centre of authority in these ages so Ireland was
the native home of speculation; while contrasting the English scholars
with the Irish he says: “The Englishman was hardworking, plodding,
bold, determined, persevering, obedient to law and precedent, and if
he cultivated his mind he was literary rather than scientific. In
Ireland, on the other hand, the intellect seems to have taken the line
of science and we have various instances to show how fully this was
recognised. ‘Philosopher’ in these times is almost synonymous with
‘Irish Monk’.”[410] It was this characteristic of the Irish monks
Renan[411] had in mind when he spoke of them as “les colonisateurs
scientifiques d’Europe occidentale.”
A further resemblance, and one of a less promising character, may be
traced in the predilection shown by both the Greek and the Gael for
questions which admitted a display of dialectical subtlety. It was
this feature which arrested the attention of Benedict of Aniane and
aroused his dislike for the Irish theologians. They were distinguished,
he tells us, for syllogistic mystification. “Apud modernos scholasticos
maxime apud Scottos iste syllogismus delusionis.”[412] Mullinger
tells us that they would sometimes amuse themselves by interrogating
some stolid representative of orthodoxy, and compel him as a logical
sequence of his replies, to admit the existence of three Gods or
to disavow his belief in the Trinity.[413] This typically national
characteristic of adding a humorous touch to a profound but dry
metaphysical discussion has for us a deep human interest, though it
was undoubtedly embarrassing to learned and solemn opponents who could
neither understand, nor sympathise with, the rather subtle and complex
Irish temperament.
It has also been remarked that this tendency to speculation led the
Irish to admire the work of Martianus Capella whose volume was a sealed
book to the school of York; while in the three great monasteries of
Luxeuil, St. Gall, and Bobbio numerous MSS. in the original Irish
character (Scottice scripta) of Origen and other Greek Fathers remained
to attest the more inquiring spirit in which the studies of their
communities were pursued. Thanks to his Greek studies and his natural
mental attitude the Irish Theologian became a better astronomer as
well as a better dialectician.[414]
MUSIC:
Music constituted an important element in Irish culture both in pagan
and in Christian times. Hectateus, the great geographer quoted by
Diodorus, is the first who mentions the name Celt and he describes
the Celts of Ireland as singing songs in praise of Apollo and playing
melodiously on the harp (c. 500 B.C.).[415] Native Irish literature
abounds in reference to music and musicians who were always spoken
of in terms of the highest respect. Everywhere through these ancient
records we find evidence that the Irish people both high and low were
passionately fond of music. It entered into their daily lives and
formed a part of their amusements and celebrations of every kind.[416]
Zeuss in his _Grammatica Celtica_ (1853) was the first to give the
key to the nature of the musical instruments used in ancient Ireland.
The references to music given by Zeuss were taken from glosses dating
from 650 A.D. to 900 A.D. and written by the Irish monks of St. Gall.
O’Curry,[417] Joyce,[418] and Flood[419] have followed up the work of
Zeuss, so we have now a fairly clear idea of the state of musical
culture during the period under investigation. Flood gives the names
of twelve different instruments in use and of nine professional names
of the performers.[420] It is not without significance that the harp
is the national symbol. There are references to the harp in Irish
literature probably as early as the fifth century.[421] O’Curry was so
impressed with the many evidences he found of a high degree of musical
culture that he could not restrain his enthusiasm. He says: “If ever
there was a people gifted with a musical soul and sensibility in a
higher degree than another I would venture to assert that the Ancient
Gaedhil of Ireland were that people.”[422]
The monks were no exception to their fellow-countrymen in their love of
music, consequently in Christian times music was intimately connected
with public worship.[423] In the early ages of the Church many of the
Irish ecclesiastics took delight in playing the harp and in order to
indulge this innocent and refining taste they were wont to take with
them a small portable harp when going from place to place.[424] Figures
of men playing the harp are common on the stone crosses seen at Graig,
Ullard, Clonmacnoise, Durrow and Monasterboice, as also on the shrines
of ancient reliquaries.[425] It appears from several authorities that
the practice of playing on the harp as an accompaniment to the voice
was common in Ireland as early as the fifth or sixth century.[426]
During the long period when learning flourished Irish professors and
teachers of music would seem to have been quite as much in request as
teachers of literature and philosophy. In the middle of the seventh
century Gertrude (daughter of Pepin, Mayor of the Palace) when abbess
of Niville in Belgium engaged Foillan and Ultan brothers of St. Fursey
to instruct her nuns in Psalmody.[427] It has been asserted that
Gregorian chant coloured much of the music of Ireland from the fifth to
the eighth century, but Gregorian chant dates only from 593 A.D. and,
as Flood pointed out, both the psalmody and the hymnody of the Irish
were distinctly Celtic in the first half of the seventh century and
were mainly adaptations of the old pre-Christian melodies.[428]
The musical fame of St. Gall monastery in Switzerland is known to
many, but the fact is often ignored that its foundation in 612 A.D.
is due to the Irish saint Cellach whose name has been latinised
Gallus or Gall. St. Gall was a student of the monastery of Bangor
(in Co. Down, Ireland) and the friend and pupil of Columban whom
he accompanied to the Continent. When St. Gall died in 645 A.D.
the fame of his music school had spread far and near.[429] In the
year 870 A.D. Moengal, another Irishman, was appointed headmaster
of the Music School of St. Gall and under his rule it became “the
wonder and delight of Europe.”[430] Moengal laboured for ten years
on behalf of the school. It should be added that Moengal was also
learned in theology and secular sciences. “Erat in divinas et humanis
eruditissimus.”[431] The copying of music became such a feature of the
work done at St. Gall that “the scribes of this monastery supplied all
Germany with manuscript books of the Gregorian Chant, all beautifully
illuminated.”[432] Moengal gave music its highest place amongst
the arts and the school of St. Gall reached its highest perfection
under three of Moengal’s pupils, Ratpert, Notker and Tuotilo.[433]
In Zimmer’s opinions there were very few men who exercised such a
beneficent influence over Germany in the ninth century as did Moengal
and his successors.[434]
Moengal was succeeded in 890 A.D. by Tuathal (latinised Tuotilo and
sometimes Tutilo), his pupil and fellow-countryman. Tuotilo (d. 915
A.D.) was even more famous than his master and was not only a skilled
musician but was famed as a poet, orator, painter, goldsmith, builder
and sculptor. We are told that he was a skilled performer on the cruit
and psaltery. Père Schubiger published many of the _tropes_ composed
by Tuotilo. Flood assures us that two of these _Hodie Cantandus_ and
_Omnipotens Genator_ betray the well-known characteristics of Irish
music.[435] Tuotilo also composed the famous farced _Kyrie, Fons
Bonitatis_, included in the Vatican collection of Kyriale.[436]
Another famous pupil of Moengal’s was Notker or Notker Balbulus the
author of a valuable collection of hymns known as _Liber Ymnorum
Notkeri_ which was illuminated by an Irish artist. Notker shed undying
lustre on the school of St. Gall and was one of the most celebrated
musicians of the Middle Ages.[437]
St. Gall was not the only monastery of Irish origin in which the study
of music was pursued with success. Indeed, the musical influence of
the Irish monks was felt over the whole west of Europe wherever their
monasteries were established, not only in Ireland and Scotland but
also throughout a large part of England, France, Belgium, Germany,
Italy and Austria.[438]
Hymnologists are more or less familiar with the hymns composed by
Irish poets such as Sedulius, Dungal and Moengal, and by saints like
Sechnall, Columba, Molaise, Cuchuimne, Columban, Ultan, Colman,
Cummian, Aengus, Fiacc, Brodan, Sanctan and Moelisu.[439]
Thus did the Irish monks both by their teaching and by their writings
promote the cultivation of music in a very practical way. Nor was the
theoretical aspect of music neglected. Donnchadh, an Irish bishop of
the ninth century, who died abbot of Remigius, wrote a commentary on
the work of Martianus Capella, a well-known volume on the “Liberal
Arts,” a section of which treats of music. The greatest of his
contemporaries, Johannes Scottus Eriugena, in his famous philosophical
work _De Divisione Naturae_, written in 867 A.D. expounds _organum_
or _discant_ a hundred years before the appearance of _Scholia
Enchiriadis_ and _Musica Enchiriadis_.[440] He also wrote a commentary
on _Martianus Capella_ which is now in a Paris MS. of the ninth
century.[441]
Summarising the history of Irish music prior to the close of the ninth
century Flood says:[442] “The Irish were acquainted with the Ogam
music tablature in pre-Christian ages; they had battle marches, dance
tunes, folk songs, chants and hymns in the fifth century; they were the
earliest to adopt the neums or neumatic notation for the plain chant
of the Western Church; they modified and introduced Irish melodies
into the Gregorian Chant; they had an intimate acquaintance with the
diatonic scale long before it was perfected by Guido of Arezzo. They
were the first to employ harmony and counterpoint; they had quite an
array of bards and poets; they employed blank verse, elegiac rhymes,
consonant, assonant, inverse, burthen, dissyllabic, trisyllabic, and
quadrisyllabic rhymes, not to say anything of the caoines, laments,
elegies, metrical romances, etc.; they had a world-famed school of
harpers, and finally they diffused musical knowledge over Europe.”
ART:
A lengthy discussion of the subject of Irish art lies outside the scope
of our present study. We shall therefore content ourselves with making
a rapid survey of some of its more characteristic features and with
noting the part played by the monastic schools in its development and
cultivation.
In the first chapter it was pointed out that there was a native art
in Ireland before the introduction of Christianity and that the pagan
Irish exhibited considerable artistic skill in their bronze, silver,
gold, and enamel work as the specimens still preserved in our museums
go to prove. From the pagan period we have numerous torques, gorgets,
lunulae and other articles of personal adornment. These show that the
pagan artist possessed both skill and taste in a high degree.[443]
The character of the arts introduced into Ireland with Christianity
was therefore grafted upon and modified by the native arts while new
variations in design were introduced from the Continent by missionaries
and foreign artists that came to Ireland. Thus art as practised in
early Christian Ireland was no slavish imitation of foreign art but
rather a development of native art whose progress was upward from the
introduction of Christianity in the fourth and fifth century until the
Norman invasion in the twelfth.[444]
CHARACTERISTICS OF IRISH ART:
The chief characteristics of Irish art are:
1. A symmetrical interlacement of a band or bands into a variety of
patterns.
2. The graceful divergence of lines into trumpet forms.
3. The coiling of one or two very fine lines into mysterious spirals a
lengthened examination of which has a weirdly fascinating effect on the
eye.
4. A total disregard for the comforts of animal life, the bodies and
members being twisted and distorted to suit the convenience of the
artist.
5. The human figure is frequently introduced, but it is subjected to
the rigidity of the curved lines noticeable in the interlacings and
spirals. Herein Irish art, which is primarily _ornamental_, differs
from classic art, which is _representative_. The Irish artist aimed
at symmetry and hence the right side of the face is generally a
reproduction of the left.
6. In nearly all the art of the period under consideration the ground
is divided into panels, or geometrical compartments—an arrangement
whereby the artist whether working on vellum, metal, leather or stone
was free to introduce any of the foregoing characteristics without
marring the harmony and uniformity of the design.[445]
Irish art attained its highest excellence in four branches, namely,
writing and illumination of manuscripts, metal work and stone carving.
In a previous chapter were discussed the characteristics of the Irish
style of handwriting and the part played by the monastic schools in its
development so we pass on to consider the other three departments of
art work.
