{
Texts
Vita sancti Columbae
- Hiberno-Latin
- Irish hagiography
Author
AdomnánAdomnán (fl. c.628–704) – abbot of Iona; author of a Life of St Columba
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Manuscripts
- Longer recension:
- Schaffhausen, Stadtbibliothek, MS Generalia 1 [s. viiiin] ff. 1–69 pp. 1–136
- London, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius D iii [s. xiiex / s. xiiiin] ff. 192–217
- London, British Library, MS Additional 35110 ff. 96v–143
- London, British Library, MS Royal 8 D ix ff. 1–70
- Shorter (abridged) recension:
- St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 555 [s. ixin] ff. 1–83
- Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, MS Clm 6341 [s. ixex + c. 1000] ff. 1–51
- The Magnum Legendarium Austriacum (Austrian MSS)
- Heiligenkreuz, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 12 [s. xiiex] ff. 222v–226 context: Magnum Legendarium Austriacum
- Zwettl, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 24 context: Magnum Legendarium Austriacum
- Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 24 [c. 1200] ff. 172v–185 context: Magnum Legendarium Austriacum
- Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, MS lat. 336 ff. 294v–310v context: Magnum Legendarium Austriacum
- Melk, Stiftsbibliothek, MS M 5 ff. 151v–172v context: Magnum Legendarium Austriacum
- Heiligenkreuz, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 12 [s. xiiex]
- Heidelberg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, MS Salem IX 31 ff. 113v–135v
- Dublin, Marsh's Library, MS Z 3.1.5 = Codex Kilkenniensis (or Ardmachanus) [s. xv] ff. 39ra (line 1)–51va
- Wolfenbüttel, Herzog-August-Bibliothek, MS 357
- Pseudo-Cumméne, i.e. the abridged recension wrongly attributed to Cumméne (cf. the fragment of Cumméne's Life)
- Other manuscript versions:
- Metz, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 523 ff. 19–51
- Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS 5308 ff. 287v–292v
- Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS 5278 ff. 393–399
- Le Mans, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 217 ff. 102v–106v
- Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Ashburnham 58 ff. 117–131
- London, British Library, MS Additional 19726 f. 59
- Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS 5323 ff. 133–140
Language
- Hiberno-Latin
Date
7th century
Sources
Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.
[ed.] [tr.] Anderson, A. O., M. O. Anderson [eds.], and M. O. Anderson [rev.], Adomnan’s Life of Columba, Oxford Medieval Texts, revised ed. (1961), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
[tr.] Sharpe, Richard [tr.], Adomnán of Iona: Life of St. Columba, London, et al.: Penguin Books, 1995.
[tr.] Fowler, J. T. [tr.], Adamnani Vita S. Columbae: prophecies, miracles and visions of St. Columba (Columcille) first abbot of Iona, A.D. 563-597, London: Oxford University Press, 1895.
Internet Archive: <link>
[ed.] Brüning, Gertrud, “Adamnans Vita Columbae und ihre Ableitungen”, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 11 (1917): 213–304.
Internet Archive: <link>
291–304 An edition of the pseudo-Cumméne text.
Secondary sources (select)
Woods, David, “Crowd-control in sixth-century Clonmacnoise (Adomnán, VC 1.3)”, Ériu 60 (2010): 131–136.
This article considers Adomnán's account in Vita Columbae 1.3 of how St Columba was protected from being crushed by enthusiastic monks during a visit to the monastery at Clomacnoise, and offers a new interpretation of his description of the means used to protect the saint from the crowd.
Ritari, Katja, “How should Christians lead their lives? An exploration of the image of lay people in Adomnán’s Vita Columbae”, Studia Celtica Fennica 2 — Essays in honour of Anders Ahlqvist (2005): 138–151.
SFKS – PDF: <link>
Picard, Jean-Michel, “Schaffhausen Generalia 1 and the textual transmission of Adomnán’s Vita Columbae on the continent”, in: Ní Chatháin, Próinséas, and Michael Richter (eds.), Ireland and Europe in the early Middle Ages: texts and transmissions / Irland und Europa im früheren Mittelalter: Texte und Überlieferung, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2002. 95–102.
Stalmans, Nathalie, “Le jugement de l'âme dans la Vie de Columba”, in: Carey, John, Máire Herbert, and Pádraig Ó Riain (eds.), Studies in Irish hagiography: saints and scholars, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2001. 41–48.
Picard, Jean-Michel, “Adomnán’s Vita Columbae and the cult of Colum Cille in continental Europe”, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 98 (1998): 1–23.
abstract:
The study of the text transmission of Adomnán's Vita Columbae on the Continent brings new insights into the diffusion of the cult of Colum Cille in Continental Europe in the early Middle Ages. Continental writers were able to supplement the information found in Adomnán's Vita Columbae with oral tradition collected from Irish monks travelling or living in the Continent; this is evident in the works of Walahfrid Strabo of Reichenau (†849), Notker Balbulus of St-Gall (†912) and Hermann of St-Félix (982-3). The evidence drawn from calendars, martyrologies, missals and catalogues of relics confirms the extent of his cult from Brittany to Austria. Continental folklore traditions complete the information found in hagiographical and liturgical texts and suggest that the transmission of the lore concerning Colum Cille was a live phenomenon linked to Irish activity in specific areas on the Continent.
Herbert, Máire, Iona, Kells, and Derry: the history and hagiography of the monastic familia of Columba, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988.
Enright, Michael J., “Royal succession and abbatial prerogative in Adomnán’s Vita Columbae”, Peritia 4 (1985): 83–103.
MacDonald, A. D. S., “Aspects of the monastery and monastic life in Adomnán’s Life of Columba”, Peritia 3 (1984): 271–302.
Picard, J. M., “The Schaffhausen Adomnán—a unique witness to Hiberno-Latin”, Peritia 1 (1982): 216–249.
Kenney, James F., “Chapter V: The monastic churches: II. The churches of the sixth to ninth centuries; general treatises”, in: Kenney, James F., The sources for the early history of Ireland: an introduction and guide. Volume 1: ecclesiastical, Records of Civilization: Sources and Studies 11, Revised ed. (1929), New York: Octagon, 1966. 372–485.
429–433 (§ 214) [id. 214.]
Brüning, Gertrud, “Adamnans Vita Columbae und ihre Ableitungen”, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 11 (1917): 213–304.
Internet Archive: <link>
page name: Vita sancti Columbae (Adomnán)
page url: https://www.vanhamel.nl/codecs/Vita_sancti_Columbae_(Adomn%C3%A1n)
redirect: https://www.vanhamel.nl/codecs/Special:Redirect/page/11638
page ID: 11638
page ID tracker: https://www.vanhamel.nl/vhcodecs/index.php?title=Show:ID&id=11638
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
