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SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

MONOGRAM OF CHRIST, FROM THE BOOK OF KELLS.

Frontispiece.

Six Months in the Apennines
OR
A PILGRIMAGE IN SEARCH OF VESTIGES
OF THE IRISH SAINTS IN ITALY
I^itrj. mtmcroug ^Ihigtratioug
BY
MARGARET STOKES
HON. MEMBER 0*F THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY; ASSOCIATE OF THP- SCOTTISH
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES, ETC., ETC.
AUTHOR OF "EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE IN IRELAND," ETC.

LONDON
GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK ST, COVENT GARDEN
AND NEW YORK
1892

CII1SWICK l'RESS :— C. WHITTINCIIAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT,
CHANCEKY LANE,

Ucuiratum.
THESE LETTERS ARE INSCRIBED TO MY SISTER
ELIZABETH STOKES,
AND TO
THE FRIENDS WHO FORM HER
CHURCH HISTORY CLASS
IN THE
LITERARY SOCIETY OF ALEXANDRA COLLEGE,
DUBLIN.

PREFACE.
THE present work is intended as a first instalment of a
series of letters from the various countries on the continent
where Irish missionaries and teachers founded monasteries and
schools in the dark ages. My object in undertaking this work
is quite as much to find a clue to the origins of Irish art, and
to discover the reason for the development of certain styles in
Ireland, as to search for the material remains, the personal
relics and other memorials of men whom we are proud to own
as countrymen. Such a work as this may include monuments
of quattrocento and cinquecento art, wrought to illustrate
events in the lives of these holy men who had lived five or six
centuries before, as well as examples of sculpture and archi
tecture, showing the conditions of art in Europe which these
Irish travellers found to prevail in their lifetime, and traditions
of which were, probably, borne to Ireland by passengers to and
fro, between the parent monastery in this distant island in the
western ocean, and its offshoot in the Apennines or upon the
banks ofthe Danube.
It is most probable that, if further expeditions with a similar
object are undertaken, we shall find connecting links between
Ireland and North Italy all along the line from the south-east
to the north-west of Europe, through Gaul, by the Loire and
Brittany, to Ireland ; along the Rhine, and through Holland and
Great Britain to Ireland. In the meantime, we may notice
occasional references to Italy, and especially to Lombardy, in
the lives of our Irish saints. Thus, for instance, we find that

viii PREFACE.
Sechnall, the companion of St. Patrick, was " son of Restitutio
of the Lombards of Letha, i.e., Italy. His mother was St.
Patrick's sister, Darerca. A Lombard by race was Sechnall,
Of a pure fierce race, whiteness of colour,
Lombards of Italy.
They were called Lombards because they have long beards."
Again, in the life of Senan, it is said that while he was on the
island of Inis Cara (near Killaloe on the Shannon), there came
a ship's crew from the lands of Latium on a pilgrimage into
Ireland. Five decades was their number, all of perfect folk.
These pilgrims, before starting on their voyage, placed themselves
under the protection of one or other of the five saints of Erin :
of Findia, of Senan, of Brendan, Ciaran, and Bairrhe. In
another legend in the " Lives of the Irish Saints from the Book
of Lismore," ' we find mention of the city of Placentia (Piacenza).
The passage occurs in the life of St. Brigid of Kildare. Three
pilgrims from her monastery in Kildare, rest at Piacenza on
their way to Rome, and St. Brigid appears miraculously among
them and saves them from poison — when they sing the hymn,
" Brigid be' bithmaith," etc.
There is no doubt that in the history of Christian art in
Ireland we seem to see two currents meeting, one Byzantine,
the other Latin, but is this not also the case in North Italy, in
the sixth to the eighth centuries ? The ciborium (fig. 2) at
S. Giorgio di Valpolicella, A.D. 712, is said by Cattaneo to be
Greek ; he adds that the artist's name, Ursus, was adopted by him,
as many Greeks of that time adopted Latin names when they
settled in Italy. Sculptures by Greek artists in the employment
1 See "Lives of Irish Saints from the Book of Lismore," p. 199, translated
by Whitley Stokes, Clarendon Press Series, Oxford.

PREFACE. ix
of Desiderius may still be seen in S. Salvatore in Brescia, which
church was consecrated A.D. 753. Greek artists were at work in
Pavia, on the church of Sta. Maria foris Portam, at the very time
when Dungal of Ireland was head of the school there.
The indications we get from various sources of intercourse
between Ireland and Italy in the dark ages, are of no little value
as bearing on this question of the origin of our Christian arts, and I
trust that, humble as the characters are whose deeds are recorded
in these pages, the historical interest may be of some worth
also. The knowledge of the religion taught, and the religious
life carried out, by these devoted men in the dark ages of
European history, must be a study at once elevating and in
vigorating. When the political history of the world was that
of one series of invasions, and warrings, and robberies, and
treacheries, to lift the veil and find behind it an inner life of
intellect and faith, working imperceptibly, like leaven, for a higher
cause than human advancement; to find the sacred glow of a
passion for divine truth, outliving with its steady light the wild
flames of the incendiary, reveals a chapter in the history of
humanity that is worthy of reverential study.
I cannot but feel how imperfect the treatment of the historical
portion of this work must be. The critic will doubtless question
the truth of many ofthe events recorded in the lives of these saints
as unsupported by any trustworthy authority, but the reader may
remember that this work deals, not only with the actual lives of
these persons, but with their history as illustrated in art. The
critic may question the fact that St Augustine of Hippo ever
lived in retreat in the hermitage of Rupe Cavo, yet the tradition
that he did so is supported by the statement of St. Antoninus of
Florence that he visited the hermits on Monte Pisano before his
return to Africa, and nothing is more unlikely than that he went
among them as an ordinary sightseer. The critic will question
whether Columban really did visit Italy on two separate occa-

x PREFACE.
sions ; whether before going to Bobio he spent much time in
Pavia and some years in Milan, and that he then founded the
monastery of Bobio ; went to Rome, where he received the
blessing of Pope Gregory the Great ; returned to Bobio, and
thence to Luxeuil. Yet these traditions are supported by the
saint's history in art, and, though not related by his contemporary
and biographer, Jonas, it is maintained by P. Luigi della Torre,
by D. L. Gallotta, and by Massimo da Siregno, that they are
founded on fact. These writers hold that Jonas, who wrote
his life of Columban at Luxeuil twenty years after his visit to
the saint at Bobio, by a lapse of memory misrepresented the two
journeys as one. The life of Columban by Jonas is a very short
and fragmentary work, and though its authenticity need not be
doubted as far as it goes, yet many events must have occurred
in the life of St. Columban which find no place in this narrative.
In choosing the title, " Six Months in the Apennines," I was
influenced by the thought that I thus gained a certain freedom
to speak of subjects outside those connected with the immediate
object of my journey. I might enlarge on other memories and
associations connected with the scenes I visited, besides those of
these Irish teachers from the sixth to the ninth centuries ; I
might describe certain works of art of a much later date, whose
only interest lay in their own intrinsic beauty, with which I was
unexpectedly brought face to face in such out-of-the-way places
as Lammari or Brancoli, even though they had no immediate
connection with my subject.
I cannot close this preface without offering my grateful
acknowledgments to the President of the Royal Irish Academy,
Dr. Ingram, for kindly revising my proofs, and to Miss Little,
Miss R. Shore Smith, Mr. George Teeling, and Mr. Carroll, as
well as members of my own family, for the translations from
Latin with which they furnished me, and without which this
work never could have been accomplished.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FIG. PAGE
Monogram of Christ, from Book of Kclls  Frontispiece
i. Clemcnte, S., Rome. Details of Door R. Caltanco  6
2. Giorgio, S., di Valpolicella. Ciborium R. Cattanco  7
3. Porto, Rome. Ciborium  R. Cattaiuo  8
4. Maria, S., in Trastevere, Rome. Balus
trade  R. Cailaneo  9
5. Lorenzo, S., fuor Ic Mura, Rome. Bas-
relief  R. Cailaneo  9
6. Pola in Istria. Baptismal Fountain . R. Cailaneo  10
7. Maria degli Angeli, S., Assisi . . . R. Cailaneo  11
8. Mahee Island, Strangford Lough . . J. H. Burgess  22
9. Ninian's Cave, Galloway  24
10. Miracle of St. Finnian  After Filippo Lippi . . 41
1 1. Rupe Cavo, Ascent to Hermitage . . M. Stokes  56
12. Rupe Cavo, Hermitage . ..... Tinted photograph ... 58
13. Rupe Cavo, View from Hermitage . . M. Stokes ...... 60
14. Frediano, S., Church of, Exterior . . Phototype.  65
15. Frediano, S., East end, Apse and Tower C ally Knight  67
16. Frediano, S., Interior ...... Phototype  68
17. Frediano, S., Tomb of  M. Stokes  69
18. Frediano, S., Inscription on tomb of . Rubbing  70
19. Frediano, S., Bas-reliefs on tomb of . Christopher Martin . . 71
20. Frediano, S., Embalmed relics beneath
altar  Phototype  72
21. Frediano, S., Stone of . . . . M. Stokes  72
22. Frediano, S., Wild cow of . . . . M. Stokes  74
~' \ Frediano, S., Font of  Phototypes  75, 76
25. Frediano, S., Vase and pillar of font of Phototype ... . . 78

Xll

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FIG.26. 27.

30 31
J2- 33-3+3536.
37.38'39'
40.41. 42
43.
44. 45.
46.47-48.
<\1 to
53
49- 50. 5'-52.
S3. 54-55^56.57-58.

Frediano, S., Canopy of font of . . .

Phototype

¦ 79

Aspertini, Amico, Fresco by ... .

M. Stokes 

So

Martino, S., Lucca ....

Phototype 

. 82

Martino, S., Interlaced ornament . .

Rubbing . . ¦

84

Martino, S., Apse of ... ,

Phototype 

86

Codex of the ninth century ....

Phototype . . . .

87

Frediano, S., Statue of ... .

Phototype 

89

Giorgio, S., in Brancoli, West end . .

Phototype . ...

90

Giorgio, S., in Brancoli; East end . .

Phototype 

9i

Phototype ...

93

Jacopo e Cristoforo, SS., Lammari . .

Phototype .

94

Lammari, Statue over Font at

M. Stokes .....

95

Sillan, St. (Silao), Statue of ... .

Phototype ....

97

Effigy of St. Sillan (Silao) on the lid

Fiorentini . . .
107
Monk ofthe Order of St. Columban .
Heyliot ...
121
Bobio, View of town of 
Phototype . . . .
'3'
Hydria given by Gregory the Great to
Phototype .....
132
Order of Columban — Nun's habit
Heyliot . . ...
137
Bobio, Old gateway of town ....
Phototype 
142
Boljio, Entrance to valley of, at Ponte
Phototype . ...
153
Bobio, Church of St. Columban . . .
Phototype . . . .
155
Bobio, Church of, St. Columban,.Interior
Phototype . ...
156
Bobio, Church of St. Columban, Crypt
t
Phototype 
157
Tomb of St. Columban, Bas-reliefs on
Drawn by M. Stokes . 1
58-162
Columban tarhes a bear . . ' . .
Drawn by M. Stokes .
158
Columban writes his rule . . ' .
Drawn by M. Stokes .
159
Columban receives the hydria ' .
Drawn by M. Stokes .
160
Columban casts out devils . . .
Drawn by M. Stokes .
161
Columban dedicates his monastery
Drazvn by M. Stokes .
162
Inscriptions on tomb of St. Columban
From rubbing . . . .
164
Inscription, Fragment of, at Bobio
P. Remondini . . .
167
Tomb of Attala, Abbot of Bobio . .
From rubbing . . .
169
Cummian, St., Inscription on tomb of
From rubbing . . .
172
Cummian, St., Sarcophagus of . . .
From rubbing . . . .
'75
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

tig.59.
60.
61. 62.63.
64.65.66.67. 68.
69. 70.
7>- 7-- 73-74-75- 76.77-
78. 79-
So.81.
82.S3-84. 85.
86.87.

89.
90.
91.

Congal, St., Sarcophagus of . . .
Columban, St., Tomb of followers of .
Columban, St., Knife of 
Columban, St., Bell and cup of . .
Columban, St., Shrine of head of . .
Columban, St., Inscription at base
of shrine 
Ivory cylinder in sacristy, St. Colum
ban 
Iron crown of Lombardy 
Well of Monastery of St. Columban .
Well outside Monastery of St. Colum
ban 
Cave of St. Columban at La Spanna .
Handprint of St. Columban on Rock .
Healing Handprint on Rock . . .
Town and Bridge of Bobio . .
Burial-place of St. Columban, S.
Michele 
Cross at Coli  ...
Flower of St. Columban 
Tomb of St. Augustine, Front .
V Tomb of St. Augustine, Sides of . .
Pietro, S , in Ciel d'Oro, Pavia . .
Tomb of Teodata, Pavia 
Maria, S., foris Portam, Pavia . . .
Holy Island, Lough Derg ....
The Badia of Fiesole, with Florence
in the distance 
Cathedral of Fiesole, Interior . . .
Tomb of S. Donatus 
Shrine of Head of S. Donatus . . .
Botticelli, View of Florence and the
Badia of Fiesole 
Key to View of Florence from Botti
celli's seat 
Martino, S., a Mensola ...
Martino, S., a Mensola, Interior . .
Martino, S., a Lobaco, Church of . .

Drawn by M. Stokes
From rubbin^
Drawn by M. Stokes
Drawn by M. Stokes
Phototype

Rcmondini

Phototype Drawn by M. Stokes
Phototype

Phototype
Drawn by HI. Stokes
Drawn by I\I. Stokes
Drawn by M. Stokes
Drawn by M. Stokes

Drawn by M. Stokes
Drawn by Remondini .
Drawn by Mr. Burbidge
Drawn by Cesare Ferreri
Drawn by Cesare Ferreri
Unknown 
R. Cattaneo 
R. Cattaneo 
Drawn by J. C. Watkins

Phototype Phototype
Phototype PhototypePhototype

Drawn by HI. Stokes
Drawn by M. Stokes
Plwtotype . . . .
Drawn by M. Stokes

PACE 176
17717S179180
181

184
185186
188 189190
191 194196
20021922122 \
224 225
229
235256257 258262 263
265 268271

xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FIG. PAGE
92. Brigid, S., a Lobaco, Church of . . Drawn by Al. Stokes . . 274
93. Cave of S. Brigid a Lobaco .... Phototype  275

FRONTISPIECE.
The Frontispiece is from a drawing of the monogram of the name of
Jesus Christ [chi rho] in the Book of Kells, made in the year 1865, before
any photograph or other representation of this page had been attempted.
In the original manuscript the outline of this beautiful design has been
destroyed by the ruthless paring of a bookbinder more than a century ago.
I have ventured in my copy to restore these mutilated portions. The
drawing, as the phototype will show, has already lost some of its freshness
and precision from exposure to light, and from rough handling in the
printing office when facsimiled in Germany for the Society of Antiquaries,
London, who published it in a Supplement to vol. vi. " Vetusta Monumenta."
Nevertheless, I hope it may not be uninteresting as. an illustration of a
symbol into which the Irish scribe wrought every design to be found in the
Irish School, making it a very epitome of the native art of these early
Christian missionaries, while the sacred name it symbolised was the central
spring of all their action.

INTRODUCTORY LETTER.
Carrig Breac, Howth.
January, 1892.
Dear E.,
THERE is a favourite passage of mine in the writings of
Bishop Reeves, where he says : "What a pity it is that a
small portion of the learning and zeal which afforded to the
early Irish the means of enriching with the fruits of their labours
even distant kingdoms on the continent, does not inspire their
descendants, who have' time and money at command, to follow
the steps that have been hallowed by the name of Irish, and
gather up those fragments of national history, those legitimate
materials for national pride, which remain scattered among the
various nations of the continent, and assign to the memory of
Ireland a place in the western world which no other country in
Europe could venture to claim. If, instead of the bewildering
routine of sight-seeing which most travellers embark in, and in
which one pleasurable ingredient is an abstraction from home,
the well-educated wanderer would keep home ever in memory,
and diligently seek out the vestiges of his countrymen, and
carefully collect whatever redounded to the credit of his nation,
the Irishman would find a wider field and richer return than
any other investigator engaged in a like enterprise. Every
where would he, be it in France, or Belgium, or Switzerland-, or
Bavaria, or Austria, or Italy, discover matter for self-respect.
In one country he finds the name of an Irishman imposed on a
B

2 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
canton or city, and his effigy borne on their seals and banners ;
in others he meets with cathedrals and monasteries where the
memories of their Irish founders are vividly preserved ; a proud
dukedom owns an Irishman as its patron saint ; almost every
library of importance possesses some memorial of Irish mission
aries ; and in many are to be seen ancient books, illustrated by
the vernacular annotations of a people whose language was familiar
in the haunts of their foreign travels a thousand years ago." l
Fired by these words, I long nourished the hope of putting
this suggestion of my friend and master into practice. I had
the zeal — but, alas! not the learning — to fit me for the task.
Ignorant of Latin, as of Irish, I had to seek help from friends
to translate the lives of these early missionaries and pilgrims
whose foreign sanctuaries I hoped to visit. When I went abroad,
I met with Italian versions of the lives of the Irish saints
who founded churches in Italy. In the works of Padre Rossetti,
Fanucchi, Cattani, and others, I found the history of those Irish
saints and founders of churches in Italy, whose memories are still
venerated there, and these written in Italian — a language I could
read. With the companionship of these writings, I started on
my pilgrimage to the Italian shrines of the first Irish missionaries,
and I now write to tell you the results of my expedition.
Since Bishop Reeves wrote the passage quoted above in the
year 1853, one portion of his scheme, and that of greatest value,
has been carried out by Celtic philologists, men of learning and
ability, only one or two of whom, alas ! are of Irish birth. The
ancient books of these early Irish writers, enriched with marginal
glosses, have been brought to light by them from the libraries
of the Vatican, of Naples, of Florence, of Milan and Turin.
" Some idea," says Mr. F. F. Warren, " of the monastic
character and extent of the Celtic church, may be gained from a
' " Ulst. Journ. Arch.," vol. i., p. 170.

INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 3
bare enumeration of a few of its more famous houses." Then,
having given a list of those in the British Isles, he continues : —
" In France : Remiremont, Lure, Besancon, Romain-Moutier,
Bezieres, Brezille, Cusance, St. Ursanne, Jouarre, Reuil, Rebais,
Faremoutier, St. Maur-les-Fosses, Lagny, Moutier la Celle, Haut-
villiers, Moutier-en-Der, St. Salaberga, Fontenelles, Jumieges,
St. Saens, Luxeuil, Anegray, Fontaines, Peronne, Toul, Amboise,
Beaulieu, Strasburg, in addition to other countless and nameless
'Hospitalia Scotorum,' alluded to in the Capitularies of Charles
the Bald, A.D. 846.
" In the Netherlands : Namur, Liege, Gueldres, Hautmont,
Soignes, etc.
" In Germany and Switzerland : Hohenaug, Erfurt, Freyburg,
Ettenheimmunster, Schuttern, Nuremberg, Wiirzburg, Mem-
mingen, Mentz, Cologne, Regensburg, Constance, St. Gall, Mont
St. Victor, Reichenau, Bregenz, Rheinau, Seckingen.
" In Italy : Bobio, Taranto, Lucca, Fiesole.
" This list might be largely extended. It does not include
many monasteries which, Celtic in their origin, passed subse
quently into foreign hands, as was the case with Great St.
Martin's at Cologne. St. Bernard compared the missionary
inundation of foreign countries by the Irish to a flood."
If we take the lives of these Irish teachers chronologically, we
find that many of them set forth as pilgrims, either to the
Holy Land, or to visit the tombs of the apostles and martyrs
in Rome and elsewhere. Crossing the continent on foot,
they fell in with mountaineers and dwellers in the wilder
ness, or in the depths of the forests through which they pierced
their way, who had never heard of Christ, or who, if they had
been visited by some early apostle, had relapsed into heathen
ism. And thus the missionary system of the Celtic church
was a development of the pilgrimage customs of the early
Christians. These holy men, having made their pilgrimage,

4 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
returned to found schools and churches where they had seen
most need of such, and where, therefore, their vocation lay.
So little is told us in our church histories of the lives of
these early pilgrims, that I think it will be well to preface my
letters from each place by giving the legends of the saints as they
are recorded at the present day in the cities and monasteries which
they inhabited abroad, and then to describe the traces of these
saints which may still be found in the field of their labours.
I shall tell you the legend of S. Frediano (500-588) before
you read my letters from Pisa and Lucca, where his footprints
may be traced. Then you will have the legend of Columban
(550-615), with letters from Piacenza and Bobio in the Apen
nines, where he founded the monastery which grew to be one of
the most famous in the middle ages. Thirdly.some account of the
teachers Albinus (754) and Dungal (834), placed by Charlemagne
and Lothair over the Schools of Pavia, with a letter from Pavia.
Fourthly, the legends of Donatus, Andrew, and Brigid, who in
the ninth century journeyed to Fiesole, and founded churches
there, followed by my letters from Fiesole in 1889-90.
I hope that some additional light may be cast upon the
origins of Christian art in Great Britain and Ireland, as well as
on the habits and customs of primitive Christians, by the study
of the hermitages, churches, sculptured tombs, and personal
relics of these early Irish pilgrims and missionaries. This ques
tion of origins is one that should be approached with caution,
for, as you are already aware, the very style we think original
when found on the monuments that have outlived history written
at the time, may be proved by subsequent research to have
prevailed elsewhere at a still earlier period, though the examples
proving its existence are few and solitary. The inquiry, there
fore, into the history of the origin and development of Irish art
involves the questions — how far the style came on with the
advancing tide of European civilization spreading north-west till

INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 5
it was stayed upon the Irish shore, and whether the Irish art,
when introduced into that of the Carlovingian period on the
continent, was but a return wave of a style already becoming
extinct in certain parts of Europe whence it originally came.
When the traveller finds Irish-looking interlaced designs on
fragments of sculptured stone, evidently preserved because of
their antiquity and interest, in such places as Coire, Como,
Milan, Bobio, Ratisbon, etc., where Irish missionaries from the
sixth to the tenth centuries either founded churches or spent
some portion of their lives, ought he to conclude, therefore,
that this style was brought by these teachers from Ireland —
that these sculptures are, indeed, the work of Irish hands? If
such designs appeared only where the Irish saints settled, if
these sculptured stones were landmarks on the paths trodden
by these Irishmen, is it not natural to conclude that they
belonged to them ? To answer these questions, we must follow
the researches of the later authorities on the history of archi
tecture in Italy. These writers recognize, at all events, four
different styles in the Christian architecture of their country,
Latino - Barbara, Italo - Bizantino, Lombardic - Romanesque,
Venetian-Byzantine. From their works we learn that in the
period termed in Italy Latino-Barbaro and Italo-Bizantino, inter
laced bands, knots, triquetras, and other designs which we are
accustomed to call Irish and Celtic, are of frequent occurrence,
and that in places whose history is not connected with that of
any Irish missionary we know of.
The interlacings sculptured on the tombs of Congal, Cum
mian, Attala in the crypt of Columban in Bobio, as also on
the columns of the porch of the Duomo of Lucca and the lintel
of S. Frediano's church at Pisa, all bear a striking resemblance
to the sculptures on the high crosses of Ireland in the tenth
century ; and we learn from the researches of Raffaele Cattaneo
on the architecture of Italy from the sixth to the tenth century,

- j '¦¦/»»":-""¦¦ -««M1» ".yafailiicciMr.-.,... jcc -j»ii«i

589^

6 5/A" MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
that such designs are of constant occurrence in the fragments of
decorative work that have survived those times.1
Interlacings which have all the character of basket-work-
mere regularly plaited twigs, are seen among the fragments
still remaining of the ancient church of
San Clemente in Rome (fig. i). They
form an open-work screen or breast
work, the oldest example in existence
of the chancel screen. This building
was erected in A.D. 650 on the site of
the older and now subterranean church
of the first century. Some fifty years
later, and in the following century, A.D.
712, we find two varieties of knot-
work. Much nearer in character to
the Irish work is that upon the ciborium
or altar canopy of San Giorgio Val-
policella sculptured by Magister Ursus,
portions of which are now to be seen
n-- ,...,, „,. ,-,„ ...tt,- m the lapidary museum of Verona,
Fig. I. — DETAILS OF THE r J '
door of s. clemente, rome. while the remaining fragments are still
in the old church. This work bears an
inscription stating that this ciborium was erected in the time of
King Liutprand and of the venerable Bishop Domenico. As
this bishop died in 712— the same year that Liutprand ascended
the throne — it is possible to fix the date of the work to within a
year (fig. 2).
The first example given (fig. 3) of the Italo-Bizantino style is
now preserved in the Lateran Museum. It is connected with the
history of Pope Stephen III., and is a portion of a ciborium of an
altar discovered some years ago amongst the ruins of an old
1 " L'Architettura in Italia dal secolo vi. almille circa.'
1888.

Ongania, Venezia,

INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 7
basilica of Porto, a city that formerly stood at the mouth of the
Tiber near the famous Porto of Trajan. The triangular spaces
on the face of the wall above the arch are filled in with interlaced

Fig. 2. — CIBORIUM OF S. GIORGIO DI VALPOL1CELLA, A.D. 712.
designs — rosettes and lilies. On the face of the arch this inscrip
tion may be read ' : —
" Salbo Beatissimo
Domn Leone Tertii Pap^e Stephanus Indignus
Episc. Fecit."
On the face of the balustrade of the apse of Santa Maria in
Trastevere, a band of interlaced ornament occurs, held to be work
1 This inscription is given exactly as it appears in R. Cattaneo's work.

8 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
of the ninth century (fig. 4). Also there are interlaced bands on
the face of the pilasters of the door of San Clemente of the year
800, unless, as Cattaneo suggests,1 these sculptures are portions of
the old church built into that which was erected after the destruc
tion of the original building, A.D. 1059, Dv Robert Guiscard or
Wiscard, the Norman invader.

Fig. 3. — CIBORIUM FROM PORTO, ROME, CIRCA 795-816.
Interlacings of a similar character adorn the wall in the
portico ofthe Industrial Museum in Rome. This Italo-Bizantino
style predominated in Rome throughout the tenth and eleventh
centuries. In the mournful but picturesque cloister of San
Lorenzo fuor le Mura fragments of a balustrade may be observed
1 Op. cit., pp. 29, 30.

INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 9
lying among the vines and brambles, covered with knot-work
strongly resembling Lombardic sculptures (fig. 5).

|.-'IW'Wlr~liiiHii'iiiii  1  wtmnimn  ||i,.mm1,:,ii,:,iiM»milii»,i.iiiMBiil-n.miln]i
Fig. 4. — BALUSTRADE IN STA. MARIA IN TRASTEVERE, ROME, A.D. 827.
Again, at Pola in Istria the following fragment is preserved of
an ancient baptistery which was destroyed by the Austrian

Fig. 5. — BAS-RELIEF FROM CLOISTER OF SAN LORENZO FUOR LE MURA, ROMF.
government. It stood at the entrance of the cathedral, and
appears to have been one of those baptismal fountains used by

10 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
the early church. The face of this fragment is covered with
knot-work, and there is a small portion of an inscription which
makes it appear that this monument was erected by Andegisio
when Bishop of Pola in the ninth century (fig. 6).
Among the interlaced designs found in work of this date in
Italy is one the symbolism of which is clearly indicated by the
way in which it appears in early Irish art, and the inscription,
" Unitas — Trinitas," which is found with it in France. This is
the triquetra. It is sculptured on a most interesting balustrade
discovered in the church of
tiHI^^^^^Mi^^f^h. Santa Maria degli Angeli
near Assisi. Here two
large crosses are placed
beneath arches, and the
space above each arm of
the cross is filled in by the
triquetra knot. This panel
is but one among many
instances of the prevalence
of the Lombardic style
Fig. 6. — FRAGMENT OF BAPTISMAL FOUNTAIN .1. 1 i. Ti I c . „
throughout Italy from A.D.
OF POLA. & J
806 to 900. It made it
self felt in Rome and on the eastern shores of the Adriatic
(fig- 7)-
Notwithstanding these resemblances, it would be wrong to
conclude that there was no such thing as Irish design — no
individuality in Irish art— that there are no salient points in
our ancient monuments whereby they may be distinguished
from those of other countries. The character of this interlaced
decoration certainly underwent a change in Ireland. It was
grafted on a still more archaic style, which prevailed here in the
later Celtic period, before the introduction of Christianity in the
fifth century ; the peculiar spirals found on the bronzes of that

INTRODUCTORY LETTER. n
time, the trumpet pattern, the even more archaic single-line
spirals, zigzags, lozenges, circles, dots, are all woven in with
interlaced designs with marvellous skill and sense of beauty and
charm of varied surface, added to which is an unsurpassed feeling
for colour where the style admits of colour, as in enamels and
illumination. Besides all this, the interfacings, taken by themselves, gradually
undergo a change in character under the hand of an Irish artist.
They become more inextricable, more involved, more infinitely

Fig. 7. — BALUSTRADE FROM STA. MARIA DEGLI ANGELI, ASSISI.
varied in their twistings and knottings, and more exquisitely
precise and delicate in execution than they are ever seen to be
on continental work, so far as my experience goes.
I venture to hope that this visit to Bobio has not been fruitless,
and that the results may cast light on certain questions relating
to the origins of art in the British Islands. The idea that the
interlaced work which characterized the early Christian art of
these islands originated here, and was carried hence by our early
pilgrims and missionaries of the Scotic church, may be for ever
abandoned. Certain varieties of such designs were developed in

12 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Ireland, as already stated, and if they were to appear in any part
of the continent, as has been observed by Canon Browne in
writing to me on the subject, it would be on the tombs of the
founders of Irish monasteries on the continent, such as I shall
now lay before you. But these Irish varieties do not appear on
the tombs of Columban and of his followers at Bobio. The
interlacings on these marbles are in no way different from those
which overspread Italy in the period of Lombardic-Romanesque
architecture before the sixth and seventh centuries. It would be
difficult to prove that any such designs prevailed in Ireland
before the seventh century. They are not found on pre-
Christian remains in that country, although they are in Italy.
They appear to have been gradually introduced into Ireland
along with Christianity at a time when this style still lingered
in the south of Europe.
So also with the customs of these early Christians. Did the
cave-dwellers and hermits on our northern shores get their
traditions of anchorite life direct from the Laura of Egypt or
the deserts of Arabia and Syria, or can we find traces of similar
customs all along the line from the Mediterranean, through
western Europe, to the island of Skellig-Michael off the coast
of Kerry? Or if we do find traces of such hermitages on the
sea-cliffs and mountain-tops in Italy and Gaul, were they never
tenanted save by these Irish fakirs, wanderers who brought
their strange customs into Europe from the sixth to the twelfth
century ? The answer to these questions is plain enough to one
who has seen the Rupe Cavo and the other caves of the
anchorites on the mountains between Lucca and Pisa, the
caves of St. Columban at La Spanna and San Michele in the
Apennines and the Vosges, and the cave at Lecce of the brother
of Cathaldus of Taranto. They are very like St. Ninian's
Cave in Galloway,1 St. Kevin's Bed in Glendalough. In the first
1 "Proc. Soe. Antiqs. Scotland, 1884-85," vol. xix., p. 95.

INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 13
centuries of our era these anchorite cells in Italy were just as
remote from the haunts of men as are now the hermitages on
the mountain-tops of Ireland or on the islands of the Atlantic
coast, and they were in use in Italy from the first and second
centuries of the Christian era.
A question has been raised as to whether our early church-
builders made use of wood or stone in the erection of their first
churches, or whether they were entirely guided by circumstances
as to their choice of material, taking whatever came first to hand.
From the legends of these saints, we gather that in the county
of Down, Mochua, the predecessor of Finnian (Fridianus), built
with wattles, while at St. Ninian's Church, in Galloway, the
Gauls that saint brought with him from Tours taught the
people to build with stone. Finnian built his church at Moville
of stone, and we read of his .mason and master-builder
in that place. This all happened before the date when Co
lumban built his wooden oratory at Bobio in the Apennines,
cutting down the trees himself for the purpose. Finnian also
builds a mill, and seems to have engineered canals both in the
county of Down and plains of Lucca. But Andrew, at Fiesole,
as we shall see, builds a church of stone and cement, himself
working as a mason.
The custom prevalent in Italy of converting pagan temples to
Christian uses has its parallel in Irish history, when the vast
pagan fortresses of the early chieftains became the cashels of
the Christian monastery, but, as may be supposed, with very
different results on the history of architecture, since in Italy the
very beauty of the pagan architecture seemed to prevent the
development of a national Christian style. The Church of San
Giovanni in Lucca, the first building in which Frediano officiated
after he was raised to the episcopal chair, was erected on the
site of a pagan temple. The church founded by Frediano
himself, and now dedicated to his memory, was composed in a

14 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
great measure of materials — marble columns, sculptured capitals,
etc. — brought from the ruined pagan amphitheatre close by,
magnificent fragments which, had they not been preserved in
this manner, would have been lost for ever. The tomb in which
the bones of S. Frediano were found ,at the discovery of his
remains in the time of Charlemagne, was a pagan sarcophagus
sculptured with pagan funereal emblems, among which is a
mirror, that object which when occurring on Scottish tombstones
has puzzled so many antiquaries, but which has been explained
by Inghirami in a passage which I shall send you by-and-by.
Allusions to personal relics of these holy men constantly occur
throughout their legends. Thus we find that Finnian, before
leaving Ireland, was possessed of a gospel, a chalice, and a
crosier. No personal relic of this saint is preserved to the
present day either in Ireland or Lucca so far as we know. We
were more fortunate in the case of Columbanus. His bell,
chalice, and knife are shown at Bobio, and his crosier, or wooden
staff, was removed to St. Gall, where small portions of it were
distributed among various monasteries, two of which fragments,
at all events, were enshrined in silver crosiers, which exist at the
present day at Kempten on the Uler and Fiissen near Augs
burg. He is represented on his tomb carrying a book satchel, as
he stands watching the transport of the wood from which his
oratory is to be built at Bobio. Examples of such satchels may
be seen in the museum of the R. I. Academy, and the libraries
of Trinity College, Dublin, and Corpus Christi, Oxford. The
bell of Columbanus is very small, and of cast bronze, such as
one might find in the year 900 to have been used in Ireland.
Only at Bobio are any such personal relics of our Irish saints
in Italy to be seen.
Many curious legends are blended with the lives of these
saints. Finnian causes water to flow miraculously to his mill,
bids the mountain to close over the stream, turns the course

INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 15
of the rivers Garnoch in Scotland and Serchio in Italy, tames
wild cows, and endows them with miraculous strength, paralyzes
and then miraculously heals a man, crosses a swollen river in a
miraculous manner. A non-consuming flame surrounds Silaus
at his birth. Light comes from his fingers when writing. The
mutilated limbs of Silaus are restored by St. Patrick. Andrew
strikes his enemy dumb and blind, and paralyzes him. Donatus
tames a wolf, passes dry through rain. Balm drops from the
fingers of Brigid. A light and fragrance surround Andrew in
death. Among the animals named in these legends are cows, oxen,
swine, horses, bears, wolves, cranes, doves, fish, toads; and
snakes. Donatus says there are no bears in Ireland ; Colum
banus, when he reaches Bobio, tames a bear, and makes it
submit to the yoke with an ox. A wolf, who has carried away
a child, lays it back again at its mother's feet in consequence
of the prayers of Donatus. A crane plucks out the eye of an
eavesdropper.1 Money is found inside a fish. A crosier falls
from heaven to Patrick and Mochua. Water is transmuted to
wine and to beer. The dead are raised by sprinkling.2 Fire is
drawn from water. Wells are miraculously produced. Silaus
at his birth falls on a flagstone ; on his journey to an island
1 In this incident in the legend of Silaus we are reminded of the curse
pronounced by St. Ciaran of Clonmacnois upon a servant who was a thief :
" ' May a crane take thine eye out of thy head, and may it lie on thy cheek
when thou goest home.' Thus it came to pass afterwards, for a pet crane
picked his eye out of his head, and it lay on his cheek as he was going
home." Thus also in Proverbs xxx. 17 we read : "The eye that mocketh at
his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall
pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it."
2 Brand ( " Description of Orkney," 1701, p. 62) says : " When the beasts,
as oxen, sheep, horses, etc., are sick, they sprinkle them with a water made
up by them, which they call fore-spoken water j wherewith likewise they
sprinkle their boats, when they prosper not in their fishing."

16 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
he sails on a flagstone.1 The print of the infant's head is impressed
on the flagstone on which Silaus fell at his birth.2 The print
of St. Columban's hand remains on the rock of his hermitage
at La Spanna ; the track of the foot of Columban on a stone
at the cave of San Michele, where he died.
While such myths are mingled with the legends of these saints,
their religious doctrines were based on the Scriptures. A fervent
belief in the mystery of the Trinity made such men as Colum
ban, Finnian, and their followers strong opponents to Arianism,
which, after the date of the Council of Aquileia, was formed into
a distinct sect exterior to the Catholic Church, and, taking
refuge among the barbarian invaders of the empire, is merged
among those external enemies of Christianity whose history
cannot be regarded as strictly ecclesiastical. (See Newman,
"Arians ofthe Fourth Century," p. 421.)
The mystery of "the true Godhead, of the true Trinity,"
according to the Catholic faith, was the doctrine taught by St.
Patrick. 3 The " mysteries of the Incarnation and of Christ's birth
and of His Passion " are mentioned in the Wiirzburg glosses. The
Holy Ghost breathes in the Father and the Son, and speaks
through the prophets. He is septiform. He proceeds from the
Son, not, according to the Nicene Creed, from the Father and the
1 Stone-beds. Borlase tells us ("Antiquities of Cornwall," p. 138):
"Another Relick of these Druid Fancies and Incantations is doubtless the
custom of sleeping on stones on a particular night, in order to be cured of
lameness." 2 The story of Silaus falling on a flagstone at his birth recalls the legend in
the life of Patrick ( " Book of Lismore," p. 150), that "when a false oath is taken
under the flagstone on which he was bom, it sheds water as if it were
bewailing the false declaration ; but if the oath be true, the stone abides in
its own nature. Women seem to have been delivered on a flagstone, holding
a branch of rowan tree in the hand.
3 " Irish Christianity." See " Tripartite Life of St. Patrick," Rolls Series,
part i., p. clxi.

INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 17
Son. He is invoked in a hymn by Mael Isu to inhabit our
bodies and our souls, and to protect us against danger, diseases,
devils, sins, and hell. And He is thus spoken of in a tract in
the " Lebar Brecc '' : —
" Now this is the pledge that has been left with the Church here at
present for that vision, the Holy Spirit who dwells in her, and who
consoles her, and who strengthens her to every virtue. It is this Spirit
that deals out His own peculiar gifts to every faithful one in the Church,
as He pleases and as they are capable of receiving them from Him.
For it is by the Holy Spirit that these noble gifts are bestowed on the
Church besides the other gifts, even baptism and repentance, and hope,
charity, and tribulations."
The doctrine of the Irish Church on Baptism may be
gathered from the following passage in Tirechan's collection,
"Tripartite Life of St. Patrick," Rolls Series, p. 316, 1. 16: —
" Et dixit Patricius : Si creditis per baptismum patris et matris
iacere peccatum ? Responderunt : Credimus." So it was held
that the person baptized casts off the parent's sin. Our sins are
forgiven through baptism. We are reborn in Christ (pp. cit.,
vol. i., p. clxiii). Confirmation is referred to in the homily on
St. Patrick contained in the " Lebar Brecc." He used to ordain,
confirm, consecrate, and bless (ib., p. 485).
As to the mystery of the Eucharist, we may cite the following
passage, quoted in the same work (p. clxiii), from the " Lebar
Brecc," as showing the views of the mediaeval Irish on the
subject : —
" Now, there is another part of that pledge which hath been left with
the Church to console her, even Christ's body and His blood which are
offered on the altars of the Christians. The body which was born of
Mary the perfect maiden, without destruction of virginity, without
opening of the womb, without male presence, and was crucified by
unbelieving Jews from spite and envy, and arose after three days out of
death, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father in heaven, in
C

1 8 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
glory and honour before heaven's angels, it is that Body even as it is in
the great glory, which the righteous consume off God's table, even off
the holy altar. For this Body is the rich viaticum of the faithful who
journey along the road of the pilgrimage and repentance of the world
here into the heavenly fatherland.
"That is the seed of the resurrection into the eternal life to the
righteous. It is, moreover, the foundation and cause of ruin to the
impious, who believe not, and to the carnal, who do not resemble it,
though they believe."
The belief in the mystery of the Eucharist manifest in this
passage finds its rhythmic expression in the closing verse of the
sublime hymn, " Sancti Venite" : —
" Ccelestem panem dat esurientibus,
De fonte vivo prasbet sitientibus,
Alpha et Omega Ipse Christus Dominus,
Venit, ventures judicare homines."
"This heavenly bread makes them that hunger whole,
Gives living water to the thirsting soul,
Alpha and Omega, to whom shall bow ,
All nations at the doom, is with us now."
It is only in such hymns that we may find the fullest
expression of the profound faith and religious passion of these
early saints of Ireland. This sacramental hymn is even sur
passed by the absorbing devotion to Christ in the closing lines
of St. Patrick's hymn— " Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me."
Again, in his "Confessions" there is a striking passage where
the saint would seem to compel his youth to be the accuser of
his old age, when he strives to rouse the dying motions of his
spirit in after-life, by calling up the memories of the sacred
passion of his youth : —
"When I was daily tending sheep, and many times in the day I

INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 19
prayed, and more and more the love of God and of His faith and fear
grew in me, and the spirit was strengthened, so that in a single day I
have said as many as a hundred prayers, and in the night nearly the
same, and I dwelt in the woods and on the mountain, and before the
dawn I was summoned to prayer by the snow and the ice and the rain,
and I did not suffer from them. Nor was there any sloth in me as I see
now, because then the Spirit was burning within me."
But most of all we find this fervour of devotion fed from
another and still more deathless fount of inspiration, and that
was the study of the Word of God. In the language of the
writer of the " Lebar Brecc " we read 1 : —
"One of the noble gifts of the Holy Spirit is the divine Scripture,
whereby every ignorance is enlightened, and whereby every earthly
sadness is comforted, whereby every spiritual light is kindled, whereby
every weakness is strengthened. . . In it is found perfect counsel and
fitting instruction by each and every degree in the Church. . . . For
the divine Scripture is a mother and a gentle nurse to all the faithful
ones who meditate and consider it, and who are nurtured through its
counsel till they are the chosen sons of God."
The record of this early Church of Ireland is doubtless often
mingled with barbarous customs and stories of the wildest
fanaticism, yet such words as these now quoted show that the
seed of life lay, like that of the violet, near the root, and bursting
from its trefoiled shell, multiplied exceedingly to shed its sweet
ness through the world.
The first of these Irish bishops who worked in Italy was
Finnian of Moville, afterwards Bishop of Lucca under the
adopted name of Frigidian,2 in Italian Frediano, and his legend
is as follows : —
1 See O'Curry, " Lectures," pp. 376, 277-
2 The name Frigidian is a different word from Finnian, and is derived from
frigidus, " cold." Finnian is from Vindianus. The Irish missionaries were
in the habit of adopting foreign names when they went abroad.

LEGEND OF ST. FINNIAN OF MOVILLE.
A.D. 500-588.
November \Mu BISHOP, A.D. 565.
Authorities.
"Vita di S. Frediano," da Monsignor G. Fanucchi, Lucca, 1870. Ughelli,
" Italia Sacra," torn, i., p. 794. P. Franciotti, " Storia dei Santi di Lucca."
P. Poggi, " Saggio di Storia ecclesiastica di Lucca." Bishop Forbes,
" Calendar of Scottish Saints."
AT the close of the fifth century King Cairbre, of the royal
house of Dalfiatach, reigned in Ulster. His kingdom
extended over that part of the province which is now called
Down. The name of his wife was Lassara, and she bore a son
who was named Finnian, or Find-barr, because of his fair hair.
About the time of the child's birth, St. Colman or Colmoc
came into the country from Emly, and founded a monastery and
school at Dromore, on the borders of the river Lagan,1 over
which he presided both as abbot and bishop, and, while their
child was still very young, Cairbre and Lassara sent him to
Bishop Colman's school.
After some time, the boy was sent on to the school of
Nendrum, i.e. the island of " one ridge," how Mahee Island, near
the west shore of Lough Strangford. St. Mochse, who died A.D.
497, had built his monastery and church-on the highest point of
this island, commanding a view of the wide inland sea, whose
waters are studded with little islands, and whose banks, with
their green and fertile fields, slope downwards to the shore.
The good Abbot Caelan, to whose care Finnian was now
confided, succeeded Mochae, who had been a pupil of the great
St. Patrick, when " a tender youth whom the saint, as he was
' Cal. Oengus, June 7, " of Colomb," i.e., Colmoc of Druim Mor in Ui
Echach of Ulster, pp. xciii, xcix.

LEGEND OF ST. FINNIAN. 21
going on his journey from Saul, saw herding swine. And
Patrick preached to him, and baptized and tonsured him, and
gave him a gospel and a chalice ; and, later on in life, he added
to these gifts a crosier which had fallen from heaven with its
head in Patrick's bosom, and its foot on Mochae's bosom."
This monastery, in which Finnian spent a great part of his
boyhood, consisted of a group of buildings of the rudest
materials, in the erection of which St. Mochae had himself
assisted. We read in the old legend of his life that " he went
with seven score young men to cut wattles to build his church.
He himself was engaged cutting timber like the rest. He had
got his load ready before the others, and sat down beside it.
Just then he heard a bird singing on the boughs of a blackthorn
bush close at hand. It was more beautiful than the birds of the
world, and the bird said : ' This is hard work of thine, O cleric'
' It is required of me in building a church of God,' answered
Mochae ; and then he added, ' Who is this that speaks thus to
me ?' ' One of the Lord's people is here, an angel of God from
heaven,' replied the bird. ' Hail to thee ! and wherefore hast
thou come ?' ' To speak the Lord's words and cheer thee for
awhile.' ' It pleaseth me,' said Mochae.
To Mochae the beautiful sang
The little bird from the heavens
Three songs from the tree-top,
Fifty years in each song.
And for thrice fifty years did Mochae stay listening to him,
having his bundle of sticks by his side, in the middle of the
wood, and the wood was not withered, and the time was as an
hour of the day. Then the angel departed, and Mochae returned
to the church with his load, and found there an oratory that his
friends had built to his memory. He wondered at the church
which he saw. He then went to the residence, and none knew
him there. But when he told his story, and how he had been
treated by the bird, they all believed him, and they knelt to him,
and made a shrine out of the wood he carried, and afterwards
built a church on the spot where he had listened to the bird."
The long-forgotten remains of the church of Mochae1 were
1 See Reeves, "Eccl. Antiqs. of Down and Connor," p. 195, and the same
author's paper in " Ulster Journal Archasol.," vol. iv., p. 136.

22 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
discovered and identified by Bishop Reeves on Mahee Island,
lying at about a quarter of a mile from the shore, and nearly
all under tillage (fig. 8).
The western portion of the island rises from the water by a
gentle slope to the elevation of sixty-six feet, and is surmounted
by a small ivy-mantled ruin. On approaching this object, the
way leads through a gap, in what appear to be the remains of a
large circular enclosure. Ascending from this, a second nearly

Fig. 8. — RUINS ON MAHEE ISLAND.
From sketch by J. H. Burgess.
concentric ring, apparently the foundation of a wall or terrace,
is crossed ; and within this, at an interval of about fifty yards, a
third ring, which encloses a nearly level space about seventy
yards in diameter. The outermost and lowest is in part defaced
by cultivation. Near the centre of this platform stood the
church, of which nothing but the foundations remain. . . .
The building stood east north-east. At the west end were two
shallow buttresses, formed by the continuation of the side walls
beyond the west angles. At a distance of forty-three feet to the

LEGEND OF ST. FINNIAN. 23
north-west stand the remains of the round tower, about nine feet
high. It is built of undressed stones very firmly cemented
together by grouting. The upper storey of this tower would
command a view of nearly the whole length of Strangford
Lough. Within the inmost enclosure were found traces of
buildings, but so indistinct that no satisfactory opinion could be
formed of their original design. Outside the enclosures, on the
east, is a well artificially closed in. At the foot of the eminence
on which the church stands, to the east, is a creek, which appears
to have been the usual landing-place. Here some remains of
rude stone works may still be seen, probably the " Portus Insulae
coram Monasterio," at which, according to the biographer of St.
Finnian, certain ships arrived from Britain, while the saint was still
at the school of Nendrum. On board these vessels was a certain
Bishop Nennio, who, with several of his disciples, had come from
a monastery founded by St. Ninian on the opposite shores of -
Galloway, in Wigtonshire, called Candida Casa. The young
Finnian begged leave from St. Caelan to accompany these visitors
on their return, which permission was readily granted. So, sailing
southward through the islands of the lake, they were carried out
to sea by the swiftly receding tide, and borne across the narrow
channel that separated the Ards of Down from Mull of Galloway.
This school, the third at which St. Finnian studied before he
went upon his pilgrimage, had been already a century in exis
tence. Its founder, St. Ninian, after a pilgrimage to Rome,
remained on his homeward journey for some time at Marmoutiers
to enjoy the teaching of its founder, St. Martin of Tours ; and
Aelred, in his life of our saint, particularly mentions that he
brought with him from that monastery some skilled masons, by
whose aid he desired to erect a church at home on the model of
those which he had seen in Italy and France. He chose for its
site this sheltered spot on the southern promontory of Galloway,
enclosed by the sea on all sides except to the north, and com
manding a distant view of the heights of Cumberland and of
the Isle of Man. The church was built of chiselled stone, a style
of edifice, as Bede informs us, till then unheard of in North
Britain, from which circumstance it became known as Candida
Casa, and in the British language it was called Whitherne, that is,
" The White House," which name the district retains to the

24

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

present day. On hearing of the death of St. Martin, Ninian
dedicated this church to his memory. This saint died A.D. 401.
In his old age he passed much of his time in a cave preparing
for the judgment of God. This cave may still be seen in the
middle of a high white cliff over the shore of Galloway above
the waters of the Irish sea (fig. 9).
The general aspect of the cliffs and shore is westerly, but the

Fig. 9- — ST. ninian's CAVE.

cave opens to the south, in an angle formed by the projecting
cliff with the shingly beach which stretches across the mouth of
Physgil Glen. It is about twenty-five feet above the present
high-water limit, and has been excavated by the action of the
sea, which in a bygone geological period washed a raised beach
along the coast of Wigtonshire. Six stones carved with incised
crosses of a very archaic type attest the sanctity of this spot
and one high cross of later date, covered with interlaced
ornament, bears a Runic inscription.

LEGEND OF ST. FINNIAN. 25
Finnian spent some years in this monastery of Candida Casa,
being desirous of acquiring an accurate knowledge of the sacred
Scriptures. It would appear that up to this date the Bible, as
revised by St. Jerome, had not yet reached Ireland, and it is very
probable that the Irish saint heard now for the first time of the
revision at this school in Galloway. Its founder had been in
Rome about the year 381, and was being instructed in the sacred
Scriptures under the guidance of Pope Damasus when St. Jerome
was at work on his version ; and it appears to have been the
object of St. Finnian, in his first pilgrimage to Italy, to journey
to Rome and secure this treasure for his native country. He
probably reached the continent through Britain ; traces of his
memory are still to be found at Garnoch and Kilwinning in
Ayrshire, and at Holywood and Dairy in Kirkcudbright and
Dumfries. He is said to have worked the same miracle in
Ayrshire as afterwards in Italy, turning the course of the river
Garnoch as he turned that of the river Serchio in Tuscany when
he was Bishop of Lucca ; and, while he was preaching the faith
at Kilwinning, in the same shire, " he made with his own hands
a stone cross, of marvellous workmanship, in honour of blessed
Brigida the Virgin." His holy well and his cashel are still
pointed out at Holywood and Dairy.
When he reached Rome, Pelagius I., who then occupied
the pontifical chair, bade him welcome and confided him to the
care of the canons of S. Giovanni in Laterano, to be educated in
ecclesiastical discipline. He remained three months in the holy
city, and then the pope, seeing that through his ability and zeal he
was destined for the struggle with heresies already making way
in the British Isles, sent him back to complete the conversion of
Ireland left incomplete by the death of St. Patrick ; and, when
he was starting from Rome, it is expressly stated that the pontiff
confided to him certain codices of the Old and New Testament,
exhorting him and his fellow-countrymen to believe in them.
The belief that Finnian, on his return to Ireland, brought with
him a new and more perfect copy of the Scriptures than had
hitherto reached her shores, seems to be confirmed by the native
traditions of the saint, and the following curious passages in the
" Martyrology of Oengus " and the notes upon it from the " Lebar
Brecc."

26 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Cal. Oengus, Sept. 10, Finnian, "A body of red gold with
purity : over a sea came he : a sage for whom Ireland was sad :
Find Barr of Magh Bile" (i.e. Moville). Note 10 : " With purity,
that is, with the Gospel, which is the new law ; for it is he that
first brought the gospel into Ireland. Find Barr, .i. white hair
was on him, i.e. Finden." 1
The author of the ancient life of Finnian in the MS. preserved
in the Carthusian monastery of Cologne also states that he
brought from Rome a wonderful copy of the Gospels possessed
of miraculous virtues. It was said of this particular copy that
God gave it such virtue that, if anyone swore falsely by it, he
was punished with death or madness in the same year. Many
legends are related as to this wondrous book.2 Thus it appears
that Fintan, a pupil of St. Comgall of Bangor, once asked St.
Finnian for a loan of his volume of the Gospels that he might
read it, but his request was peremptorily refused. Fintan com
plained to his master, who told him to be faithful and that
perhaps he should soon have that very copy of the Gospels.
The next night Moville was plundered by pirates, who with other
spoils carried off the precious volume. St. Fintan was praying
under a large tree on the sea-shore near to the place where
the pirates had landed, and he heard them, when preparing for
their departure, consulting about plundering St. Comgall's
abbey also ; but, lo ! a sudden storm arose, the tree was blown
down upon the ships, which were all destroyed, and the pirates
drowned. But their spoil, with the book of the Gospels, was
found upon the shore, and thus St. Fintan obtained his desire.3
The story of St. Columba's transcript ofthe book ofthe Gospels,4
1 See " Cal. Oengus," pp. cxxxvii-cxliv.
2 F. Colgan, " Actt. SS.," p. 638, cap. iii.
3 Todd, " St. Patrick," p. 105 ; Colg., " Actt. SS.," in Life of St. Fintan of
Dunflesk, 3 Jan., c. v., p. 11.
1 Some versions ofthe story of Columba's copy state that it was only the
Psalter contained therein that was thus surreptitiously transcribed. This
portion ofthe Bible was not St. Jerome's own translation from the Hebrew
but a part of his corrected version of the deutro-canonical books of the Old
Testament, according to the best MSS. of the Septuagint. The copy
won back in battle at Cull Dreimhne became an heiiloom in the family of
the O'Donnells. Enshrined in a silver box or cumdach, it is known asthe
Cathach (Battler), so called because carried in front ofthe clan as a standard
into battle.

LEGEND OF ST. FINNIAN. 27
which he had borrowed from St. Finnian, is another example
of the jealousy with which Finnian guarded his rights
to the exclusive possession of the sacred volume. Columba
worked night and day to make a copy of the book for his own
use without the knowledge of its owner. Finnian claimed the
transcript as his property, because it was made surreptitiously,
and because the original was his ; and the case was brought
before the supreme court of Diarmait, King of Ireland, who
decided against Columba, with the curious rami or oracular
saying, that "As the cow is the owner of her calf, so the
book is the owner of any transcript made from it. The calf
goes with the cow, and the son-book, or copy, must go with
the mother-book, or original." These legends, as Dr. Todd
remarks,1 show that St. Finnian was popularly believed to be in
some peculiar sense the possessor of a remarkable copy of the
Gospels — it may be that what is meant is that he was the first to
bring St. Jerome's translation of the Gospels to Ireland. It is
evident that, when such tales were told, books must have been
rare and highly valued in Ireland ; and it is probable that, in
some parts of the country at least, St. Finnian's codex may
have been regarded as the first complete copy that was ever
brought into Ireland, and that it was held in extraordinary
veneration accordingly. The legend gives us this important
information, that Finnian was believed to have returned to
Ireland after his foreign education, for the purpose of effecting a
reformation in the decaying faith and morals of the country.
In other words, the second order of saints to which he belonged
was a body of missionaries and reformers, whose object it was
to undermine the paganism which still prevailed in Ireland, as
well as to correct the errors which had crept into the faith and
practice of professing Christians since the death of St. Patrick.2
When St. Finnian returned home from this his first visit to
Italy, he settled down at Moville (Magbili, i.e. the plain of the
old tree), near Newtown Ards on Lough Strangford in the
County Down, where a monastery had been already founded by
St. Patrick, whose services had languished and whose buildings
had fallen into decay. Finnian entered this community as a
1 Todd, " St. Patrick," p. 106. ' lb., p. 107.

28 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
simple monk and soon revived its energies. His virtues shone
with so great a light that the brethren were constrained to elect
him as their superior.
The mill of this monastery lay at a considerable distance from
the building, and the time lost in passing to and fro was the
cause of much inconvenience and injury to the order and
discipline of his monks. Perceiving this, Finnian was inspired
by God to build one closer at hand, and even though there was
no water near the site chosen, yet he ordered that the founda
tions of the new mill should be commenced. But the builders,
seeing no sign of water anywhere, mocked at the saint as a
simpleton. The head-mason even said that he would be content
to die should water ever appear in that spot. St. Finnian, filled
with faith in God, commanded them to complete their work and
give no thought beyond ; and soon they who had trusted him
least had reason to repent their incredulity.
When the building was completed and all was ready for the
working of the mill, and still there was no water, jeers and
sarcasms were heaped upon the saint's head. But he, trusting
still in God, went forth into a mountain where there was a lake,
and he knelt upon the shore some time in prayer. Remembering
the Gospel promises that " all things are possible to him that
believeth," and that " whatsoever we ask believing will be
granted," he entreated that, both for the glory of God and the
benefit of his beloved and holy family, water might be sent to
his mill. Suddenly the mountain opened, and a path was seen
through which the waters of the lake began to flow, rushing on
with so strong a current that the mill-dam was not only filled,
but the surrounding country was inundated, and the inhabitants
who had formerly mocked now fled in terror before the flood that
swelled around them, while the head-mason, who had drawn this
judgment on himself, was drowned beneath the waves. The
people, seeing how efficacious was the prayer of the holy man,
crowded round, humbly asking pardon of him, and praying that, as
he had provided for the mill, so he would now provide for them,
and repair the harm done to their lands. Then the saint again
made prayer to God, and the mountain closed over the waters,
so that the river flowed by a subterranean passage to the mill.
Nor did the charity of the saint stop here. It even extended

LEGEND OF ST. FINNIAN. 29
to the head-mason who was drowned. He passed on to where
the corpse lay cold in death, and, having prayed, took him by
the hand and raised him up restored by God to life.
About this time some of the churches of Finnian's monas
tery were seized by the King of Oriel, a territory inhabited
by the Oirghialli, "golden hostages," in North Ulster. The
saint at first abstained from expressing his resentment, hoping
that the king would repent and withdraw his decree, but seeing
that his enemy was determined to persevere, he despatched
some of his monks to remonstrate with him. The monks were
ill received and driven from the court. He then went himself,
yet neither was he listened to, but cruelly driven from the gate.
Afflicted and inconsolable, he returned to the monastery, where
he continued in prayer. Then the evil counsellors of the king
were smitten by a sore disease which threatened immediate
death, and the terrified king, revoking his decree, restored the
property seized from the church and begged the prayers and
intercessions of the saint for his servants. The saint sprinkled
the servants with water blessed in the name ofthe Holy Trinity,
and they were at once restored.
St. Columba, the founder of the church of Iona, was a pupil of
St. Finnian at Moville, where he was ordained deacon, and
Adamnan tells us the following incident of his life there.
It happened on a certain festival day that wine and bread
were wanting to Finnian for the offertory. The holy Columba
invoked the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in Cana of
Galilee had made the water into wine, and by whose operation
also in this miracle the lesser, that is, natural water, by the hand
of this holy man was changed into the greater, that is, wine.
The holy man returning from the fountain and entering the
church, placed the vessel containing the liquid near the altar, and
said to the ministers, " Behold, you have wine sent by the Lord
Jesus for the fulfilment of His mysteries !" Knowing which,
the bishop and his ministers returned thanks to God, but the
holy youth Columba ascribed this miracle, not to himself, but to
Bishop Finnian.1 Keating relates another story of St. Columba's
1 Adamnan, "Vita S. Columba," Reeves, p. 103 ; Lanigan, "Eccl. Hist.,"
ii.,p. 117.

30 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
school-days with St. Finnian. He was allowed to go into the
village for one day in the week to play with the boys of his
own age. Being of royal blood, he had this privilege. Then,
at his usual hour for getting out on the appointed day, the boys
of the village used to assemble together to meet him ; and as
they stood waiting for him at the monastery gate, they were in
the habit of raising up their hands for joy, and crying out, when
they saw him approach, " Behold the Columba Cille, that is, the
Dove of the Church, comes forth to meet us." When the holy
Abbot St. Finnian heard that the children had so named him,
Colum Cille, he understood that God willed that he should be
always called by that name which had come into the mouths of
those innocent children, and that his baptismal name Crimthann
should be forgotten.
The school founded by St. Finnian at Moville continued to
flourish long after he left the shelter of this monastery to enter
on his second pilgrimage to Italy. Here, in the year 730, Abbot
Colman wrote a Latin hymn of singular beauty in praise of St.
Michael the Archangel. Some centuries later the same school
produced the chronicler, Marianus Scotus, born in the year 1028,
and afterwards priest at Fulda and Mayence. Little now
remains to mark the site of the old abbey-school except a few
venerable yew-trees standing in a very ancient graveyard, and
an old ruined church, sheltered by an amphitheatre of hills from
the north and east, and commanding a fine view of the islands
and distant waters of Lough Strangford.
St. Finnian leaves Ireland and comes to Lucca in Italy.
We have now reached the period of St. Finnian's emigration
from Ireland and the commencement of his work in Tuscany.
It will be advisable henceforth to call him Frediano, the
Italianized form of his adopted name Frigidianus.
The Italian biographers of this saint, Padre Franciotti,
Federigo di Poggio,1 and Fiorentini, give various reasons for his
choice of Lucca as the field of his labours. The most probable
theory is that assigned by Poggio, who says that the Irish saint
came as a pilgrim to visit the ancient graves of the martyrs in
1 " Saggio di Storia Eccl.,'' c. iii. n. 1.

LEGEND OF ST. FINNIAN. 31
Lucca in the basilica of San Paolina, called Celletta dei Santi,
and that when he reached that city, he made his way to the
hermitages on Monte Pisano, and there sought to end his days in
this quiet resting-place with the holy eremites upon the Eremitic
mountain. Many hermitages had been formed in this district from
the first centuries of the Christian era, such a3 those of S. Giuliano,1
S. Antonino, now called S. Pantaleone, Spelonca, that is, the
cavern, on the side ofthe mountain close to Sta. Maria dei Giudici,
the cells of Rusticus the priest, now called Castello Passerino,
and of Asseonda called Aqua Viva, as well as that of Sta. Maria
di Rupe Cavo (see fig. 12).
The hermitages of S. Antonino and that of Rupe Cavo were
those in which the monastic discipline was longest exercised, and
St. Augustine was said to have retired to the latter when, after
the death of his mother Monica at Ostia Tiberina, he returned
northwards, and came by the sea-road to Pisa and Monte Pisano.
The hermit life was introduced into Italy in the first century of
the Christian era by S. Antonino, who, according to Fiorentini,
Petrarch, and G. Marques, had learned the monastic system in
Egypt. It will be well to enlarge on this subject here, and to show
how monasticism spread from the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries
of our era, not only in Italy, but throughout all Christendom.
Beginning in Egypt, in the Lower Thebaid near the Red Sea,
we have the celebrated monastery of Mount Pisper, where St.
Anthony lived accompanied by his disciples, and another
monastery on Mount Colzim, in which he died. There was
another hermitage on the Nile near the city of Heliopolis, at the
spot where the blessed Virgin and St. Joseph are said to have
rested with the infant Jesus on his flight into Egypt. This
monastery was under the direction of the Abbot Apollonius.
In the Upper Thebaid also, SS. Isidore and Dioscuros ruled over
two separate monasteries, and there were others besides in
different parts of the Thebaid near Antinopolis.
The Abbot Serapion ruled in Arsinoe over ten thousand
monks. In the desert of Nitria there were five thousand monks.
But. the most remarkable of these institutions was Oxirinca,
where all the heathen temples and public buildings had been
1 Fiorentini, " Hetruscae pietatis origines," cap. ix.