ILLUMINATION:
Shortly after the Irish monks became skilled penmen they began to
illuminate their books with brilliant colours which they learned
to combine into elaborate and harmonious designs. This art reached
its most perfect stage of development at the close of the eighth or
beginning of the ninth century. The monks were wont to lavish all
the wealth of their artistic skill on books containing the whole
or portions of the Holy Scriptures. As instances of this style of
illuminated MSS. the _Psalter of ColmCille_, the _Book of Dimma_,
the _Book of Armagh_, and, above all, the _Book of Kells_ should be
mentioned. While each of these books has many merits the book which has
compelled the admiration yet defied the imitation of every European
artist is the _Book of Kells_. Describing this venerable volume which
was written and illuminated about the middle of the ninth century, Sir
Edward O’Sullivan writes as follows:[446] “Its weird and commanding
beauty; its subdued and goldless colouring; the baffling intricacy
of its fearless designs; the clean unwavering sweep of rounded
spiral; the creeping undulations of serpentine forms that writhe in
artistic profusion throughout the mazes of its decorations; the strong
and legible minuscule of the text; the quaintness of its striking
portraiture; the unwearied reverence and patient labour which brought
it into being, all of which combined to make the _Book of Kells_,
have raised this ancient volume to a position of abiding pre-eminence
amongst the illuminated MSS. of the world.”
Other artists are equally emphatic in their praises of the work of
Irish artists during the period under consideration.
Westwood writes: “Ireland may justly be proud of the _Book of
Kells_.... At a period when the fine arts may be said to be almost
extinct in Italy and other parts of the Continent, nearly from the
fifth to the end of the eighth century, the art of ornamenting MSS. had
a perfection almost miraculous in Ireland.... The invention and skill
displayed, the neatness, precision, and delicacy far surpass all that
is found in MSS. executed by Continental artists.”[447]
Referring to the interlaced style of ornament introduced in the
seventh and eighth century Coffey[448] informs us that this new style
with all its intricacy was brought to a marvellous perfection in the
Irish monastic schools. The same writer further assures us that the
Irish MSS. (with which he would class the Hiberno-Saxon MSS. in the
production of which the Irish scribes took such important a part)
admittedly stand in quite the first place among early MSS. for the
excellence of their penmanship and illustrations.
As showing that the Irish style of art had more than a local influence
the testimony of another art critic, Mr. Digby Wyatt, is worth quoting.
He says: “In close connection with the Irish church existed a school
of art remarkable for its sense of the graceful and grotesque, and for
its superiority in point of ornamental design to any other style of the
same period. That its influence extended much farther than is generally
supposed would appear certain, and not only did Scotland, Wales,
Cornwall, the North of England and Scandinavia adopt its peculiar
system of ornament, but some of the MSS. in the libraries of Europe are
now discovered to have emanated from this school.”[449]
The colours of the _Book of Kells_ are remarkably well preserved after
a lapse of one thousand years. Professor Hartley[450] a few years
ago submitted the pigments to a careful examination and discovered
the materials of which the colours are most probably compounded. He
reported as follows: “The black is lampblack, or possibly fishbone
black; the bright red is realgar (arsenic disulphide As_{2}S_{2})
the yellow, orpiment (arsenic tersulphide As_{2}S_{3}); the emerald
green, malachite; the deep blue possibly lapis lazuli, but owing to
its transparency when overlying green more likely not so. The reddish
purple is either finely ground glass obtained from a solution of gold,
or a preparation which was obtained by the action of a solution of tin
and was very expensive. The other colours are neutral green like burnt
sienna, a pale blue, and lilac.”[451]
ART METAL WORK:
We have referred to the fact that the pagan Irish were skilled
workmen in metal. This class of work received a new impetus with the
introduction of Christianity. The pre-Christian craftsmen exercised
their skill in ornamenting shields, swords, sword-hilts, chariots,
brooches, bridles, etc. as we learn from the specimens that are
preserved in our museums.[452] In addition to articles of this class
the Christian artists, the majority of whom were ecclesiastics,[453]
made crosses, croziers, chalices, shrines to hold books or relics as
well as book satchels in which both metal and leather were used.[454]
Specimens of these may be seen in the National Museum, Dublin.[455]
For real artistic skill the most admired specimens are the Ardagh
Chalice, the Tara Brooch, and the Cross of Cong.[456] The designs and
styles of ornament used by the metal workers were similar to those of
the artists who illuminated the MSS. Artistic skill in metal work was
brought to its highest degree of excellence in the tenth and eleventh
centuries and continued to flourish until about the end of the twelfth
century, but gradually declined after that date owing to the general
disorganization of society consequent on the Norman invasion.[457]
STONE CARVING:
The skill of the Irish artists in stone carving is seen at its best in
the great stone crosses of which about 55 remain in different parts of
Ireland. One peculiarity of the Irish (or Celtic) Cross is the circular
ring round the intersections, thus binding the arms together. This
peculiar form was developed in Ireland and, once developed, remained
fixed from the eighth to the twelfth century. Of the 55 great crosses
35 are richly ornamented and eight have inscriptions bearing names of
persons who have been identified as living at various dates from 904 to
1150 A.D.[458]
The crosses have a style of ornamentation similar to that of the
manuscripts and of the metal work. In addition to the ornamentation
most of the crosses have groups of figures representing various
events in Sacred History, such as, The Fall of Man, Noah in the Ark,
The Sacrifice of Isaac, The Fight of David and Goliath, The Arrest
of Our Lord, The Crucifixion, The Crucifixion of St. Peter (head
downward), Eve Presenting the Apple to Adam, The Journey to Egypt.
These sculptures are _iconographic_, _i.e._ they were intended to bring
to the minds of the unlettered people the facts of Sacred History by
vivid illustration. No doubt the preachers in their discourses directed
the attention of their hearers to these representations; and perhaps
they often lectured while standing at the foot of the cross with the
people ranged in front, the preacher pointing to the sculptured groups
as occasion demanded. It is probable that the figures were painted in
brilliant colours like those used in illuminating the MSS. so that the
people might see them more distinctly.[459]
MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE:
We cannot close our discussion of the curriculum of Irish monastic
schools without a brief reference to its limitations which are
especially noteworthy in the case of mathematics and other secular
sciences. While not venturing into details some writers manage to
convey the impression that the scientific knowledge of the Irish monks
was as profound as their knowledge of the classics. We have not found
any evidence to support this view. The most that can be said in favour
of the teachers of this early period is that they willingly imparted
all the mathematical and scientific knowledge of their time. But the
actual amount of such knowledge possessed by Western Europe prior to
the tenth century was relatively small as compared with even the later
Middle Ages not to speak of modern times.
ARITHMETIC:
Prior to the tenth century arithmetic was essentially the art of
computation. It was largely devoted to computing Easter, so the terms
“Computus” and “Arithmetic” became synonymous.[460] Apart from this
practical side it is possible that a theoretical treatment of numbers
was not absolutely wanting. The method of reckoning was necessarily
crude and little progress was possible while the cumbersome Roman
system of notation made computation with large numbers well nigh
impossible. It remains for further investigation to show whether the
arithmetical knowledge of the Irish monks extended beyond the limits
of Bede’s _De Tempora Ratione_,[461] or equalled that of the _Liber de
Computo_[462] of Rabanus Maurus. Our acquaintance with source material
in this field is too limited to warrant any sweeping statement, but
it is significant of the nature of arithmetical knowledge of this
period and of the lack of creative ability to find a scholar of such
ability as Marianus Scottus in the following century basing his work
on Computus[463] on that of Rabanus. Indeed it was not until the
introduction of the Arabic system of notation and Hindoo methods
through Arabic influence that there was much possibility of progress
in Arithmetic. The introduction of the Arabic system is attributed by
some to Gerbert[464] (d. 1003 A.D.) but it was not until the end of
the twelfth century that the Hindoo-Arabic system became generally
established among mathematicians. A century later Arithmetic began to
be applied to commerce.[465]
_Algebra_ was apparently unknown to the Irish monks during the period
under investigation and was probably not introduced into Europe until
the twelfth century.[466]
GEOMETRY:
Up to the tenth century, the age of Gerbert, a knowledge of Geometry in
our sense of the term hardly existed in Western Europe. In fact the
term seems to have been used in its etymological meaning and not in the
sense the Greeks understood it. We have found no evidence to warrant
the assumption that Euclidean Geometry was taught in those early
Irish monastic schools. But on the other hand an examination of the
characteristic Irish style of ornament suggests that the Irish artist
had at least a good working knowledge of practical Geometry. Possibly
the amount of knowledge of theoretical Geometry did not extend beyond
the narrow[467] limits of the works of Capella,[468] Cassiodorus,[469]
and Isadore of Seville[470]—writers well known to Irish scholars as we
have seen.
GEOGRAPHY:
If the mathematical science of Geometry was still undeveloped in the
West geography, topography and cosmography made up the deficiency. It
was but natural that the Irish monks, the greatest voyagers of their
time, should be interested in the study of foreign lands. We have
an instance of this in the case of Adamnan who wrote his _De Locis
Sanctis_ from the dictation of Arculfus, a Frankish bishop who had
visited Palestine.[471] Bede based his work bearing a similar name on
Adamnan’s volume. This work of Adamnan with that of Bede continued
to be the only source of information of the geography, Christian
antiquities, and customs of Palestine until the Crusades gave Western
Europe a more acute and active interest in that distant, inhospitable
region.[472] We have referred to a curious geographical poem[473] which
was evidently used as a text in the monastic schools of Ireland. It
contained probably all the geography that was taught prior to the tenth
century. The tenth century map of the world[474] drawn in England for
an Anglo-Saxon is supposed to have been the work of an Irish artist and
further illustrates the state of geographical knowledge of the times.
The more ambitious treatise of Dungal, _De Mensura Orbis Terrarum_,
which will be described in the next chapter, marks a new departure in
geographical texts—hitherto mere compendiums—inasmuch as it introduces
new matter, is more critical, “up-to-date” and altogether a commendable
attempt for a ninth century scholar.
_Astronomy_ had a double interest for the Irish monks. Being great
travellers in an age when they had no compass to direct their way the
“study of the stars” was a matter of practical interest and possibly
they were more observant of the courses of the heavenly bodies than
the majority of us are to-day. Again, the ability to compute the date
of Easter was a matter of great importance in ecclesiastical circles in
those days. The controversies which centred around the Easter question
caused many Irish monks to give special attention to practical methods
of computing the date of Easter. They were also led to examine the
history of the different cycles in use and finally they were led to
inquire into the theoretical aspect of the science of Astronomy. In the
present chapter we referred to the famous Paschal Epistle of Cummian
Fada which showed that he was at one and the same time an accomplished
classical scholar and an astronomer of no mean ability versed in all
astronomical literature of his time. Other great astronomers were
Virgilius, Dicuil and Dungal, of whom we shall have something to say
in our next chapter when dealing with the scope of Irish monastic
scholarship. Of all the secular sciences Astronomy was perhaps the
most popular with Irish monastic scholars the superiority of whose
scholarship in this regard is acknowledged by all writers of the early
Middle Ages.[475]
We see, then, that though the actual amount of mathematical and
scientific knowledge possessed by the Irish monks was small they freely
taught all that was known at the time in Western Europe and, limited
as was their educational equipment, we may safely conclude that it
represented the maximum attainments in western scientific knowledge
prior to the tenth century.
While we have no means of determining the precise way in which the
curriculum was organised, we may safely conclude that it embraced the
following groups of studies:
1. _Vernacular Studies_: The Irish language, its grammar, metrics,
literature both secular and religious, prose and poetry, history,
antiquities, etc.[476]
2. _Christian Studies_: Theology, especially the study of the
Scriptures with the commentaries of the Fathers thereon, and in the
ninth century at least the study of Dialectics and Philosophy was
pursued with success.
3. _Classical Studies_: Acquaintance with several Latin and Greek
authors of the classical period. Superior knowledge of Latin and a good
working knowledge of Greek.
4. _Aesthetic Studies_: Cultivation of Art and Music.
5. _Scientific Studies_: All the scientific knowledge of the time,
special emphasis on Computation and Astronomy.
Thus we see that the course of studies of the early Irish monastic
school was much more varied in scope and fuller in content than the
Trivium and Quadrivium as taught in contemporary Europe.
