Columbanus (Irish: Columbán; 543 – 21 November 615) was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries after 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil Abbey in present-day France and Bobbio Abbey in present-day Italy. Columbanus taught an Irish monastic rule and penitential practices for those repenting of sins, which emphasised private confession to a priest, followed by penances imposed by the priest in reparation for the sins. Columbanus is one of the earliest identifiable Hiberno-Latin writers.
Most of what we know about Columbanus is based on Columbanus's own works (as far as they have been preserved) and Jonas of Susa's Vita Columbani (Life of Columbanus), which was written between 639 and 641.
Jonas entered Bobbio after Columbanus's death but relied on reports of monks who still knew Columbanus. A description of miracles of Columbanus written by an anonymous monk of Bobbio is of much later date. In the second volume of his Acta Sanctorum O.S.B., Jean Mabillon gives the life in full, together with an appendix on the miracles of Columbanus, written by an anonymous member of the Bobbio community.
Columbanus (the Latinised form of Colmán, meaning little dove) was born in the Kingdom of Leinster, Ireland in 543. After his conception, his mother was said to have had a vision of her child's "remarkable genius".
He was first educated under Abbot Sinell of Cluaninis, whose monastery was on an island of the River Erne, in modern County Fermanagh. Under Sinell's instruction, Columbanus composed a commentary on the Psalms.
Columbanus then moved to Bangor Abbey where he studied to become a teacher of the Bible. He was well-educated in the areas of grammar, rhetoric, geometry, and the Holy Scriptures. Abbot Comgall taught him Greek and Latin. He stayed at Bangor until c. 590, when Comgall reluctantly gave him permission to travel to the continent.
Columbanus set sail with twelve companions: Attala, Columbanus the Younger, Gallus, Domgal, Cummain, Eogain, Eunan, Gurgano, Libran, Lua, Sigisbert and Waldoleno. They crossed the channel via Cornwall and landed in Saint-Malo, Brittany.
Columbanus then entered the Frankish kingdom of Burgundy. Jonas writes that:At that time, either because of the numerous enemies from without, or on account of the carelessness of the bishops, the Christian faith had almost departed from that country. The creed alone remained. But the saving grace of penance and the longing to root out the lusts of the flesh were to be found only in a few. Everywhere that he went the noble man [Columbanus] preached the Gospel. And it pleased the people because his teaching was adorned by eloquence and enforced by examples of virtue.Columbanus and his companions were welcomed by King Guntram of Burgundy, who granted them land at Anegray, where they converted a ruined Roman fortress into a school. Despite its remote location in the Vosges Mountains, the school rapidly attracted so many students that they moved to a new site at Luxeuil and then established a second school at Fontaines. These schools remained under Columbanus's authority, and their rules of life reflected the Celtic tradition in which he had been educated.
As these communities expanded and drew more pilgrims, Columbanus sought greater solitude. Often he would withdraw to a cave seven miles away, with a single companion who acted as messenger between himself and his companions.
Conflict with Frankish Bishops
Tensions arose in 603 AD when St. Columbanus and his followers argued with Frankish bishops over the exact date of Easter. (St. Columbanus celebrated Easter according to Celtic rites and the Celtic Christian calendar.)
The Frankish bishops may have feared his growing influence. During the first half of the sixth century, the councils of Gaul had given to bishops absolute authority over religious communities. Celtic Christians, Columbanus and his monks used the Irish Easter calculation, a version of Bishop Augustalis's 84-year computus for determining the date of Easter (quartodecimanism), whereas the Franks had adopted the Victorian cycle of 532 years. The bishops objected to the newcomers' continued observance of their own dating, which – among other issues – caused the end of Lent to differ. They also complained about the distinct Irish tonsure.
In 602, the bishops assembled to judge Columbanus, but he did not appear before them as requested. Instead, he sent a letter to the prelates – a strange mixture of freedom, reverence, and charity – admonishing them to hold synods more frequently, and advising them to pay more attention to matters of equal importance to that of the date of Easter. In defence of his following his traditional paschal cycle, he wrote:
I am not the author of this divergence. I came as a poor stranger into these parts for the cause of Christ, Our Saviour. One thing alone I ask of you, holy Fathers, permit me to live in silence in these forests, near the bones of seventeen of my brethren now dead.
When the bishops refused to abandon the matter, Columbanus appealed directly to Pope Gregory I. In the third and only surviving letter, he asks "the holy Pope, his Father" to provide "the strong support of his authority" and to render a "verdict of his favour", apologising for "presuming to argue as it were, with him who sits in the chair of Peter, Apostle and Bearer of the Keys". None of the letters were answered, most likely due to the pope's death in 604.
Columbanus then sent a letter to Gregory's successor, Pope Boniface IV, asking him to confirm the tradition of his elders – if it was not contrary to the Faith – so that he and his monks could follow the rites of their ancestors. Before Boniface responded, Columbanus moved outside the jurisdiction of the Frankish bishops. As the Easter issue appears to end around that time, Columbanus may have stopped celebrating the Irish date of Easter after moving to Italy.
Conflict with Brunhilda of Austrasia
Columbanus was also involved in a dispute with members of the Merovingian dynasty. Upon the death of King Guntram of Burgundy, the succession passed to his nephew, Childebert II, the son of his brother Sigebert and Sigebert's wife Brunhilda of Austrasia. When Childebert II died, his territories were divided between his two sons: Theuderic II inherited the Kingdom of Burgundy and Theudebert II inherited the Kingdom of Austrasia. Both were minors and Brunhilda, their grandmother, ruled as their regent.