32 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
converted into so man}' monasteries, and the inhabitants were
not divided into pagans and anchorites, but all were fervent
Christians. In short, the number of monks existing in Egypt
amounted to about seventy-six thousand. Monasticism flourished
in a somewhat similar manner in Palestine and other parts of the
east, and passing on to Europe we find Spain and Gaul filled
with monasteries and monks, while the system had penetrated
even to the British Islands. As regards Italy, we have already
shown how monasticism flourished in Italy in the time of S.
Frediano. Although many monasteries had existed before St.
Benedict, and although S. Romano, who had served that saint
in the cave of Subiaco, had been a monk before him, yet St.
Benedict, if we may not call him the patriarch, deserves the title
of the great restorer of monasticism, fox it was in fact through
his labours that the system spread, not only in Italy, but
throughout all parts of the west.
Benedict was born in 480 of a noble family in the city of
Norcia, near Spoleto. He wrote his rule in the year 528, and
when, in the year 543, he passed to another life, this rule of his
had already spread throughout all Europe. Carried by S.
Placidus into Sicily, and by S. Maurus into France, it was
received by others into Spain, and in less than two centuries
became the rule of all the monastic orders.
Monasticism had been thus widely spread in Italy, so that in
the Church of St. Peter itself in Rome, and during the pontificate
of Pelagius II., monks were invested with the religious functions
of abbot.
Thus, in the other provinces throughout the city and the
country, and particularly among the highest mountains, ascetic
monks were to be found who had retired from the world that
they might lead a perfect life. The French historian Fleury
gives us the following account of them : " How much were they
lauded by St. John Chrysostom, by St. Augustine, and by all the
fathers, and for how many centuries was their institution followed !
Mainly by their means was the practice of the most sublime piety
maintained. That inner piety which in the early ages was common
to all Christians, was then confined to such monasteries." 1
1 Fleury, torn. v.

LEGEND OF ST. FINNIAN. 33
The lives of these monks were not solely devoted to works of
piety ; they spread abroad knowledge and learning and arts, and
contributed in many ways to the temporal well-being of the state.
The art of silk-weaving, so useful throughout Europe, and
especially in Italy, was carried from India by certain monks,
who brought the first silkworms from thence, and taught the
people this manufacture. Agriculture also owes its progress to
the monks ; it was they who first brought the knowledge of this
art to bear upon the most barren mountain side, and practised
it in the thickest forest, teaching how such lands could be made
fruitful, and adapting the various seeds and plants of foreign
countries to the soil. Where they could not sow grain they
planted vines, and from hill to hill they cultivated olives ; where
fruit-trees would not grow, they planted chestnuts, and their
forests of pine-trees reached to the very summits of the
mountains. Stagnant marshes were drained, and the poorest
land was fertilized by the industry of these monks, and ground,
uninhabitable from miasma, has been rendered healthy through
their means. The mountains of Grenoble in France and of the
Great St. Bernard are evidence of this, not to mention Alvernia,
Camaldoli, and Vallombrosa in Tuscany. The industry of the
monks is fully proved by all these works. Monte Cassino alone
shows the energy of the Benedictines, and in the neighbourhood
of Lucca the ancient abbey of Pozzeveri, the abbey of
Cantignano, the convent of the Angel, the marshy land of
Arlascio, the mountain of S. Cerbone, the Certosa, all give
evidence of the improvements wrought by these ancient monks
in the unreclaimed lands in which they settled.1
These observations may help us to realize what were the con
ditions of S. Frediano's life when called to the wider sphere of
action occupied by him in his later years. How long he continued
among the caves and recesses of Monte Pisano, history does not
say, but the isolation in which he lived did not prevent the fame
of his learning and sanctity from penetrating into the neighbour
ing city of Lucca.2 At this time the Bishop of Lucca died, and
1 Fanucchi, " Vita di S. Frediano," p. 102.
4 The fame of his good works had penetrated to Lucca, as we read in
a MS. life of the eleventh century, copied from another of the eighth, " Fama
D

34 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
the people of that city were in some distress, being as a flock
without a shepherd in a season of great tribulation, when war
was followed by famine and pestilence. Italy had not yet
recovered the effects of the Gothic war, which had brought her
unhappy people to the greatest poverty and distress. The
historian Procopius describes in dark and terrible colours this
famine which desolated the whole country, and the maladies
that ensued and destroyed so many of its inhabitants. He tells
of famished wretches who wandered about in search of corpses
wherewith to satisfy their hunger. *' Many of the people," he
says, '.' lived only on the nettles which grew in great quantities
everywhere on the walls and ruins of the city. But as this food
did not suffice for them, and they had not even of it as much as
they could eat, their bodies gradually wasted away. And their
colour having soon become livid made them look exactly like
spectres. And many, while walking and still chewing the nettles
between their teeth, suddenly fell to the ground dead. And
there was one, a father of five children, who surrounded him,
dragging at his garments and imploring him for food. But he,
neither lamenting aloud nor letting his confusion be seen, but
hiding away his misery with great strength of mind, desired his
children to follow him as if he would give them food. And
when he reached the bridge over the Tiber, having put his cloak
to his face, and covered his eyes with it, flung himself into the
river in the sight of his children."1 In like manner famine and
pestilence had so thinned the ranks of the churches that the
Lucchesians had to turn to a foreigner to fill the episcopal chair of
Lucca, and even Pope John II. himself had to command Frediano
to ascend the chair. For the Irish saint loved the anchorite life,
and for a long time could not be persuaded to accept the office.
San Giovanni e Reparata was at this time the principal church
in Lucca, and was always regarded as the first baptismal church
or Pieve of the city, until its prerogatives were ceded to the
Cathedral of S. Martino. S. Frediano occupied the episcopal
chair in San Giovanni for seven years in peace, and here, according
to the ancient custom in those Pievi, he held special baptismal
de eo boni operis circumquaque crebrescente, a populo Lucanas Civitatis
eremum deserere coactus est."-- -Codice A. ed F. fol. 96, Archivi de Lucca.
1 " Early Chroniclers of Italy," Ugo Balzani, pp. 29, 30.

LEGEND OF ST. FINN I Ah.

35

services at three seasons in the year, the vigils of the Epiphany,
of Easter, and of Pentecost. After the lapse of seven years be
was driven forth by the Lombard invaders, who sacked and
burned this ancient basilica, which was not restored till the
beginning of the twelfth century.
Italy was now again subject to the Emperor, who was repre
sented by an exarch or ruler dwelling at Ravenna. But the
destruction of the Goths left the northern provinces undefended,
and the Lombards, a wild Teutonic people, had come down from
the eastern bank of the Elbe to the Danube and onward into
Pannonia, whence descending they attempted the conquest of
the fruitful lands of Italy. The dominion of the Lombards
began in Friuli, and thence extended over a great part of Italy
They lived rudely, and treated the vanquished with ferocity,
differing from them in religion, being in part Arians, in part
idolaters. Rapine and slaughter spread misery and desolation
around, and justified the lamentations of Pope Pelagius when
writing to Bishop Aunacarius of Auxerre : " And how shall we
not mourn when we see so much innocent blood shed before our
eyes, the altars desecrated, and the Catholic faith insulted by
these idolaters ?" It is true that this was not their first appear
ance in the. country, since many years before they had made
acquaintance with it, when invited by Narses to form an auxiliary
army to aid him in his war against the Goths. They had not
then come as invaders, and when the war was ended the exarch
had sent them back quietly, loaded with gifts, to their own
country; but, after the lapse of some years, they determined to
emigrate from their savage lands, and, in league with their
friends and confederates the Huns, to seize on a kingdom so much
richer and more fertile than their own. Thus it happened that,
in the year 568, Alboin, King of the Lombards, appeared upon
the Julian Alps, which formed the gates of Italy on the eastern
side, and from the heights of these mountains they hailed with
savage cries the first sight of that land they longed to conquer.
So great was the consternation of the Italians at the appearance
of Alboin among them, that abandoning their cities in crowds
they sought refuge in the neighbouring islands, and doubtless
there were not a few ecclesiastics among the people who acted in
like manner. Thus Onorato, Archbishop of Milan, abandoned

36 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
his church, and hid himself in Genoa, where he died ; and
Paulinus, Patriarch of Aquileia, fled from his diocese to seek
concealment in Grado, one of the islands of the Adriatic, where
within a year he also died. The Lombards then occupied the
whole of Liguria ; they seized all the cities in that country
except Pavia, which held out for three years in a state of siege,
but which also finally succumbed. This city then became the
royal residence of Alboin, and remained the capital city till his
death, which was brought about by the arts of his wife Rosamund.
The story gives a vivid picture of the barbarity of these
invaders. Alboin had maddened his wife by an insult offered to
her dead father Cunimond's head. He had taken the old man's
skull and used it as a drinking cup at a great feast, and forced
the queen herself to drink therefrom. She in revenge conspired
with two of her followers to murder the king her husband. She
concealed them in the royal apartments, where they surprised
and slew him with a hundred blows. She then fled with one of
these murderers to Ravenna, where she became his wife, and they
closed the terrible drama by taking poison from each other's hands.
Thus Alboin died in Tuscany, after having brought the country
under his yoke. The reign of Cleph succeeded to that of
Alboin, and, after the space of eighteen months, he also was
murdered. After his death, the Lombards remained ten years
without a king. The portion of Italy they had conquered was
divided into thirty dukedoms, each independent of the other.
While this kind of oligarchy, or rather anarchy, lasted, churches
were despoiled, bishops murdered, the people robbed, and the
cities ruined. The ancient city of Populonia was reduced to a
heap of stones. The Bishop Cerbone was obliged to fly to the
island of Elba, where he died. This irruption of the Lombards
into Italy is described by Gregory the Great as the most
tremendous persecution the Church has yet endured.1 He says,
" Cities are despoiled, fortresses levelled, churches burned,
monasteries for men and for women destroyed, and the entire
country abandoned by the tillers ofthe soil, so that the whole land
is left to solitude without inhabitants, who once lived there in
multitudes, but whose place was now filled by wild beasts."
1 St. Greg., lib. iii., Dialog, cap. 36.

LEGEND OF ST. FINNIAN. 37
"In such a confusion of things," writes Platina,' " the state of
Italy must needs certainly have been utterly ruined if some
eminently holy men had not supported and propped up the
tottering nation."
The Italian historian of the life of Frediano proudly asserts
that the Irish saint was not among the Lombard bishops who
were, as we have seen, constrained to fly, but that he assumed
office in the very midst of this terrible crisis. Pie formed one of
the small band of holy men who fought by patience and stead
fast endeavour against the wild forces of anarchy that threatened
to overwhelm the country ; for Tuscany was in no way spared.
In those days the diocese of Lucca committed to his charge
embraced a far wider extent of country than it does at present.
The Florentine antiquary Lami has proved that it formerly
extended over the Val di Nievole, the Val d'Arno, the Val d'Elsa,
the mountains of Pisa, the country round Leghorn, including
also the cities of Pistoia, Florence, and Volterra. Not only was
this wide district laid waste, but the city of Lucca was in a great
measure destroyed. It has been proved by the learned Pietro
Pizzetti, in vol. i. of his " Antichita Toscane," that Lucca in the
sixth century was a city of greater extent than it was in the
eighth century, and Muratori refers to a record in one of the
ancient charts of Lucca, dated 790, where the church of Lucca
is said to have been burnt to the ground. This is all corroborated
by the excavations conducted by Marchio and Penitesi, the result
of which has been to show that the lowest foundations of the
city are nine feet beneath the level of the modern foundations,
and that at this lowest level ruins and broken walls are found,
proving that Lucca had been devastated at a very early date.
Thus the abundant documentary information of the havoc com
mitted in the beginning of the Lombard invasion is supported
by monumental evidence which cannot be gainsaid.2
S. Frediano converts the Lombards.
When the ferocity of these new masters of Italy had subsided,
Frediano set to work to rebuild the walls of his city and restore
its cathedral. 'A
1 B. Platina, "Lives of the Popes," translated by Rev. W. Benham,pp. 132, 135
" Muratori, " Diss. 37," "Antichita Italiane," col. 561.

38 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
It was either because he held it wiser to abandon the original
site of the church which had been sacked, burned, and almost
wholly destroyed, or that he thought it safer to move the seat of
his labours to the open country, that S. Frediano decided on build
ing his new church outside the northern walls of the city. This
church, which is now called after the founder San Frediano, he
dedicated originally to SS. Vincent and Laurence. He never
abandoned his dismayed flock, or left them without the comfort
of his counsel, as we read in his Acts : " He showed goodwill
and charity to all ; generous to the needy, he clothed the naked,
he fed the hungry, brought consolation to the sorrowful, visited
the sick, and all, without exception of persons, were comforted
by him." '
Such a life could not continue without bearing fruit, and in
time his good influence spread, not only among his own perse
cuted flock, but even to the heretic and idolatrous invaders whom
he sought to win over to Christ. By his miracles, learning, and
charity, he drew the eyes of his new rulers upon him, and these
Lombards, when once settled in Italy, instead of continuing their
war against religion, now embraced the faith, and became even
more fervent Christians than the Italians themselves. Thus it
happened that before the death of Frediano the city of Lucca
could show many Christians among the Lombards living there,
and even many who had laboured with the Bishop in the erec
tion of new churches. For many years after the Lombard
invasion S. Frediano specially exercised himself in the office of
the administration of baptism, first in the church of S. Giov.
Battista and then in his own new church. After the death of
the bishop, the Lombard princes devoted themselves to honour
ing his memory, publishing his good deeds, and adding to the
magnificence of the church in which his body lay buried. In
fact, the present building was designed and erected by these
Lombards, who changed the original dedication, and called it by
his name San Frediano. P. Poggi, the historian of Lucca, states
that the city of Lucca was so beloved by this people that they
called her Flavia, that is, capital of a duchy, and she remained
for centuries capital of one of the thirty dukedoms formed by
1 Codice C, Archives of Lucca.

LEGEND OF ST. FINNIAN. 39
the Lombards after the death of Alboin and Cleph, which
duchies were afterwards resolved into the Italian kingdom of
Lombardy.
S. Frediano miraculously turns the course of the
River Serchio.
Among the wonders worked by S. Frediano at this time was
the miraculous turning aside of the course of the river Serchio,
and it will be well to point out the original course of the river,
and then show the new direction into which its current was
changed. The Serchio rises in the Apennines, and its waters
are swelled by tributary streams, which it receives as it flows
southwards. One of the most formidable of these torrents at
certain seasons is the Lima, which, issuing from a hollow in the
mountains, where it has been confined for thirty-four miles of its
course, reaches Saltocchio, a district four miles distant from
Lucca, and flows in a wider bed across the plain. One of the
many branches of this river passes through the lands of Lammari
and Cappanori, and descends into the lake of Sesto, now com
monly called Bientina. The second branch passes through
Marlia, S. Pietro a Vico, Picciorane, and Lunata, and entering
Antraccoli, passes round it, forming two minor branches, which
re-unite at the church of St. Paul, then passing by Carraia
and Parrezzana reaches the slopes of the hills of Compito, and
falls into the lake of Sesto. The third branch passes near S.
Pietro a Vico, and continues its course by the eastern side of
Lucca, falling into the Ozzori (i.e. Serchio, called in Latin Auxer),
till it joins the Arno close to Ripafratta. The Serchio, flowing
in a full tide during such great inundations, leaves traces of its
course upon the banks, and the immense width of the beds of
both these rivers proves that the waters occasionally occupy a
space three or four times greater than their usual size. Having
described the line of the Serchio before the course of the river
was changed by S. Frediano, we now pass on to consider the new
direction given to it. The line of our river was diverted from its
mouth in Lake Sesto, and the saint caused it to flow from the
bridge Ponte a Moriano, and guided it along the hills of Castel
del Moriano, Spardaco, Monte S. Quirico, then directed it, to

40 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Ponte S. Pietro, now called Porsanpieri. Here he turned it and led
it by Nozzana and Ripafratta, guiding it through various wind
ings on to the sea.
It happened that after a certain period of continuous rains and
floods the waters of the Serchio had torn up their banks and
spread over half the plain. The peasantry, who during the
frequent inundations of this river beheld the fields and furrows
the)' had sown all going to waste, and their labour rendered
worthless, were now plunged in the deepest affliction. Beginning
at one point of the inundation, they tried, but in vain, to lead the
waters back to their original course, the angry torrent bursting
through every barrier erected. The distress was universal, both
among the citizens, the gates of whose town were destroyed, and
the peasantry, who could not put a stop to the ruin of their
crops. It was but natural that certain holy and religious men among
them should appeal to their pastor Frediano, being well assured
of his power with the Almighty. The saint was moved to com
passion by the suffering of his people, and saw that aid could
never come except from the hand of God himself ; that all human
effort must be insufficient to stem the fury of these waters. And
he offered a fervent prayer for such a revelation of divine power
as would enable him to free the country from this flood, trusting
also that by means of a miracle his flock might be strengthened
in their faith.
The bishop then passed out from the city followed by the
clergy and the people, and came to that point in the landscape
where the Serchio, divided into two branches as described above,
began to inundate the plain. He stood upon the devastated
banks of the river, and, taking a small rake in his hand, having
prayed fervently, straightway commanded the waters that they
should follow him, as he traced out with his rake a new bed for
the river. Then the waters obeyed his voice, leaving their ancient
course, and taking the new path he marked out for them towards
the sea. This great miracle has been described by St. Gregory I.
in the third book of his '' Dialogues," cap. ix. : " Nor shall I be
silent on this also which has been related to me by the venerable
Venanzio, Bishop of Luni. I heard two days ago, for he told
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42 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
lived a bishop of marvellous power, by name Frediano, of whom
the inhabitants relate this great miracle. That the river Auxer
(Serchio) running close under the walls of the city, and often
bursting from its bed with great force, did the greatest damage
to its inhabitants, so that they, moved by necessity, strove with
all diligence to divert its course into another channel, but failed
in the attempt. Then a man of God, Frediano, made them give
him a little rake, and, advancing to where the stream flowed, he
knelt in prayer. He afterwards raised himself to his feet, and
commanded the river that it should follow him, and, dragging
the rake behind him, the waters, leaving their accustomed course,
ran after it, making a new bed wherever the saint marked the
way. Whence thus, ever following on, it ceased to cause damage
in the fields and among the fruits raised by. the husbandmen."
This remarkable passage must have been written not very long
after the event occurred which gave rise to the legend. S.
Frediano is spoken of as dead : " there had lived a bishop of
marvellous power," and he died in the year 588, while the
" Dialogues" of Gregory were in existence between 590 and 604,
for it was during the pontificate of Gregory that this pontiff sent
his "Dialogues" as a gift to Queen Theodelinda, of whom we
shall hear more in the life of Columban. This book of
" Dialogues " is one that greatly fascinated the imagination of the
middle ages ; in it are related anecdotes of the lives and miracles
of various holy persons in Italy who were of repute at the time,
or were either known to Gregory or to persons with whom he
was acquainted. They contain legends of great value, both
because they are mixed up with real events and on account of
their allusions to places and monuments then existing. In this
case the real event giving rise to the legend was probably the
construction of a canal, and it is remarkable that during our
saint's sojourn at Moville in Ireland a similar feat was achieved
by him, when a subterranean conduit for water to the mill of his
monastery was opened from the neighbouring hills.1 Another
curious parallel to this is the legend in Ayrshire that this saint
turned the course of the river Garnoch (see fig. 10).
After the accomplishment of this miracle of the Serchio, our
1 See p. 28, supra.

LEGEND OF ST. FINNIAN. 43
saint met with the usual experience of those -who venture on
great achievements. Although many applauded the deed, and
many demonstrations of gratitude were made for all the benefits
that accrued therefrom to the plain of Lucca, yet others were
found who only blamed the bishop, and lamented the new course
into which the river had been turned. S. Frediano, seeking
repose until this excitement had subsided, retired to the
hermitage he had founded at Lunata, on the site of which a
church was built in after years dedicated to St. John the Baptist,
but now called San Frediano in Lunata. In a short time, how
ever, the disaffected began to perceive the great benefit it was to
the inhabitants of Lucca to be freed from the inundations ofthe
river, and the Lombard settlers especially were impressed by this
feat, so that the saint easily won their affections, and many
among them, whether pagans or Arians, were led away from
their superstitions and errors, and consented to be baptized into
the religion of Christ.
It is stated in the " Octavarium" (a lectionary) of Lucca, that
during the twenty-eight years of his episcopate S. Frediano had
founded twenty-eight churches for baptism, called Pievi, by which
is meant baptismal churches. These churches built by S.
Frediano appear to have all been erected after the conversion of
the Lombards, and at a period subsequent to the death of their
king Cleph. This king, who was one of the noblest of the
Lombard chieftains, was crowned by the free suffrage of his
people in the year 573. He was the successor of Alboin and
held his court in Pavia, but he too was assassinated, and that
only eighteen months after his coronation. His son Antharis
being still a child, the throne was vacant for ten years. Thirty
chiefs divided the cities among themselves, and the country was
oppressed by the anarchy and confusion naturally involved in
such an arrangement. By this time Frediano, in the diocese
of Lucca, had been enabled to combat successfully with the vices
of his people and their formidable conquerors. Having gained
the latter over to the true faith, he succeeded in keeping that
faith alive and spreading public worship by means of the twenty-
eight baptismal churches (pievi) whose names are given in the
following list, and which were either built or restored by S.
Frediano.

44 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
The three following are in the city of Lucca :
I. The parish church of the Three Levites, now the Basilica
of S. Frediano, in which the body of this bishop is venerated.
This church was dedicated by S. Frediano himself to the three
holy deacons, St. Stephen, St. Vincent, and St. Laurence.
II. The church of St. John the Baptist, the ancient Pieve of
the city.
III. The church of St. Martin, now the metropolitan church
of the diocese of Lucca.
The churches erected outside the city walls are as follow :
IV. The church of Lunata, dedicated to St. John the Baptist,
now called S. Frediano of Lunata.
V. The church of Lammari, now dedicated to St. James the
Apostle and to St. Christopher.
VI. The church of Segromigno, now dedicated to St. Laurence.
VII. The church qf Villa Basilica, dedicated to S. Maria
Assunta. VIII. The church of S. Gennaro.
IX. The church of Compito.
X. The church of St. John the Baptist of Camaiore.
XI. The church of Diecimo, dedicated to S. Maria Assunta.
XII. The church of Gallicano, dedicated to St. John the
Baptist. XIII. The church of Controne, dedicated to St. John the
Baptist. XIV. The church of Sesto, at Moriano, now dedicated to S.
Maria Assunta. v
XV. The church of Monsagrati, dedicated to St. John the
Baptist. XVI. The church of Brancoli, dedicated to St. George.
XVII. The church of Ilice, dedicated to S. Pantaleone.
XVIII. The church of Arliano, dedicated to St. John the
Baptist. XIX. The church of S. Maria Assunta, now cathedral of the
town of Pescia, and head of the province of Val di Nievole.
XX. The church of S. Ginese di Vico-Vallari, once head of
the province of Valdarno, under the diocese of Lucca, and now
united to the cathedral of S. Miniato al Tedesco.
XXI. The church of Valle Arriana, formerly dedicated to St.

LEGEND OF ^T. FINNIAN. 45
John the Baptist, then to St. Thomas the Apostle and S.
Ansano, now in the diocese of Pescia.
XXII. The church ot S. Pietro in Campo, now united to the
church of St. Andrew.
XXIII. The church of Massa Buggianese.
XXIV. The church of Monte Catino di Val di Nievole.
XXV. The church of Santa Maria in Monte, formerly in the
diocese of Lucca, now in that of S. Miniato.
XXVI. The church of St. John the Baptist of Fosciana,
formerly head of all the churches of Lucca in the province of
Garfagnana. XXVII. The church of S. Giovanni of Loppia, now united
to the parish and provostship of Barga.
XXVIII. The church of St. John the Baptist of Val di Castello
and Capezzano, afterwards called the church of Santa Felicita
in Versilia, now Pietra Santa.
The active zeal of S. Frediano in thus promoting the interests
of religion by the restoration of these ancient churches, as well
as by the erection of new ones, is recorded in the " Passionarium"
of the eleventh century, in which we read the following words :
"Vetustas etiam Ecclesias et renovavit, et a fundamentis multas
construxit."
Miracles of S. Frediano when building his Churches.
When S. Frediano was building the church now dedicated to
his name at Lucca, his labourers were at work quarrying stones
for his purpose at a place near the suburbs called S. Lorenzo a
Vaccoli, now known as Quarto. During the excavations a stone
of enormous size was discovered, and when the attempt was
made to secure it for the new building, it was found to be too
heavy to move. S. Frediano was informed of this. He at once
ordered that a number of workmen should be procured to trans
port it to its intended place, but their united efforts to lift it
proved in vain, and they resolved to abandon the task. Then
the saint, attended by his canons, went forth himself into the
quarry, and, offering up a fervent prayer to God, he raised the
stone with perfect ease upon a cart. After this feat he ordered
two wild cows to be yoked together to the cart, and they patiently
drew it with its vast burthen to the church.

46 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Now it happened that a certain man named Rabiola tried to
spring upon the cart which was to transport the stone from the
quarry to the church of S. Frediano. This man, missing his
footing, fell to the ground and was trampled by the crowd
assembled round, as well as crushed by the cart, till he lay half
dead. The people turned to S. Frediano imploring for the
restoration of the injured man, and the saint, when he had made
fervent prayer, passed his hands over him, when, to the great
wonder of all, the man was cured.
Miraculous cures were also said to have been wrought upon
two strangers while the church of S. Frediano was in course ol
erection. One day the holy bishop, not having enough money
by him to pay the labourers their hire, wished to borrow a
hundred silver soldi from a rich man of the country ; but he,
being avaricious, absolutely refused to grant this favour, even
swearing that he did not possess such a sum. The saint bore
his refusal quietly, and the rich man returned on his homeward
way. But it so befell, that as he was crossing the Serchio in a
little boat, his purse containing the hundred soldi dropped into
the water, and without his perceiving it was swallowed up by a
great fish.
That same night certain fishermen known to S. Frediano
brought him as a gift the largest fish that they had ever caught.
No sooner had his servant set his hand on it to cook it, and cut
it open to clean it, than he discovered the purse with the hundred
soldi. On learning this, S. Frediano sent immediately for the
rich man, who was already plunged in grief for the loss of his
purse, and sorry that he had not lent the money to the saint.
When the avaricious man came into the presence of S. Frediano,
the saint said to him, " Take thy purse with thy money found in
the belly of the fish." Then the rich man prostrated himself at
his feet. " O man of God," he cried, " this money is not mine,
but yours." But the saint answered, " I have no desire to benefit
myself by your loss." Then the man begged of him to accept
half at least for the erection of the church. " No," replied the
saint, " I take it not, either in part or as a whole, since thou hast
falsely sworn that thou hadst no money in thy possession. Learn
to know that it is God who giveth wealth, and God who taketh
it away, and all according to His will. God holds all things in

LEGEND OF ST. FINNIAN.

47

His own hand, and He is master of all. Remember how detes
table a vice is avarice, and that the Holy Spirit has said there is
no more wicked man than he who is avaricious." Then the rich
man, confused and humbled, went forth from the presence of the
holy bishop.
Frediano founds a Convent of Canons Regular.
If ever a bishop ruled his clergy with a strong arm, and
insisted on the fulfilment of all the duties ofthe ministry, it was
S. Frediano. He set himself to imitate the most perfect patterns,
such as St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, men who excelled all
others both in learning and church discipline, uniting the
ccenobitic with the apostolic life, and showing forth the virtues
of both as they had never before been illustrated.
S. Frediano, having loved the solitary life in his youth, pre
served his affection for it even after he had become bishop, nor
could he ever forget the wise rule of silence, of prayer, of
mortification, and all the other exercises which have formed, and
ever will form, the soul of the religious life. He was impelled
to retire from time to time to some hermitage, that his heart and
mind, undisturbed, might be refreshed by a holy spiritual life, and
that he might gain a breathing space amid the duties of his
arduous ministry. In order that he might have some such
retreat near at hand, he chose a number of learned and pious
priests from among his clergy, some of whom were monks who
through accident of fire or flood had been driven out of their
ancient monasteries and scattered abroad. Such men as these
he formed into a religious family of which he was himself
superior. He imposed upon them the rules of the Lateran
Canons of Rome, and with these clerics Frediano had his meals
in common, his lodging, exercises of devotion, and psalm singing,
rising with them night and morning for mental prayer, and also
officiating at the celebration of holy mass. From them also he
had assistance in teaching the divine word, as well as in the ad
ministration of the sacraments, and he sent some members of
this community out on visits of inspection through the different
parishes of his diocese as circumstances required.
S. Frediano's energy was unabated in his latter days, and he
paid constant visits to the different churches in his diocese. He

48 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
often went to the baptismal church of Pescia, moved by the love
he felt for its gentle people. After his death a church was
erected upon the mountain above Pescia, and dedicated to him,
which is still standing, and bears the name of S. Frediano in
Molocchio. He also visited San Ginese di Vico-Vallari, the
principal church of Lower Valdarno, whose people were held in
high esteem by our saint from their affection and submission to
his commands. In consequence of the special devotion which
he bore to the memory of the martyr S. Miniato, he often visited
his church, which was situated on a hill over the left bank of the
Arno, and is now called S. Miniato al Monte. The following
miracle was wrought by our saint on one of his journeys to this
place. When the holy man arrived at the right bank of the Arno, he
found he could not pass to the other side because ofthe dangerous
state of the river, which was then flooded. Observing some
boatmen on the opposite side, he hailed them, begging them to
come over and bear him across in their boats. They fearing, it
may be, the fury of the river thus swollen, said they could not
expose themselves to certain danger of drowning. The saint
urged them to put their faith in God, and they began their
passage ; but, at the moment of starting, they suddenly found
themselves transported to the opposite side. Then, with minds
quite stupefied by this miracle, they forthwith took the holy
bishop into their boat and bore him safely to the spot where he
desired to land.
The end of S. Frediano's life was now fast approaching, and
the hour was arriving when he was to leave this world, but not
without the record of a life rich in virtue and fulness of merit.
Constrained henceforth to lie on his poor bed, he seemed to be
rather exhausted by the divine fire that consumed him than by
the power of any positive malady ; as his last hour approached,
he begged that the holy sacrament might be administered to
him. He commenced an address to the sorrowing monks who
surrounded his bed on the love of God, the perfection of
obedience, peace, purity, and the observation of his rule, but his
strength failed ere he had concluded. Then, fixing his mind
upon God in the most fervent prayer, while his canons around
him sang hymns of praise and thanksgiving, he- seemed to fall

LEGEND OF ST. FINNIAN. 49
into a placid sleep, and thus his soul expired in his Saviour's
arms, and he passed to the glory of heaven.1
This saint is commemorated in the "Martyrology of Donegal"
at Sept. 10 : Finnen, Bishop of Magh-bile. He is of the race of
Fiatach Finn, Monarch of Erin, from whom the Dal-Fiatach
descend, and who was of the seed of Heremon. Also in the
" Martyrology of Oengus," as already quoted, p. 25, supra.
Italian historians, especially Poggi, Mansi, and Fiorentini, agree
in assigning the death of S. Frediano to the twenty-eighth year
of his episcopate, A.D. 588, on March 30th. This was in the
seventh year of the empire of Maurice, and the eleventh of the
pontificate of Pelagius II.2
In the short space of two years his body was already esteemed
as that of a saint. It is said to have been buried in a sar
cophagus and laid beneath the pavement of the church formerly
called that of the Three Deacons, but after his interment named
S. Frediano. A parchment exists of the time of King Cunipert,
dated the year 680, in which express record is made of the
monastery of S. Frediano in the city of Lucca.3
1 Octavarium (Lectionary) of the saint's festival day.
2 See Platina, p. 135.
3 Preserved in the Archiepiscopal Archives, Lucca, and registered 0.27.
See Bertini, Documens xxxii., xxxiii., vol. iv.