CHAPTER VII
SCOPE AND INFLUENCE OF IRISH SCHOLARSHIP
In the preceding chapter we discussed at length the nature of the
curriculum of the Irish monastic schools. Our conclusions were based
on the evidence supplied by an examination of the writings and
other material remains which attest their Irish authorship. Here we
shall attempt to determine the extent as well as the limitations of
Irish scholarship, and briefly indicate the influence which that
scholarship may reasonably claim to have exerted on the history of
mediæval education. As illustrations of types of Irish scholars who
attained eminence in a special field and yet displayed considerable
versatility we have selected five: Virgilius, Dicuil, Dungal, Sedulius
and Eriugena. These may fairly be considered as representing Irish
scholarship of the period at its best.[477] All except Virgilius belong
to the ninth century.
Virgilius, bishop of Salzburg (766–7–784–5 A.D.) whose name is a
latinised form of the Irish name Fearghal, was one of the few men
who in the eighth century cultivated the profane sciences.[478]
Indeed the age in which he lived was equally unfavourable to the
pursuit of science or to the encouragement of speculative thought, as
Virgilius found from experience. On one occasion, Boniface, the Papal
Legate, denounced him for promulgating false doctrines inasmuch as he
maintained that the sun and moon passed under the earth, and that there
must be inhabitants on the other side.[479] Boniface had a previous
dispute with Virgilius over a theological question in which the Pope
decided in favour of Virgilius. Either from ignorance of Astronomy or,
as some think, through pique, Boniface appears to have misrepresented
the real views of Virgilius so as to convey the impression that he
taught that there was another world and another sun and moon and
consequently other men who were not redeemed by Our Lord.[480] The
versions of Virgilius’ teaching which we have given would appear to
represent his real views on the subject. At any rate he seems to have
explained his doctrine to the satisfaction of the Pope; for we find no
further mention of the controversy and he retained his see until his
death in 784–5 A.D.[481] His teachings show that he must have held that
the world was spherical, though he was wrong in his theory that the sun
and stars revolved round the earth. Even this semi-correct theory was a
decided advance on contemporary views on astronomical matters and shows
that Virgilius was an original thinker on scientific subjects, or else
it argues for his acquaintance with Greek literature in which he may
have become familiar with the doctrine of Eudoxus and Eratosthenes, as
to the sphericity of the earth.[482] As Virgilius was bishop of Aghaboe
in Ireland before he went to the Continent, it is most improbable that
he received his education any place other than in an Irish monastic
school. Unlike many of the Irish scholars who went abroad the name of
Virgilius is recorded in the Irish annals, a circumstance which would
lead us to suppose that he was already famous for his scholarship
before he went abroad. An additional reason for believing that he had
acquired a reputation as a scientist is the fact that he is called in
the annals Virgil or Fergal the “Geometer.”[483]
_Dicuil_ (d. 825 A.D.) is another instance of an Irish scholar who
was interested in secular studies. His chief claim to fame rests on
a Latin tract entitled _De Mensura Orbis Terrarum_.[484] As the name
would suggest, this was a work of geography in the sense that the term
is now used. The internal evidence leaves no doubt as to the Irish
birth and education of the author. He speaks of _nostri Scoti, nostra
insula Hibernia_, alludes to the Irish poet Sedulius whom he styles
_noster Sedulius_ and he shows an accurate knowledge of the islands
near Britain and Ireland.[485] He tells that a certain Suibneus (in
Irish Suibhne anglicised Sweeney) was his master to whom under God he
owed whatever knowledge he possessed. This Suibhne has been identified
with Suibhne, abbot of Clonmacnoise, who died 810 A.D.[486] This would
suggest that Dicuil was a pupil of the famous school of Clonmacnoise.
He derived his material from three sources:
1. He utilised the report of the Theodosian survey. He tells us that he
made it the basis of his work because though vitiated by false MSS. it
was less faulty than Pliny especially in its measurements.
2. He utilised the works of previous geographers.
3. He made several interesting additions to existing knowledge which he
derived from trustworthy accounts of Irish monks who were the greatest
travellers of the time.
The list of authors from whom he borrowed is very large, including
Pliny, Solinus, Isidore, Virgil, Crosius, Servius, Hectateus, Homer,
Herodotus and other Greek writers.[487]
Dicuil is the first writer to refer to Iceland, which he describes
under the name Thule from an account given to him by some Irish monks
who visited that island about thirty years previously (c. 795 A.D.) and
remained there from February to August.
He was also the first to give authentic information about the Faroe
Islands, which were visited by Irish hermits a hundred years before,
but were forsaken on account of the piratical incursions of the
Northmen.
The truth of these interesting accounts is proved in two ways: 1, the
tolerably exact statements as to the length and shortness of the days
could only be determined by a resident of the place; 2, from northern
and independent sources we learn that the first Norwegian settlers who
were of course pagans found Christians whom they called _Papar_. These
Papar left Irish books, croziers, bells and other things behind them
when they went away.[488]
When describing the Nile he introduces the narrative of a brother
Fidelis who with a party of priests and monks made a journey from
Ireland to the Holy Land.[489]
To be fair to Dicuil, we must judge his work not by modern scientific
standards but by the standards of the ninth century. We must at least
acknowledge that he made a genuine effort to obtain the most accurate
available information and that he was more than usually conscientious,
for when Pliny’s figures seemed to him to be inaccurate, he left a
blank space.[490]
In addition to the _Liber de Mensura Orbis Terrarum_, Dicuil is the
author of a short poem of twenty hexameters which he prefixed to a
copy of a short treatise by Priscian,[491] and of an astronomical
work in prose and verse which is still unpublished.[492] This latter
is dedicated to Louis the Pious and mentions Dicuil by name. We may
therefore infer that this geographer, astronomer and poet was one of
the versatile Irish scholars whose work must have contributed in no
small degree to the Carolingian revival of learning. This distinguished
scholar is believed to be identical with the Dicuil who was abbot of
Pahlacht in the ninth century.[493]
_Dungal_ is another of those ninth century scholars of whose life the
details are all too meagre. From a few fragmentary references and his
existing works we are led to the conclusion that he was a very capable
man distinguished not only as a theologian and poet but also as an
astronomer and schoolmaster.[494]
In the year 811 A.D. he wrote a letter to Charlemagne to explain the
double eclipse of the sun that was supposed to have occurred the
previous year. This letter is written in excellent Latin showing
familiarity with Virgil and Cicero.[495]
Moreover it shows an intimate acquaintance with the whole field of
astronomical literature of the time, but it is chiefly remarkable for
the expression of astronomical views that were considered advanced
because they seemed to call in question the truth of the Ptolemaic
system.[496]
In the year 825 A.D. the Emperor Lothair desiring to carry out the
enlightened educational policy of his ancestor Charlemagne issued
an Edict[497] complaining that through the extreme carelessness and
indolence of certain superiors true teaching was shaken to its very
foundations, and urging that persons engaged in teaching in all those
places hereinafter mentioned should throw all their zeal and energy
into securing the progress of their disciples and that they should
apply themselves to science as the necessity of the times demanded.
He laid out for this exercise certain places chosen in such a manner
that neither time nor distance nor poverty might any more serve as an
excuse to the people. He desired therefore at Pavia and _under the
superintendence of Dungal all students should assemble_ from Milan,
Brescia, Lodi, Bergamo, Novara, Vercelli, Tortona, Acqui, Genoa, Asti,
and Como.[498] Thus we see what a responsible position Dungal occupied
as head of the school of Pavia—the precursor of the famous university.
Dungal himself informs us that he was an Irishman in a poem in praise
of Charlemagne which commences with these words: “These verses the
Irish Exile (_exul Hibernicus_) sends to King Charles.” He composed
several other poems,[499] but that written to Charlemagne is his
longest and best effort. The shorter poems display considerable taste
but not much imagination.[500]
In 828 A.D. Dungal appeared in a controversy against Claudius, bishop
of Turin, who had written against the veneration of images. It will
be recalled that this Claudius was the learned and gifted Spaniard
who described the Council of Italian bishops as a “council of asses”
(_congregatio asinorum_). Against this formidable opponent Dungal was
called upon to undertake the defence of the veneration of images. As
Zimmer remarks, “these two learned adversaries, Claudius the Spaniard
and Dungal the Irishman, who met on the soil of Lombardy, were the
representatives of two countries—the only ones—which offered an asylum
to Graeco-Roman culture at the beginning of the seventh century when
it had declined in the West. Ireland was especially conspicuous in
introducing it anew in the form of Christianity, principally into
France, these efforts being made when civilization was at its lowest
ebb and the country in its most degraded condition.”[501]
We are not concerned here with the theological question at issue, but
it may be remarked that Dungal’s reply[502] shows that he was a man of
wide culture, “accomplished too in sacred literature, and at the same
time trained in grammatical laws and in the classical excellence of
style as will readily appear to anyone who reads his writings.”[503]
Alzog informs us that the sophistical reasoning of Claudius was refuted
by Jonas, bishop of Orleans, but much more ably by Dungal. He is styled
an excellent theologian (_theologus excellans_) by a contemporary
and Healy declares that Dungal’s is the first and best work that was
written on the subject.[504] The many quotations from Greek and Latin
poets which occur in his reply to Claudius as well as in his epistle
to Charlemagne prove that Dungal had a strong love for poetry and that
he was well read in classic literature.[505] Thus we see that Dungal’s
education was built on a broad foundation, for he was distinguished as
an astronomer and a theologian as well as a poet and a schoolmaster.
The last act of Dungal of which we have any record is his gift of books
to the library of Bobbio.[506] Dungal is greatly praised by Muratori,
Mabillon, Bellarmine and others for his learning and he was valued
both in Italy and France for his varied attainments. Muratori, who
published a catalogue[507] of the library of Bobbio, says that “Dungal
carried into Italy the Scotic love of learning.” Among the books which
Dungal presented to Bobbio is one which was catalogued as Psalterium
but named by Muratori as the _Antiphonary of Bangor_,[508] a book of
hymns compiled expressly for the use of the monastic community of
Bangor in Co. Down (Ireland). It is written in Latin, but it contains
the strongest internal evidence of its Irish origin. On the strength of
the evidence furnished by the fact that Dungal possessed this book many
believe that Dungal himself was a pupil of Bangor. If so, we have in
Dungal an excellent example of the type of education available in this
famous monastic school in the ninth century.
SEDULIUS:
Under the Emperor Lothair 840–855 there was at Liège a colony of Irish
teachers and writers of whom the best known is Sedulius, sometimes
called Sedulius the Younger to distinguish him from the author of the
_Carmen Paschale_. We have already referred to the fact that he was a
distinguished poet[509] and a learned grammarian.[510] He is no less
famous as a scribe[511] and as a writer on other subjects.
He wrote an important treatise on the theory of government entitled
_De Rectoribus Christianis_.[512] This work was written at Liège
probably about the year 855 A.D. It is in reality the first systematic
contribution of the Middle Ages to the theory of political government
and should rank in importance with St. Thomas’s _De Regimine
Principis_, with Colonna’s _De Regimine Principum_ and with Dante’s
_De Monarchia_.[513] As its latest editor Dr. Hellman has remarked,
if this work is not drawn from exclusively Irish sources, it is
drawn at least from sources which were held in high esteem by Irish
writers of the Carolingian Age. This Celtic conception of the duties
of a Christian ruler is of very special interest to the student of
mediæval political theories. Its sources are Christian and classical,
its immediate object was the direction of a Frankish ruler (probably
Lothair II.), the mind that conceived it was Celtic and here we have
at the beginning of mediæval speculation a combination of forces and
interests which went to make up the mediæval policy.[514]
Sedulius also wrote a commentary of Porphry’s _Isagoge_ (or
Introduction to the Logic of Aristotle) for which the basis may have
been the Greek text though the work was known to other Christian
logicians only in the Latin translation.[515]
JOHANNES SCOTUS ERIUGENA (d. 877 A.D.):
This was by far the greatest Irish scholar of the ninth century. Indeed
in many ways he was the most remarkable man of his age. Of his early
life we have no details. He was born between the years 800–815 A.D.
