Columbanus and the Peoples of Post-Roman Europe

The period 550 to 750 was one in which monastic culture became more firmly entrenched in Western Europe. The role of monasteries and their relationship to the social world around them was transformed during this period as monastic institutions became more integrated in social and political power networks. This collected volume of essays focuses on one of the central figures in this process, the Irish ascetic exile and monastic founder, Columbanus (c. 550-615), his travels on the Continent, and the monastic network he and his Frankish disciples established in Merovingian Gaul and Lombard Italy.
The post-Roman kingdoms through which Columbanus travelled and established his monastic foundations were made up of many different communities of peoples. As an outsider and immigrant, how did Columbanus and his communities interact with these peoples? How did they negotiate differences and what emerged from these encounters? How societies interact with outsiders can reveal the inner workings and social norms of that culture. This volume aims to explore further the strands of this vibrant contact and to consider all of the geographical spheres in which Columbanus and his monastic communities operated (Ireland, Merovingian Gaul, Alamannia, Lombard Italy) and the varieties of communities he and his successors came in contact with - whether they be royal, ecclesiastic, aristocratic, or grass-roots.

Alexander O'Hara is a Research Fellow of the Institut für Mittelalterforschung in the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna and an Honorary Fellow of the School of History in the University of St. Andrews. He is the translator (with Ian Wood) of Jonas of Bobbio's Life of Columbanus and His Disciples and was the Principal Investigator of the project "The Columbanian Network: Elite Identities and Christian Communities in Europe (550-750)," funded by the Austrian Science Fund from 2013-2016.

Preface List of Abbreviations Maps Contributors Foreword Walter Pohl Part I: Columbanus in Context Chapter 1: Introduction: Columbanus and Europe Alexander O'Hara Chapter 2: Columbanus and the Language of Concord Damian Bracken Part II: The Insular Background Chapter 3: The Political Background to Columbanus's Irish Career Dáibhí Ó Cróinín Chapter 4: Movers and Shakers? How Women Shaped the Career of Columbanus Elva Johnston Chapter 5: Columbanus's Ulster Education Alex Woolf Part III: The Frankish World Chapter 6: Columbanus in Brittany Ian Wood Chapter 7: Columbanus and Shunning: The Irish peregrinus between Gildas, Gaul, and Gregory Clare Stancliffe Chapter 8: Orthodoxy and Authority: Jonas, Eustasius, and the Agrestius Affair Andreas Fischer Chapter 9: Columbanus and the Mission to the Bavarians and the Slavs in the Seventh Century Herwig Wolfram Part IV: On the Fringe: Columbanus and Gallus in Alamannia Chapter 10: Between the Devil and the deep Lake Constance: Jonas of Bobbio, interpretatio Christiana, and the Pagan Religion of the Alamanni Bernhard Maier Chapter 11: Drinking with Woden: A Re-Examination of Jonas's Vita Columbani I. 27 Francesco Borri Chapter 12: Between Metz and Überlingen: Columbanus and Gallus in Alamannia Yaniv Fox Chapter 13: Quicumque sunt rebelles, foras exeant! Columbanus's Rebellious Disciple Gallus Philipp Dörler Part V: Lombard Italy and Columbanus's Legacy Chapter 14: Columbanus, Bobbio, and the Lombards Stefano Gasparri Chapter 15: Disputing Columbanus's Heritage: The Regula cuiusdam patris (with a translation of the Rule) Albrecht Diem