LETTERS FROM ITALY,
being notes on a journey in search of the existing
memorials of irish saints in italy.
PlSA, Nov., 1889.
Dear H.,
'\/OU listened so patiently some time ago, when I read you
J. the story of the life of St. Finnian of Moville, who is
known here as S. Frediano, that I hope you will feel some
interest in hearing of my pilgrimage to his shrine in Italy.
Next best to having you at my side will be to feel that the story
of my adventures may interest you, and that you may share
some of the delight I have had in all the beauty that surrounds
me here. To-day I have to tell you of my first explorations in
Monte Pisano, the great scene of the hermit life in this part of
Italy, and the place to which our saint retired on his second
arrival in this country. I shall certainly advise everyone who
wants to know Italy indeed, to take these old Irish saints as
their guide. In following the footsteps of Frediano, I have
completely got out of the range of Murray and Baedeker and
Hare, and what lonely mountains and wide fertile plains have I
not seen !
Monte Pisano is that mountain' that rises north and east of
Pisa, which Dante speaks of in the thirty-third canto of the first
part of his " Divine Comedy " as " al monte perche i Pisan

MONTE PIS A NO. 51
veder Lucca non ponno." A passage evidently referred to by
Shelley in his poem on the " Boat on the Serchio " : —
" It was that hill whose intervening brow
Screens Lucca from the Pisan's envious eye."
And yesterday morning I started at an early hour to explore
its solitudes and see what traces I could find of its ancient
hermitages. I drove from the Porta Lucchese along the plain
to the Bagni di San Giuliano, a little bright-looking town at
the foot of the mountain, where Shelley spent the spring of
1820, and where he boated on the canal that communicates
between the river Serchio and the Arno, which lay at the
foot of his garden. Set down in the sunny piazza, it was
some time before I found a man to be my guide ; at last, a
tall old fellow turned up who willingly carried my photographic
apparatus, or "machina," as they call it here, and my lunch-
basket. We commenced our ascent by a wild road, along a stream
through an olive-wood, broken here and there by a row of
cypress trees, but this wood did not extend very high, and when
we came out on the mountain side our path lay over ground as
barren and wild as anything in Ireland, but without our heath
and ferns and golden furze. However, turning round at an
angle in the road, and sitting down on a low wall to rest, I
looked back upon the steep path that we had come, and beheld
at our feet such a view as Italy alone can show. A richly
cultivated plain extending to the sea, the road to Pisa running
through it from the foot of the mountain, clearly marked by the
oak trees that lined it on either side, whose autumn-tinted leaves
made it seem like a golden thread winding through the fields ;
the group of buildings, the leaning tower, and baptistery that
make Pisa famous, rose above the city. Leghorn lay beyond,
with its towers and harbour and ships. Far on the horizon was
Caprera, Garibaldi's island, rising from the Mediterranean in a

52 .0 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
sunny mist (about as visible as the Mourne mountains are from
Howth), and the Arno winding along from Pisa, through the
fields and dark Pineta, to its mouth in the sea. Then to the
west all the — " circumfluous plain waving below,
Like a wide lake of green fertility,
With streams, and fields, and marshes bare.
Divides from the far Apennines, which lie
Islanded in the immeasurable air."
Looking down on the other side of the mountain ridge, the
whole plain of Lucca lay at our feet, not now the wide solitude
that met the gaze of the old hermits, but a vast extent of smiling
fields speckled with bright homesteads shining white in the
Italian sun. To the east were the dark gorges and peaks of the
Eremitic mountains, and on the opposite side of the valley below
us, nestling high in a nook on Monte San Pantaleone, I saw the
site of the hermitage of S. Antonino. I cannot describe the
interest with which I gazed at the little white building which
now stands on the site of this last sanctuary, behind its single
cypress-tree, like a speck on the distant mountain. But per
haps you will ask who these good old saints were who thus
retired to these lonely mountains. Well, S. Antonino, the
founder of this hermitage, was a priest of Lucca in the first
century of the Christian era, and pupil of S. Paolino, who
brought Christianity into Tuscany, and who died a martyr in
the persecutions under Nero. His bones, with those of other
martyrs, were found in a subterranean crypt in the church
of S. Antonino now dedicated to S. Pantaleone.
The guide called the ridge of the mountain on which I stood
Monte Bianco di San Giuliano, and when I explained to him
that I did not care to see the churches now in use, which were
built at a later date on the sites of the old hermitages, but that
I was in search of the old places themselves, such as the

MONTE PISANO. 53
Spelonca, i.e. the Cavern, or Rupe Cavo, i.e. the Rock Cave, he
told me to my distress that I must go on quite another road,
and. should have to wait another day, as the places I named lay
at some distance along the mountains about five miles north of
the baths of San Giuliano. So this first day's expedition was
without result as far as archaeology was concerned, but I took two
photographs of the landscape to remind me of the scene, the
great outlines of which, the mountain shadows, and the dark
valleys, and even it may be the olive-woods, must have been
much the same as they are now when the early Christians retired
here to labour and to pray.
On the next day, following my guide's advice, 1 resolved to
make my way to the place which still preserves the name of
Rupe Cavo, guessing from the name itself that I should be
more likely to find the hermit caves I was in search of at a place
so styled than at Santa Maria dei Giudici, or Passerino, or any
of the churches he had shown me at a distance the day before.
This time I started by the train, leaving Pisa for Lucca at twelve
o'clock ; and stopping at the station of Ripafratta, I commenced
my explorations from that point. On the platform I asked one
of the porters if he knew of any boy who would hire himself as
my guide and carry my " machina." He offered his own son, and
led me through a back street of one of the most curious old
Italian towns that I have yet seen, to his humble little house.
There he told his good wife my need, and she called out a
beautiful boy, whose face lit up in a wonderful manner when I
told him that I wanted to see and photograph the Rupe Cavo.
It appears that the climb to this place is a favourite expedition
for the boys of Ripafratta. But first I must tell you about this
little town itself. It was an important place in the middle ages
as the frontier town between Pisa and Lucca, and many a hard
struggle between these rival cities was decided in this valley.
The gateway, ancient walls, and fine mediaeval castle crowning

54 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
the precipitous rock under shelter of which the little town is
built, and the striking ancient square towers which appear on
the summits of the hills around, show how universally the old
nobles of the district felt the necessity of fortifying themselves
in their strongholds. The lords of Ripafratta were the Roncioni,
descendants of Manfredo ; and P. Gianelli, in his memoirs of
Lucca, gives a series of names of illustrious members of this
family. Manfredo di Roncione obtained a grant of lands in the
year 996, and again in IOOO, from the Emperor Otto III. Hence
forward, these lords Roncione possessed the patronage of all the
places and inhabitants around Ripafratta, including Cerasomma
and the parochial church and Rupe Cavo, sometimes called Lupo
Cavo. The name of Cerasomma, a spot on the confines of the
Lucchesian duchy, is derived from Cella Somma. Cella di
Rupe Cavo is a deserted hermitage which, with the church of
Santa Maria annexed to it, is in the parish of Ripafratta in the
piviere1 of Montuolo, diocese of Lucca. This cave is situated on
the highest spur of Monte Pisano, between Ripafratta and
Cerasomma, near the cell of Prete Rustico. The church of
Santa Maria close by was consecrated in the thirteenth century,
as appears from an instrument of Sept. 12th, A.D. 12 14, granting
from the lords of Ripafratta a piece of land on which the church
might be erected near the cave of Lupo Cavo. In the year
1243, this hermitage was still occupied by five Augustinian
eremites, presided over by a priest, as is proved by a lodo or
laudation pronounced in Pisa at this time, approving the nobles
of Ripafratta for giving them the choice and election of a new
prior in the hermitage of Lupo Cavo.
Thus we see the history of this hermitage can be traced from
a very early date, and that it is known to have continued in use
1 Piviere, the precinct or jurisdiction of a parish.

MONTE PISANO. 55
and to have been occupied by Augustinian hermits, at all events
down to the middle of the thirteenth century. There is no
doubt about the order to which these anchorites belonged, and
how greatly is the interest of the place increased by the fact that
many authorities have maintained that St. Augustine himself
led a hermit life for some time upon this very mountain. The
historian Fanucchi quotes Petrarch, G. Marques, Fiorentini, and
the great S. Antonino, Archbishop of Florence in the fourteenth
century, in support of this statement. I wrote to our friend, Dr.
Gwynn, asking him if he knew the passage from the last-
mentioned writer, and I received the following answer : —
" S. Antoninus of Florence is a well-known personage, and
a good authority. In his great work, usually called 'Chronica,'
but originally published with the title ' Hystorialis,' there are
some concluding chapters on various subjects out of their chrono
logical order, and in folio cclv., § ii., occur the words you quote
from your author. I transcribe them exactly : ' Et cum esset
in itinere revertens ad Africam, visitavit Eremitas qui erant in
Monte Pisano, aliquibus diebus cum eis moram trahens, et
alios Eremitas qui erant in Centumcellis prope Romam.'
"And when he (Augustine) was on his journey returning to
Africa, he visited the hermits who were in Monte Pisano, and
tarried awhile with them ; and also visited the other hermits
who were in Centum Cellae,1 the hundred cells near Rome."
Monsignor Fanucchi goes on to say that the historian
Possideus goes even farther, for he states that the holy father
Augustine not only stopped in Italy, leading the hermit life at
intervals, but that here upon our own mountains, inhabited by the
said hermits, he learned the monastic system, and from these
places he introduced it into Africa, and then developed it there.
These facts, as you may imagine, added immensely to the
1 i.e. Civita Vecchia.

MONTE PISANO. 57
interest with which I approached the Rock Cave. I was still
haunted by the fear that we should find nothing more than a
commonplace little country church, such as I had seen the day
before, built on a piece of ground held by tradition to have been
the site of a hermitage. I followed my boy-guide up a very
steep woodland path, and round under the walls ofthe mediaeval
castle of Ripafratta. We then entered the vineyards, whose old
and moss-grown terraces extend half way up the mountain,
and just at the point where the vines stop and the chestnut
woods begin, the view looking westward was so lovely that I
stopped to photograph it (fig. 11). Below me the narrow valley
of the Serchio was seen opening on the Val d'Arno at the foot
of the castellated point of Monte Diero. To the right the vast
range of the crystalline mountains of Carrara shone with the
clear rose tint or creamy white their marble outlines take,
whether the sculptor be human or divine.
A climb of an hour or more brought us to the church of the
Rock Cave ; the priest was away in Lucca, and had taken the
key with him ; however, to judge by the outside, the church was
neither interesting nor old, but when a pretty Italian woman,
whom we found standing by the holy well of the hermitage,
just raising the antique bronze water-vessel on her head, opened
the gate of the church court for us, I saw before my eyes the
very hermitage indeed! (fig. 12). A great cave, formed by
enormous overhanging rocks, garlanded with every imaginable
creeper, was before me. The monks had taken advantage of
this rock, using it for their roof, building low walls beneath it,
which, running into the depths of the cavern, divided it into
sections or chambers. The doors were square-headed, and the
windows were most curious in their construction, what the
architects call squints ; so that from the inside the inhabitant of
the cell could see anyone approaching the door from outside
without being visible himself. Unfortunately, the darkness was

53

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

so great that it wast impossible to photograph beneath the roof
of the cave. On the upper storey, as it were, of the cliff, there

Fia-. 12. — HERMITAGE OF RUPE CAVO.

was a second and even grander cave, in the walls of which, about
six feet from the ground, were three distinct minor caves or
holes, exactly like that of the bed of St. Kevin at Glendalough.

MONTE PISANO. 59
How far these caves penetrated into the rock I could not
discover. A shrine to the Madonna was erected in the middle
of this upper grotto, at which my pretty peasant knelt. I tried
to photograph her kneeling, but she would move.
Here then, indeed, was what I had been seeking. A primitive
hermitage, a rock cave, an anchorite cell such as I had read of
as existing in Syria and Egypt, such as I had seen in Ireland,
but never before seen on the continent. The magnificent view
from the little terrace in front of the church must have been
that visible from the entrance to these caverns at the time when
our Irish saint lived there, and before the view was intercepted
by that building (fig. 13). More visible from the great height
where I now stood than they had been from below, the multi
tudinous ranges of the Carrara mountains rose peak above peak,
their semi-translucent, clear-cut marble fissures striking into the
soft blue depths of heaven, always seeming to suggest a city of
shadowy palaces hewn by immortal hands ; next came the
forest-clad mountains, among which the eye longed to linger as
it passed downwards, till it rested by the full-flowing, silver flood
of the river Serchio, threading its serpentine way through the
valley till it disappears in the narrow chasm that separates it
from the plain of Pisa. As I gazed, a longing filled me to walk
along the gravelly reaches of the river, shining golden in the
evening sun, and so I and my boy-guides, for my first lad had
found companions among the chestnut gatherers on the way,
commenced our descent, through oak and chestnut woods and
vineyards, and past the old castles and down the beds of streams,
till I parted with them in the town. Then leaving the camera
at the station, as I had yet two hours to wait for the evening
train from Lucca to Pisa, I set out to wander alone in the
twilight ; the stars were coming out in the deep, cloudless sky,
and the crescent moon hung like a silver bow, while the only
sound was the occasional stroke of the ferryman who ferried

E

MONTE PISANO. 61
home the stray chestnut gatherers with their sacks of chestnuts,
who had lingered too long far in among the wooded hills on
the opposite side of the river. Of course I thought of Shelley
in his " Boat on the Serchio '' : —
" The stars burnt out in the pale blue air,
And the thin white moon lay withering there ;
To tower and cavern and rift and tree
The owl and the bat fled drowsily."
" The Serchio, twisting forth
Between the marble barriers which it clove
At Ripafratta, leads through the dread chasm
The wave that died the death which lovers love,
Living in what it sought. As if -this spasm
Had not yet passed, the toppling mountains cling.
But the clear stream in full enthusiasm
Pours itself on the plain ; then, wandering
Down one clear path of effluence crystalline,
Sends its superfluous waves that they may fling
At Arno's feet tribute of corn and wine."
But you will say, " This is all irrelevant ; what has it to do
with Irish hermits and their memories ? " Only this, that
Shelley has described the scene with such absolute truth, that
you can hardly help feeling him at your side as you gaze upon
it. You must remember, also, that it was just this very country
that inspired many of his greatest works, his " Skylark," " Pro
metheus," •" Witch of Atlas," and it would be impossible not to
associate the country with his memory. There are other poets,
also, of whose works I was reminded in this day's experience ; I
mean the old Christian poet-painters of Italy. Whoever the
artist was of the great fresco of the Fathers of the Desert in
the Campo Santo of Pisa, when he chose to fill the fourth
compartment assigned to him of the Quatuor Novissima, not
with the usual subject, Paradise, but with that mystic scene
representing hermits and anchorites, who, though still on earth,

62 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
continue to lead the "angelical life" of celibacy, solitude, fasting,
and prayer, I think he must have known this scene. That
artist, I say, may have preferred this subject because he had
seen this life still lived on by the side ofthe Eremitic mountains
rising behind Pisa. The hermitages and caves I have seen within
the last two days, if peopled, would afford a painter many
subjects very similar to those in this great composition. In his
vast mountain landscape we have groups of individual hermits
scattered throughout, either sitting within their cells or outside
in front of them, or others reading, meditating, weaving baskets,
fishing, felling trees, or attendant on the aged. The painter did
not need to travel through the Thebaid or to the banks of the
Nile for his inspiration, but might have found it in its spiritual
reality nearer home, on his own mountain sides, visible from the
solemn enclosure of the Campo Santo. Again, the Rupe Cavo
above Ripafratta is just such a grotto as Mantegna, in his
exquisite picture of the Nativity in the Gallery of the Uffizi in
Florence, has painted the Virgin Mother seated in, though the
painter has added the soft glory of angels peopling the dark roof.
To all and to each one of these, whether Augustine or the
Irish hermit, or the sacred painter of the fourteenth or the poet
of the nineteenth century, one influence was at hand to help and
elevate. Nature was there, like an inspiring presence deep
hidden in the pure marble of the mountain side, but breathing
her sweet influences round in gentle airs and distant sounds of
running, streams and whispering trees; to all such men the
motive power is still the same, the one desire is common, that
they, each in his own vocation, might help to raise the human
race from sin, to quench the earth-consuming rage for gold and
blood, until mankind should move
" Harmonious as the sacred stars above."

.V. GIOVANNI, LUCCA. 63
Albergo dell' Universo,
„ Lucca.
Dear F.,
You will now have to follow me to Lucca, where I have
come in search of the memorials of S. Frediano's life after he
had entered on the episcopate. No one who visits Lucca and
the country round can complain that there is any danger of his
name dying out, so numerous are the monuments connected
with him. Had it not been for the kindness of Cavaliere Norfini,
Director of the Accademia delle Belle Arti, himself a skilled
antiquary, as well as that of Baron Acton, who has guided me
to most of these monuments, I should never have been able to
have made them all out for myself. The first church, San
Giovanni e Reparata, in which S. Frediano baptised his con
verts, stood opposite to the window of my hotel, and after
breakfast Cavaliere Norfini took me to explore it. You will
remember that this is the oldest foundation in Lucca, and was
the church in which Frediano officiated before the erection of
the building now called by his name. Like all the churches of
Lucca, it is distinctly basilican, and no part of the present
building can date as far back as the age of Frediano except the
baptistery, which must, indeed, be of great antiquity; it opens
out of the left transept, and is a lofty square building. During
the repairs and excavations made in the seventeenth century in
this church, a portion of the original pavement was discovered
at a depth of nine feet below the level of the present building.
The great elevation of the present baptistery floor must be owing
to the deposits of many centuries, and yet that this lower floor
was that of a building intended for Christian purposes cannot be
doubted, since a Christian cross of white and black marble was
found inlaid in the mosaic pavement. Here then we saw the
floor of the original baptistery, in use in the time of Frediano,
which was afterwards levelled to the ground by the Lombards.

64 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
before the erection of the second building, which was dedicated
to St. John the Baptist, on this same site, by these very Lom
bards, after their conversion to Christianity.
But it also appears that this baptistery, which, in the time of
Frediano, was dedicated to SS. Giovanni and Reparata, was
itself raised on the site of a heathen temple and heathen place
of interment. Urns and incinerated bones, idols, coins bearing
the effigy of the Triumvirate and image of Augustus, and
inscribed " Augustus Pater S. C," were all turned up during the
excavations, and many Roman columns, crowned by capitals
of an early period, clearly proved that the fragments of this first
heathen building were utilised in that designed for Christian
service. Freeman, in his " Visit to Lucca," says : " Another church
is that of St. John, near that of the Luomo, where a basilica
and a baptistery seem to have been rolled into one. The
baptistery here is square ; yet it reminds one even more forcibly
than other baptisteries of the kitchens of Fontevrault and
Glastonbury." From this church we walked to the north side of the town,
where you will remember Frediano founded a church, which he
dedicated to the three deacons, Stephen, Vincent, and St.
Laurence, when his church of St. John was destroyed after the
invasion of the Lombards. It was not until after the saint's
death that the larger basilica we now see was built on the
original foundation, and dedicated anew in honour" of S.
Frediano himself. A record of this first small building and of
the monastery annexed to it, is found in two ancient parchments
among the archiepiscopal archives of Lucca, one dated 685, the
other 686, where it is stated that the monastery of S. Frediano,
being in need of restoration, was rebuilt by Faulone, major-
domo of Cunipert, King of the Lombards, and that Faulone,
having found that the church also required much restoration,
thought it better to rebuild it entirely, and this he did at his

SAN FREDIANO, LUCCA.

65

own expense, and with the aid of the two kings, Pertarito,
the father, and Cunipert, the son. Faulone appears to have

Fig. 14. — CHURCH OF S. FREDIANO, LUCCA.
suggested to them that the beautiful stones and columns lying
useless on the ground might be raised into a magnificent church
F

66 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
in honour of God and S. Frediano, and so the two kings, lauded
by Mansuetus, Archbishop qf Milan A.D. 689, as the most pious
and devoted worshippers of religion, who had the sovereign
power of disposing of the said marvellous and sumptuous
columns, gave orders for the building of this great fabric (fig. 14).
The side chapels were added at a later period, and the side
aisles were enlarged, while two wings were added to the facade.
These portions of the building must be attributed to Roto, Abbot
of S. Frediano A.D. 11 12, when the Lombard church was
already five centuries old. The two wings of the facade are of
a much whiter marble than the older part. It was found
necessary to rebuild all the outer wall from the foundations on
the south side, the two wings on the east, and the greater part
on the north near the monastery, which was also • probably
enlarged as the community increased in numbers. But to
anyone who has any knowledge of architecture, it is clear that
the great middle nave, the two side aisles, the facade, excepting
the two wings, along with the great campanile, are Lombard
work. And Roto did nothing more than restore certain parts
of these portions of the building.1 These new restorations were
completed and this basilica was consecrated in the year 1147
by Pope Eugenius III., after which the bones of S. Frediano
were taken from the place where they had hitherto lain and
laid beneath the high altar.
This church is a most important building in the history of
architecture in the time of the Lombards. Freeman says of it :
"The great abbey of S. Frediano or Frigidian is remarkable
for having been turned round, like St. Agnes at Rome and the
metropolitan Church at Besancon. Its front is where its apse
was once. The general design of that front is bare and awkward,
1 Gaily Knight, in his work on "Ecclesiastical Architecture of Italy,"
vol. i., states that Abbot Roto erected the new front in its present form in the
twelfth century, and that he added the mosaic pictures.

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Fig. 15. — EAST END, APSE AND TOWER, SAN FREDIANO, LUCCA.
Gaily Knight.

68 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
but its central compartment deserves notice. There are neither
arcades nor wheel window. Over a small blank colonnade, not
an arcade, is a single small window, and above that a magnificent
mosaic picture, reminding one of those at St. Mark's, to which
the whole design of the front is evidently sacrificed. This

Fig. l6. — SAN FREDIANO, LUCCA.
mosaic represents Jesus Christ in glory, adored by two angels ;
below him are ranged the twelve apostles in the act of prayer ;
the following inscription runs along the bottom :
" Alta viri celi
Spectatur cor Galilei
Iste Dei natus
Galilei nube levatus."

SAN FREDIANO, LUCCA.

69

When we entered the building I felt that I had never seen a
more striking and strange interior (fig. 16). The basilica has
three aisles, with twelve arches, six at each side, rising from eleven
columns, all of which, except one, are ancient, and taken from
the neighbouring Roman amphitheatre. The building measures
inside in length 207 feet, 6 inches ; in breadth 72 feet, 4 inches ;
the side aisles measure 71 feet ; the height ofthe nave is altogether
70 feet. This great height astonishes the most experienced
architect, for here a wall of 44 feet in height rests upon isolated
columns no more than two
feet in diameter, and the
wonder is increased when,
after the lapse of so many
centuries, and shaken as
these walls have been on
many occasions by earth
quakes, they have given no
sign of failure. There was
some temerity in the cou
rage of the architect who
planned this lofty nave.
Although according to
the Irish tradition the saint returned to die in his native land,
yet the Italian legend of his life tells that the discovery of
his bones in Lucca occurred in the reign of Charlemagne.
It was stated in ancient parchments that he was buried in this
church, but the place of his grave was forgotten in the various
vicissitudes of these two centuries of its history. It happened,
then, that at the funeral of a certain maiden of Lucca, the
floor to the left side of the apse was opened to receive her
coffin, and that, when it was lowered into the space prepared, the
maiden awoke from death as from a sleep, and cried aloud,
"Lift me up, lift me up from hence, since you have laid me

Fig. 17.

-PORTION OF TOMB OF
S. FREDIANO.

70

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

down upon the body of the blessed saint Frediano ; a shameful
thing it would be that my body, soon to be the food of worms,
should lie upon a corpse so holy." Having uttered these words,
the maiden sank back again in death. Having laid her body in
another part of the church, they returned to examine the grave,
when they discovered the remains of the saint in a marble
sarcophagus covered, by a stone on which his name was
inscribed (fig. 1 8). They removed this tomb to a place of honour
in the centre of the church, and placed the following inscription
on the stone: "In tumba ista jacuit corpus Beati Fridiani

Fig. l8. — INSCRIPTION ON TOMB OF S. FREDIANO.
quingentis1 annis sub terra. Dein revelatum per quamdam
Puellam ab eodem suis meritis suscitatam."
" In this tomb lay the body of the blessed Fridianus for many
years under the earth. Then it was revealed by a certain girl
[who was] by the same [and] through his merits brought to life."
The tomb remained in this place until the 3^ear 1152, when
the new building commenced by Roto was completed, and the
remains of the saint were then removed from the original
sarcophagus, of which, unfortunately, little care seems to have
been taken. Fortunately some valuable drawings of it were
made by a British antiquary and painter of the seventeenth
century, named Christopher Martin "il Sassone" (the Saxon), on

Literally 500 years.

SAN FREDIANO, LUCCA.

7i

a visit paid by him to Lucca (fig. 19). The MS. of the journal
from which these illustrations are taken is preserved among
the MSS. in the library of the Royal Archivio di Stato in Lucca
(No. 106).
The sculptures on this monument prove it to have been an
instance of the practice of using pagan sarcophagi for the burial
of Christians. " Christians," says Mabillon, " not seldom take the
tombs of pagans for their own uses" ("Iter Ital.," § 10, p. 81).
This sarcophagus was probably brought from the ruins of
the same amphitheatre which supplied the grand series of
marble columns and capitals to the church of San Frediano.
The subjects on the three compartments all belong to the pagan

BAS-RELIEF.

BAS-RELIEF.

Fig. 19. — BAS-RELIEF ON TOMB.
iconography of death — the altar, the dance of winged genii,
the Thanatos who holds in one hand the inverted torch and in
the other a mirror. Here we have a fine instance of the mystic
mirror which was a not uncommon pagan symbol of death —
much used by the Etruscans — and evidently referred to by St.
Paul. The initiated, in dying, pass into the presence of the
divinity, the flame is extinguished, the mirror of life cast away,
says the pagan, and the Christian, developing the heathen faith,
adds : " For now we see in a mirror, darkly ; but then face to
face : now I know in part ; but then shall I know even as also I
have been known." 1 The genius of death on our sarcophagus
turns away his gaze from the mirror. See Appendix I.
1 Inghirami, "Specchi mistici," " Mon. Etrusc," ii., p. 762.

72

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

Fig. 20. — EMBALMED BODY OF S. FREDIANO.

Nothing now remains of this fine sarcophagus but the stone
with the inscription recording the discovery of S. Frediano's
remains, which, after being tossed about from one place to
another, was finally used
m

as a step in the stairs out
side the basilica, where it
was recognised by the then
prior in the year 1840, who
had it brought into the
church and fixed into the
inner wall.
The bones of S. Fre
diano, which were taken
from out this tomb in 1 1 52,
were exposed with great
honour, and carried in
solemn procession through the streets of Lucca ; then laid in a
glass coffin, in which they remained undisturbed, but in disorder,
until 1666, when a celebrated
anatomist, Girolamo da Cre
mona, restored the skeleton.
Placed in a new sarcophagus
of glass, it was fixed beneath
the high altar, where by the
kind permission ofthe Arch
bishop, of Lucca I made the
accompanying photograph of
it (see fig. 20).
I saw also here the great
stone said to have been mira
culously transported into the town by two cows (fig. 21) from II
Quarto near the church of San Lorenzo di Vaccoli. This slab,
when consecrated by S. Frediano, was used for many centuries

Fig. 21. — STONE OF S. FREDIANO.

SAN FREDIANO, LUCCA. 73
as the table of the old sacristy on which the priestly vestments
were laid out. On the building of the new sacristy it was removed,
and is now placed in the wall beside the tomb of S. Frediano
(p. 69). It measures 17 feet in length, 6 feet in breadth,
and is 1 foot 2 inches thick. When the Lateran Canons
officiated in the church of S. Frediano, the following inscription
was placed above it : —
"D. O. M.
Oh, whoever thou art who readest this,
Thou art a stone unless this stone moveth thee
To admiration and veneration for D. Frigdianus,
Who,
In the construction of this Temple,
Having obtained this block in the mountain
At the fourth milestone,
In strength unequal yet fervent in spirit,
With his own and his canons' hands and shoulders
With wonderful ease placed it on a cart drawn by
two wild cows.
In the sixth century of salvation
He set up this sacred monument in this church." x
A more ancient and much more important record of the
stone than this comparatively modern inscription, may be found
in a " Passionarium " of the twelfth century, where we read :
" But at a certain time, while he was building the church of St.
Vincent, and stones were wanting, . . . upon the report of a
1 "D. O. M.
O quisquis legis — Lapis es, ni lapis hie te moveat — In admirationem et
cultum D. Frigdiani— Qui — Templo huic construendo — Molem hanc de
montibus ad quartum lapidem nactus — Viribus impar, sed spiritu fervens —
Mira facilitate manibus humerisq, suis et Canonicorum — In plaustrum binis
indomitis vacculis trahendum impositam — Sexto salutis saeculo — Hac in aede
statuit sacrum monumentum."

74 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
rustic labourer, who stated that there was in a field (commonly
called The Cow's), not far from the town, a marble stone
of wonderful size. . . . Which hearing, the Man of God . . .
forthwith sent servants along
with workmen, and bid them
hasten thither. [And these having
reached the place,] were unable
to draw it thence. [Then S.
Frediano,] trusting in the power
Fig. 22.-WILD COW OF S. FREDIANO. Qf (^J^ ^ fofr tQ fa p]ace
with his clergy. Having offered a prayer, he forthwith placed
it on a cart and drew it as if bearing no weight. Two wild cows
being harnessed, he surely speeded to the church of St. Vincent "
(see p. 44).
It has been suggested by a certain Dr. Targioni, referred to
by Bertini, that this slab (fig. 21) was once the podium (step) on
the threshold of the court of the Decurio or some provincial
magistrate, which may have been carried from the ruins of the
amphitheatre with the columns that now adorn the church of
S. Frediano. The name of the village whence this stone was
carried, SS. Lorenzo e Valentino di Vaccole, is to be found in a
document of the eighth century, an instrument of the year 719,
preserved among the archives of the archiepiscopal palace in
Lucca. The most important monument in this church is the font of S.
Frediano, which now stands in the side aisle of the church to the
right as you enter the building (figs. 23,24). It is of white marble,
richly sculptured, and is held to have been the work of Biduino
of Lucca, A.D. 1 100. This font was removed from the baptistery
of SS. Giovanni e Reparata in the year 1803. A long procession
of figures forms a frieze on the face of the circular parapet.
These are divided into groups standing beneath a series of
arcades. The whole is raised on a plinth of two steps. Among

SAN FREDIANO, LUCCA.

75

the figures we recognise the Good Shepherd, bearing the lamb
on His shoulders, the apostles, and a female figure, presumably
the penitent Magdalene, who thrusts her fingers through the
thick masses of wavy hair that fall around her shoulders. Then
comes a group that would seem to symbolise Charity. A
motherly yet queenly figure is seated on a throne to the right.
She takes an infant from the arms of a poor woman, while
another woman comes behind, carrying one child upon her back

Fig. 23.— FONT OF SAN FREDIANO, LUCCA.
and holding another by the hand, while a little boy, reduced to a
skeleton through starvation, is lying on the ground at her feet.
Then follow a long series of types of baptism, the deliverance of
Israel, the history of Moses and the bush, and the serpent, which
is here represented as a dragon, the passage through the Red
Sea of the army of Pharaoh led by the king on horseback,
wearing his crown and royal tunic, he and his warriors being all
arrayed in costumes of the twelfth century. In the last com
partment are figures typical of the Law and the Gospel. Moses
takes the tables of the Law from God the Father, an angel stands

76 SLX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
behind, and the bust of a divine figure, set in an aureole, is seen
above. Christ is represented as seated on a throne holding the
Gospel in His hand.
Both the forms and types in these groups, such as the image of
Christ Kriophoros,1 resemble those on early Christian sarcophagi
while the circular medallion in which the face of God the Father
is enframed distinctly recalls the portraits of the Dead seen on
Etruscan tombs. There is no perspective in the grouping, each

Fig. 24. — FONT OF SAN FREDIANO, LUCCA.
figure stands forward, and the whole surface of the frieze is
covered. The treatment of the human form shows a knowledge
of plastic art, the limbs being distinctly expressed under the
outlines of the drapery. These figures are often exaggerated
in action, yet they are conceived with art, and each tells its
own story, while the muscles of those parts where the limbs are
bare are well worked out. Although the trees are represented
as saplings, yet the foliate forms are Romanesque, as is also
the throne on which the crowned female figure is seated. The
1 Christ Kriophoros, i.e., The Ram-bearer.