The general opinion of scholars is that he was born in Ireland as his
name would indicate.[516] His learning itself is sufficient proof
that he was educated in Ireland where alone he could get the benefit
of such an education as the continental schools could no longer have
furnished.[517]
About the middle of the ninth century he appeared at the court of
King Charles the Bald by whom he was placed at the head of the Palace
School. Though in some respects a worthless sovereign, Charles had
at least one redeeming quality inasmuch as he emulated the example
of his grandfather (Charlemagne) as a patron of letters. During his
reign Irish scholars flocked in great numbers to the Continent. The
monarch was fond of discussing knotty questions, and had a keen taste
for the subtle disputations to which Irish dialectitians were devoted.
Encouraged by his patronage the Irish monks emigrated in so great
numbers to France that hostelries were built for their exclusive
use.[518] The most eminent of these exiles[519] was Eriugena. No
sooner had he reached France (c. 845 A.D.) than he was recognised as a
remarkable linguist. Certain reputed works of Dionysius the Areopagite
had been sent by Pope Paul I. to Pepin-le-Bref, and a splendid MS. of
the mystical writings of the same author was subsequently presented
to Louis the Pious by the Byzantine Emperor Michael. The works were
of course in the Greek language and the greatest scholars of France
were unable to translate them or to interpret their meaning.[520] The
task was finally entrusted to Eriugena and he produced a satisfactory
version. The learned Anastasius, the papal librarian, on reading the
version of Eriugena, wrote to King Charles expressing his surprise that
“a barbarian who hailed from the extreme confines of the world and who
might have been deemed to be as ignorant of Greek as he was remote from
civilization could have proved capable of comprehending the mysteries
of the Greek tongue.”[521]
Great as was his fame as a linguist his reputation as a philosopher is
still greater. His philosophical speculations gave rise to discussions
and controversies which even to the present day occupy the attention of
the greatest thinkers. In his own day his views were nothing short of
sensational. In addition to his translation of the Pseudo-Dionysius
already referred to, Eriugena wrote a comprehensive philosophical work
_De Divisione Naturae_[522] and a treatise _De Egressu et Regressu
Animae ad Deum_ of which only a fragment has come down to us.[523] He
also contributed a treatise _De Predestinatione_ to a theological
controversy that was waged at that time. This work seems to have given
offence to both parties. His _expositiones_ or commentaries on the
Pseudo-Dionysius are helpful in determining his philosophical views. He
also wrote a commentary on the work of Martianus Capella, _De Nuptiis_.
It is as a philosopher, however, that Eriugena stands without an equal
during his own time. It has been remarked that Eriugena appears to
have been born subject to a strange fatality whereby men’s opinions
are always changing in regard to his philosophical views and the
position to be assigned to him among philosophers. In the criticisms
by Maurice Milman, Staudenmaier, St. Rene, Tailander, Christlieb,
Hauréau, and Huber the view of each writer differs in some important
respect from the views of the rest.[524] This is no less true of
the criticism of living philosophers as the following quotations
from two standard works on the _History of Philosophy_ go to show.
De Wülf writes: “In opposition to the majority of historians who
describe Eriugena as the first of scholastics, we have no hesitation
in calling him the first of anti-scholastics—and the most formidable
at the present epoch. For his teaching propounds principles which are
opposed to those of scholasticism and which form the starting-point
of opposition movements.”[525] Turner, on the other hand, says that
Eriugena illustrates the many sidedness of the scholastic movement and
proceeds as follows: “To classify as anti-scholastic whatever does not
agree with the synthetic systems of the great masters of scholasticism
is to break the line of continuous historical development which led
through failure and partial success of Eriugena, Abelard, and other
philosophers to the philosophy of the thirteenth century. Scholasticism
in its final form is the outcome of the forces of Christian
civilization which in different conditions and in less favourable
circumstances produced the imperfect scholasticism of the period of
beginning and the period of growth.”[526]
Whatever may be the difference of opinion as to his place in a
particular school or system of philosophy there can be but one as to
his abilities as a scholar and an original thinker. According to De
Wülf, “he must be regarded as one of the most striking personalities
in the world of culture and learning in the early Middle Ages. He
was far in advance of his time. While his contemporaries were only
lisping in philosophy and his successors for centuries did little more
than discuss a small number of disconnected philosophical questions,
Eriugena in the ninth century worked out a complete philosophical
synthesis.... He was at once a scholar and a man of genius. What was
altogether unique in the ninth century, he knew Greek, of which Alcuin
scarcely knew the alphabet.”[527] Turner while wishing to give a fair
estimate of his place in history, warns us “not to let his brilliant
qualities blind us to the enormity of his errors,”[528] but the same
writer acknowledges that “he was without doubt the most learned man
in his century, he was the first of the representatives of the new
learning to attempt a system of constructive thought and he brought
to his task a truly Celtic wealth of imagination and a spiritual
force which lifted him above the plane of his contemporaries—mere
epitomisers and commentators. His philosophy has all the charm which
pantheism always possesses for a certain class of minds. It is subtle,
vague, and poetic. When we come to examine its contents and method we
find it dominated with the spirit of Neo-Platonism. Through the works
of Pseudo-Dionysius and of Maximus, Eriugena made acquaintance with
the teaching of Plotinus and Proculus; and when he came to construct
his own system of thought he reproduced the essential traits of
Neo-Platonic philosophy—pantheism, the doctrine of intuition, and
universal redemption.”
The sentence enunciated by Eriugena in his work on Predestination[529]
as well as elsewhere that the true religion is also the true philosophy
and _vice versa_ is the theme of the entire scholastic philosophy. The
consequences that follow from this maxim as enunciated that every doubt
in regard to religious matters can be refuted by philosophy appeared
so preposterous that a meeting of French clergy declared it to be
insanity or blasphemy.[530] Religion is to Eriugena in its relations
to philosophy what authority is to reason. In respect to rank reason
precedes so also in respect to time, since what is taught by authority
of the Fathers was discovered by them with the help of reason. The
weak must naturally subject themselves to authority, but those who
are less weak should be content with this all the less because the
figurative nature of many expressions and further the undeniable
accommodation exercised by the Fathers toward the understanding of
the uneducated demand the use of reason as a corrective.[531] By
reason is to be understood, however, not mere subjective opinion but
the common thought which reveals itself in conversation when out of
two reasons both are made one, each of the speakers becoming as it
were the other.[532] While he maintains the priority of reason he is
far from being a rationalist. Indeed he is more inclined to take side
with the mystics—to belittle all reason unless it is illumined from
on high. “Instead of rationalising theology, he would theosophise
philosophy.”[533]
Thus we see how Eriugena’s philosophical speculations naturally became
the basis for innumerable controversies which are still far from being
definitely decided. Such controversies, however, have served a useful
purpose in the history of philosophy. Eriugena assigns to philosophy
the fourfold task: to divide, to define, to demonstrate, to analyse.
This may be described as Eriugena’s definition of the applicability of
dialectic to philosophy and theology—a notion which, like the union of
faith and science, is destined to develop in the subsequent growth of
philosophy.[534]
Eriugena’s knowledge of Greek, and fondness for Greek dogma and
Alexandrine philosophy, led to the report that he made several journeys
to Greece. But this conjecture has no foundation in fact.[535] Indeed
the evidence we have collected with reference to the course of studies
pursued in the Irish monastic schools would point to Ireland as the
most likely place where he laid the foundations of his classical
scholarship.
INFLUENCE OF IRISH SCHOLARSHIP:
The scope of Irish scholarship may in some measure be judged from the
existing works of the great and better-known scholars mentioned in
this and other chapters, but the precise influence of that scholarship
is more difficult to estimate. It is only in very recent years that
we have begun to realise how much native Irish literature and history
owes to the Irish monastic schools. In the wider field of European
scholarship there is still much room for investigation before we can
confidently assign to Irish monastic scholarship its proper place.
The superiority of Irish classical learning has been demonstrated
and is now acknowledged by practically all scholars who have made an
intensive study of the early Middle Ages.[536] But as a discerning
historian has remarked, “what is of greatest significance is the fact
that there reigned not only among the professed scholars but among
the plain missionaries (whose name was legion) a classical spirit, a
love of literature for its own sake and a keen delight in poetry. They
brought imagination, they brought spiritual force to a world well nigh
sunk in materialism.... Their lighter productions show but one side of
their Scottish nature. Their earnest single pursuit of learning in the
widest sense attainable, their solid hard work as scholars is no less
characteristic. Ireland was once the university not only of Northern
England, but of the Frankish realm and if that progress was arrested
after the fatal inroads of the Norsemen after 795 A.D. the seed which
the Scots had sown in other lands grew to a nobler maturity than
ever it reached on its own soil.... Wherever they went they founded
schools.”[537]
Many other tributes to Irish monastic scholarship might be quoted.
We have selected but two of these partly because of the weight of
authority rightly associated with the author’s name in each case and
partly because they summarise the detailed evidence we have presented
during the course of our study.
Turner says: “The Irish teachers left a lasting impression on their own
and succeeding generations. Not only were they the chief teachers of
grammar, poetry, astronomy, music, and geography when these branches
had no other, or scarcely any other, representative on the continent
of Europe, but they also profoundly influenced the course of mediæval
thought in matters of philosophy and theology. Their elucidation of the
Gospel of St. John and their commentaries on the Epistles of St. Paul
formed a new school of exegesis.... They introduced the Neo-Platonic
point of view in metaphysical speculation and carried the art of
dialectic to a higher point than it ever before attained. It is no
exaggeration to say that they were the founders of scholasticism and
that Ireland is the Ionia of mediæval philosophy.”[538]
Zimmer too shows that the Irish missionaries were not merely the
representatives of Christianity: “they were instructors in every branch
of science and learning of the time, possessors and bearers of a higher
culture than was at that time to be found anywhere on the Continent,
and can surely claim to have been the pioneers,—to have laid the corner
stone of western culture on the Continent.”[539]
We have reached the end of our study. We have traced the rise, growth,
and influence of the Irish monastic schools during the sixth, seventh,
eighth, and ninth centuries. Their work and influence lasted for
several centuries after the ninth, but during the period which we have
investigated their influence was a dominant one in the history of
European education. In the later centuries other factors contributed
to the advancement of learning in Western Europe and while the Irish
contribution was by no means negligible it was less distinctive, less
significant, than during the period ending with the ninth century.
If, then, we would form a correct idea of the position that Irish
monastic schools occupy in the history of western culture, we have but
to contrast the actual state of contemporary learning in the rest of
Western Europe with that available in these schools; or to recall their
large number and wide distribution, noting the liberal nature of the
course of studies pursued therein and the generosity with which that
learning was extended to all irrespective of race or social position.
In either case we are driven to the conclusion that these schools were
indeed the greatest educational factor of early mediæval times, that
they were, in reality, the universities of the West, the lights that
illumined the (so-called) Dark Ages.
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] Hyde, Douglas, _Literary History of Ireland_, p. 122.
[2] Cited by George Coffey, _Bronze Age in Ireland_, pp. 2, 3.
[3] Coffey, George, _op. cit._ pp. 6–99.
[4] Joyce, Patrick W., _Social History of Ireland_, I., p. 556.
[5] Coffey, George, _op. cit._ p. 2.
[6] Coffey, George, _New Grange and other Incised Tumuli_, p. 62.
[7] Coffey, George, _The Bronze Age in Ireland_, pp. 2, 27.
[8] O’Donovan, John, _Annals of the Four Masters_, I., p. 132.
[9] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 14.
[10] Ginnell, Laurence, _Article on the Brehon Laws_, in the
_Encyclopædia Britannica_, IV., p. 488.
[11] Quoted by Douglas Hyde in _A Literary History of Ireland_, p. 134.
[12] _Liber Ardmachanus_ or _Book of Armagh_, edited by John Gwynn, p.
9.
[13] Stokes, Whitley, _Tripartite Life of St. Patrick_, II., p. 284.
