Columbanus and the Peoples of Post-Roman Europe ed. by Alexander O'Hara (review)

In conjunction with the 1,400^th anniversary of his death in 2015, Columbanus—monk, saint, and sometime missionary—has become the subject of renewed scholarly attention, as witnessed, for instance, by Alexander O'Hara's recent monograph Jonas of Bobbio and the Legacy of Columbanus: Sanctity and Community in the Seventh Century (Oxford, 2018). The present volume grew out of a 2013 conference hosted by the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Collectively, the contributions focus on Columbanus as an outsider from the edges of the world (today's Ireland) who traversed much of the European continent and interacted with many of the gentes of the post-Roman world. The legacy of Columbanus's ascetic teachings and monastic foundations during the seventh century, and the crucial role played by his biographer, Jonas of Bobbio, are also core topics in this volume. Organizing a volume of this sort can be challenging, but the outline of Columbanus's European peregrinatio offers a logical guide. The result is a pair of introductory essays, followed by thirteen additional contributions divided into four geographical divisions reflecting the saint's travels from Ireland, through Brittany and Burgundy, to Alamannia, and finally Italy.

Part 1 ("Columbanus in Context") begins with O'Hara's "Introduction," which discusses the genesis of the project and suggests two overarching themes: reciprocity and cultural hybridity. For O'Hara, Columbanus is, fundamentally, a cultural outsider whose dealings with the various gentes and monastic foundations reflected and shaped a new Christian-based conception of Europe not reliant on old Roman models of empire. In the second essay, "Columbanus and the Language of Concord," Bracken contextualizes the saint's use of classical metaphors expressing themes of concord and social cooperation. The "ship of faith," the "choir of the faithful," and the "body of the faithful," are all explored in detail, revealing a deep knowledge of classical rhetoric on the part of both Columbanus and Bracken.

Part 2 ("The Insular Background") explores the Ireland of Columbanus's youth in order to paint a cultural picture of what the monk brought with him when he arrived on the Continent. In Chapter 3 ("Political Background to Columbanus's Irish Career"), Ó Cróinín attempts to situate the young Columbanus as an elite observer of wars, political maneuvering, and other aspects of the "game of thrones," and argues that this background provided the monk with a toolkit for handling Continental politicos later in life. The suggestion that Columbanus may have belonged to the royal Uí Bairrche lineage is hypothetical, but plausible. Next, Johnston's "Movers and Shakers" mines the sources for Columbanus's views on women and gender and suggests that his Irish upbringing would have established expectations about female behavior and social position that sometimes put him at odds with the elite women he encountered in Gaul. The third essay in this section, "Columbanus's Ulster Education," looks at the figures of Uinnianus (Finnian) and Gildas as important intellectual mentors for the young monk Columbanus, suggests possible linkages between Finnian and Gildas, and speculates on an emerging Insular rhetoric of monks and missionaries as the doves of God.

Part 3 ("The Frankish World") covers both Columbanus's initial Continental foray in Brittany, and his subsequent sojourn in the Frankish heartland. In Chapter 6 ("Columbanus in Brittany"), Wood reconstructs a poorly understood period in the monk's career, connecting Columbanus to the powerful comes Waroch in Brittany and linking his departure with a Frankish incursion into the area. The next two chapters, "Columbanus and Shunning" (Stancliffe) and "Orthodoxy and Authority" (Fischer) touch on aspects of Columbanus's time in Burgundy. First, Stancliffe reassess why Columbanus fell out with King Theuderic and skillfully shows how the final break was the result of a culture clash around the particular Irish concept of shunning. In Chapter 8, Fischer examines the Agrestius affair: a protracted fight between Columbanus's successor at Luxeuil, Eustatius, and...