SAN FREDIANO, LUCCA. 77
types of face throughout are Etruscan in their broad ovals, their
great deepset eyes, heavy and powerful jaws, and yet there is
much in the art of this monument to remind us of the sculpture
on the west front of the Duomo, especially that in the group of
the Fall of Man, although here the figures are more slender and
graceful. The trees and foliage, besides, are very similar in
character. It is as if, in the font of San Frediano, we gained a
glimpse of the ancestry of the art in the portico of the cathedral.1
It is quite clear from the present condition of this fine
monument that it is not only imperfect as it now stands, but
that it has been displaced and has suffered from the dis
placement. It was moved from its original position and taken
to pieces in the beginning of the fifteenth century, when it
was carelessly replaced, its parts being bonded together as
now by clumsy iron bonds and coarse cement. In one place
the last words of an inscription are broken away. This has
been mistaken for the original inscription of the artist who
executed the work. The ill-formed letters, the clumsiness and
want of skill with which they are cut into the marble, all prove
them to be the work of a hand unused to the chisel, so that
there is every reason to doubt that they have any connection
with the author of the work, and make it appear that they were
rather scratched upon the stone by some builder or workman
employed for repairs of one of the figures. This inscription
reads as follows : —
">% ME FECIT I A[R]T[E] p[ER]lTVS ROBERTUS
MAGIST IME PINS . . ."
A statuette of St. John the Baptist was placed on a pillar in
the centre of the basin in the eighteenth century. Since an
account of this monument was published by Ridolfi in 1877,
further portions of it have been discovered in a garden close by,
1 See A. Schmarsow, " S. Martin von Lucca," p. 33. Breslau, 1890.

78

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

and I have to thank Cavaliere Norfini for taking me to see them.
It now appears that it was not a font, as people have supposed,
in the ordinary sense, but a fountain. From the centre of
the large basin arose a pillar which supported a vase (fig. 25).
Six little pillars rose from the sides of this vase, crowned by a
cupola of marble. The water rose through a pipe in the centre
of the main stem piercing the bottom of the vase, and played as
a fountain in the space below the cupola. Falling first into the
upper vase, the water issued
from the open mouths of the
heads placed at regular inter
vals in its sides, and fell like
a veil around it into the
principal basin below. The
central pillar of the fountain
is carved so as to represent
waves or falling water, amid
which the soul, under the
image of a little child, may
be seen to stand, while on
the back of the wave the
demons that have been
washed out of him are tumb
ling away.
The sculptures of the cupola symbolise the seasons of man's
life by the seasons of the year, and the figures at the top
are the twelve apostles. A socket on the summit was probably
meant to sustain a cross surmounting the whole. A monument
of a similar nature to this is the fountain or baptismal font of
S. Cathaldus in the atrium of his basilica at Tarentum.
Does it not seem probable that these monuments were not
fonts for total immersion, but th.at they belong to that class
described by Canon Venables in the " Dictionary of Christian

Fig. 25.-

VASE AND PILLAR OF FONT
S. FREDIANO.

SAN FREDIANO, LUCCA. 79
Antiquities," as fountains at the entrance of churches, usually
placed in the centre of the cloistered atrium as symbols of
purification, affording means of cleansing to those who were
going into the church ? Reference is made to such monuments
by the early fathers, and quoted by Canon Venables, but this
writer does not give one single instance of an example existing
at the present day.
Passing down the aisle we come to the chapel of St.
Augustine on the left hand of the side door, the walls of
which were painted
in fresco by Amico
Aspertini of Bolog
na, a scholar of the
celebrated Francia.
The subject of one
of these frescoes is
the miracle wrought
by S. Frediano
when he changed
the course of the
river Serchio (fig.
27). The saint
may be seen with a
rake in his hand,
surrounded by all his canons, who were witnesses of the great
miracle. The same subject is painted by Fra Filippo Lippi, in a
small picture which forms the first of three subjects in a predella
of the Barbadori altar-piece now in the Louvre (Fig. 10). This
predella is preserved in the Accademia of Florence (Sala 2,
No. 42). In the altar-piece to which it belongs, the Holy
Virgin is represented standing before the throne; she holds
the infant Jesus, who is adored by two abbots kneeling.
Six angels surround the Virgin, holding lilies; one of the

Fig. 26. — CANOPY OF FONT OF SAN FREDIANO.

8o

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

abbots is S. Frediano, the other St. Augustine. The picture
and this predella came originally from the church of Santo
Spirito in Florence.

Fig. 27. — S. FREDIANO TURNS THE COURSE OF THE RIVER SERCHIO.
Amico Aspertini.
A tradition exists at Lucca that the remains of a certain
English king, St. Richard, are buried beneath the altar of the

SAN FREDIANO, LUCCA. 81
holy sacrament in this church, famous as one of the most
beautiful works of Jacopo della Quercia. This Richard is
believed by the people of Lucca to have been the nephew of
Offa, to whose throne he succeeded. Having, it is said, reigned
gloriously for some time, he yielded up his sceptre to his nobles,
and starting on a pilgrimage he finally came to Lucca, in which
city he died in the year 750.1 Fanucchi, p. 185, suggests that he
may have come to visit the sepulchre of S. Frediano, this being
the only relic of note at that time in the city.
Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy dismisses this legend as wholly
fictitious, and not worthy of admission in the pages of authentic
history.2 The pilgrimage and death of this Richard in the
monastery of St. Frigidian at Lucca are described by Gretser,
" Observationes," pp. 306, 316, 320. John Pole, "Catalogus
Episcop. Eystettens.," pp. 431-9 ; John Evelyn, " Diary," ed. Bray,
May, 1645, and Baronius, "Annales," a.d. 750, ix., give copies
of this epitaph. " Hie rex Richardus requiescit, sceptrifer almus :
Rex fuit Anglorum : Regnum tenet ipse polorum..
Regnum demisit, pro Christo cuncta reliquit.
Ergo Richardum nobis dedit Anglia sanctum.
Hie genitor Sanctas Wulburgae3 Virginis almae,
Est Vrillebaldi1 sancti simul et Vinebaldi5
Suffragium quorum det nobis regna Polorum. Amen.
Baronius says the sister of King Offa was mother ot the
blessed Richard. Mabillon, in "Iter Italicum," xxiv., p. 189:
" Sancti Fridiani, aliis Frigidiani, ecclesia Canonicorutn haud
ignobilis, Richardi Anglorum regis quem sanctum appellant,
tumulo illustrata est."
Cardinal Newman has observed when writing on St. Richard
1 Newman says 722. See Oxford Series, " Lives of the Saints," 1844.
2 " Descriptive Catalogue," No. 971, vol. i., p. 431.
1 Vualburgae. * Vuillebaldi. ' Vuinibaldi. — Evelyn's "Diary," vol. i.,
p. 173, corrected from Baronius. G

Fig. 28. — SAN MARTINO, LUCCA.

TOMB OF ST. RICHARD. 83
in the Oxford series : " His mother is called sister of some
Offa, but whether of East Angles or some other is disputable."
St. Boniface was born in Crediton, and is said to have been
born in Richard's kingdom. In the Salisbury Service Book
he is called son of Lothaire, King of Kent. His wife, Winna,
was sister of St. Boniface. They travelled with a large body of
pilgrims from Rouen to Lucca, in which city they were re
ceived with hospitality. Here the king fell ill and died, and
was buried in St. Frigidian's church in the autumn of the year
722. Afterwards the people of Lucca resisted all appeals to
resign the care of his bones. There are tales of miracles
worked at his grave after the invention of his body, for the
memory of where he was laid was forgotten for awhile.
The Cathedral of San Martino (fig. 28) is the third church
connected with the history of Frediano in Lucca. It is said to
have been founded by this saint, and dedicated by him to St.
Martin of Tours. It is interesting to remark that this St. Martin
of Tours was the first teacher of Ninian, who founded the church
of Candida Casa, or Whitherne in Wigtonshire, where Finnian
of Moville was so long a student.
The foundation of the church of San Martino in Lucca took
place between the years 560 and 588, and the church is mentioned
in a parchment document, dated 725, as the seat of a bishopric.
In the year 780 the crypt was restored and ornamented by
order of Bishop John, when the bones of SS. Regolo and Waldo
or Gualdo were translated to this church. A portico was
then added to the building, beneath which moneychangers and
other merchants, called speciari, pursued their trades. The same
bishop also caused a little chapel to be erected and dedicated
to the Saviour, which was meant to enshrine the Volto Santo,
the Holy Face, the clothed image of Christ crucified, said to
have been carved by Nicodemus, and which, bound to the
mainmast of some phantom ship, sail-less, rudderless, and

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

unmanned, was miraculously drifted from the Holy Land to the
coast of Tuscany, and up the river Serchio to the city of Lucca.
The old chronicler of Lucca, Bishop Tolomeo, asserts that the
church of San Martino was
enlarged and much improved
by Anselm, who was after
wards Pope Alexander II.
This gives credibility to an
inscription of a later date,
which states that the transepts
ofthe church were then added,
changing the ground -plan
from that of the simple
basilica to the Latin cross.
The work was completed in
ten years, and solemnly con
secrated by Pope Alexander
in 1070. The same inscrip
tion records that a bishop's
residence was erected in the
vicinity of the building, and
also a terrena podestd, which
was a tribunal destined to
adjudicate and pass sentence
on such frauds as should be
committed by the money
changers and the speciari who
held stalls beneath the atrium, and that in the following century
Bishop Rangenius forbade them on their oath to cheat. The
facade of the restored church still appears in the inner wall of
the porch ; this was never completed, but remained in the rough,
and the horizontal keys may still be seen destined to receive
the marble facings originally intended for its adornment. The

Fig. 29. — INTERLACED ORNAMENT ON
PORCH OF SAN MARTINO.

SAN MARTINO, LUCCA. 85
old atrium, or porch, was preserved and restored in its present
form in the following century (fig. 28). The supervision of
the restoration of the facade, with the special stipend allotted
for it, was entrusted to Master Guido, the Marmolario di San
Martino, one of these master-workers who directed and pro
vided for the ornamental parts of the building, and who in this
case designed the present sumptuous facade to replace the
ancient front of the church.
"Mill, cc ihi.
condidit electi tam pulcras dextra guidecti."
This inscription, giving the name of the artist and date 1204,
appears upon this very rich portico. He was obliged to narrow
the span of one of the three arches in order to leave untouched
the campanile, which rises close to the side of the building,
but he strove to compensate for this defect by more elaborate
decoration. In the year 1308 the transept was ornamented and enlarged
by Matteo Campanari, who obtained from Bishop Enrico eighty
feet of land for the extension of the building to the east. The
new apse and the enlarged transept and walls were raised to a
certain height. Bonaventura Rolenzi carried on the work, as
we learn from the inscription outside the choir : —
"+ hoc opus incepttjm fuit tempore ser. macthei
Campanari Operarii Opere Sancte Crucis a.d. mcccviii
Et Mortuus est dictus Operarius a.d. mcccxx Loco
ejus successit Ser. Bonaventura Rolenthi, quo anno
ip3um hoc opus reassunsit ab hinc supra."
• Campanari also commenced the Campo Santo on the plan
of that of Pisa, which however was left unfinished for want of
funds. Such are the facts stated by the antiquaries of Lucca as
to the history of this fine building. Mr. Freeman draws attention

T*r

Fig. 30.— SAN MARTINO, LUCCA. PART OF APSE.

SAN MARTINO, LUCCA.

87

to the interesting fact that the Bishop Anselm who enlarged the
building in 1063, was the same personage who blessed the enter
prise of William the Conqueror when he invaded England, but
he believes that the only part of Anselm's work remaining is
the apse. "The style," he says, "is a not very rich, but a
very highly-finished, Romanesque, such as in any northern

¦ . '/

nap una S fruvumepi -etoff *

ni

pATup/iiocp. /vcspui
| fc o . orm P nrsiatta. U iidePd c
J| dttafredchc. cfumofpco«cc
v wvn tap icnti£c<mclidn? / cc
|> tm m-fam mTa m fuup cd f i
mdtrnrcrbJjesefficrr'. CLuX
Fig. 31. — CODEX P., ARCHIVIO DELL1 ARCIVESCOVATO, LUCCA.
Codex ofthe ninth century. Head of S. Frediano in initial letter.
country would belong to the twelfth century, and not to its
earliest years. ... A range of tall columnar arcades supports
an open gallery, after the Italian and German fashion. This
apse is a grand and stately work, and it supplies a striking
contrast to the minute, elaborate, and even fantastic ornament

88 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
of the west front. This last, as the dated inscriptions bear
witness, was built during the first forty years of the thirteenth
century, and it shows what the Italian Romanesque could
grow into without any foreign intermixture. In the lowest stage
three magnificent arches form a vast portico, within which are
the actual doorways ; above are three ranges of open galleries,
covered, in their capitals, shafts, and cornices, with all the devices
of an exuberant fancy." ' Albergo dell' Universo, Lucca.
October, 1889.
Dear H.,
Yesterday I went on my first country expedition in search
of some of the twenty-eight churches founded by Frediano
when Bishop of Lucca. Miss Porter came with me, and we
started in the steam-tram that leaves for Ponte Moriano at
10.25 a.m. Moriano is a district in Val di Serchio on the right
bank of the river, which, after passing Sesto and the Ponte
Moriano, reaches the Ponte San Quirico. When we reached
Moriano, we found it to be a most beautifully situated
village close under the mountains, on the way to the baths
of Lucca, standing on the banks of the Serchio, which is
crossed here by a fine bridge. We set off on foot for the
church founded by our saint in memory of the great miracle
which he worked here when he changed the course of the river
Serchio. The church is now called Santa Maria a Sesto ; the
instrument is still in existence, dated the 29th August, A.D. 806,
from Jacopo, Bishop of Lucca, investing Agiprando with this
church. The parish of Santa Maria a Sesto numbered 310
inhabitants in 1032.
I did not find very much that was interesting in the church
except the very small round apse at the east end, which, how-
' See "Hist, and Arch. Sketches," Ed. A. Freeman, p. 96.

5. GIORGIO IN BRANCOLI. 89
ever, was so thickly surrounded by mulberry trees that I could
not photograph it, and there was no time to make a drawing.
Having photographed the tower, we returned to the little inn
at Ponte Moriano, where we had an excellent lunch, and then
set off in one of the cars of the district, a most uneasy vehicle,

Fig. 32. — STATUE OF S. FREDIANO ON
PONTE SAN QUIRICO.

to ascend the mountain to S. Giorgio in Brancoli (figs. 33, 34).
We went up a winding road through woods of olive, mulberry,
and chestnut, with groups of cypress trees at intervals along the
mountain brow, till we reached the church. Brancoli, anciently
Branculse, is also in the Val di Serchio, on the summit of hills
which rise on the left side of the river. These hills, part of the

90

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

western side of Monte Pizzorno, command a delightful view of
the valley of the Serchio and the northern plain of Lucca, rich
with plantations, mulberry and olive woods, vineyards, and
clear streams flowing between.
The church here was much more interesting than the last one,

Fig- 33-— s- GIORGIO IN BRANCOLI.
and I made two photographs, one of the tower and west end,
and another of the east end. There is a remarkable pulpit
inside, raised on pillars supported by four grotesque animals ;
but a storm came on, and we had to leave before I could make
any drawing.

LUNATA.

9'

Albergo dell' Universo, Lucca.
Nov., 1889.
Dear H.,
Yesterday I drove in one of the public conveyances to the

Fig. 34. — S. GIORGIO IN 1SRANCOLI.

churches of Lunata and Lammari. You will remember how
Frediano, after his great work of turning the course of the
Serchio, was obliged to leave Lucca on account of the excitement
produced by this event, and that he sought quiet and retire-

92 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
ment, in fact, he went into retreat, in the hermitage of Lunata
(see p. 43). On this episode in his life an ancient writer has
the following verses, which appear in a codex quoted by
Fiorentini1: —
" Then it pleased the saint to live alone at Lunata,
Desiring to serve Christ in the hermit life.
The wicked rustics, angered at seeing such things,
Made assault upon their pastor, beating and wounding him.
The prelate having suffered these things returned to the city." 2
The church of Lunata, originally dedicated to St. John the
Baptist, and now called S. Frediano de Lunata (fig. 35), is
not in itself interesting ; but there is a very old Lombardic
campanile beside it, and there are portions of an old wall which
the people say was there before the course of the Serchio was
changed, with marks in the stones where the iron rings were
once fixed to which boats on the river were tied. Close by the
gate of this church stands the house of Civitale, the great
sculptor of Lucca. Taking a little boy with me as guide, I
walked along a narrow by-road which winds through trees and
fields up to Lammari, passing many farmhouses where the yards
before their doors were carpeted by the various coloured seeds
spread out to dry. A wonderful effect of colour was produced
by the fashion they have here of drying their Indian corn by tying
the pods in festoons, which, glowing in golden and orange hues,
hang like tasseled curtains upon the walls of their houses from
1 "De Orig. Piet. Hsetrusca?," cap. ix. ; D. Bertini, "Mem. e Docum.,"
dissert, iv., torn. iv.
2 " Tunc placuit Sancto Lunatis degere solus ;
Ast heremum cupiens Christo servire volebat.
Improba rusticitas tabuit dum talia cernit,
Verberat, et cedit, Pastori simbola fecit.
Talia sustinuit Praesul, remeavit ad urbem."

LUNATA.

93

the roof to the ground. When I reached the church of Lammari
(fig. ^6), now dedicated to St. James the Apostle and to St.
Christopher, I was astonished to find so fine a building in this
out-of-the-way place. It is situated in the eastern plain of
Lucca, in the midst of richly cultivated fields. Mention is made
of the old church of Lammari in two ancient parchments
preserved in the archiepiscopal archives of Lucca, one of which is
dated 906, and the other 1056. The place now seemed quite

Fig. 35. — S. FREDIANO OF LUNATA.

deserted, nor did I see an ecclesiastic all the time I was there.
I asked a poor woman in a house close by, who was nursing a
very sickly infant, whether anyone could show me into the
baptistery ; she rose at once and said she would go and look for
the key. After I had waited about a quarter of an hour, she
returned and led me into the church through the south transept,
down the aisle to a small door in a corner near the west end. She
unlocked the door with difficulty, when we entered the dila-

94

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

pidated and long-disused baptistery. Yet here I found a
most impressive monument. It was a baptismal fountain, not a
mere font, and in a deep niche in the wall over the basin was
one of the most solemn and beautiful statues of our Saviour
that I have ever seen. Bending over the font and looking down
into its waters, the Redeemer holds a chalice in His right hand
which catches the sacred stream that flows from the wound in

Fig. 36 — SS. JACOPO E CRISTOFORO, LAMMARI.
His own pierced side. It is as though we heard Him say, "Are
ye ready to be baptized with the baptism that lam baptized
with? "(fig. 37).
This figure bears an extraordinary resemblance to the figure
in a painting by Giovanni Bellini lately purchased for the
National- Gallery in London, called the "Blood of the
Redeemer." ..The head and form are much the same, but in the

LAMMARI.

95

painting the Saviour's left arm encircles His cross, while an
angel kneels and holds the chalice to His bleeding side. It is

Fig. 37. — STATUE OVER FONT AT LAMMARI.
piobable that the statue is the work of Civitale, the sculptor
whose house I had just seen at Lunata, but I have hitherto

96 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
failed to find any mention of this font in the notices of this
artist by Burckhardt and others.
This sculptor, named Matteo Civitale di Giovanni, was born
at Lucca in 1435. His figure of St. Sebastian in that city was
known to have been copied by Perugino in his Entombment ;
but his greatest work is the statue of Faith in the Uffizi, which
embodies his best qualities of earnestness and devotion ; in
deed, no artist of his day treated Christian subjects with so
little conventionality and such depth of feeling.
Next day we drove to Arliano, where we explored the church
of St. John the Baptist founded by S. Frediano. The expe
dition was a difficult one ; the river Serchio was so much
swollen, and the country so flooded, that the water was often
above the axle of the wheels. We passed a fine old castle on a
height called Nozzana, but when we reached our destination, I
found it impossible- to get a point of view, so buried was the
church in trees. There was a fine tower, and nothing could be
more charming than the priest's house adjoining the church, and
the lovely view to be seen from its cloistered walks.1
With Arliano I was compelled to close my excursions around
Lucca in search of memorials of S. Frediano. Time was
passing, and I had yet much to do exploring the localities of
another Irish saint, Silao (Sillan), who died at Lucca, as well as
to follow out the traces of our countrymen throughout other
parts of Italy. But how willingly should I have continued my
excursions through this delightful country, and how sorry I was
to leave it without visiting the remaining churches on the list of
those founded by our saint (see p. 44 supra).
1 This Arliano, anciently Arlianum, stands on the right bank of the
Serchio, between the rock of Nozzana and the Strada R. Postale of Monte
di Quiesa, five miles west of Lucca. The archives of Lucca preserve
memorials of Arliano as old as the year 776. The church of St. John the
Baptist of Arliano has six filial dependencies.

PINACOTECA, LUCCA. 97
Visitors to Lucca when they enter the Pinacoteca to see the
two greatest works of the painter Fra Bartolommeo, the Ecstasy
of the Magdalene and St. Catherine, and the Virgin of Mercy,
should pass on to the Sala Communale, where there is a small
collection of very interesting examples of early wood-carving and
sculpture. Across the first window they will see a white marble
monument of rare beauty and feeling by some unknown artist.
This is a recumbent statue of an aged man (fig. 38), one of those
beautiful tombs ofthe time of Jacopo della Quercia, referred to by
Ruskin as common in Italy, in his exquisite description of the
statue of Ilaria Guinigi. Like her he lies upon a simple couch,

Fig. 38. — S. SILAO [ST. SILLAN].
the head resting on the pillow, the feet hidden by the drapery,
the hands crossing as they fall. But here the likeness ends.
No fair, smooth brow with braided hair, nor full and tender lips
that breathe of love, meet the eye here ; but something quite as
solemn, quite as lovable. It is the face of a worn and aged
man, moulded and furrowed by the strife within that has left
its mark in every line around the sad and patient mouth. The
rough and wasted hands, the furrowed cheeks, all speak of
labour and sorrow in the past of one who was obedient unto
death. The story of a long life of patient endeavour and baffled
hopes, seems so plainly written in this face and wasted form,
H

98 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
one can but feel thankful that he sleeps " in deep and liquid rest,
forgetful of all ill."
This is the tomb of our old Irish saint, Sillan, who, returning
from Rome some time in the sixth century, died here on his way
home to Ireland (see fig. 38).
I send you the legend of this saint to be read before my next
letter.

LEGEND OF ST. SILLAN OF IRELAND.
Circa 450-500. May 21.
Authorities.
"Vita di S. Silao vescovo Irlandese," F. M. Fiorentini. "AA. SS. Boll.,
Maii XXI." O'Hanlon, " Lives of Irish Saints," vol. v., p. 528.
ALL the biographers of this holy man are agreed in saying
that Ireland was his birthplace ; one ancient writer ex
pressly states that he came from Hibernia of the Scots, but
it is not known what part of Ireland he was born in. His an
cestors appear to have belonged to the province of Connaught,
where places named in his life are to be found. His parents
were of royal family, but their names and titles are for
gotten. We hear of a sister named -Mionghar1 and a brother
named Maedoc, who dwelt on an island off the coast of
Connaught. The author of his life more than once makes
mention of his mother, and particularly in connection with two
miracles of his childhood. On one occasion the mother left the
infant alone, when suddenly the whole house, with the cradle in
which he was lying, was surrounded by a flame which burned
steadily but without destroying anything. He is also said to
have drawn fire from water. As he advanced to boyhood,
Sillan was placed under the discipline of Signabo, a learned and
powerful noble, who employed him to transcribe the gospel of
St. Matthew. He so greatly longed to possess a copy of this
scripture for himself, that while he laboured through the day for
Signabo he devoted his nights to making his own special tran
scription. But it was the jealous desire of Signabo to be the sole
possessor of the gospel, and he forbade the youth to give a copy
to any other person. He then employed a confidential servant to
1 The " daughter of Mionghar" is commemorated in the " Martyrology of
Donegal," June_25-

ioo SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
watch him through the dead hours of night, that his work should
not be transcribed for others. The servant could see the saint
through the window as he laboured on at his writing, when all
the others were at rest, and found that the fingers of the youth's
left hand were changed into burning tapers by aid of whose
miraculous light he multiplied his copies of the sacred volume.
Sillan guessed that the servant of Signabo had discovered him,
and, indignant at the invidious curiosity of the master, he pro
phesied that his indiscreet eye should soon be punished. The
servant of Signabo, hearing this prophecy of Sillan, was gravely
alarmed and confided his fears to his patron, who reassured him.
Nevertheless, the prophecy was fulfilled in the end, for the next
morning a crane with his beak destroyed the sight of the
servant. The enraged Signabo, with bitter words, took away
the copy that the saint had made. Sillan mourned over his
lost treasure as over that which had been to him the source of
all divine knowledge. He related the story to his brethren and
to his father, who came to his aid, but his royal authority was
exercised in vain. Signabo, angry and jealous, refused to return
the manuscript. They determined to try the issue in battle,
and owing to the earnest prayers of the saint his brothers
came off victorious, and his copy of the scriptures was restored.
In the west of Ireland there stands a very high mountain,
called in the old life of the saint, Croagh Patrick, which is
believed to be the native place of Sillan. This mountain was
at that time a hell inhabited only by demons, who dwelt in its
impenetrable recesses. The holy St. Patrick visited this place,
and, after having fasted for forty days, he sanctified it, clearing
this nest of the accursed instruments of the enemy of man, and
consecrating it to the service of God. He led a number of his
disciples to the foot of the mountain, and there chose Sillan,
already known for his singular virtue, from among them. He
desired him to climb the mountain, and to try whether he could
put the demons to flight by the power of prayer. Sillan obeyed,
and began to climb to the top of the highest cliff to a place
which is called in the old lectionary the Path of the Clouds.
But either that his faith wavered in consequence of the terrible
howlings of the demons and their frightful apparitions, or that
God willed to show forth more fully still the power he had given

LEGEND OF ST. SILLAN. 101
to St. Patrick, he allowed the furious demons not only to kill
the holy youth, but also to tear him limb by limb. The demons
took the form of the cruel wild beasts of the desert where they
lived, and Sillan, who had irritated them by his curses, was thus
cruelly lacerated. In the end the death of Sillan proved for
the greater glory of God. The holy Patrick with his disciples
ascended the mountain, and with a voice like thunder he
exorcised the demons, whose dwellings crumbled away from
around them at the terrible sound, while they fled, now as much
confounded by his presence as before they had been exultant in
the murder of Sillan. The disciples ascended to the rock their
master had just taken by assault, rejoicing in his victory. But
Patrick, only mourning over the loss of Sillan, devoted himself
to putting together the torn limbs of his beloved disciple,
preparing them for consecration and Christian interment.
However, he first offered a fervent prayer imploring the
Almighty not only to reunite the members, but to restore life to
him who had only fallen in blind obedience to himself. With a
holy terror mixed with joy he saw the body revive, and it is
said that St. Patrick never spoke of this miracle except to two
of his disciples, Ailbe and Ibar.
Sillan was then restored to his parents, whowith hisbrotherMae-
doc and his sister Mionghar were won over to the Christian faith.
Some time after, Sillan was ordained priest, a holy virgin, St.
Ita, lay sick in her bed, and on a certain solemn festival she
greatly longed to receive the sacrament from the hand of some
holy monk. Now it happened that at that moment Sillan was
celebrating mass in the city of Cluain, and when he came to
elevate the host, he perceived that a portion of the sacred bread
was gone. An angel, invisible to the holy man, had taken this
portion and carried it to St. Ita, and she was consoled with the
divine food ; but when it was discovered that a portion of the
host had disappeared, there was great consternation among the
priests. They, with the clergy and people of Cluain, united in
fasting and prayer, entreating of God that he would explain this
mystery. The secret was revealed to an aged priest, and Sillan,
after remaining eight days in prayer, hastened to the suffering
Ita, whom he found miraculously restored.1
1 " Officium S. Sylai," Leet. v.

102 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Sillan was a loving father to the miserable, but a stern preacher
to the wicked, and became one of the greatest ornaments of the
Christian church after he was elected bishop. His merits were
celebrated in the following hymn : —
" Pauperibus debilibus "To the poor and the infirm
Fuit pater sollicitus. He was an anxious father.
Corde amat, ore clamat. Loving-hearted he cries aloud with
Illustravit, decoravit his voice.
Totam Deus Hiberniam God blessed and enlightened
Per Beatum tunc Sylaum All Ireland at that time
Magno salutis gaudio." Through the blessed Sylaus
With the great joy of salvation."
On one occasion when he was on a journey, he was compelled
to seek lodgings in the monastery of an Abbot Arrameno, who
resenting his intrusion, and being an avaricious man, although it
was a fast day gave him stale meat to eat and water to drink,
thinking that, hungry, cold and wet as he was, the saint would
be tempted to eat anything. ' Sillan, untroubled by the avarice
and discourtesy of the abbot, put his trust in God. He blessed
the unsuitable meal, and changed the water into beer and the
flesh into fish and bread, so that while still observing his fast he
could satisfy his hunger. Beholding this miracle, the abbot fell
at the feet of the bishop, no less repentant for his error than
eager for his forgiveness. The fame of the saint was thus
greatly increased, and the king of the neighbouring town, when
upon his deathbed, sent for him. He died, leaving the queen his
wife pregnant, but sustained by the hope that a son might be
born of her. However, when her full time came, the queen to
her sorrow gave birth to a girl. She sent the girl to Sillan,
imploring him to turn it into a boy, and threatening to exile
him from the kingdom if he failed. Then from the prayers of
the saint, this miracle was wrought, and a male heir provided for
the kingdom.
The mother of Sillan was still alive, but had grown so old
and decrepit that she feared to go to church. The holy saint
lamented the weakness of her body, but still more the loss to
her spiritual life. He went to her and gave her a ripe apple ;
while she was thanking him for this, it slipped from her fingers
and fell upon the ground. The enfeebled woman was enticed

LEGEND OF ST. SILLAN. 103
to follow the fruit, which rolled along the road to church on and
on before her, while she at intervals stooped, striving in vain to
catch it. It still rolled on, until it led her to the church door.
There was an island called Tressere, which the holy saint and
his clergy once visited, when a solitary woman was received into
the hospital and placed under the care of a guardian, where she
died. The saint was much troubled at this, and had recourse
to prayer. He waited till the third day after her death, and
then, as an old writer has testified, he restored her to life who
had been three days dead.
On another occasion, the brother of Sillan, Maedoc, was living
on a little island in the sea. The saint desired to visit him, but
the ferryboat did not appear, and the sea was impassable ; then
the saint pressed his hands upon the grey flagstone upon which
he sat, and ordered it to bear him to his brother. The stone
became light and movable, and floated forth upon- the face of
the waters, wafted onwards by the gentle breath of the divine
spirit ; it bore the saint across to the island, as is sung in the
ancient hymn, " Lapis navis sitque Dei potentia."
It happened that a war broke out in the country of Sillan,
and his sister Mionghar was wounded in the head by the blow
of an axe. The bishop lovingly hurried to the side of his
dying sister, and while he was praying for her restoration the
wound was seen to close up. Mionghar, thus miraculously
restored to health, and filled with gratitude for her wonderful
recovery, resolved to go upon a pilgrimage to Italy to visit the
tombs of the saints in Rome.
On her way she passed through Lucca. At that time there
lived in the city a rich nobleman called Soffredus, or Goffredus,
He had lost his wife, and was left with an only son. When
Mingarda1 reached Lucca, he heard of her beauty and her royal
descent, and resolved to win her in marriage. She yielded to him,
and after some years of happy wedded life she was seized with a
fatal illness. Feeling death approach, she persuaded her husband
to allow her to retire to a convent of holy nuns, then called
S. Salvatore, but now Sta. Giustina, that she might there prepare
herself for death. Here in a short time she departed. Mean-
1 Mionghar, Italianised Mingarda.