[14] Joyce, Patrick W., _Social History of Ireland_, I., p. 402.
[15] The Brehon Laws have been edited and translated and published in
five volumes with the title _The Ancient Laws of Ireland_.
[16] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 403, who cites Petrie’s _Tara_, p.
38.
[17] See Chapter IV. for a brief account of the Irish Lay Schools.
[18] See under _Prosody_, O’Donovan’s _Irish Grammar_.
[19] See Joyce, P. W., _Social History of Ireland_, I., p. 316.
[20] _Cosmographia Aethici Istri_, edited by H. Wuttke, Leipsic, 1854.
Cited by Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 404.
Cited by Meyer, Kuno, _Learning in Ireland_, p. 11.
Cited by Wood-Martin, _Pagan Ireland_, p. 84.
[21] See Joyce, P. W., _Social History of Ireland_, I., p. 397.
[22] For the geographical distribution of Ogam inscriptions see Coffey,
George, _Guide to Celtic Antiquities_, pp. 101–106.
[23] Perhaps the best division of the Irish language into periods is
that given by Eoin MacNeill in _Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge_, May, 1908.
Pre-Ogam, before 300 A.D. Ogam, c. 300(?)–700(?) A.D. The Old Irish of
the MSS. from 600(?)–1000(?) A.D. Middle Irish, 1000–1500 A.D. Modern
Irish, 1500–Present Day. During the present study we shall frequently
use the words Old Irish to connote the Period including the 7th, 8th,
and 9th centuries.
[24] Quiggin, E. C., _Article on Ogam_ in _Encyclopædia Britannica_,
vol. v., pp. 622–623.
[25] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., pp. 398–399.
[26] MacNeill, Eoin, Article _Irish Ogam Inscriptions_ in the
_Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy_, July, 1909.
[27] Bury, J. B., _Life of St. Patrick_, p. 10.
[28] Sigerson, George, _Bards of the Gael and Gall_, Introduction, p. 1.
[29] Meyer, Kuno, _Ancient Irish Poetry_, pp. 8, 9.
[30] De Jubainville, H. d’Arbois, _Literature Celtique_, I., p. 1.
[31] Meyer, Kuno, _Learning in Ireland in the Fifth Century_, p. 1.
[32] See Introduction to the _Book of Armagh_, ed. by John Gwynn; also
Hyde, Douglas, _Literary History of Ireland_, pp. 137–139.
[33] Zimmer, Heinrich, _Celtic Church in Britain and Ireland_, p. 31.
[34] Bury, J. B., _Life of St. Patrick_, p. 206.
[35] Stokes, Whitley, _Tripartite Life of St. Patrick_, I., p. cxxxv.
[36] Bury, J. B., _Life of St. Patrick_, p. 206.
[37] Stokes, Whitley, _Tripartite Life of St. Patrick_, I., 112, 138,
190–322, 326, 327, 328.
[38] Joyce, P. W., _Social History of Ireland_, I., p. 439. See
illustration.
[39] _Würzburg Codex_, 33 c. 13.
[40] Stokes, Whitley, _op. cit._ I., p. xviii.
[41] Roger, M., _L’Enseignement des Lettres Classiques_, p. 222.
[42] Meyer, Kuno, _Learning in Ireland, in the Fifth Century_, p. 1.
[43] Meyer, Kuno, _op. cit._ p. 5.
[44] De Jubainville H. d’Arbois, _Cours de littérature celtique_, I.,
p. 369.
[45] Meyer, Kuno, _op. cit._ pp. 5, 6.
[46] Gwynn, John, _Book of Armagh_, f. 22 b. 2; also Stokes, Whitley,
_Tripartite Life of St. Patrick_, II., pp. 357–380.
[47] Translated from Latin of _Tripartite Life_, II., pp. 360–361.
[48] Zimmer, H., _Sitzungsberichte der köngl. preuss. Akademie_, 1909,
p. 562, cited by Meyer, Kuno, _op. cit._ p. 5.
[49] Meyer, Kuno, _ibid._
[50] Colganus, _Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae_, XI., p. 375, cited by
Hauréau, B., _Singularités Historiques et Littéraires_, pp. 2, 3.
[51] Power, Patrick, _Lives of SS. Declan and Mochuda_, p. xix.
[52] Tacitus, _Agricola_, Chapter XXIV.
[53] _Ibid._
[54] See Coffey, George, _Archæological Evidence for the Intercourse
of Gaul with Ireland before the First Century_ in _Proceedings of the
Royal Irish Academy_, 1910, pp. 96–106; Greene, Alice S., _Trade Routes
of Ireland_ in her _Old Irish World_, pp. 63–99.
[55] Meyer, Kuno, Article, _Gauls in Ireland_ in _Eriu_, IV., p. 208.
[56] Warren, J. B., _Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church_, p. 35.
[57] Healy, John, _Ireland’s Ancient Schools and Scholars_, pp. 29–39;
Warren, J. B., _op. cit._ p. 35.
[58] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 32.
[59] Sigerson, George, _Bards of the Gael and Gall_, p. 45.
[60] Sigerson, George, _op. cit._ pp. 45–48.
[61] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 39, where St. Jerome is cited.
[62] Meyer, Kuno, _Learning in Ireland_, p. 8.
[63] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 40.
[64] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 41.
[65] Meyer, Kuno, _op. cit._; also Warren, F. E., _Liturgy and Ritual
of the Celtic Church_, p. 35.
[66] Article, _Ireland_ in the _Catholic Encyclopædia_, VIII., p. 117.
[67] _Op. cit._ VIII., p. 116.
[68] MacCaffrey, James, Article, _Rome and Ireland: Pre-Patrician
Christianity_, in _Irish Theological Quarterly_, I., p. 53.
[69] Beada, _Historia Ecclesiasticae Gentis Anglorum_, Liber I., Cap.
13.
[70] For a discussion of the ancient use of the words _Scotia_ and
_Scot_ see Skene’s _Celtic Scotland_, I., Introduction, p. 9.
[71] Bury, J. B., _Life of St. Patrick_, pp. 212–213.
[72] Bury, J. B., _op. cit._ p. 217.
[73] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 323.
[74] Hyde, Douglas, _Literary History of Ireland_, pp. 243–251.
[75] Plummer, Carolus, _Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae_, I., Intro., 129–188.
[76] Hyde, Douglas, _op. cit._ pp. 134–135.
[77] De Jubainville, H. d’Arbois, _Littérature Celtique_, I., 137.
[78] Todd, W. H., _Life of St. Patrick_, pp. 88, 89, contains a copy of
_Catalogus SS. Hiberniae Secundum Diversa Tempora_.
[79] Article on _Monasticism_ signed E. C. B. (E. C. Butler) in the
_Encyclopædia Britannica_, XVIII., p. 687.
[80] _Ibid._
[81] Healy, John, _Ireland’s Ancient Schools and Scholars_, p. 93.
[82] Bund, Willis, _Celtic Church in Wales_, 1897, cited by G.
P. Huddleston in Article on _Irish Monasticism_ in the _Catholic
Encylopædia_, X., p. 473.
[83] See Bibliography, _Sources—Rules_.
[84] See Bibliography, _Lives of Irish Saints_.
[85] Warren, F. E., _The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church_, pp.
54–55.
[86] _Catholic Encyclopædia_, _op. cit._
[87] _Catalogus SS. Hiberniae Secundum Diversa Tempora_, published in
Todd, W. H., _Life of St. Patrick_, pp. 88–89.
[88] Bury, J. B., _op. cit._ p. 39 _seq._ Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 93.
[89] Plummer, Charles, _Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae_, p. cxxiv.
[90] Plummer, Charles, _op. cit._ p. cxxv.
[91] _Ibid._
[92] Plummer, Charles, _op. cit._ I., p. cxxvi.
[93] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 199.
[94] Joyce, _Social History of Ireland_, I., 322.
[95] Todd, W. H., _op. cit._ p. 99; Healy, J. _op. cit._ pp. 107–108.
[96] Stokes, Whitley, _Felire of Aengus_, p. 118.
[97] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., 323.
[98] Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan’s Life of St. Columba_, pp. 276–298.
[99] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 61.
[100] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 321.
[101] _Op. cit._ I., 323.
[102] Nolan, Thomas, _Irish Universities and Culture_, p. 11.
[103] Conyngham, D. P., _Lives of Irish Saints and Martyrs_, pp.
537–544.
[104] Murray, Rev. L. P., Article in _Louth Archæological Journal_, I.,
pp. 22–36.
[105] In _Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy_, VI., p. 106 _seq._
cited by Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ p. 16.
[106] White, _Apologia_, p. 24 cited by Nolan, P., _op. cit._ p. 18.
[107] Stokes, Margaret, _Three Months in the Forests of France_, p.
254–5.
[108] Green, J. R., _The Making of England_, pp. 277–8.
[109] Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan_, pp. 290–303.
[110] Todd, W. H., _Wars of the Gael and Gall_, Rolls Series, p. 39.
[111] Zimmer, H., _Irish Element in Mediæval Culture_, p. 49.
[112] Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan’s Life of St. Columba_, pp. 276–298.
[113] Moran, Patrick, _Irish Saints in Great Britain_, 77 _seq._
[114] Edmonds, Columba, Article in _Glories of Ireland_, p. 21.
[115] Especially Skene, W., _Historians of Scotland_, VI., p. xlix.
Also in _Celtic Scotland_, III.
[116] Warren, F. E., _Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church_, p. 14.
[117] See, however, Green, J. R., _The Making of England_, p. 276
_seq._; Brooke, Stopford, _History of English Literature from the
Beginning to the Norman Conquest_, Chap. I., II., III.; also _Cambridge
History of English Literature_, I., Chap. II., pp. 13, 14, 15, 16.
[118] Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ p. 16.
[119] Warren, F. E., _ibid._; Sandys, _History of Classical
Scholarship_, I., p. 442; Meyer, Kuno, _Learning in Ireland_, p. 12.
[120] Warren, F. E., _ibid._; Roger, _op. cit._ 400; also Hauck,
Albert, _Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands_, I., pp. 282 _seq._
[121] Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ p. 16; Stokes, Margaret, _Six Months in
Apennines_, pp. 96–97.
[122] Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ p. 3.
[123] Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ pp. 63–64; also Haddan and Stubbs’
_Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents of Great Britain and Ireland_,
I., p. 152.
[124] Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ p. 3.
[125] Reeves, Wm., _op. cit._ p. 350.
[126] Bede, _Ecclesiastical History of England_, Bohn’s Edition, pp.
371–2.
[127] Reeves, Wm., _op. cit._ p. 350.
[128] Plummer, Charles, _op. cit._ I., p. cxxiii.
[129] Healy, John, _op. cit._ pp. 236–237.
[130] _Catholic Encyclopædia_, III., p. 404.
[131] Bede, _Ecclesiastical History of England_, Book III., Bohn’s Ed.;
Bede, _op. cit._ Book III., 26–28, Book IV., 12, 21, 23; Plummer’s
Edition cited by Roger, _op. cit._ 823–4.
[132] Roger, _ibid._
[133] Healy, John, _op. cit._ pp. 236, 237.
[134] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 460.
[135] Green, J. R., _The Making of England_, p. 276.
[136] Reeves, Wm., _op. cit._ p. 342.
[137] Reeves, Wm., _op. cit._ See table opposite p. 342.
[138] Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan_, pp. 342, 343; Skene, W., _Celtic
Scotland_, II., pp. 61, 62. The monastic organization here described
applies especially to Iona, but may be considered as typical not only
of Columban monasteries but of Irish monasteries in general.
[139] Reeves, Wm., _op. cit._ p. 365; Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 98.
[140] Skene, Wm., _Celtic Scotland_, II., p. 44.
[141] Skene, Wm., _op. cit._ p. 42.
[142] See _Annals of the Four Masters_, I., pp. 399, 410, 420, 442,
458, 470.
[143] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 389.
[144] _Ancient Laws of Ireland_, V., p. 123.
[145] Todd, W. H., _Life of St. Patrick_, p. 16.
[146] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 381.
[147] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 104.
[148] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 381.
[149] Todd, W. H., _op. cit._ p. 160.
[150] Healy, John, _op. cit._ pp. 104, 105.
[151] Healy, John, _ibid._; Plummer, Charles, _op. cit._ I., p. cxiv.
[152] _Ancient Laws of Ireland_, III., 13, 15, 29.
[153] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., pp. 318, 382.
[154] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., pp. 378, 379, 380.
[155] _Ancient Laws of Ireland_, III., pp. 33, 39.
[156] The relation between the Irish Church and the State is very ably
yet concisely treated in a pamphlet by Rev. James F. Cassidy, St.
Paul, Minnesota, entitled “_The Irish Church as an Element in Irish
Nationality_” whose thesis is cited here.
[157] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 382.
[158] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 94; Stokes, Whitley, _Tripartite Life
of St. Patrick_, I., p. 236.
[159] Plummer, Charles, _op. cit._ I., p. xcviii.
[160] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., 365.
[161] Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan_, pp. 24, 143.
[162] Concannon, Helen, _The Life of St. Columban_, p. 145.
[163] Stokes, W., _op. cit._ p. 236; Reeves, Wm., _op. cit._ pp.
357–361.
[164] Reeves, Wm., _ibid._; Healy, John, _op. cit._ pp. 94–96.
[165] Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ p. 17.
[166] Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ p. 17; Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I. l.
409.
[167] See Bibliography, _Rules_.
[168] _Op. cit. Lives of Saints_.
[169] Columbanus, _Regula Monachorum_, C. III., cited by Concannon,
Helen, _Life of St. Columban_, p. 68.
[170] Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan’s Vita Sancti Columbae_, p. 348.
[171] Concannon, Helen, _op. cit._ p. 69.
[172] _Ibid._
[173] Reeves, Wm., _op. cit._ p. 355.
[174] Concannon, Helen, _ibid._
[175] _Ibid._
[176] McAlister, R. S., _Muiredach, Abbot of Monasterboice_, p. 63.
[177] The number of Canonical Hours vary in different Rules; some give
_six_, others _seven_; the Bangor usage was _eight_. See notes by R. I.
Best on _Tractate on the Canonical Hours_ edited from the _Lebor Brecc_
in _Miscellany to Kuno Meyer_.
[178] See Concannon, Helen, _op. cit._ pp. 58, 67; Plummer, I., cxvii.
[179] MacAlister, R. S., _Muiredach, Abbot of Clonmacnoise_, p. 63.
[180] See above _Means of Support_.
[181] Concannon, Helen, _op. cit._ p. 75.
[182] Healy, J., _op. cit._ p. 104.
[183] Published in Skene’s _Celtic Scotland_, II., p. 509.
[184] Adamnan, _Vita S. Columbae_, Reeves Edition, p. 9.
[185] Stokes and Strachan, _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, I., pp. 3–483
for _Glosses on Psalms_; O’Hanlon, John, _Lives of Irish Saints_, VI.,
p. 286 for story of St. Columba.
[186] Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan’s Life of St. Columba_, pp. 20, 22, 36, 43,
49.
[187] Reeves, W., _op. cit._ pp. 343, 344.
[188] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 103.
[189] Concannon, Helen, _op. cit._ pp. 186–191.
[190] Reeves, Wm., _op. cit._ pp. 343, 344.
[191] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., 29, 25, 330, 332; II., 166, 167,
168, 483.
[192] Reeves, Wm., _op. cit._ pp. 343, 344.
[193] For translations of Early Irish Nature Poetry see Sigerson, G.,
_Bards of the Gael and Gall_; Meyer, Kuno, _Old Irish Poetry_; Hull,
Eleanor, _Poem Book of the Gael_.
[194] Healy, John, _op. cit._ pp. 102, 103.
[195] Zimmer, H., _Irish Element in Mediæval Culture_, p. 102.
[196] Johnson, Samuel (Dr.), in a letter to Charles O’Connor published
in O’Reilly’s _Irish Writers_, pp. i., ii. Also cited in Article _Dr.
Johnson and Ireland_ in _Irish Monthly_, XLVI., 538, p. 211.
[197] Joyce, P. W., _Social History of Ireland_, I., 408.
[198] Hyde, Douglas, _Literary History of Ireland_, p. 241.
[199] Hull, Eleanor, _Text Book of Irish Literature_, I., 189.
[200] Joyce, P. W., _Social History of Ireland_, I., pp. 418, 419.
[201] O’Curry, Eugene, _Manners and Customs_, I., p. 78.
[202] O’Donovan, John, _Tribes and Customs of Hy Many_, pp. 79, 167.
[203] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., 417.
[204] See also _Catalogue of Irish MSS. in Trinity College, Dublin_,
pp. 285–402, 530–535; _The Bibliography of Irish Philology and Irish
Printed Literature_, edited by R. I. Best, pp. 1–307.
[205] Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan_, pp. 103, 107.
[206] _Op. cit._, pp. 79–80.
[207] Meyer, Kuno, _Old Irish Poetry_. See several examples; also
_Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, II., pp. 290, 293, 294, 296.
[208] De Jubainville, H. d’Arbois, _Littérature Celtique_, I., 384.
[209] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., pp. 418, 419; Hull, E., _op. cit._
I., 189.
[210] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., 417.
[211] O’Curry, Eugene, _Manners and Customs_, I., 92. _MS. Materials_,
p. 50.
[212] The Irish word _fithcheal_ is usually translated _chess_.
[213] _Ancient Laws of Ireland_, II., 349. Also pp. 153, 1616.
[214] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., pp. 418, 426. For _Fosterage_, see
II., p. 14.
[215] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., pp. 418, 426.
[216] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 132.
[217] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 211.
[218] Stokes, Whitley, _Lives of the Saints from the Book of Lismore_.
[219] Plummer, C., _op. cit._ I., p. cxv.; Joyce, _op. cit._ I., 440,
p. 251.
[220] Concannon, Helen, _op. cit._ p. 10.
[221] _Op. cit._ pp. 24, 25.
[222] De Jubainville, H. d’Arbois, _La Civilization des Celtes_, p. 109.
[223] Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ p. 14; Moran, Patrick, _Irish Saints
in Great Britain_, pp. 248, 240. Montalambert, Conte de, _Les Moines
d’Occident_, IV., p. 62.
[224] For the influence of the Irish monks on early English poetry, see
Brooke, Stopford, _History of English Literature from the Beginning to
the Norman Conquest_, Chapters i., ii., iii. Also _Cambridge History of
English Literature_, I., pp. 13–16.
[225] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 410.
[226] _Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie_, II., p. 137.
[227] Stokes, Whitley, _Lives of the Saints_, line 4128.
[228] Plummer, C., _Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae_, I., p. cxv.
[229] Todd, J. H., _Life of St. Patrick_. See _Catalogus Sanctorum
Hiberniae Secundum Diversa Tempora_, printed on pp. 88, 89.
[230] _Book of Leinster_, p. 373; _Lebor Brec_, p. 23 b; edited Stokes,
Whitley, _Royal Irish Academy MSS. Series_, 1880.
[231] Meyer, Kuno, _Learning in Ireland_, p. 24.
[232] Petrie, George, _Christian Inscriptions_, II., p. xiv.
[233] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 413.
[234] Plummer, C., _op. cit._ I., xiv.
[235] _Epistolas_ in _Monumenta Germaniae Historiae_, Epistola III.;
_Epistolas Merovingi et Carolingi Aevi_, I., p. 231.
[236] Bede, _Ecclesiastical History of England_, Bk. III., Chap.
xxvii., Bohn’s English Translation.
[237] Healy, John, _op. cit._ pp. 530–532.
[238] Petrie, George, _Round Towers_, p. 355. O’Curry, E., _Manners &
C._, p. 38.
[239] Moran, Patrick, _Irish Saints in Great Britain_, pp. 219–223.
[240] Published in _Eriu_, VIII. text, p. 67, translation p. 74.
[241] Hyde, Douglas, _op. cit._ p. 221.
[242] Roger, M. L., _Enseignement des lettres classiques_, p. 410.
[243] Moran, Patrick, _op. cit._ p. 253.
[244] Quoted from Zimmer, H., _Irish Element in Mediæval Culture_, p.
32.
[245] Bede, _op. cit._ Book V., Chap. IX., X.
[246] Bede, _op. cit._ III., vii.
[247] Bede, _op. cit._ IV., ii.
[248] See Migne’s _Patrologia Latina_, Tomus 89, col. 3.
[249] Zimmer, _op. cit._ p. 42.
[250] Meyer, _Learning in Ireland_, p. 13.
[251] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 412.
[252] Healy, John, _op. cit._ pp. 272, 273.
[253] Turner, Wm., _Catholic University Bulletin_, XIII., p. 388, 1907.
[254] Roger, M., _op. cit._ p. 314.
[255] Published in Migne, _Patrologia Latina_, Tomus, 142; _Alcuini
Epistola_, 3; Ussher, _Sylloge_: _Epistola 18_.
[256] _Dictionary of National Biography_, Article on _Colchu_ by T. O.
(Thomas Orpen), XI., pp. 259, 260.
[257] _Dictionary of National Biography_, XI., _loc. cit._ pp. 259, 260.
[258] Healy, John, _op. cit._ pp. 272–273.
[259] Plummer, Charles, _Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae_, I., p. cxv.;
Joyce, P. W., _Social History of Ireland_, I., p. 440.
[260] Stokes, Whitley, _Lives of the Saints from the Book of Lismore_,
p. 173.
[261] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., 437.
[262] O’Curry, Eugene, _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish_, I.,
p. 149; Healy, John, _Ireland’s Ancient Schools and Scholars_, p. 435.
[263] Bede, _Ecclesiastical History of England_, Chapter xxvii., Bohn’s
Ed.
[264] Stokes, Whitley, _op. cit._ p. 172.
[265] See Joyce. P. W., _op. cit._ I., 439 for illustration of alphabet
engraved on a large stone in Kilmakedar in Co. Kerry.
[266] Plummer, Charles, _op. cit._ I., p. cxv.
[267] See Stokes and Strachan, _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, I., pp.
3–481.
[268] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., pp. 482–484.
[269] Coffey, George, _Guide to Celtic Antiquities of the Christian
Period_, see illustration, p. 99.
[270] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 438.
[271] Stokes and Strachan, _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, I., p. 567;
Zimmer, H., _Glossae Hiberniae_, p. 69, Note 7.
[272] Stokes and Strachan, _op. cit._ I., p. 516.
[273] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ p. 440.
[274] _Book of Leinster_, p. 135; _Rawlinson_ MS. B. 502, p. 77,
edited by Kuno Meyer; _Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy_, 1883,
pp. 219–252, edited and translated by Thomas Olden; cited by _Revue
Celtique_, V., p. 192.
[275] Macalister, R. A. S., _Muiredach, Abbot of Clonmacnoise_. See Map
on Plate I., opposite p. 12.
[276] Traube, Ludwig, _O Roma Nobilis_, p. 58.
[277] Concannon, Helen, _Life of St. Columban_, pp. 41–42.
[278] Stokes and Strachan, _op. cit._ II., p. xix., and for Glosses see
_op. cit._ II., pp. 49–232.
[279] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., pp. 430–431.
[280] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 432.
[281] See Macalister, R. A. S., _Muiredach_, p. 65, for a collection of
these fragmentary marginalia.
[282] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., 483.
[283] Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan_, Preface, lviii.
[284] _Ancient Laws of Ireland_, III., p. 89.
[285] Sullivan, Sir Edward, _The Book of Kells_, p. 24.
[286] Sullivan, Sir Edward, _op. cit._ p. 25.
[287] Or the juice of “green skinned holly,” Meyer, Kuno, _Ancient
Irish Poetry_, p. 87.
[288] Keller, Ferdinand, _Ulster Journal of Archæology_, Old Series,
VIII., p. 222.