104 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
while her brother Sillan ' had a troubled time at home. The
native kings, many of whom were but half converted, threatened
to infringe on his episcopal rights. The saint resolved to seek
redress in Rome. Passing through Lucca on his way, he was
received by Soffredus with honour, and learned with sorrow of
his sister's death. He went to her tomb, visiting the church and
nunnery where she had spent her last days, and then proceeded
on his way to Rome. Having finished his mission there, he was
returning by Lucca, but fell ill on his approach to the city.
Warned by God that his end was approaching, he resigned all
hope of returning to Ireland. Soffredus sent for him, and
received him into his own house, where he attended him with
great kindness ; but he was a rich man, who lived luxuriously,
and the Irish saint longed to prepare for his end by self-
mortification and prayer, so he entreated that he might be
removed to the sanctuary where his sister had died, and here,
after a short time, he entered into his rest, and his body was
interred in the church of the convent.
1 Sillan, Italianised Silao,

LETTERS FROM ITALY.

Albergo dell' Universo, Lucca.
Dear Friend,
I THINK I have told you all my adventures in quest of the
existing memorials of our Irish Bishop of Lucca, Frediano,
but you must not expect so rich a harvest in the case of the
second Irish saint commemorated here, Sillan. He was so
short a time in this town, that it is wonderful that any trace of
him remains. I have been most fortunate since I came here, and
all the doors have been opened to me by Baron Acton. He
saw me coming out of the cathedral with Miss Porter the first
day we were here, and on the next he chanced to pick up a sheet
of paper containing some notes which I had dropped, and so
came most kindly with his daughter to restore them. I told
him I had come to hunt up the localities of S. Silao, and
learned from him that the convent of S. Giustina had now
been amalgamated with that of the Suore dei Servi, and the
monastery in which the cell of Silao was to be found being
suppressed, the buildings are now utilised for R. R. Ospizj e
Ospedali. We started next morning at ten o'clock along the
Via S. Giustina till we reached the hospital, and sent in our
cards to the resident physician there, who treated us with the
greatest courtesy. Full of pride, and indeed of enthusiasm for
his work, he led us over this great institution, and certainly I

106 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
have never seen a more beautifully organised and more perfectly
ordered hospital than this of Lucca appeared to be. The
Nuovo Ospitale Civile was constructed by the design of the
architect Giuseppe Pardini. The portion occupied by the new
buildings rises from the area formerly filled by the monastery of
S. Giustina. It is a group of square buildings, with one pro
longed angle at the entrance. In the portion set apart for the
sick, the buildings surround the old monastic gardens, and the
convalescent patients are seen strolling about the ancient
cloisters, or sitting looking out upon the Porta San Donato,
with a pleasant view of the plains and mountains to the north
of Lucca. The works for this new building were begun in 1870,
and the hospitals were open to the sick in 1876. But I learned
to my grief from the good doctor who guided us how little there
was now left of the old convent to which Sillan and his sister
had retired. However, he said he knew the site of the oratory,
and the little cell at its side in which the saint had died, and he
led us along many passages to the dispensary of the hospital.
This was formerly the oratory ; it is a lofty chamber with a
vaulted roof, and at one corner an old door led through a wall
of enormous thickness to a little round-roofed chamber, the
last cell of our old saint. There was no sign, inscription or
otherwise, to mark the history of the place. I had heard of
a recumbent statue of the saint, which had stood in the church,
but this the doctor told me had been removed to the Pinacoteca,
and the other remains of antiquity preserved are some ancient
sepulchral inscriptions, among which is one of the tenth century,
erected to Ermengard, sister to the Duchess Bertha, and
daughter of Lothair. All the precious parchments, seals, and
diplomas possessed by the monastery, as well as the old manu
script life of our saint, were deposited in the Archivio di Stato in
1867. Still it seemed strange that no trace ofthe saint's tomb
had been preserved, and when I asked a priest about this whom

ORATORIO DELLE SUORE DEI SER VI. 107
I met casually in the street one day, I found that it had been
destroyed, but that the faithful nuns of S. Giustina had carried
the bones of St. Sillan with them when they moved to the
Oratorio delle Suore dei Servi.1 They lie beneath the altar of
their little oratory, above which is a large painting, a work of
the sixteenth century, but of mediocre merit, representing the
miracle of St. Ita. St. Sillan is seen at the altar of Cluain

Fig. 39- — EFFIGY OF ST. SILLAN IN THE LID OF HIS COFFIN.
elevating the host, and the angel hovers above him who carries
the portion to the suffering nun.
I also asked to see the silver shrine of the saint's arm, men
tioned by Fanucchi as wrought in 1464 ; but all trace of this
reliquary seems to be lost. What I most deplored was the
disappearance of his tomb, which formerly stood in the centre of
the nave of the church, as well as an old wooden coffin, on the
inside of the lid of which was an effigy of the saint between
two angels (fig. 39). ''
And now we must bid farewell to the mountains around Pisa
1 Now situated in Via delle Trombi, close to the Duomo S. Martino.
" See " Vita di S. Silao vescovo Irlandese, da F. M. Fiorentini," Lucca, 1662,
P- 93-

108 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
and Lucca, and travel northward to Piacenza, which is the
starting-point for a visit to the ancient monastery of Bobio in
the Apennines, founded by Columban some fifty years after
St. Finnian was elected Bishop of Lucca. I send a sketch of his
life, only enlarging on those portions of his career when he lived
in Ireland and in Italy. Some future day I hope to send you
illustrations of his vestiges in France.

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN.
Circa 543-615. November 12th.
Authorities.
The monk Jonas of Bobio, " Life of Columban," a.d. 643. " Life of
Columban," by an anonymous writer, a.d. 680, see Fleming's " Collectanea,"
p. 244. " Mirac. S. Columb. transumpta ex MS. Codici Bibl. D. Thuani
in suprema Gallicarum." Pier Luigi Delia Torre, "Vita di S. Colom-
bano." Massimo da Siregno, 1630, "Vita S. Col.," Turin, 1795.
Monsignore Antonio Gianelli, "Vita di S. Colombano," Turin, 1844.
Ughelli, " Ital. Sacr.," vol. iv. Rossetti, " Bobio Illustrato." Colgan, "A. SS.
Hib.," 117, 157,0. 12. "Trias Thaum.," 88, c. 98, U3,n.no. King's " Church
Hist, of Ireland," pp. 139, 93S, 975, and Appendix.
COLUMBAN is said to have been born of royal parents,
A.D. 543, in West Leinster. His first teacher was Sinell,
head of a school in Cleenish Island, in Lough Erne. The name
of this place is derived from Cluain Inis, the sloping island, and
it is, as its name would suggest, a low island, rising from the
water. It lies south of Enniskillen, between the upper and
lower lake, in the parish of the same name and barony of
Clanawley, in the county of Fermanagh. A portion of the
island is in the baronies of Maghera Stephana and Tyrkennedy.
A holy well and the remains of a monastery may still be seen in
this parish, and there is a church called Tempul-an-aifrenn, that
is, the church of the Mass, in a townland of the same name,
which appears to be very ancient. Nothing remains of the
old church of St. Sinell on the island except a sculptured
fragment representing a woman's head with long plaited hair.
St. Sinell, the founder of this school, was himself the disciple
of Finnian of Clonard, and was celebrated for his piety and

no SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
knowledge of the scriptures. His memory is venerated on the
1 2th of November, as we read in the martyrology of Donegal:
" Nov. 12. Sinell, son of Mianach of Cluain Inis in Loch Eirne."
It is said that Columban, while still a youth under Smell's
care, wrote an exposition of the Psalms, and composed some
other tracts. "Under the guidance of Sinell," says Dr. Moran,1
" every branch of science was carefully explored by Columban.
His biographer, Jonas,2 makes mention of his study of grammar,
rhetoric, geometry, poetry, and the sacred scriptures. His
works, moreover, attest his acquaintance not only with the Latin,
but also with the Greek and with the Hebrew tongues."
When Columban had attained the age for priesthood, he
passed on to the monastery of St. Comgall, at Bangor, in the
county Down. Comgall had himself been the pupil of Fintan
of Clonenagh, and was ordained priest at Clonmacnois. He had
also passed some time in retirement on an island called " Insula
Custodioria," in Loch Erne. He founded the monastery of
Bangor, near Carrickfergus Bay, about the year A.D. 552, and
soon the number of students in that place was so great that it
became necessary to erect various monasteries and cells, in
which 3,000 monks are said to have been established. In the
martyrology of Donegal we read of him : —
" May 10. He is of the race of the Irial, son of Conal
Carnach. Full of the grace of God and of his love was this
man. One who fostered and educated very many other saints,
and he kindled up an unquenchable fire of the love of God in
their hearts and in their minds, as is evident in the old books of
Erin." He is named as one among the seven holy men who
framed rules for their monastic establishments, the others being
Patrick, Bridget, Kieran, Columba, Molaise, and Adamnan.
" Holy is the rule of Bangor," sang a hymn-writer of the seventh
century; "it is noble, just, and admirable. Blessed is its com
munity, founded on unerring faith, graced with the hope of
salvation, perfect in charity — a ship that is never submerged,
though beaten by the waves. A house full of delights, founded
1 " An Irish Missionary and his Work," by Rev. P. T. Moran, D.D. (A
pamphlet.) 1869.
2 "Vita,"c. 11.

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. in
upon a rock. Truly an enduring city, strong and fortified. The
ark shaded by the cherubim, on all sides overlaid with gold. A
princess meet for Christ, clad in the sun's light. A truly regal
hall, adorned with various gems."1
The present condition of Bangor contrasts sadly with its
primitive state. It possesses a church, indeed, and a steeple,
but they are modern. There is a cemetery, but no monuments
of antiquity therein, and a few dark patches in the garden wall
of the parsonage are the only indications of age which the
precincts afford.2 At the dissolution of religious houses, Bangor
was an Augustinian abbey, which dated its origin from the year
1 130, when Malachi O'Morgair, the friend of St. Bernard of
Clairvaux, and of Cormac MacCarthy, King of Cashel, finding
Bangor a waste and its ancient endowments alienated, in
his early life made an effort to restore this establishment to its
original dignity. The story is told by St. Bernard, in his " Life of
Malachi": "A wealthy and influential individual, who was in
occupation of the ground of Bencor and its possessions, acting
under divine influence forthwith placed all his property and his
own services at Malachi's disposal. And though he was his
maternal uncle, the bond of the spirit was with Malachi a
stronger tie than that of the flesh ; the owner bestowed upon him
also the site of Bencor, that he might build, or rather rebuild a
monastery there. For in early times there had existed in this
place, under the founder Comgall, a most noble institution, the
parent of many thousand monks, the head of many monasteries.
A place it was truly sacred, the nursery of saints, who brought
forth fruit most abundantly to the glory of God, insomuch that
one of the sons of that holy congregation, Luanus by name,
is alone reputed to have been the founder of a hundred
monasteries, which I mention for this reason, that the reader
may, from this single instance, form a conception of the number
to which the remainder of the community amounted. In short,
so widely had its branches extended through. Ireland and
Scotland, that these times appear to have been especially fore-
1 Muratori, " Anecdota Ambros.," vol. iv., pp. 39-42, from MSS: of Bobio,
Ambn. Lib., Milan.
2 Dr. Pococke, "Tour in Ireland, 1752," ed. G. T. Stokes, 1891.

112 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
shadowed in the verses of David: 'Thou visitest the earth and
waterest it ; Thou greatly enrichest it ; the river of God is full
of water ; Thou preparest them corn, when Thou hast so pro
vided for it. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly ;
Thou makest it soft with showers ; Thou blessest the springing
thereof.' Nor was it only into the countries I have mentioned,
but even into distant lands, that crowds of saints, like an inun
dation, poured."1
Columban leaves Ireland with his companions.
After Columban had spent some time in the monastery of
Bangor, he told his master Comgall that God had called him
elsewhere, and said that he seemed to hear the voice that spake
to Abraham, saying : " Get thee up out of thy country, and from
thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I
will show thee." And though at first Comgall would have
compelled him to remain, yet, when he was convinced of his true
vocation, he consented to his departure, granting him twelve
monks besides, whose names have been handed down to us by
Mabillon.2 i. S. Attalus, who became the saint's vicar in the monastery
of Luxeuil, and afterwards succeeded him in Bobio, where he
died, leaving a great name for sanctity, and where his body still
reposes. 2. Columban the younger, of whose holy death we shall
have occasion to speak in the course of this history.
3. Cummian.
4. Dogmal, or in Italian Domiziale.
5. Eogain, or in Italian Eguano.
6. Eunan, in Italian Eunoco. •
7. S. Gallus, who founded the celebrated monastery called
by his name on Lake Constance.
8. Gurgano.
9. Libran.
10. Lua or Potentino, who founded a monastery in Neustria.
' " Liber de Vita S. M.," cap. vi., 12.
2 " Annal. Bened. ;" Gallotta, annot. 6.

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 113
11. Sigisbert, who preached the gospel in Rhetia, in the
bishopric of Coire, and founded the monastery of Disentis.
12. Waldoleno, who was provost of St. Columban in the
monastery of Luxeuil, and who together with S. Walderico
propagated the Christian faith among the pagans of Neustria.
Columbanus was thirty years of age when, with these com
panions, he bade farewell to the monastery of Bangor, and sailed
from Ireland, first going on pilgrimage through Scotland, and
then through England, stopping here and there to preach the
gospel, according as God willed or as he found the people
disposed to profit by his teaching.
Finally he passed over to Gaul, and reached Burgundy most
probably in the year A.D. 574, when he himself was thirty-one
years of age.
Gaul was then divided into three kingdoms, Neustria,
Austrasia, and Burgundy, each governed by one of the three
sons of Clothair : Chilperic, in Neustria ; Sigisbert, in Austrasia ;
and Gontran, in Burgundy. These brothers were jealous, and
their lives were in danger one from another. The queens their
consorts did not fail to embitter them, and took part in their
bloody wars. The neighbouring nations, taking advantage of
this discord, often made raids into the country, carrying dis
order and misery in their train. Evil customs and impiety
triumphed in this confusion. It was then that God guided
Columban and his followers into these regions, so that not
only by word of mouth, but by example of life, they might
work a true reform ; and such, indeed, they did accomplish,
by their modesty, love of retirement, patience, mercy, humility,
mortification, silence, and perhaps more than all, by their
absolute poverty, as that of those who possessed nothing, and
who hoped for nothing but to glorify God and to cause Him
to be known and to be loved.
The first and most important conversion that the saint made
on his arrival in Gaul was that of Sigisbert, King of Austrasia.
This king was won over when he heard Columban reason on his
faith, on the object of his journeyings, and saw the spirit by
which he and his companions were moved. He prayed the
saint and his followers not to leave his kingdom, and offered
to endow Columban with "whatsoever he desired to ask for."

U4 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
But the saint, whose hopes were fixed on other things than the
blessings and comforts of this life, made answer, " Know, O king !
that these things that are in your power to bestow cannot attract
me, for there is nothing in all these things to satisfy the heart
either of myself or of my companions. We are followers of
Jesus Christ, who has plainly said, 'Whosoever will be My disciple,
let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.' Our
object is different from that which you suppose, and in as far as
our human frailty may allow, we desire this cross and self-denial.
Be it then far from us to seek for comforts, dwellings on fertile
farms, or aught else that may be likely to gratify the flesh. We
seek for solitude, and some secluded place, wherein to live in
penitence and in devotion to God." Then the king answered,
" It is well ; in this also I can please you. There is a wide desert
in my kingdom ; I can make it yours. I only pray of you not to
leave this country."
Columban, who had already augured well of the disposition
of the people, and was conscious of the response made by them
to his preaching, finding the king so well inclined to support
him, recognized the voice of God in his words, and accepted the
offering as if it came from heaven.
On the confines of Austrasia and Burgundy, or rather, as we
now learn from Cardinal Orsi, on the confines of Alsace from
Lorraine to Burgundy, the vast solitudes of the Vosges extended.
This district found favour with Columban and his companions,
who, penetrating the forest, came upon an old castle, Anegrates,
now Annegray, the village of the commune of Faucogney, in the
Haute Saone. This was then but a heap of ruins, surrounded
by thick forests, and almost inaccessible rocks. Here these Irish
missionaries decided to remain and erect their first monastery.
" Here Columban first laid the foundations of his system, as he
had learned it in Ireland. These foundations were plain, ay,
the very plainest living, high thinking, and hard work. His
biographer, Jonas, describes the simple life led at Annegray.
Columban lived for weeks without any other food than the herbs
of the field, and the wild fruits yielded by the forests around.
We trace in him the same love of nature and of natural objects
which we find in some of the beautiful stories told of St.
Columba. Everything is said to have obeyed his voice ; the

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 115
birds came to receive his caresses, the squirrels descended from
the tree-tops to hide themselves in the folds of his cowl. The
example of a quiet Christian household, shedding the blessings
of civilization, education, and religion all around, proved a very
powerful one even upon men more ferocious than wolves."1
Many stories are told of the miracles wrought by the
prayers of St. Columban. One of the monks at this time
being seriously ill, the saint having no means of assistance at
hand, desired that all the members of the brotherhood should
remain for some time in fasting and prayer ; they obeyed, and
their faith was rewarded by the recovery of the sick man.
Again, in a time of scarcity the brethren had to endure a long
and unusual fast, while still compelled to carry on the necessary
labours of the institution. At last the monks began to sink
from exhaustion, nor had the wild fruits and herbs which were
their only food power to restore them. Columban took
pity on them, and with unwavering faith he told them to take •
courage while he retired to pray. Scarcely had his prayer
ended, when behold a rich man arrived at their gate and offered
them provisions and alms. While in the act of presenting his
gifts, this man himself told how that he had a suffering wife at
home, whose wasting fever had now lasted a whole year, so that
unless God would work a miracle he despaired of her recovery.
He asked their prayers for her. Then the saint without pause
or delay knelt down with all his monks in prayer, and they
implored of God not to leave their benefactor in his anguish.
On rising, the saint turned in full confidence to the rich man,
exhorting him that he should put his trust in God, and he would
be consoled. When he returned to his house he found his
wife restored, ahd his family rejoicing. He then inquired at
what hour the fever left her, and learned that it was the
same as that on which the blessed anchorite had offered up his
prayer. On another occasion God revealed to Caramtocus, Abbot of
Selicense, a place about three leagues from Annegray, that
Columban and his monks were in urgent need. When the
abbot heard of this, he made no delay, but called his cellarer,
1 See " Ireland and the Celtic Church," G, T. Stokes, p 136.

116 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
named Marcolfus, and told him of his vision, and the command
of God, and sent him laden with good provisions to present
them to Columban on his part. Marcolfus obeyed, but when he
reached the forest he lost his way, nor could he find the path to
the monastery of Columban. As he stood in anxious uncertainty,
he reflected that if God indeed were willing to succour his
servant, he would direct the unreasoning animals before him,
and they would be the best guides he could follow. Therefore
he allowed his horses to be their own masters, he himself follow
ing, and they led him straight to the monastery of Annegray,
where he presented the gifts of Caramtocus.
There was a certain cave in a high rock about seven miles
away from the monastery, to which Columban wished to retire
for solitude and penance, but when he approached its mouth
he found a wolf already there who used it as his den. The
saint felt no fear, but, armed by the sign of the cross, he
commanded the beast to go forth, and yield the den up to him.
The wild animal instantly obeyed, nor did he ever venture to
return. Columban took possession of the grotto, and he soon retired
to this spot as to the place of his delight. Alone with God he
spent his days and his nights in reading and meditation on the
holy Scriptures, and in the contemplation of divine things, living
meanwhile on herbs and wild fruits. But the evil one, desiring
to tempt him, came to him one day and inquired of him whether
it were better for a man to be attacked by wild beasts or by
barbarous bloodthirsty men. The saint made answer : " Better
a thousand times to be assailed by wild beasts, since even though
they should tear me to pieces, they are yet without sin ; but man
cannot do these things without offence to God and calling down
judgment upon his soul." The tempter, confounded by the
wisdom of this answer, left him for a time, but did not fail to
return, and put him to the proof again. A flock of hungry
wolves came out of the forest, with horrible howlings and with
gaping jaws greedy to devour him. Yet the saint stood fearless
even when they began to tear his clothes with their claws ; he
neither grew pale nor was he disturbed, being well assured no
harm could befall him that was not ordained of God. Then the
hungry fury of the wild beasts died away, and, as if ashamed of

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 117
their powerlessness to harm him, they quitted hold, and one by
one departed.1
On another occasion, when Columban lingered longer than
usual in his cave, a case of unusual urgency demanded his return
to the community, and a youth named Donald was sent in search
of him to bring him back. This boy kindly carried water to his
master, as he knew there was none to be found upon the
mountains. It happened that Donald, wearied by his long
journey, and by the weight of the water-vessel that he carried,
began to complain within himself of this penurious life, and the
pain and labour it was to him to carry water such a distance.
The saint, enlightened by God as to the complaint of Donald,
felt compassion for his weariness, and grieved at the thought of
the toil and trouble he had caused. " Go there," he said, point
ing to a certain place, " to the foot of that rock, and dig as deep
as you can, and God will provide for our necessity." Donald
obeyed, while Columban knelt in prayer to God to help him in
his need. His prayer was heard, and, while the youth was at
work excavating the rock, he saw with amazement a fresh stream
of purest water well forth and flow through his fingers. This
has continued to spring from that rock ever since. The two
united in prayer and thanksgiving to God, and repeated the
psalm of David when he knelt by that mysterious rock from
which Moses drew water to quench the thirst of the people in
the desert. " Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob ; which turned the rock into
a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters." 2
It was about this time that Columban composed his rule, that
is, the system or legislative code by means of which the soldiers
of Christ in his little band were to direct and control their lives
in all things moral, economical, liturgical, and penitential. In
this rule there is much in common with that of St. Benedict,
with which it was afterwards united and which has been described
by Bossuet in the following passage.

1 This is the miracle referred to when we see in old pictures the saint
represented standing in the midst of wolves ready to devour him.
1 This legend resembles that in chap. xii. of the "Life of St. Benedict," who
works the same miracle for his boy Placidus.

118 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
" Cette regie," writes Bossuet, " c'est un precis du christianisme, tin
docte et mysterieux abregd de toute la doctrine de l'Evangile, de toutes
les institutions des saints Peres, de tous les conseils de perfection. La
paraissent avec eminence la prudence et la simplicity, l'humilite' et le
courage, la severite et la douceur, la liberty et la dependance. La, la
correction a toute sa fermete', la con descendance tout son attrait, le
commandement toute sa vigueur, et la sujetion tout son repos; le silence
sa gravite, et la parole sa grace ; la force son exercice, et la faiblesse son
soutien ; et toutefois, mes Peres, il l'appelle un commencement, pour
vous nourrir toujours dans la crainte." 1
It is a mistake to assert that the rule of Columban was copied
from that of Benedict ; the Irish saint expressly states that he
therein prescribes those things that he had learned from his
fathers, and especially from the monks in the house of Comgall
of Bangor in the county of Down. The similarity between the
two systems probably arises from their being derived from a
common source, the word of God, the holy Scripture, that being to
them the most perfect rule. Love to God being the rock on
which it is founded, this rule of Columban's is, as it were, the
spiritual edifice the saint would raise wherein the Christian virtues
should be enshrined of obedience, humility, chastity, poverty,
disinterestedness, self-denial, silence, discretion, self-mortification.
While inculcating the healthiest principles of morality, he shows
forth the highest monastic ideal of a perfect and unswerving love
of God and withdrawal of the heart from the love of this world
by steadfast contemplation of whatsoever things are true and
honest, just and pure, lovely and of good report.
St. Benedict in his rule warns his disciples that idleness is the
enemy of the soul, and the intervals between the seven canonical
hours, according to the seasons of the year, are to be divided
between manual labour, reading, and meditation. So in the scheme
of Columban's, these duties take a prominent part : copying
manuscripts, teaching in schools, and constant labour in field
and forest. Columban himself worked hard in the farm, and it
is said that, when digging the ground, he used to wear gloves
made of skins, and he held that all members of the priesthood
1 " Bossuet, Sermons de. Panegyriques." — Migne, " Coll. des Orateurs
Sacrfo," vol. xxv., p. 922.

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 119
should do likewise from respect to the divine sacrifice. This is
illustrated by a pretty legend, which relates that one day when
Columban happened to lay his gloves down, a crow came and
carried them away. As soon as the saint heard this, he called
out to the bird and ordered him to restore his property, when
the crow immediately flew back and laid the stolen gloves at
his feet, on which the saint blessed the bird and it departed.
The liturgy was also regulated in the most careful details.
The daily office consisted of a certain selection of psalms, which
occupied the same length of time to repeat each day, but the
nightly office might vary in length according to the change of
season. Through the winter the entire psalter should be recited
between Saturday and Sunday, that is, seventy-five psalms at
night, and twenty-five antiphons so distributed that three psalms
came between each antiphon. In spring and autumn these were
reduced to thirty-six, and in the summer to twenty-four.
The office of the day was divided into the hours of tierce,
sexte, none, and vespers, but it did not include prime and
compline. Three psalms for every hour, with prayers for sinners,
for Christians, for priests, and for each grade in the ecclesiastical
hierarchy, for benefactors, for peace in the kingdom at home and
with the foe abroad, and twelve psalms at vespers. At the close
of every psalm they were to bow the knee. The prayers of these
holy men were not confined to the recital of the office in choir.
Voluntary prayer, and also prayer in common, was practised by
all. Perhaps, indeed, we may say that a life so secluded, so
given to almost perpetual silence, was little else than a perpetual
prayer. Certain offences committed either by seculars or ecclesiastics
were punished by two hundred stripes, administered twenty-five
at a time, and in other cases certain austerities and humiliations
were prescribed. These consisted in a rigorous and prolonged
silence, fasting on bread and water diet for one or more days, the
repetition of a certain number of psalms, prostrating the body
on the ground in church during the entire service, and occasionally
imprisonment. The monks were forbidden to communicate with relations or
friends, or to receive or write letters without permission of the
superior, and, whether going out or coining in, they were to seek

120 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
the blessing of the superior, and to bow before the crucifix, and
they were to make the sign of the cross over everything that
they used before laying hands upon it. The omission of this
practice was punished with six stripes.
It was ordered also that the guilty should make confession to
the priest, and if the offence were a grave one, they should seek
absolution from the superior ; if light, from one of the brethren.
Besides private confession, the acknowledgment of the fault
should be made in the public refectory before supper, or in the
choir before retiring to rest. Cleanliness of body and of clothes
was insisted on, and for this object each man had two garments,
one for the night and the other for the day, and if he wrore that
of the night while assisting at the sacrament in the morning he
was severely punished.
The monks of the order of St. Columban wore a habit of pure
white without any dye. They wore a cowl and large sleeves, with
a scapular which fell from the shoulders to the knees, which was
rounded at the lower end. The hood covered the head and
shoulders, as is shown in our illustration (see " Hist, du Clerge
seculier et regulier," torn, ii., p. 179. Heyliot, etc., 1716).
In addition to the rule properly so called, the principal
features of which we have pointed out, it yet remains to speak
of the monastic and canonical1 penitentials, which may be
regarded as two appendices to the rule itself. Thus, the first
includes such penance as should be made by monks for any
failure of discipline, and the other the penance due from the
secular brethren for any evil act of which they were guilty. The
leading features of these two systems must now be pointed out,
so that not only the severe discipline of the time may be under
stood, but also the ideal of monastic perfection by which these
monks were inspired. The punishments for involuntary defects
were slight. He who omitted his Amen at the end ofthe prayer
before or after meals received six stripes. The same penalty
was ordained for breaking silence in the refectory, for smiling
during the office, or for touching the chalice with his teeth while
receiving the wine, or celebrating without having washed the
1 With regard to the canonical penitential, the principle was that of St.
Augustine in his "Lib. de Ecclesiasticis Dogmatibus," cap. 54, " pmnitentia
vera est, pcenitenda non admittere, et admissa deftere."

Fig. 40. — MONK OF THE ORDER OF ST. COLUMBAN.

122 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
finger-nails. The priest or deacon whose eyes wandered during
mass was punished in like manner.
Having ordained that each monk should carry holy oil to
anoint the sick, the penalty for transgressing in this respect was
severe ; and if it were lost, even though if recovered, the culprit
received fifty stripes. It appears that it was customary for the
priest to carry about the eucharist with him, at least when going
on a journey, but if it were lost on such occasions, the penalty
was a year's banishment. Fifty stripes was the penalty of a
disrespectful or angry answer to the superior. He who dared to
act without orders was also beaten ; and there were other
separate penalties for those who, having finished one task
assigned to them, did not immediately seek for another. Besides
these rules, we may notice the following items. For a single
case of intoxication the penalty was seven days' fasting on bread
and water '; for a repetition of this sin' in secret, and for confirmed
drunkenness, a fast of one year and three quarters was enjoined,
and the duty of helping the poor in their labours, with absten
tion from the holy communion for two years. He who for
swore himself for fear of death should abstain from communion
for seven years, part of which time he should spend in fasting on
bread and water, part in abstaining from meat and wine, part in
works of charity to his neighbours. He who perjured himself
for self-interest was to sell all that he had and to give to the poor,
and retire to a monastery, there to serve God till his death.
It was the desire of Columban that the brethren should as
much as possible refrain from conversation or communication
with seculars. He held it a duty on every occasion to preach
wherever he thought it would bear fruit. He exhorted his
brethren to hear confessions, to administer the eucharist, to visit,
anoint, and bless the sick, to exercise hospitality whenever
occasion required, to check vice with holy freedom, and not to
associate with outsiders, save with caution, and he only allowed
the most experienced in virtue, prudence, and knowledge to go
into solitude. It appears that, at first, not only women, but
laymen, were kept outside the precincts of the monastery. He
caused places to be constructed for strangers, where they were
lodged and treated with urbanity and kindness. He greatly
loved poverty, not only desiring that his monks should not seek

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 123
possessions, but should even avoid them. He wished for poverty
even in the church, and in the celebration of the mass. He
allowed of no fine clothes or foreign embroideries, content if
everything was fresh and clean and very simple. The holy
vessels should be bright, but not made of precious metal. He
was accustomed to say that poverty in all these utensils might
convey to the minds of the monks a high ideal of the humility
and the mercy of Jesus Christ, who had completed His own
great sacrifice on the rough wood of the cross. We read that
S. Gallus, his disciple, refused a chalice of silver which was
offered to him with other gifts by Duke Gonzone, saying that he
was not accustomed to use such with his master Columban.1
Perfect cleanliness in all things was required, and he ordained
that the monks should wash the linen that was used in the
service. But while the monks received the communion in two
kinds, the novices only communicated in the bread.
There were two ceconomi (stewards) in each monastery, one
greater, the other lesser. To the first, who was styled provost,
was entrusted the care -of all external affairs of the monastery, so
that the abbot might devote himself to the care of souls ; while
the lesser ceconomus looked after internal arrangements.
Obedience is given a first place in the whole system, and the
question, "What are the limits of obedience?" is answered,
" Even unto death ; for unto death Christ obeyed the Father for
us." " Obedientia autem usque ad quem modum definitur?"
"Usque ad mortem certe precepta est; quia Christus usque ad
mortem obedivit Patri pro nobis." 2
"Columbanus," writes the Rev. George Maclear,'' "was far from
teaching his brethren that the essence of piety consisted in ex
ternals. Again and again he reminds them that true religion
consists not in humility of the body, but of the heart ; and bids
them consider these punctilious observances not as ends, but as
means. He himself ever set them a worthy example. He united
practical energy with a disposition for contemplation. It was his
delight to penetrate into the deepest recesses of the forest, and

See Dr. Moran, "Essays," etc., p. 176.
Flem., " Coll. S. Columbani Reg. Coenob.," cap. i., p. 4.
" Missionary Hist, of Middle Ages," p. 139.

124 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
there to read and meditate on the Scriptures, which he always
carried with him. On Sundays and high festivals he abstracted
himself yet more from outward things. Seeking a cave or some
other secluded spot, he would devote himself entirely to prayer
and meditation, and so prepare for celebrating the services of the
day without distraction. If he demanded incessant self-denial
of his followers, he himself fell not short of his own requirements.
'Whosoever overcomes himself,' he was wont to say, 'treads
the world underfoot ; no one who spares himself can truly hate
the world. If Christ be in us, we cannot live to ourselves ; if we
have conquered ourselves, we have conquered all things ; if the
Creator of all things died for us while yet in our sins, ought not
we to die to sin ? Let us die unto ourselves. Let us live in
Christ, that Christ may live in us.' "
To the modern reader many of the details in this rule will
appear puerile. This system, which ordains such severe penalties
for the omission of a certain form, which treats a mere trick of
memory or neglect of some personal habit as a serious fault, will
always expose its author to the accusation that he is
" Witless of the size, the sum,
The value in proportion of all things,
Or whether it be little or be much," *
and modern writers have heaped the epithets puerile, extra
vagant, fanatical upon his work. We should remember that we
are looking back to a time when Christian society was yet in its
days of childhood ; when the rod as the staff is required for
strengthening and support ; when the relative value of certain
actions — as expressive of certain conditions of mind — differs from
that in our own days as widely as the faults of a little child from
those of maturity. Such incidents are but the necessary incon
sequences and inconsistencies belonging to the first developments
of that new law, " The spiritual life around the earthly life."
The history of Columban's further work in Gaul cannot be
entered on here, since the subject of this book must be more or
less confined to the saint's career in Italy. The foundations of
1 See "An Epistle of Karshish," Browning's Poems.