[289] Stokes, Margaret, _Early Christian Ireland_, Article ix.
[290] See Abbot’s _Reproduction of the Book of Kells_, Plate xxxiv.;
also reproduced in Sir Arthur Sullivan’s _The Book of Kells_.
[291] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 480, illustration i., 481.
[292] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., pp. 477–478.
[293] See Chapter III.; also _Four Masters_, I., passim.
[294] Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan_, Preface, pp. xxi.–xxii.
[295] Sandys, J. E., _Companion of Latin Studies_, Article on
_Palaeography_ by Sir Edward Maude Thompson, pp. 780–781.
[296] Keller, F., _Ulster Journal of Archæology_, O.S. VIII., p. 223.
[297] Keller, F., _Bilder und Schriftzuge_, Zurich, 1851, English
translation _Ulster Journal of Archæology_, VIII., pp. 210–291.
[298] Lindsey, W. M., _Early Irish Minuscule Script_, Oxford, 1910.
[299] Sandys, J. E., _Companion of Latin Studies_, p. 281.
[300] Zimmer, H., _Irish Element in Mediæval Culture_, pp. 121–124.
[301] Zimmer, H., _op. cit._ p. 120.
[302] Hull, Eleanor, _Early Christian Ireland_, p. 270.
[303] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 488.
[304] Coffey, George, _Guide to the Antiquities of Christian Ireland_.
See illustration, p. 50.
[305] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 489.
[306] Hull, Eleanor, _Early Christian Ireland_, p. 271.
[307] Hull, E., _ibid._ Sandys in his _History of Classical
Scholarship_, I., p. 453 gives 666 as the number of volumes.
[308] See Muratori, _Antiquitates Italiae_, fol. ed. I., _Dissert._ 43,
pp. 493.
[309] Stokes, Margaret, _Six Months in the Appenines_, pp. 296–7.
[310] Sandys, J. E., _op. cit._ I., p. 453; Hull, Eleanor, _op. cit._
p. 272.
[311] Zimmer, H., _Irish Element in Mediæval Culture_, p. 116.
[312] Sandys, J. E., _op. cit._ I., p. 454.
[313] Sandys, J. E., _ibid._
[314] _Ibid._
[315] Jonas, _Vita Columbani_, p. 26, cited Sandys, _op. cit._ I., p.
456.
[316] Sandys, J. E., _ibid._
[317] Hull, Eleanor, _Early Christian Ireland_, p. 274.
[318] Hull, Eleanor, _op. cit._ p. 276.
[319] Zimmer, H., _op. cit._ p. 116.
[320] Sandys, J. E., _History of Classical Scholarship_, I., p. 455;
Zimmer, H., _Irish Element in Mediæval Culture_, p. 116; Hull, Eleanor,
_Early Christian Ireland_, p. 276.
[321] See Stokes and Strachan, _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, I., pp.
xiii.–xxiv., II., pp. ix.–xxv.
[322] Joyce, P. W., _Social History of Ireland_, I., pp. 430–436.
[323] Rashdall, _Universities of Europe_, I., p. 36.
[324] Leach, A. F., _The Schools of Mediæval England_, p. 48.
[325] Healy, John, _op. cit._ pp. 202–204; Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I.,
p. 432.
[326] Sigerson, George, _Bards of the Gael and Gall_, p. 45.
[327] See above Chapter III.
[328] Healy, John, _op. cit._ 120–123.
[329] Stokes and Strachan, _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, I., pp. 1–482.
[330] Migne, _Patrologia Latina_, Tomus 80, p. 328.
[331] Bede, _Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum_, Liber III., Ch. 7.
[332] Roger, _L’Enseignement des Lettres Classiques_, p. 275.
[333] Bede, _op. cit._ III., 4.
[334] Roger, _op. cit._ p. 228.
[335] Roger, _ibid._
[336] See _Note 41 above_.
[337] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 207.
[338] Migne, _Pat. Lat._, Tomus 87.
[339] Healy, John, _op. cit._ pp. 236–239; Stokes, G., _R.I.A._; May,
1892, p. 125.
[340] Ed. Stokes, Whitley, in _Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy,
MSS. Series_, Vol. L., p. 139.
[341] _Revue Celtique_, XIV., p. 226. For examples of glosses belonging
to the seventh, eighth and ninth centuries see Stokes and Strachan’s
_Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, 2 vol.
[342] Stokes and Strachan, _op. cit._ II., pp. xxiii., 415.
[343] Thurneysen, _Revue Celtique_, VI., pp. 336–347.
[344] Zimmer, H., _op. cit._ p. 62, cf. Dümmler in _Neues Archiv_, VI.,
258. _Cruindmeli sive Fulcharii Ars Metrica._, Vienna, 1883.
[345] Zimmer, H., _op. cit._ p. 63.
[346] _Op. cit._ p. 50.
[347] Published, Keil. _Grammatici Latini_, Leipsig, 1857, I., p. xix.
[348] _Ibid._ Turner, Wm., _Catholic University Bulletin_, XIII., p.
392.
[349] Zimmer, H., _Irish Element in Mediæval Culture_, p. 60.
[350] Zimmer, H., _op. cit._ p. 61. Turner, Wm., _Catholic University
Bulletin_, XIII., p. 149. See also Chapter VII.
[351] _Poetae Aevi Caroli_, III., p. 691. Ozanam, F., _Documents
Inedits_.
[352] Roger, M., _L’Enseignement des Lettres Classiques_, p. 229.
[353] Roger, M., _op. cit._ p. 262; Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 237.
[354] Stokes and Strachan, _op. cit._ I., p. xxiii., II., p. xvii., pp.
46–48; Thurneysen, _Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie_, III., p. 52,
_seq._
[355] Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan_, pp. 14, 140, 192, 229.
[356] Roger, M., _op. cit._ p. 262.
[357] Roger, M., _op. cit._ pp. 262–3, footnotes.
[358] Stokes and Strachan, _op. cit._ II., p. xiv.; Stokes, Whitley,
_Tripartite Life of St. Patrick_, II., p. 269; Roger, M., _l.c._ p. 266.
[359] Chap. III.
[360] _Studies_ (Dublin), September, 1918, for an article by Aubrey
Gwynn arguing that St. Columban was thirty years old when he left
Bangor. We, however, have accepted the (tentative) chronology of Helen
Concannon whose _Life of St. Columban_ is the best that has been
published.
[361] De Jubainville, H. d’Arbois, _Littérature Celtique_, I., p. 373.
[362] De Jubainville, _op. cit._ I., pp. 373–375; Sigerson, _op. cit._
p. 407.
[363] Gundlach, _Mon. Ger. Epistolae_, III., Notes on _Epistolae
Columbani_.
[364] Esposito, Mario, Articles _Hiberno-Latin MSS. in Belgian
Libraries_, Art. in _Archivium Hibernicum_, III., p. 2; _The Latin
Writers of Mediæval Ireland_, Art. in Hermathena, XIV., No. 33, pp.
519–529; Art. in _Irish Theological Quarterly_, IV., pp. 181–185.
[365] Published under the title _Peronna Scottorum_ in
_Sitzungsberichte of the Academy of Munich_, 1900, p. 490.
[366] Migne, _Pat. Lat._, Tomus, 89, col. 96; _Epistolae Mer. et Karl
Aevi_.
[367] Roger, M., _op. cit._ p. 260.
[368] Nolan, Thomas P., _Irish Universities and Culture_, p. 13.
[369] Ker, W. P., _The Dark Ages_, p. 319.
[370] Jonas, _Vita Columbani_ in Krusch _Script. rer. Merov._, IV., p.
71; cited by Roger, _op. cit._ p. 411.
[371] Roger, M., _op. cit._ p. 412.
[372] Turner, Wm., Article _Irish Teachers in the Carolingian Revival_
in _Catholic University Bulletin_, XIII., p. 387.
[373] Turner, Wm., _op. cit._ XIII., p. 389. This article by Turner
in the _Catholic University Bulletin_, XIII., pp. 283 _seq._ and 567
_seq._ is by far the most helpful contribution to the study of the
Carolingian Revival. A valuable array of facts is given and the sources
for further inquiry are pointed out.
[374] Manitius, Max, _Geschichte der Lateinischen Literatur des
Mittelalters_, Teil I., München, 1911; Roger, M., _op. cit._ 1905;
Esposito, Mario, _Knowledge of Greek in Ireland during the Middle
Ages_, Article in _Studies_, Dublin, 1912.
[375] Quoted by Traube in _O Roma Nobilis_, p. 58; see Migne, _Pat.
Lat._, Tomus, 124, col. 1133d; De Jubainville, _op. cit._ I., p. 379.
[376] Roger takes this view _op. cit._ p. 229; cf. Gougaud, Dom. _Les
Chrétientés Celtiques_, p. 251.
[377] _Amra Coluim Cille_ in the _Irish Liber Hymnorum_, edited by
Bernard and Atkinson, I., 162–183, II., 50–80, 223–35.
[378] Meyer, Kuno, _Learning in Ireland_, p. 26.
[379] Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan_, p. 158.
[380] Reeves, Wm., _ibid._
[381] _Sitzungsberichte_ of the Royal Academy of Berlin, 1909, p. 561.
[382] Meyer, Kuno, _op. cit._ p. 27.
[383] Note in a Würzburg MS. of eighth century quoted by Zimmer in
_Pelagius in Ireland_, p. 5.
[384] Keller, F., _Bilder und Schriftzugein den irischen Manuscripten
in Mitteilungen des antiquarischen Gesellschaft in Zurich_, II., 61.
[385] Reeves, Wm., _Adamnan_, pp. xiv., xv., xxi. and Plates I., II.,
III.
[386] Stokes and Strachan, _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, II., p. xiv.
[387] Stokes and Strachan, _op. cit._ II., pp. 159, 158, 169.
[388] See Giles, _Aldhelmi Opera_, p. 94.
[389] Bede, _op. cit._ Liber IV., Ch. I.
[390] Ed. Stokes, Whitley, _Three Irish Glosses_, London, 1862.
[391] In _Duil Dromma Ceta_ (Egerton MS. 1782 15a ff; h. 3, 1863, ff
T.C.D., 1317).
[392] Hyde, Douglas, _Literary History of Ireland_, p. 420.
[393] The celebrated _Vocabularius S. Galli_ written in 780 A.D. in
the Irish style of writing containing some of the earliest examples
of German and French is believed to be the work of an Irish monk. See
Zimmer, H., _Irish Element_, p. 71.
[394] Zimmer, H., _op. cit._ p. 68.
[395] Sandys, J. E., _History of Classical Scholarship_, I., p. 463.
[396] Meyer, Kuno, _Triads of Ireland_, p. xiv.
[397] _Monumenta Germaniae Historiae_, Epistolae, III., p. 318.
[398] Flood, J. M., _Ireland: Its Saints and Scholars_, p. 92.
[399] Traube, L., _O Roma Nobilis_, p. 61.+
[400] _Ibid._
[401] Zimmer, _op. cit._ p. 126.
[402] For further details see Traube, L., _O Roma Nobilis_, p. 61. Also
Norden, _Die Antike Kunstprosa_, p. 666, Note 1.
[403] De Jubainville, H. d’Arbois, _op. cit._ I., p. 397.
[404] Traube, L., _O Roma Nobilis_, p. 287.
[405] Of the non-Irish of the time only Eric of Auxerre, Christian of
Stavelot, and Walafrid knew Greek, Traube, _op. cit._ p. 65.
[406] Concannon, Helen, _Life of St. Columban_, p. 287.
[407] Michelet, _Histoire de France_, I., p. 121.
[408] Healy, John, Art. in _Irish Ecclesiastical Record_, 1880, p. 16.
[409] Mullinger, H. B., _The Schools of Charles the Great_, p. 118.
[410] Newman, John H., _Idea of a University_, p. 485.
[411] Renan, E., in _Sur l’Étude de la langue grecque au Moyen Age_,
cited by Flood, J. M. in _Ireland: its Saints and Scholars_, p. 7.