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 125
the monasteries of Luxeuil and of Fontaines, and the history of
the dispute of St. Columban with the Gaulish bishops on the
question of the celebration, must be postponed to a future work,
in which the vestiges of the Irish saints in Gaul may be traced
out. We must now pass on to the time when he carried his rule
into Lombardy.
Columban goes to Milan, a.d. 595 to 598.
It is well known to all readers of Church history that at this
period the Arian heresy was rapidly spreading through Europe.
When first condemned at the Council of Nice, it still remained
unconquered, and reappeared in various places and under
different aspects. On more than one occasion in the sixth
century, Milan was the theatre where it flourished, when the
Lombards, who were strongly tainted by its errors, invaded
Spain, Gaul, and Italy. Agilulph, King of the Lombards, who
commenced his reign A.D. 590, was not long in embracing the
Catholic religion, led to it principally by the influence of his
consort, Theodelinda, so famous for her virtues and piety. He
was also strongly impressed, as we shall see hereafter, by the
work of Columban. Gregory the Great was elected to the
popedom in the same year that Agilulph commenced his reign.
When Gregory was in Constantinople, he had learned to know
the deacon Constantius there, who became Bishop of Milan in
593, and whose faithful service is lauded in the epistles of the
pontiff. Close relations existed between the bishop and Queen
Theodelinda, who depended in a great measure upon him for
counsel and support. It is most probable that this bishop,
perceiving the inclinations of King Agilulph towards the
Catholic faith, and feeling that some fresh external influence
was all that was required to win him over as well as to crush
out the last signs of Arianism in the kingdom, determined to
invite to Milan Columban, whose learning and sanctity had
given such an impetus to the faith in Gaul. Aware of the irri
tation that the saint had endured on the question of Easter, and
also of Columban's constant desire for a meeting with himself,
Constantius offered these considerations as inducements to visit
him and to come to Milan, where God would open a new field for

126 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
his zeal and charity. Then Columban left the solitude so dear
to him, and, placing his most experienced monks over his three
monasteries, Annegray, Luxeuil, and Fontaines, he took with him
those best suited for his mission. Jonas has confused the two
journeys taken by the saint into Italy, treating them as one, so
that it is difficult to determine who were his companions on this
first occasion. According to Baronius,1 it appears certain that
the famous Eustatius went with him, who afterwards became
his successor in the monastery of Luxeuil, and who there pre
served the memory of his master's labours.
Having reached Milan, Columban was welcomed by Con
stantius, Theodelinda, and King Agilulph, and at once attacked
the Arians in the front — provoked them to discussion in public
and in private, by word of mouth and in writing, till he reduced
them to silence. The little that Jonas records of the labours of
the saint in Italy is compressed into one not very lengthy
chapter, nor does he allow himself to dilate upon the noble
achievements of the saint in his war with this sect ; neither is the
period of his stay in Milan noted, but we may judge from the
language of this biographer that it was not short: "Ibi Dei
consultu actum est, dum ille penes Mediolanum urbem moraretur,
et hseresis eorum fraudes, id est, Arriancz perfidiae scripturarum
cauterio discerpere ac dissecare vellet." " It was brought about
by the counsel of God that, whilst he remained at Milan,
he should undertake to tear and cut away the deceits of their
heresy, that is, of the Arian infidelity, by the cautery of
Scripture," and he adds that he published a book here of
" fiorente sapere " — " contra quos etiam libellum florentis scientiae
edidit." 2 This may be taken to signify that those writings
in which he had attacked and defeated the defender of this
heresy were worked up at Milan into a complete and formal
treatise, which was then spread abroad and made known
throughout Italy. If this be so, it is to be lamented that the
work, which must have been of no little value, has not been
preserved to our time.
The mission of Columban to Milan succeeded marvellously,
1 Baron., "Ad Ann.;" Gianelli, p. 57.
2 Jonas, " Vit. S. Columb.," cap. xxix.

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 127
and his preaching was crowned by the conversion of King
Agilulph, who conceived so great esteem and affection for the
saint that he expressed a strong desire to keep him in his
kingdom. Finding that Columban longed to return to the life
of a solitary in the desert, he allowed him to make choice of
any place he wished for in his dominions, so that he did not
leave Italy.1 The anxiety of the king that the saint should
remain in his dominions was so great that the rumour of it
reached a certain person named Jocundus, who happened to
arrive at the court of King Agilulph, and he, wishing to
ingratiate himself with the monarch, gave Columban a , de
scription of the region round about Bobio. He represented it to
him as a vast solitude among the gorges of the Apennines, where
a basilica, dedicated to the apostle St. Peter, was still stand
ing, in which he himself had witnessed certain miracles worked
by God. Not2 that this basilica was more than a half-ruined
chapel when seen by Jocundus, situated in a country which was
certainly solitary, even though a few scattered shepherds might
still be living there. The lands around were fertile and well-
watered by rivers abounding in fish, and he described the torrent,
named Bobio, which at this place empties itself into the Trebbia,
rendered famous by the battle of Hannibal with the Romans.
The king offered this retreat to Columban, and the saint, dis
liking the noise of citfes, accepted the grant from the king's
liberality, because it was said to be a solitude and an agreeable
situation. From the lesson for the saint's day in the office of the church
at Bobio, we might conclude that one reason for the saint's
longing to retire into solitude was the bitter enmity he aroused by
his attacks on Arianism : 3 " Verbis et scriptis acerrime confutatis
Arianis, eorum odium in se concitavit" " Having vehemently
confuted the Arians in his speeches and writings, he kindled
their hatred against him." The king, seeing his determina
tion to leave Milan, made no further effort to restrain him,

1 " Largita. optione," says' Jonas, " ut intra Italiam in quocumque loco
voluisset, habitaret." — Jonas, " Vit. S. Columb.," cap. xxix.
2 Rossetti, " Bobio illustrate)."
3 Offic. eccl. Bob., die 23, 9bris., leet. vi.

128 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
and the saint lost no time, but hastened to leave the city
and the court, parting from them as a man who leaves the field
of battle for regions of peace and repose ; he went, not as one
who seeks a temporary breathing space in solitude from the
weariness by which he is assailed, but rather as one who retires
to a permanent home. The king, willing to assist and further
his plans in every way, granted him a diploma, in which he gave
over to him the said basilica and four miles of the fertile terri
tory around it, whether cultivated or uncultivated.
Diploma of Agilulph.1
" The most excellent King Flavius Agilulphus to the venerable
Columbanus, or to his associates :
" We deem that we get a kindly return from Almighty God if
the priests in our holy kingdom be enabled to fulfil their vows
made in their holy ordination. Therefore, by our general order,
we give to your holy fatherhood the basilica of the blessed
Peter, chief of the apostles, situated at a place called Bobio, with
permission in the name of God to live there and possess it
and four miles round in every direction, either cultivated or
uncultivated, except the half of the well which we conceded in a
former time to Sondarit ; otherwise we grant all these territories
which we have named above of the basilica of St. Peter, either to
you or to those of yours who have been devoted to you, for a
possession for all time ; for that purpose we charge all our
generals, governors of castles, and our officers altogether, that
none of them presume to act at variance at any time to the
order of our letter. And you, as far as you are able, pray to
God night and day for the safety and stability of our kingdom.
Given at Mediolanum, in the palace, on the 9th August, in the
eighth year of our most happy reign.
" I, Liunus, wrote this at the command of our lord the king,
and of Agiderius, his secretary."
The well mentioned in this remarkable document still exists.
It is surrounded by a very ancient marble parapet, white veined
with red and black, one half of which is within the precincts of
1 a.d. 598.

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 129
the monasteiy, the ancient wall of which cuts the tank in two
parts. The other half is in the street of the town, in the angle
of the piazza of the chapel of the Confraternity of S. Lorenzo.
It is the opinion of the monk Delia Torre, the careful chronicler
of the acts of this saint, that Columban must have spent three
years in Milan before leaving for Bobio, as he reached Milan
A.D. 595, and left that city A.D. 598. Yet he may have meant
Milan and its district, intending to include those cities, such as
Pavia, which were dependencies upon Milan ; thus, in the office
ofthe saint, already quoted, it is stated that Columban was first
presented to the king at Pavia, " In Italian! ad Agilulphum
Longobardorum regem Papiae degentem profectus est," " He
went into Italy to Agilulph, king of the Lombards, who dwelt
at Pavia," and we know that this city was for many years the
residence of the kings of Lombardy. A very ancient tradition
exists that the saint taught the Christian faith in the Borgo of
San Colombano in the diocese of Lodi, and had converted the
inhabitants there from the idolatry in which their fathers were
still plunged, and that therefore the inhabitants relinquished the
ancient name of their town, Mombrione, desiring that it should
be only known in future by that of the holy apostle and father.
The learned rector, Gallotta,1 is our authority for this informa
tion, and he proves that this was the ancient title of the Borgo
as well as of the castle, the date of which is unknown. He
draws attention to the fact that the town was situated on the
road from Milan to Piacenza, and Columban thus came to stop
there on his journey to Bobio.
He observes that this district was not then, as it is now,
easy of passage, but was covered with wild oak, so that
solitary, and thickly wooded, its recesses afforded convenient
shelters and hiding-places, where the inhabitants might con
tinue to exercise their pagan rites, and worship their false
gods, in spite of the imperial edicts which had been issued
proscribing such worship. All these circumstances tended to
inflame the ardour of Columbanus, and draw him from Pavia
and Milan, where such mission work was no longer required.
Certainly the tradition remains that the saint journeyed to
1 Gallotta, "Ann. e MSS.," No. 33.
K

130 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Bobio by Piacenza, from which town he could easily reach this
Borgo of Mombrione, afterwards S. Columbano, and encourage
his monks to promulgate the faith among its inhabitants.

Columban restores the Basilica and builds the
Monastery of Bobio.
When Columban, now in his fifty-sixth year, had arrived at
his new station and beheld the half-ruined basilica there, he at
once set himself to rebuild it, and soon restored it to its original
condition. But the church alone did not suffice for his ambition,
he required a monastery also, and in a short time he had
accomplished the erection of this new building,1 having, it is
said, received great assistance in all these labours from Queen
Theodelinda. Jonas relates that, while Columban and his
monks were cutting down the pine-trees among the thick forests
and precipices, and trying to carry them across the almost
inaccessible gorges of the Apennines, they came to a place where
it seemed impossible to proceed. They had no carts or other
means of conveyance, nor had they any labourers trained for
such work. Then Columban, with two or three of his own
monks, lifted these trees and carried them down to the plain with
as much ease as if they had been light and hollow ; and yet it is
said that in one instance they had to move a trunk of such a
size that it required thirty or forty men to carry it down to the
plain, yet he with two or three companions, when the road
allowed of it, took these logs on their shoulders and went lightly
along. Whereupon, says the story, recognising in this the
divine assistance, he encouraged his monks to continue the
building, and established the hearts of his followers in the love
of that desert to which it had pleased God to call him.
Another tale told of him is that, when transporting a large
log by means of two bullocks, a ferocious bear rushed out of
the wood who killed one of the oxen under the eye of the
driver. At the cries of this man Columban hastened forward,
and making the sign of the cross, he commanded the wild beast
1 Massimo da Siregno, " Vita di S. Colombano," cap. 40.

to

'32

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

that he should place his head beneath the yoke in the room of
the bullock which he had killed. The bear obeyed, and not
only on this occasion did he submit to the yoke like a domestic
animal, but continued to do so for the rest of his life.
According to a charter dated in the ninth year of the ponti
ficate of St. Gregory, which corresponds to the year 599 of
our era, Columban, having then spent two years at Bobio,
travelled to Rome, that he might
place his monastery under the
special protection of the Holy
See, and secure for it all the
benefits that should accrue from
such a step. The historian,
Ughelli, saw this charter in the
monastery of Bobio, and com
municated his discovery to the
Abbot Constantine, quoting the
whole passage without any
doubt as to its authenticity.1
The journey is described in the
following words : — -
When the holy abbot had
finished the erection of his
monastery, he resolved to start
for Rome that he might visit the
sanctuaries of the apostles, and
confer with the supreme pontiff,
Gregory the Great. " As he ap
proached the spiritual city, all

¦ - HaU 'ij

ilH
If

•SSHMHwl W

Wh ¦
¦

i I
/ 1

i
1 1-

Fig. 42. — HYDRIA.

the bells in Rome rang forth, without being moved with human
hands. The people of Rome, terrified by reason of this,
hastened to the Pope to inquire what this thing might mean.
He, filled with the Holy Spirit, made answer, ' A saint is now
drawing near, in whose honour this miracle is worked.'
" When Columban arrived, he was honourably received by the
said Pope, and by his clergy and the people of Rome. One day,
as he lay prostrate in the church, St. Gregory, seeing him

1 Ughelli, " Italia sacra, abbat. Bob.," pag. 1018.

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 133
there, praised God in his heart for that He had given such great
power to so small a being, but the Holy Spirit revealed his
thought to the blessed Columban, who, rising from his prayer,
spoke to him, saying, ' Brother, he who depreciates the work
depreciates the author.' At these words the blessed Gregory
would have fallen at his feet, but the saint forbade him.
Then he saluted him with many kisses, and dwelling in the same
house for some days they enjoyed being thus together. It was
then that the blessed Columban placed Bobio under the patronage
of St. Peter and St. Paul, and the apostolic man gave to him
one of the six hydriae full of the relics of saints " (figs. 42 and 51).
Among the fifteen witnesses whose names are appended to
this charter, five are Irish and four correspond to the names
already given of the companions who started with Columban
from the monastery Of Bangor: Attalus, Cummian, Dogmal,
Eunan, Maeldorus. Then Gianelli relates how, according to
the history of Jonas, the holy abbot returned to Bobio with his
treasure, and accompanied by not less than eleven of his monks,
among whom the most renowned names are those of Cominus
[Cummian] monachus, Bobulenus monachus et sacerdos, Domi-
tialis [Dogmal] humilis diac, scotto et monachus. Eleven
signed, and three witnessed the document.
When Columbanus had returned from Rome to Bobio, he
finished the building of his church and monastery, and then
resolved to appoint a prior to take the direction during his
absence, that he might return into Gaul. Of his further ex
periences in that country we may quote the following account
given by Dr. G. Stokes : " Brunehault ruled Burgundy as regent
for the young king Thierry, her grandson. To preserve her own
power, and to prevent a rival standing near the- throne, she for
a time successfully encouraged him in the utmost licentiousness.
Thierry at last chose a lawful wife from a Visigothic house, but
Brunehault so worked upon him that at the end of twelve
months he repudiated his wife, and Desiderius, Bishop of Vienne,
who had arranged the match, was murdered by the agents of
the queen-mother. One day, when St. Columban arrived at the
court of Thierry, Brunehault presented to Columban the four
natural sons of the king. ' What would these children with
me ? ' said the uncourtly monk. ' They are the sons of the

134 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
king,' said the queen-regent ; ' I present them to you ; strengthen
them by thy blessing.' The saint refused. Speaking after the
manner of a prophet, he said, ' Know, it never will happen that
these will reign ; they are the offspring of dishonesty.' From
that moment, Brunehault vowed war to the death against
Columban. His monastery was besieged ; he was himself
arrested, and confined at Besancon, whence he soon escaped to
Luxeuil. Thither Brunehault and Thierry sent an officer and
soldiers to drive the man of God out of the monastery. He was
seated in the porch of his church, and he continued reading his
book. More than once they approached him and passed him
close by, and even trod upon his feet and touched his garments,
but they were struck blind for the time and did not see him.
They returned to the king without having done anything, and
then the impatient Brunehault sent Count Bertarius and the
above-named Baudulfus. When these two magnates reached the
monastery they found the saint in the basilica, praying and singing
the psalms, surrounded by his monks. 'Man of God,' they said,
' we pray you to obey our commands, which are those of the
king, in whose name we desire you to leave this monastery and
return to your native land.' ' No,' answered the holy abbot,
' I shall not obey, because I do not think it would be pleasing
to God that I should return to a country that I have already
left for Christ's sake.' "

Columban at Nantes.
Bertarius seeing that the servant of the Lord would not give
ear to their exhortations, and afraid of calling forth the divine
vengeance, deemed it expedient to go away, leaving the capture
ofthe saints to be accomplished by the fiercest spirits among his
soldiery. The saint was then arrested. He bade a final adieu
to his beloved Luxeuil, and was conducted to Nantes, where he
was placed on board a ship bound for Ireland, but the ship
encountered a storm immediately after sailing, and was driven
back upon the sands at the mouth of the Loire, and Columban
with his Irish companions was again landed on the coast of
France. During the days that Columban spent at Nantes waiting for

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 135
the vessel in which he was to embark for Ireland, he wrote a most
tender letter to his monks. This epistle is as full of affection as
it is of piety ; he urges on them constancy, patience, zeal, and
every virtue of a religious soul, but, above all, humility and unity
one with another. He confirms his words with passages of
Scripture, and it is in this letter that the holy spirit of our saint
is perhaps most fully revealed. We learn from it that he had left
Attalus as their prior, leaving himself open to return to them,
adding that in the event of his being obliged to remain away,
they were to substitute Waldolinus. At the close of his letter he
adds, that if Attalus does not succeed in governing them, they
should all unite and elect a governor by a majority of votes,
" but," he adds, " provisionally, because if I remain in freedom,
and God wills it to be so, I myself will give thought for you."
From these words we may see that he had a presentiment
that he should not go to Ireland, and he had expressed this
shortly before. " At the time at which I write," he says, " it
happens that I am informed the ship approaches oh which
against my will I must be carried to my own country, although
if I should seek to fly there is no watch upon me to prevent it, and
it comes to my mind that I may take flight. If I, like Jonah, be
thrown into the sea (and his name in Hebrew signifies Columba),
I pray that instead of a whale some boatman may rescue me,
and that with happy rowing your Jonah, carefully disguised, may
be restored to his longed-for threshold. But perhaps my wishes
are delusive ; be it according to God's will in all and through all ;
my desire is well known to Him. Examine your own minds
if you are holier and purer in my absence, for then I warn you
desire me not, seek me not for love's sake, but for necessity. ... I
love unity. I do not seek to cause divisions. Thus saith the
Lord, ' He that gathereth not with me, scattereth.' " The writer
goes on to lament that he cannot say all that he would in this
letter, since the parchment is filled. He foretells their increase
to thousands of thousands, and concludes with these most tender
words : " Pray for me, my beloved, that I may live alone for God." '
1 This letter is given in full by Fleming, "Coll.," p. 131.

136 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

Columbanus takes refuge in Normandy.
After the saint was set ashore by the Irish sailors at some
little distance from Nantes, he journeyed into Normandy, where
he remained a short time at Soissons with Clothair, the second son
of Chilperic, then king in Normandy and Neustria. A dispute
had arisen between his nephews, the two brothers Theodebert
and Theodoric, on the right of possession of some borderlands
between their respective kingdoms, and just then ambassadors
arrived from both these kings, who sought the assistance of
Clothair. He consulted Columban, who advised him to remain
neutral, since both kings were his nephews. He then added a
prophecy that the kings would only continue in power for three
years, and after that he, like his forefather Clothair I.,
would reign alone in Gaul. The king, believing the prophecy,
took the saint's advice, and refused to interfere. He then strove
to persuade Columban to remain at his court, but the saint was
eager to continue his journey, wishing to visit King Theodebert.
On his way he passed through Paris, where he healed one
possessed of the devil, and he reached Meaux, capital of the
Meldesi, on the river Marne, where he was honourably received
by Agneric, a wise man, the counsellor and friend of Theodebert.
He blessed his little daughter Borgondofora, or Fara, who was
destined afterwards to become one of the most famous saints of
Gaul. Her brother Cagnoald was so impressed by Columban
that he followed him into Germany, whence the saint sent him
to Luxeuil, and he finally became Bishop of Laon.
Leaving Meaux and passing through Poynsi, two miles distant,
he journeyed along the course of the Marne to Eussy, where he
stopped with a noble count, Autharius, whose twin sons Ado
and Dado were blessed by the saint, and who afterwards devoted
themselves to a holy life — the one founding the monastery of
Brie, in the Jura mountains, while the other founded the nunnery
of Jouarre. Then Columban arrived at Metz, the capital of
Austrasia, the residence of Theodebert, who greeted him lovingly,
but here the saint received tidings of great sorrow. His beloved
followers, the monks that he left at Luxeuil, had abandoned his
monastery there, driven out by the cruel persecutions of

F'g- 43-— NUN OF THE ORDER OF ST. COLUMBAN.

138 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Brunehilde and Theodoric. Theodebert strove to persuade
Columban to remain in his kingdom, and represented to him
that there were still many districts around where the people
were wholly given to idolatry, whom he might yet win over to
the Gospel, so that the saint, notwithstanding his longing to pass
on into Italy, debated as to what he should do. He took with
him a guide and passport to the king, and travelled to Maintz.
There he was hospitably received by Leonisius, bishop of that
town, who gave him and his monks provisions for their voyage
up the Rhine, which river they navigated till they reached the
mouth of the Aar. In the words of Dr. G. Stokes, " They em
barked upon that river, and traversed a large part of the beautiful
defile between Maintz and Bingen which has made the name
of the Rhine famous. It must have been very hard work pulling
against that stream. Those who have not seen it, or better, tried
to swim against it, have no idea of the force and power wherewith
the river rushes from the tableland of Switzerland to the sands
of the Dutch coast. . . . They descend the stream from Bingen by
Maintz, but what must have been the exertions used by S.
Columbanus and his companions, as they slowly battled their way
in their coracles all up the defile of the Rhine, and then along
through the calmer waters between Heidelberg and Strasbourg,
and thence by Bale and Schaffhausen, and the falls ofthe Rhine."
From the mouth of the Aar, they proceeded to the Lake of
Zurich, and wandering about its shores they found a solitary
place at Zug, where God directed them to remain for some little
time. According to Jonas, the inhabitants of the country round
were Suevi. They were no less superstitious than wild, and
entirely given over to idolatry. Here then Columban preached
the true God and the Gospel for some time, and the Lord con
firmed his preaching with miracles.
On one occasion the saint arrived at a place where he found a
great assembly of the people preparing a solemn sacrifice.
They were grouped around a huge vase, capable of containing
twenty hogsheads ; this was filled with beer. He called out to
them, asking what they were about to do with this vase,
and they answered they would sacrifice it to their God Woden.
The saint, horrified at these words, and leaning over the edge of
the huge vat, blew into it with his breath, when immediately it

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 139
burst with a tremendous crash, and miraculously flew into a
thousand pieces, while the liquor streamed all over the ground.
The barbarians stood in stupefaction around, unable to com
prehend how the breath of one man could be so powerful as to
break a vessel so strongly bound ; but after he had announced
his Gospel message, and proved their errors to them, he com
manded that they should for ever abandon their sacrilegious
practices and return to their homes.1 Many among them, in
consequence of the exhortation and teaching of the saint,
embraced the faith of Jesus Christ, and accepted the grace of
baptism. There were others among them who were at first
baptized, but who afterwards fell away into error and depravity.
The good pastor occupied himself with these, and by his preach
ing recalled them to the Catholic religion, and reconciled them
to the Church.
Affairs being so well disposed, S. Gallus, who had been the
faithful follower of S. Columban, either commissioned by him, or
inspired by God, one day seized all the idols that were left.
Some he threw into the river, others into the flames, and he
burned their temples. This deed greatly irritated the remaining
idolaters, and they took council together and conspired to kill
Gallus, to scourge Columban, and drive him away with all his
monks. The saint and his followers appear to have been warned
of God in time. They left the country, and returned to Lake
Constance, settling down at Arbona.
Columban was greeted on his arrival by Wallimar, a pious
and virtuous priest, with whom he remained for eight days.
From him he heard of a vast solitude amongst the mountains at
no great distance, so he borrowed a little boat from Wallimar,
and set off with his monks to seek it. At Bregenz he found a
little temple dedicated to S. Aurelia. Finding the place suitable
for their dwelling, he and his monks built their cells around it,
and thus they founded another small monastery. The people
here who had in former days been converted had fallen back
into idolatry, and had put up three false gods of gilded copper
in the oratory of S. Aurelia, whom they adored as the tutelary
1 This miracle is represented in fresco on the chancel walls of S. Colombano
in Bobio.

140 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
gods of the country. S. Gallus, who was most proficient in
their language, was desired by Columban to preach to them the
Gospel of Jesus Christ ; the people listened with attention and
many were converted. Columban seized their idols and threw
them into the lake ; he sprinkled the little church with holy
water, and with his disciples walked round it in procession, singing
psalms. They placed the relics of S. Aurelia beneath the altar,
and celebrated the holy mass.1 The people made great rejoicings,
and each one returnee! to his own habitation determined hence
forth to adore only the true God.
During his stay at Bregenz Columban thought of passing on
to Venice, where at that time the Schiavoni, who came there,
brought from the banks of the Danube, were given over to
idolatry. But he. was warned by an angel that these people
were not disposed to profit by his preaching, and he renounced
the project and remained in the neighbourhood of Bregenz for
nearly three years, during which time^ he laboured incessantly
for the salvation of souls, and converted many to the true faith,
so that several modern writers have been found who attributed
the early civilization and conversion of Germany to him.2
In consequence of another rising among the heathen, who
sought assistance from Gonzone, duke of that district, Columban
resolved once more to continue his journey into Italy, where,
according to Padre Delia Torre and many other authorities
(who maintain that he made two distinct journeys into Italy), his
beloved disciples were in Bobio calling him back to them. But he
did not take all his monks with him on this occasion. S. Gallus
was seized with a fever, and Columban had to confide him to the
care of his good priest Wallimar, who stayed behind with some
of the other monks. S. Gallus was restored to health, and
founded a celebrated monastery in the neighbourhood of
Bregenz, at a short distance from that of his master Columban.
1 Jonas, " Vitam S. Colombani," cap. xxvi.
2 Pletz, " Oration delivered in Vienna, 1829"; Gallotta, "Ann.," 36 ; Gianelli,
p. 108.

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 141

Columban returns to Italy.
If our saint met with a kindly welcome on the occasion of
his first visit to Italy, his second reception at Milan was a kind of
triumphal homage to one who had proved himself the champion
and defender of the faith. It was now that he wrote his second
letter to Pope Boniface IV., and though the place at which
it was written is not mentioned therein, it is believed to have
been despatched either from Milan or Pavia by the request of
King Agilulph.
"This valuable relic of antiquity," writes the Rev. Robert
King, " is undoubtedly one of the most important records in
existence connected with the circumstances of the Irish Church
at the time when it was written, or we might perhaps say, with
those of any period of its early history. The letter opens with
an address to Boniface, and then he anticipates the objections
that are sure to arise to any such letter being written by such as
himself, and makes apology for his interference. He explains
that his only motive is a godly zeal for the truth, therefore he
will use freedom of speech as an earnest friend of the Church.
He then proceeds to show that the Irish, though dwellers at the
very end of the earth, are ardent followers of the truth, no Jew,
or heretic, or schismatic, having ever appeared among them.
He urges the pope to active exertion, in consideration of the
alarming prevalence of heresy in Italy, and then he reminds him
that the true foundation for claims to apostolic honour lies in
apostolic faithfulness, and that pastors are responsible to God
for vigilance in the care of Christ's flock. He reminds him of the
warnings of Scripture, believing that his neglect of his primatial
duties is likely to be a source of much damage to the Church,
and contrasts the apathy that prevails among the Christians of
Italy with the fervour of religious zeal in Ireland. He then
urges Boniface to invoke a synod for the settlement of the
existing controversies, and to clear the see of Rome from sus
picion of countenancing heresy. And he rebukes Boniface for
taking so little pains to clear his own character from such
associations. Columban then begs him to excuse ' the freedom
of speech which accords with the usage of my country.' He

142

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

utterly condemns the decisions of the fifth general council, and
says that he has been warned against Pope Boniface as having
lapsed into the sect of Nestorius. He then explains that he
has written this letter in compliance with the urgent injunction
of King Agilulph."

Fig. 44. — OLD GATEWAY OF TOWN OF BOBIO.

Returns to the Monastery at Bobio.
Wearied with this long struggle against heresy, the holy
abbot grew more and more impatient to return to his beloved
monastery at Bobio, and having done all that he could for the
quickening of religious zeal and Christian piety in Milan and
Pavia, he bid a last farewell to King Agilulph, Queen Theode
linda, and the Archbishop. On his way to Bobio he revisited
the people of Mombrione [S. Columbano], who well knew that

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 143
it was he who drew them out of darkness to the light of the
Gospel of Christ. He saw and confirmed them in the faith,
and then hastened on to his mountain solitudes.
To the north-east of Bobio, towards the summit of the moun
tain, a cave is to be seen in a precipitous rock, at the distance of
some miles from the high road, close to the confines of the
duchy of Parma. The place is called La Spanna, and derives
its name from a natural rock which is a terminal or boundary
stone dividing the two states, on which may be seen a hollow
that has taken the form of an open hand ; the wrist appears to
be sustained by an object not unlike the form of a rude chalice.
The tradition still exists in the country, that this is the mark of
the hand of St. Columban miraculously impressed or stamped
upon the stone. Although such traditions are common all over
the world, we need not doubt that the cave here was used by the
saint for retirement and solitude. A similar stone-marking may
be seen in a rock of ferruginous colour in the bed of the Trebbia.
The cave is turned to the south, and therefore faces Bobio, and
the torrent called Rio Fontana runs at the foot of the moun
tain. All around there is an oak wood, even at the present day
interspersed with juniper, sumac, and the Judas tree, and we
read that in the days of Columban also this place was thickly
wooded. The grotto must be approached with care, being
high on the face of the cliff. Again, to the south-west of
Bobio, there is another cave of grander dimensions, and to these
two grottoes Columban was in the habit of retiring. Close to
the last-mentioned one, he built a little chapel, which he
dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel. Another was added in
after years at some little distance, with the same dedication.
According to tradition, the saint used to walk there by the
road which passes the little church of S. Salvador, and from
whence he ascended the mountain. This difficult climb took
him three hours, and he now suffered great martyrdom from
age and weak health. A few years ago another stone
was to be seen here, marked with the impress of his right
foot, and a certain shepherd was severely punished for having
thrown this down the precipice into the river below. It
is said that near this place a rare and delicate flower grew on
the footsteps of Columban from the heart of the rocks which

144 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
he so constantly travelled over. Mabillon, in his account of the
miracles of St. Columban, tells this pretty story in the following
words : —
" Since we begin to speak, most beloved, of the construction of the
cave, I should like to insert something as to the virtues of Columbanus
through which the place is still distinguished. For the (Pis) pea, a
vegetable which the country people call Herbilia, springs up every year
since the time of his arrival, spontaneously among the rocks through
which he walked, though no man sow, and (what seems to us a greater
marvel) is found in the fissures of the stones where there is no moisture.
It does not, however, grow in the same way every year. For in many
places where it has sprung this year, it will not be found the next. But
in this we believe there is the virtue of our Lord, for He works daily by
His servant. For if it was produced every year in the same place,
perhaps many would think that it was not the virtue of the saint, but
came from its seed where it fell, and arose thence. But the custom is
that the guardian of the cave marks the place where it appears, and
when it arrives at maturity he gathers it carefully and sends it to the
abbot. Then it is the custom of the abbot to send it to kings or
princes with the blessing of St. Columban."1
It happened at this time that King Clothair II. ear
nestly desired that Columbanus should return to his court.
Therefore he commissioned the Abbot Eustatius, who was now
Abbot of Luxeuil, to travel into Italy, and recall the saint from
Bobio, engaging to defray all the expenses of his journey from
the public treasury. Eustatius undertook the task, and when
he reached the little monastery in the Apennines, where he
found his old master again, the two friends fell upon one
another's necks in a loving embrace. Columban kept Eustatius
for some time at his side, giving him advice regarding the
discipline of his monastery and the government of his brethren ;
but when Eustatius pressed upon him the request of the king
that he would return to France, Columbanus made answer: "I
am now much too old, too sick, and too broken to return to
France, and nothing shall persuade me to attempt it. Mean
while, if his royal heart be moved with such goodwill towards us,
1 " Mirac. S. Columb. A. SS. O. S. B.," ed. Mabillon, vol. ii., 40-43.