[412] Baluze, _Miscellanea_, V., p. 54, cited by Mullinger, _op. cit._
p. 119.
[413] Mullinger, _op. cit._ p. 119.
[414] Mullinger, _ibid._
[415] Flood, W. H. Grattan, _History of Irish Music_, p. 4.
[416] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 571.
[417] O’Curry, Eugene, _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish_.
[418] Joyce, P. W., _Social History of Ireland_.
[419] Flood, W. H. Grattan, _History of Irish Music_.
[420] Flood, W. H. Grattan, _op. cit._ p. 20.
[421] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I.; Flood, W. H., _op. cit._ p. 10.
[422] Quoted in _Irish Ecclesiastical Record_, 1883, p. 510.
[423] Keller, F., _Ulster Journal of Archæology_, VIII., p. 218.
[424] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 572.
[425] Wood-Martin, W. G., _Pagan Ireland_, illustrations; Joyce, _op.
cit._ I., 675, 582.
[426] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., pp. 576, 582.
[427] Bollandists, _Acta Sanctorum_, p. 595; Lanigan, _Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland_, II., p. 464; Joyce, _op. cit._ I., p. 572.
[428] Flood, W. H. G., _op. cit._ pp. 7, 8.
[429] Flood, W. H. G., _op. cit._ p. 12.
[430] Zimmer, H., _op. cit._ p. 73.
[431] Zimmer, H., _ibid._
[432] Matthew, _History of Music_, cited by Flood, _op. cit._ p. 15.
[433] Zimmer, H., _op. cit._ p. 76.
[434] Zimmer, H., _op. cit._ p. 77.
[435] Flood, W. H. G., _op. cit._ p. 15.
[436] Flood, W. H. G., Article _Irish Music in Glories of Ireland_, p.
71.
[437] Schubiger, _Die Sängerschule St. Gallen_, p. 33; Flood, W. H. G.,
_History of Irish Music_, pp. 16–19; Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., 573.
[438] Flood, W. H. G., Article _Irish Music_ in _Glories of Ireland_,
p. 771.
[439] See _Liber Hymnorum_, ed. by Atkinson and Bernard; also Stokes
and Strachan, _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, I., 298 _seq._
[440] Flood, W. H. G., Art. in _Glories of Ireland_, p. 72.
[441] Turner, Wm., _History of Philosophy_, p. 247. (Query: Is this the
same or a different commentary from that referred to by and attributed
to Bishop Donnchadh, by Flood?)
[442] Flood, W. H. G., _History of Irish Music_, pp. 19, 20.
[443] See Coffey, George, _Bronze Age in Ireland_, Plates II., V.,
VII., VIII., IX., X. and pp. 48, 49, 50.
[444] McKenna, James E. (Right Rev.), _Irish Art_, p. 7.
[445] McKenna, James E., _op. cit._ pp. 8, 9.
[446] Sullivan, Sir Edward, _The Book of Kells_, Introduction, p. 1.
[447] Westwood, John, _Palaeographia Sacra Pictoria_, quoted by
McKenna, James E., _op. cit._ pp. 20–21.
[448] Coffey, George, _Guide to the Celtic Antiquities of Christian
Ireland_, pp. 9, 10.
[449] Quoted by McKenna, James F., _op. cit._ p. 20, 21.
[450] Hartley, _Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society_, N.S., IV.,
1885.
[451] See _Ireland: Industrial and Agricultural_, pp. 19, 20 for the
places where these materials are obtainable in Ireland.
[452] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., 561; Coffey, G., _Bronze Age_.
Illustration.
[453] Stokes, Wm., _Life of Petrie_, Chap. vii.
[454] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 561.
[455] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., pp. 560–563.
[456] Coffey, G., _Guide to Antiquities of Christian Ireland_.
Illustration.
[457] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 560.
[458] Joyce, P. W., _op. cit._ I., p. 567.
[459] MacAlister, R. A. S., _Muiredach, Abbot of Monasterboice_
(890–923 A.D.). This work gives a detailed account of one of these
crosses at Monasterboice.
[460] Abelson, Paul, _The Seven Liberal Arts_, p. 64.
[461] Text in Migne, _Latin Patrology_, Vol. 90, Col. 294–578.
[462] Text in Migne, _Latin Patrology_, Vol. 107, Col. 669–727.
[463] See Abelson, Paul, _op. cit._ p. 90.
[464] Abelson, Paul, _op. cit._ p. 100; Turner, Wm., _Hist. of Phil._,
p. 257.
[465] Abelson, Paul, _op. cit._ p. 104.
[466] Abelson, Paul, _op. cit._ pp. 103–104.
[467] Abelson, Paul, _op. cit._ pp. 113–114.
[468] _De Nuptiis_, etc., Eyssenhardt ed. pp. 194–254.
[469] Text in Migne, Vol. 70, c. 1212–1216.
[470] Text in Migne, Vol. 82, c. 161–163.
[471] _Dictionary of National Biography_, Vol. I., p. 93.
[472] Maguire, Eugene, _Life of Adamnan_, p. 95.
[473] Chap. V., p. 69, Text and translation in _Proceedings of the
Royal Irish Academy_, 1883, pp. 219–252.
[474] See MacAlister, R. A. S., _Muiredach, Abbot of Clonmacnoise_,
where a copy of this map will be found.
[475] See Mullinger, J. B., _The Schools of Charles the Great_, p. 120,
for Alcuin’s silly explanations of astronomical phenomena.
[476] The Vernacular Studies would naturally be confined chiefly to the
schools situated in Ireland. It is possible that they were taught in
some of the schools in Scotland and in those schools on the Continent
which had Irish pupils. It might be remarked that some writers
attribute the early literary development of vernacular poetry in
Northern England to the example set by the Irish monks in using their
native tongue for poetry.
[477] Perhaps Clement, the successor of Alcuin at the Palace School,
should also be ranked as one of the greatest Irish scholars. It is
well known that he was a famous Greek scholar and is believed by many
to have been a much greater scholar than Alcuin, his rival in royal
favour. We have not yet succeeded in collecting sufficient evidence to
warrant his inclusion in the present connection.
[478] Lecky, _Rationalism in Europe_, III., p. 5.
[479] Zimmer, H., _Irish Element_, p. 62; Healy, John, _op. cit._ p.
369.
[480] Healy, John, _op. cit._ pp. 569–571.
[481] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 571.
[482] Zimmer, H., _Irish Element_, pp. 62–63.
[483] _Annals of the Four Masters_, I., sub anno 784 A.D.
[484] Published by Walckenaer, Paris, 1807; by Letronne in a more
critical edition, Paris, 1814; by Gustav Parthey, Berlin, 1870.
[485] _Dictionary of National Biography_, XV., pp. 48–49.
[486] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 283.
[487] _Dictionary of National Biography_, Vol. XV., pp. 49–50.
[488] Zimmer, H., _Irish Element in Mediæval Culture_, pp. 55–56.
[489] Turner, Wm., _Catholic University Bulletin_, Vol. XIII., p. 396.
[490] Turner, Wm. _op. cit._ p. 396.
[491] _Poetae Aevi Carolini_, III., p. 691.
[492] In the _Valenciennes Codex_, 386, pp. 73–76, cited by Turner,
_ibid._
[493] Turner, Wm., _op. cit._ p. 395.
[494] Migne, _Pat. Lat._, Tom. 105, p. 477.
[495] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 383.
[496] Turner, W., _op. cit._ p. 392.
[497] Pertz, _Monumenta Germaniae Historica_, Leg. I., p. 249. Stokes,
Margaret, _Six Months in the Appenines_, App. VIII., p. 205. Muratori,
_Antiquitates Italicae_, Tom. III., Dissertatio, 43.
[498] Stokes, Margaret, _ibid._
[499] _Poetae Caroli_, I., pp. 396, 408, 411, 413, 429, 430, 511.
[500] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 392.
[501] Zimmer, H., _op. cit._ p. 11.
[502] Entitled _Dungali Responsa contra Perversae Claudii Taurinensis
Episcopi Sententias_.
[503] Cited by Lanigan in _Ecclesiastical History of Ireland_, III.,
Chap. XX.
[504] Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 391.
[505] Stokes, Margaret, _Six Months in the Appenines_, p. 213.
[506] For list see Miss Stokes, _op. cit._ pp. 296–297.
[507] Muratori, _Antiquitates Italicae_, Dissert. Tom. iii., col. 821.
[508] See Stokes, Margaret, _op. cit._ p. 216 for contents.
[509] About 90 of his poems are published by Traube, _Poetae Aev. Carl._
[510] See his tract _Artem Euticii Grammatici_ in Traube’s _O Roma
Nobilis_, p. 61, which shows a knowledge of Greek. Traube thinks it was
composed in Ireland.
[511] Montfaucon, _Pal. Graeca_, p. 235, describes the Greek Psalter
transcribed by Sedulius now No. 8047 in the Library at the Arsenale at
Paris.
[512] First published by Cardinal Mai in _Specilegium Romanus_; also by
Traube in _Quellen u. Untersuchungen zur lateinischen Philologie des
Mittelalters_; Teil I., Erstes Heft von S. Hellman, München, 1906, pp.
203, Zweites Heft Johannes Scottus von Edward Kennard Rand, München,
1906, p. 106.
[513] Turner, Book Review in _Cath. Univ. Bulletin_, xiii., p. 149.
[514] _Ibid._
[515] Traube, _O Roma Nobilis_; Turner, Wm., _op. cit._ p. 397.
[516] Baemker in _Jahrbuch für Philosophie und Spekulative Theologie_,
Band VII., p. 346, Bd. VIII., p. 222; Healy, John, _op. cit._ p. 578.
[517] De Wülf, M., _History of Mediæval Philosophy_, p. 246.
[518] The Council of Eperny (846 A.D.) speaks of _Hospitalia
Scottorum_, “quae sancti homines illius gentis in hoc regno
construxerunt”; _Mon. Ger. Leg._ I., 390; Warren, F. E., _op. cit._ p.
15.
[519] Many believe that Eriugena was a layman.
[520] Flood, F. M., _Ireland: its Schools and Scholars_, pp. 94–95.
[521] Flood, F. M., _op. cit._ p. 95, where the above is quoted.
[522] Text of Eriugena’s works in Migne, _Pat. Lat._, Tom. 122, with
Preface by Gale and Schulter.
[523] In the Library of the British Museum, Harleian, 2506; Turner,
Wm., Art. _Irish Teachers in the Carolingian Revival_, _op. cit._
XIII., 256.
[524] Mullinger, J. B., _op. cit._ p. 171.
[525] De Wülf, Maurice, _History of Mediæval Philosophy_, English
translation by Dr. P. Coffey, p. 167.
[526] Turner, Wm., _History of Philosophy_, p. 257.
[527] De Wülf, M., _op. cit._ pp. 167–168.
[528] Turner, Wm., _op. cit._ p. 256.
[529] Migne, _Pat. Lat._ Tom. 122, _De Predestinatione_, I., 1.
[530] Erdman, _History of Philosophy_, English translation by Williston
S. Hough, Vol. I., p. 292.
[531] _De Divisione Naturae_, I., p. 69.
[532] _Ibid._, IV., p. 9.
[533] Turner, Wm., _loc. cit._ p. 249.
[534] _Ibid._
[535] Poole, Reginald Lane, _Illustration in the History of Mediæval
Thought_. See _Excurus on Visit to Greece_, Legend Examined, pp.
311–313.
[536] For numerous complimentary tributes see T. P. Nolan’s booklet
_Irish University and Culture_ in the Catholic Truth Society Series.
[537] Poole, Reginald Lane, _op. cit._ p. 14.
[538] Turner, Wm., Article _Irish Teachers in the Carolingian Revival_
in _Catholic University Bulletin_, Vol. XIII., pp. 579–580.
[539] Zimmer H., _The Irish Element in Mediæval Culture_, p. 130.
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