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 145
let me pray him to turn it towards my dear monks who live at
Luxeuil." The recommendations of Columban with regard to this
monastery were not in vain. The king enriched it with gifts
and privileges. Its rents were increased and its confines were
enlarged, and he was never weary of conferring benefits upon
the monks under Eustatius, because of the great love he felt for
their founder Columban.

The Death of Columban.
The life of the saint was now approaching its termination.
We may perceive symptoms of this in a letter written in verse
to his friend Fedolius, in which it is clear, however, that though
his bodily strength is failing, his mind is vigorous as ever. The
letter is full of poetry and spiritual feeling, even though he
says it was written when he was suffering under the bitterest
sorrows. In this letter he tells us that he had reached the years
of his eighteenth Olympiad, which would mean that he was now
seventy-six years of age, at least, if we estimate the Olympiads
according to the common calculation. Worn out as he was, but
older in merits than in years, Columban went to his retreat at
the oratory of San Michele, and there he passed away from the
embraces and tears of his beloved monks to his eternal rest on
the 21st of November in the year 615.
It appears that before Columban had left his friend Gallus at
Bregenz, a coldness had sprung up between the two friends,
because of the disinclination expressed by Gallus to follow his
master across the Alps into Italy. In after years Columban is
said to have regretted his severe judgment, and always resolved
to bequeath his miracle-working crosier to Gallus as a token of
his love and an act of atonement. The story is told in the life of
S. Magnus, to whom Columban addressed the following words
on the eve of his departure from Switzerland1 : " I tell thee,
Magnold, that which I wish thee to do and how thou oughtest
to remain with Gallus. In a few days it will happen that thou
1 "Vita S. Magni," Sept. 6th.— "AA. SS.," torn, ii., p. 739, § 15, C.
L

146 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
shalt receive the office of deacon from the bishop of Constance,
so then I wish thou shouldest remain with Gallus until the time
comes for me to depart this life, and if the Holy Spirit should
reveal to you the fact of my illness, it would then be pleasing to
me that thou shouldest come to my side ; but in the event of my
death in whatsoever manner it may take place, and if God grant
that it may be revealed to thee, then hasten with all speed to my
tomb and to my brethren, and thence thou shalt receive my
letter and my crosier, which bring to Gallus, that thou mayest
assure him that he is not condemned by me.
" Moreover, I tell thee that when Gallus is dead, after the space
of three years his tomb will be plundered by thieves, whilst thou
and Theodorus are looking on ; and when this has passed, and
his tomb has been repaired, hasten quickly to the place where,
as we have heard, the holy Bishop Narcissus commanded the
devil to destroy the dragon. There, with the help of the Lord,
thou shalt convert many to the faith, thou shalt have gained
their souls for the Lord, and shalt have a name given thee by
God, and thou shalt be called Magnus by the people of that
land, on account of the faith which thou shalt preach, turning
them from emptiness and the worship of demons to the faith of
Christ." '
Now it happened on a certain day, after some time had
elapsed, while they were betaking themselves to their couches to
rest after the fatigue of the matutinal office at first dawning of
the day, Gallus, the man of God, called Magnus his deacon, saying
to him : " Prepare for the administration of the sacred offering,
so that I may be able to celebrate the holy mysteries without
delay;" and Magnus said, "Wilt thou, indeed, celebrate the
Mass, father ? " and Gallus answered him, " During the watches
of the night I have learned through a dream that my lord and
father Columbanus has this day passed from the troubles of this
life to the joys of Paradise. I must therefore offer the sacrifice
of salvation for his repose." 2
Having knocked at the signpost at the entrance of the
oratory, and prostrated themselves in prayer, they began to
' "Vita S. Magni," p. 742, § 25, E.— "AA. SS. Boll.," Sept. 6.
3 lb., p. 742, §| 26 to 28.

LIFE OF ST. COLUMBAN. 147
say Mass, praying incessantly for the memory of the blessed
Columban. At the end of this holy office,, the venerable
Gallus thus addressed the deacon Magnus : '• My son, let not
the greatness of my petition appear a heavy matter to thee, but
take thy road and repair to Italy, and proceeding through that
country as far as the monastery which is called Bobium, inquire
carefully as to what has been done concerning my abbot. Mark
therefore the day and the hour, so that if thou shalt find that
he is dead, thou mayest be able to discover whether my dream
was true and whether it is confirmed by the result. Learning
then all these things by earnest inquiry, thou shalt return and
relate them to me."
The deacon,, throwing himself at his master's feet, complained
of this journey through a land which was unknown to him ; but
the blessed man with a soft voice admonished him not to fear,
saying, " Go, and the Lord will direct thy footsteps."
Strengthened by the encouraging and consoling word of his
holy master, the pupil obeyed his voice, and having received the
viaticum of benediction, he hastened to set forth on his way,
remembering the prophecy of the blessed Columban, who
declared that he should come to his tomb in Italy and take his
staff, and by it absolve the holy Gallus.
When he arrived at the monastery which he sought, he found
everything had happened according as it had been revealed to
his father in the vision. He remained one night with the brethren,
who gave him a letter for the blessed Gallus, containing an
account of the passage of the revered Columban. They
sent also by the hand of the deacon his crosier, commonly called
Cambutta, seeing that the holy abbot before his death had
declared that through means of this well-known pledge
Gallus should be absolved. Magnus, having been dismissed
by the monks, hastened on his journey, which he made success
fully, and arrived on the eighth day. He went at once to the
lord and father, bearing the epistle of the narrative, and the staff,
the token of absolution. Having read the letter, the holy
Gallus, retaining in his full heart the love of his dear father,
shed many tears, and disclosed to the assembled fathers the
causes of his woe ; then they celebrated the memory of the
father with prayer and oblations.

148 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
The memory of St. Columban is preserved in the following old
Irish calendars : —
"November 21. c. undecimo Kal. Decembris. Columban,
abbot, who was in Italy (' Martyrology of Donegal,' p. 315).' "
Mention is made of St. Columban in the metrical Martyrology
of Marianus O'Gorman. It is at November 21 : —
" Rufus, Maria, Maurus
Columban nocaraimm
('Columban whom I love')."
Over Columban is the note, " Abb robhui is in Ettail," An abbot
who was in (the) Italy.

LETTERS FROM PIACENZA.
Albergo Croce Bianco,
Piacenza. Sept. 30, 1889.
Dear E.,
YOU will be glad to hear I have arrived safely here. I
reached this city on Sunday evening. Was glad enough to
go to rest in a clean, old-fashioned Italian hotel, with brick floors
and finely decorated ceilings. Next morning I engaged a nice
old man as a guide, and set off on foot to see the town, which
interests me immensely. Though on the way to Brindisi and
Bologna, no tourist thinks of stopping here, so there is a
delightful absence of the English element. The city is full of
interest, yet behind-hand in many ways ; there is no Accademia
delle belle Arti, not even a photograph to be had of the fine
frescoes in their churches.
The architecture of these churches is very interesting. The
duomo, commenced in 1133, is Lombardic. Its porches are
very wonderful, projecting boldly so as to cause broad masses
of shadow on the front of the building ; the pillars on which
their arches rest rise from the backs of recumbent lions, or
queer old men, riding on griffin's wings. The signs of the
zodiac are carved on the front of the arches, with the sun
and moon, stars, planets and comets, and winds. Inside, the
choir and double transept, with their massive Lombardic
columns, are very striking, and there is a series of very quaint
little bas-reliefs inserted one at a time in each of these pillars,
representing the different crafts : a wheelwright, a smith, a

150 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
carpenter, a potter making dear little vessels all neatly set out
upon shelves, and two figures, apparently in a clothier's shop,
one of whom has a bale unrolled, and is cutting the stuff with
huge scissors, while rolls of cloth are visible on the shelf behind.
There is a very humorous one of a priest, grinning as he lifts
his vestments out of a huge washtub. Miss Porter has not yet
arrived, but I expect her to-morrow. Piacenza, Od.ist, 1889.
Dear H.,
I have just returned from the Church of S. Maria della
Campagna, near the gate towards Alessandria, where I have seen
such a beautiful fresco by II Pordenone. I had not realised
before what a genius he was ; the subject is St. Catherine
of Alexandria preaching to the doctors. A group of learned
doctors surround her, grand figures; some sceptical, some
deeply impressed. The artist himself is represented a;s one of
the doctors, who, crouching on the ground over a great book
at her feet, seems to be following her texts ; the scene is in the
portico of a temple, on the upper step of which she stands, facing
you from the centre of the picture. A pure young girl, her
figure lithe, elastic; her drapery swelling in grand folds, as if
filled by some soft wind, falls from her beautiful arm, thrown up
as her finger points to- heaven, while she looks straight before
her with a tender, innocent, but absolutely absorbed expression
of the purest possible love. I am haunted by this face ; you
feel that she is indeed teaching Christ to the wise and learned
men to whom this one thing has yet been wanting. I think
she is more beautiful, fervent, and inspired than Raphael's St.
Cecilia. I tried to get you a photograph of this fresco, but in vain ;
the photographers have considered it a hopeless task, as the ,

PIACENZA. 151
fresco is in such a dark corner of the church. Imagine my
delight, when, after making three attempts, I succeeded in get
ting. a tolerable negative. A nice old photographer here, Sidoli
by name, developed it for me, and would not let me pay him for
this. I could not unpack my own chemicals till I got to Bobio.
I exposed the plate for five minutes, but it is very troublesome
work trying to photograph frescoes, they are so much above
the camera, and some railing or altar decorations are sure to be
at the foot.
In this case I had to raise the camera on three chairs, mount
ing myself on a fourth. Two kindly Franciscan monks watched
my proceedings with evident delight, and seemed most eager
to help.
I am surprised to find how empty the churches are here,
although in old times this city went by the name of Piacenza
la fedele, but certainly no place ever deserved its name, Placentia,
Plaisance, better than this town. The whole atmosphere of the
place, the colour of the buildings, the look of the people, the
life of industry, without fuss or excitement, is all pleasant to
the full.
We have grand views of the Apennines from here. To the
west, in the direction in which Bobio lies, there is a magnifi
cent view, range upon range of purple mountains. I can quite
imagine old Columban gazing at them with longing eyes all
the years he was fighting the Arians, and at last seeking his
refuge and place of rest among them. I went out to the Porta
Raimondi yesterday evening to watch the sunset. The colour
was most glorious. The sun went down just where the moun
tains slope to the plain, as our Dublin hills slope to Kildare in
the west — " a view that," as a friend who had seen many foreign
lands and skies once said to me, " has something in it dreamy
and attractive beyond anything he recollected elsewhere." The
citadel of Placentia is at this gate ; close by there is a building

152 SIX MONTHS- IN THE APENNINES.
which must be some large school for the soldiers' boys, for just
as the sun went down I heard an exquisite vesper hymn or litany
sung by a chorus of children's voices, coming from the upper
windows. You have no idea how sweet and solemn the effect
was. Miss Porter arrived here last evening at eight o'clock ;
we start to-morrow for Bobio. I gave you a wrong address,
I fear; you should write to Albergo Bianco Leone, Bobio,
Provincia di Pavia.

Bobio.
Dear W.,
We left Piacenza yesterday at two o'clock. A steam tram
brought us on our journey as far as Rovegnano, through
acacias and vines and mulberry trees, and fields lilac with
autumn crocuses, called by the Irish " naked ladies," because
they have no leaves. At the end of two hours we left the
tram, and drove in a diligence the rest of the way, not reaching
Bobio till half-past eight in the evening. I sat on the coach
box the whole way. We passed through very fine mountain
scenery, and, to my mind, the Apennines take far more beauti
ful colouring than the Alps, and the afternoon and the evening
sun threw them into grand masses of shade and colour. The
glowing crimson sunset was succeeded by the moon, which we
saw slowly rising in the east over the mountains behind us,
with the stars all coming out one by one. Many of the hills
were crowned with mediaeval castles ; the driver pointed out to
me Castello Roveride, Castello dei Vulpi, Monte Chiaro, which
belongs to the Marchese Casale, till we reached one very
beautifully situated village, named Trao. This town has
two bell-towers. It was market day at Rivezzano, and we
passed crowds of peasants with baskets, laden with many-
coloured fruits and vegetables, and long waggons with round

154 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
roofs made of matting. I noticed a girl with such beautiful
Titian hair. We crossed the torrent of Genore where it joins
the Trebbia, the huge stones in its wide bed showing the
force of the torrent here, and then we came to another torrent,
Alperino, which also empties itself into the Trebbia. I was
greatly struck with the number of wayside fountains on this
road. We kept along the bed of the Trebbia the whole way.
In some places it is wonderfully wide, so that in flood-time it
must be fully the width of the Shannon, though now it is quite
a little thing like the Dodder. As we descended the valley
at the head of which Bobio lies, the river looked very beau
tiful, tortuous as a serpent, its waters shining like silver in the
moonlight, and its banks lined with long rows of tall poplars.
We saw the church towers of its two Lombardic buildings in
the distance, that of the cathedral and that of the church of our
Irish saint, Columban, whose bells are singularly sweet and
deep. Bobio.
MY DEAR H.,
Our visit here promises to be a great success ; the scenery
is sublime, and the old town itself is full of interest, but the
hotel is just as primitive as any you could find in an Irish
town (fig. 41). I took a small room next my bedroom
for my photography, and turned it into a " dark room." After
getting this to rights, and unpacking all my chemicals, we went
out for our first walk, and explored the bed of the river to
where the Trebbia is joined by the mountain torrent Bobio ;
they pronounce it Bobio, according to the older form of the
word, though they spell it now with two b's. Then we
explored the church of S. Columbano, and showed our letters
of introduction to the Parroco and the Canonico, as they call
the two priests in charge, who were delighted to hear I was

BOBIO.

i5S

going to photograph, and gave me carte blanche to do as I
liked. The church stands in the upper end of the little town, fully
one half of which consists of the now deserted monastic build
ings which were grouped about it (fig. 46). It is a Lombardic
building, restored in the seventeenth century, what remains of

Fig, 46. — CHURCH OF ST. COLUMBAN, BOBIO.

the more ancient buildings being the bell-tower, the subterranean
church or crypt, the sacristy, the old refectory, the wood-house,
and the cellar. Like most of the Lombardic buildings, it has
a porch, the atrium, or Paradise, as it was called. Inside, the
first thing that strikes the eye is a fresco of Pope Gregory I.
teaching his choir to intone (fig. 47). This is a fine com-

i56

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

position, placed above the chancel arch, but of course I did
not stop to look at anything in the upper church, so anxious was
I to reach the crypt in which Columbanus and the com
panions who followed him from Ireland, lie entombed (fig. 48).

Fig. 47. — INTERIOR OF CHURCH OF ST. COLUMBAN, BOBIO.

You descend into this crypt by two flights of stairs, six steps in
each, to right and left of the choir, which meet on a landing-
place under the sanctuary, whence a broad staircase leads down
to the lower church, the Tuburio, or Scurolo, as it is called. The
roof here is round -arched, the arches springing from six marble

BOBIO.

157

columns, resting on ornamented bases. To the right of this
crypt is a small chapel, now fallen into disuse on account of the
damp. The beautiful altar-screen of wrought iron, which
formerly set apart the chancel from the nave, is now placed at
the entrance of this side-chapel. This fine example of delicate

Fig. 48. — CRYPT AND TOMB OF COLUMBAN.

iron tracery is said to date from the time of Columban. To
the left is another chapel dedicated to S. Sylvestro, with an
altar to the Holy Virgin.
The tomb of Columban stands in the middle of this sub
terranean church. It is a marble sarcophagus, on the top of
which originally lay a very noble recumbent statue of the saint,

i58

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

his crosier and mitre picked out in gold. But this figure, the
finest portion of the monument, has been lifted away and
placed with its face against the wall at the back of the sarco
phagus, while a wooden table with candles and artificial flowers
takes its place. I believe it is about a hundred and fifty

Fig. 49. — BAS-RELIEF. ST. COLUMBAN TAMES A BEAR.

years since this monument was thus mutilated. The statue is
fixed on its side against the back of the tomb, but so close to
the wall of the church that you cannot get to a sufficient distance
from it to make a drawing, or even to photograph it.
The sides of the sarcophagus are divided into five compart
ments, filled with bas-reliefs of the greatest interest, illustrating
incidents in the life of St. Columban. The first (fig.^49) repre-

BOBIO. 159
sents the miracle of the saint in the forest near Bobio, when he
commanded the bear to submit to the yoke with the bullock.1
Here should be noted the book satchel carried in the hand of
St. Columban, according to the custom of his countrymen.
This may be a representation made in 1484 of the very book

Fig. SO. — BAS-RELIEF. ST. COLUMBAN WRITES HIS RULE.
satchel which contained the Bobio MS. (k) of the Gospels of
St. Mark and St. Matthew, now numbered G. vii. in the National
Gallery of Turin, which is thus spoken of by Dr. Wordsworth : —
"The chief interest attaching to our manuscript arises from the
tradition which connects it with the life of St. Columban, generally
1 See p. 130, supra.

160 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
esteemed the earliest of those noble Celtic missionaries who evangelized
central Europe. The inscription still found in the volume declares that
'According to tradition that was the same book which the blessed
Abbot Columban was accustomed to carry about with him in his

Fig. 51. — BAS-RELIEF. ST. COLUMBAN RECEIVES THE HYDRIA.
satchel.' It was, therefore, if this be true, the companion of those
travels which ended at Bobio in 613, about two years before his
death." l
1 See "Old Latin Biblical Texts," No. 11, p. xiii., ed. John Wordsworth,
D.D. (Ox., Clar. Press, 1886).

BOBIO.

161

The second represents the saint composing his rule ; two
disciples are kneeling by, and the figure of the Almighty appears
in the sky surrounded by an aureole, from which a dove descends
on a ray of light towards the hand of the saint, who writes
upon a book resting on his knee.
The third and centre compartment represents Pope Gregory I.

Fig. 52. — BAS-RELIEF. ST. COLUMBAN CASTS OUT DEVILS.

giving the sacred hydria to Columban, who kneels at his feet
(see figs. 42 and 51). This is the most beautiful composition of
the series. The Pope is seated on a golden throne, richly de
corated with griffins for arms ; the saint, with his deacon behind,
kneeling to receive the precious gift. The Pope's face is
wonderfully expressive, drawing in his lips as if some accident
m

162

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

might happen to the vessel as it passed from his hands into
those of Columban. Three calm, reposeful figures of saints
stand in the background looking on.
The fourth bas-relief shows St. Columban healing those pos
sessed of devils, a miracle he is said to have performed at the

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Fig. 53.— BAS-RELIEF. ST. COLUMBAN DEDICATES HIS MONASTERY.

gates of Paris. Here the faces are full of expression, and the
contrast is very striking, of the miserable, devil-possessed
maniacs, who approach to be healed, and the peaceful, happy
faces of those who have been relieved, while in the sky above
quite a cloud of little demons are seen escaping out of the
sufferers' mouths and flying away discomfited (fig. 52).

BOBIO. 163
The fifth and final composition shows the saint offering a
model of his church and monastery for consecration (fig. 53).
These figures are all sculptured in white marble, relieved upon
a blue background, and some of the details are picked out with
gold, as, for instance, the aureole of the saint or the nimbus of
the Almighty. The crypt was very dark, and I was compelled to
photograph these most interesting bas-reliefs by the flash-light.
The following inscriptions appear upon this tomb, the first
two being sculptured upon the open pages of the Bible at the
feet of the recumbent statue (fig. 54) : —
" Nequaquam ex his comeditis nisi
quos dimisistis venerint."
" Tanta piscium copia est rete impletum
ut vix pro multitudine trahi potuisset."
" In vain shall ye eat of these unless those which you have
left shall come."
" The net was filled with so great a number of fishes that it
scarcely could be drawn in on account of the multitude."
This inscription has been explained by Padre Remondini,
Professor in Genoa, as referring to the two following events in
the life of the holy abbot. '
While the saint was in France, intent upon the foundation of
his monastery at Luxeuil, two of his disciples belonging to the
monastery of Annegray going, as was their custom, in quest of
provisions, caught five fish upon the river Moselle, three of which
were living and two dead ; leaving the dead behind, they carried
the live fish to the monastery. The saint, notwithstanding the
distance at which he was, saw in the spirit this thing that they
had done, and being displeased with his disciples, he addressed
1 See " Mem. Iscrizione Antiche di Bobbio," per Marcello Remondini.
Genova, 1886.

1 64

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

them in the words of the first of these two inscriptions, and sent
them back for the fish they had left behind.
Another day the saint sent brother Gallus to fish in the river
Brusca. The brother went instead to the river Loignon. He
threw the nets ; the fish appeared in shoals, but rushed away.
Brother Gallus failed to catch one, and returned empty-handed
to the saint. St. Columban rebuked him for his disobedience,
and again sent him to the river Brusca, where brother Gallus
secured an abundant take of fish.1

Fig. 54. — INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMB OF ST. COLUMBAN.
The third inscription, giving the artist's name and date,
appears upon the first bas-relief at the side of the monument : —
" Hoc opus fecit Magister Joannes de Patruarcis de
Midiolano 1480 die ultimo mensis March."

1 These references to events in the life of St. Columban appear to be taken
from some passages in the life of the saint written by Abbot Jonas, which
it is not possible to discover now. Surius has " Nequaquam ex his
comedetis nisi quos reliquistis allati fuerint. Mittit rete in aquas et vix
potest prae copia piscium illud ad se retrahere." If these words do not
correspond literally, it is because Surius, as he himself affirms, takes them
from a copy of the life by Jonas, which he has altered to improve the style.

BOBIO. 165
" Master Joannes de Patruarcis, of Milan, did this work on the
last day of the month of March, 1480."
My kind friend, Miss Lucy Toulmin Smith, has identified this
artist's name for me with that of one of the painters employed
in the works carried on in Milan Cathedral, A.D. 1465-66.
She has sent me the following note from the British Museum
Library : —
" ' Annali della Fabrica del Duomo di Milano, dall' origine
fino al presente.' Pubblicate a cura della sua amministrazione.
Milano, 1877. 8 vols, and an Index, 4to. (a splendid work)."
The " Raccolta degli Atti della fabrica " is here printed in
full. Under date "Addi 29 dicembre," 1464, following other
items concerning the altar of S. Julliet in ecclesia majori
Mediolani, comes the following : —
" Item pro solutione refacturae capitulorum 22 vitreatarum
praemissae finestrae, 1. 26. Item pro mercede manufacturse suae
pingendi figuram dominae sanctae Mariae cum coazono, et pro
emendo centen. 4 auri pro ornamento suprascriptae figurae, nee
non pro coloribus et auro positis super tabulam unam in ecclesia
majori Mediolani, extimatum per magistrum Johannem de
Patriarcis pictorem 1.40" (vol. ii., p. 237).1
A note to the word " coazono " above, begins, " Non e agevole
comprendere li significato di questo vocabulo, e quale percio
fosse la composizione di quella pittura," etc.
In vol. ii. ofthe appendices, p. 217, among a list of painters and
their works, occurs " Patriarchi Giovanni di Argegno, 1465-66."
1 " Item. To payment for repairing the capitals of 22 glasses of the
aforesaid window, /. 26.
" Item. To payment for his own handiwork of painting the figure of the
holy Lady Mary (with the girdle?) and for buying 104 of gold for orna
menting the above-mentioned figure, and for colours and gold put on the
picture ... in the greater church of Milan, estimated by Master Joannes de
Patriarcis, the painter, 1.40,"

1 66 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
" 1465, Doratura ed ornati per la cassa dell' organo ; 1466,
simile." The index refers to all these entries as belonging to Patriarca
Giovanni di Argenio, pittore.
The following inscription, mentioned by Fleming, appears in
the second bas-relief, where St. Columban is represented as
writing his rule. It is engraved on a scroll that hangs across
the sky (fig. 50) : —
" Hie reqiescit in Pace SanCtuS PateR Columbanus Abbas."
" Here rests in peace Holy Father Columban Abbot."
The body of St. Columban was removed from its original
grave in the year 1482, in the presence of John, bishop and
abbot, and placed in a coffin of wood adorned with a cotton
byssus, which coffin on the next day was carried in a solemn
procession of clergy and people, who placed it in this new
marble shrine beneath the altar, along with the teeth of the
saint, and upon the same day the relics of the other saints were
also translated. This altar, with those of the two first succes
sors of St. Columban, of which I shall speak presently, was
consecrated in 1485, on the 18th of September, by Monsignore
Luchino de' Trotti, Bishop of Bobio, at the instance of the
prelate, Padre Abate of Gian Antonio of Pavia, and the act is
signed and witnessed by the notary Columbano Chacastino.
The following inscription is painted on the ornamental wooden
frame which surrounded this altar, called by the Italians
Ombracolo, which now stands in the side-chapel of the crypt : —
S. COlNMRanus HlBernensis T>ivi BENEDzWl DISCIP/z'/zAE
SECTatfOR AB AGILVLFO LONGOBARDtf^M REGE ECCL&reA
S. PETRI ET BOBIENSI
TERRITmO QVAQVAVERSV7W AD QVATTVOR MILLIARIA DO
NATVS HANC VRBEW KOCQue COENOBIVM (QVOD ET ABBAS

BOBIO.

167

MODERATVS EST) ALIAQz^e MVLTA CONSTITVIT ANIMO NVNC
COELO CORPORE HIC QVIESCIT.
Padre Remondini is inclined to believe that a portion of the
original inscription on the first tomb, which was broken up in
1480, still exists on a stone fragment now used as a bracket
supporting the sarcophagus, fixed in the wall behind the altar,
containing the bones of the holy Bishop Cummian (figs. 57 and
58). But it is so very small a fragment, that probably it is only
a fourth of the original, and it is most difficult to extract any
sense from it (fig. 55) : —

VS  CONSILIV;« MVL . . .
, DAB  LEGATIS RESP 
IS . PE . . . NE . REGE7/Z FRIX . .
ITE Stf«CTORV7W SINGI 
ISTOS AD PROPRIOS I 
. OPIACII DE FVI 

'5

Sire

m

(5

{WWM.

Fig. 55. — BRACKET OF SARCOPHAGUS OF CUMMIAN.

Padre Remondini observes : " I cannot conceal a latent
suspicion which has dawned upon me from a few of the words
which are still legible, united to the form of the characters, and
the place in which the inscription occurs. I suspect this to be a
part of the ancient epitaph which was upon the original tomb of
Columban before the Abbot Gian Antonio of Pavia replaced
it by the marble sarcophagus constructed in the year 14S0, now

1 68 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
beneath the table of the altar of the saint. The fragment
alludes to the Answer to the Legates (Legatis Resp . . .) of the
King of Frisia (ne Regem Frix . . .), perhaps also ofthe saints
( . . . . ctorum) and of the palace (palacii).
"Frisia or Frisonia is the region which corresponds to the pre
sent Holland, anciently on the confines of the kingdom of Aus
trasia. It is known that St. Columban came from Ireland and
England into Austrasia. History does not state by what road
he came, but nothing is more probable than that he had to cross
Frisia, and thus the saint, who often came into contact with the
higher powers, opened relations with the king of that country.
"We read in his life of the embassy sent by Clothair, King of
Neustria, and then of the whole of Gaul, to Bobio, inviting
Columban to his court. And it is well known that in France, as
in England and Italy, the reigning sovereigns desired his presence
in their states. May it not be that the King of Frisia felt
the same wish, and sent an embassy to recall him ? It may be
that if we had the whole of this inscription, we 'should find this
to be the fact. The character of the letters, which seem to" be
somewhat more ancient than those of St. Cummian's epitaph,
supports this theory. And- the position which this fragment now
occupies leads me to imagine that the ancient sepulchral stone
was broken when moved at the opening of the tomb in which
the remains of St. Columban had lain for about nine centuries,
and that the artist entrusted to fix the sarcophagus of the bones
of St. Cummian in the wall (a work which was .executed at the
same time as the translation of the relics of the holy founder)
found that this piece of stone would suit his purpose as a
bracket." The altars of SS. Attala and Bertulfus may be seen against
the side-walls of the crypt to right and left of the altar of
St. Columban. S. Attala, who had followed Columban from
Ireland, and who appears as his successor, first in the abbacy-

BOBIO. 169
of Luxeuil, and then at Bobio, lies entombed in the wall
immediately behind the marble slab represented in fig. 56. He
is said to have continued his master's work, struggling bravely
against Arianism, and to have died at the foot ofthe crucifix he
had placed at the door of his cell so that he might kiss the feet
of Christ every time he went out or in. In the case of both these
tombs, as described by Remondini, " a board is placed between
the steps of the altar and the urn containing the bones of the

Fig. 56. — TOMB OF BISHOP ATTALA.
saint, which, when removed, is found to cover a hole in the
ground extending beneath the two tables or altars, in which
are to be seen paintings of various abbots and monks, whose
names are written in German characters.
" These are clearly work of the fifteenth century, probably
1488, when the tomb of Columbanus was erected. The figures,
as well as the inscriptions, are so injured by time and moisture
that they can only be discerned with difficulty.
" At the same time I saw beneath the altar of S. Attala, in the

170 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
middle, an Ecce Homo, at each side of which stood two abbots
and a monk — seven figures in all — and read the inscriptions : —
S. ATHALLA ABBAS. S. ALBERTVS ABBAS
. . . e  PLACENTINVS MONACHUS.
"Beneath the altar of S. Bertulfus I saw the Madonna with
the divine child, and on each side of her two abbots and a
monk also, and could clearly read : —
S. PIANVS MONACHUS PAPIENSIS.
These paintings are from the same hand that painted the
Madonna on the pilaster of the chapel called Madonnina."
Returning to the centre of the crypt, we perceive the stone of
St. Cummian. " Here," writes Padre Remondini, " is the most
precious inscription in all Bobio." This stone covered the grave
of St. Cummian, formerly bishop in Scotia, afterwards monk in
Bobio, who died in the middle of the eighth century. The
marble and inscription belong to the same date. We learn from
it that King Liutprand himself had the monument executed and
that this stone was its covering. As it now stands it is fixed
erect into the wall which stands to the left of the altar in cornu
evangelii, but this was not its original position. It ought to be
laid horizontally on the floor. If it were not so, the ornamental
border below the inscription is turned the wrong way, and the two
doves at each side of the monogram of Christ, as they are now
placed, rest on their heads with their legs in the air. And as we
are now considering this ornamental border, we may further
observe that the said monogram is of a very ancient and primi
tive form. It is formed of two Greek letters, I Iota, and X Chi,
entwined in a circle so as to resemble a wheel with six rays.1
1 Another ancient monument bearing this form of monogram, found in
Cogolato, has been described by Marchese Marcello Durazzo fu Gian-Luca.
Lettera a D. Marcello Remondini. — Genoa, Tipografia Arcivescovile, 1880,
P- 13-

BOBIO. 171
From the feet of the doves spring two branches of vine, which
intertwine so as to form a beautiful series of ovals enclosing
fruit and leaves alternating with stars. These branches meet at
the other end of the marble, where they encircle a two-handled
chalice. At each end the design is broken, which leads to the
conclusion that this was but a portion of a larger monument or
sarcophagus, along the ends of which this entwined border was
continued. But we must now turn to the inscription. This divides itself
into two parts. The first in rude hexameters contains the lauda
tion of the saint ; the second in three lines [in tre righe] gives the
day of the entombment, called the deposition, and the name of
the artist who sculptured the work.
1 Here the sacred members of the blessed Cummian are dissolved,
2 Whose soul penetrating to Heaven rejoices with the Angels.
3 He was great in dignity, high-born and beautiful.
4 Scotia sent him here to the boundaries of Italy in his old age.
5 He stayed at Bobio, constrained by the love of the Lord,
6 Where serving the Rule of the Venerable Columbanus
7 In watching, fasting, unceasing sedulous praying
8 Four Olympiads and the compass of one year,
9 He lived in such happiness we may believe him now to be blessed.
10 Merciful, prudent, pious to the brethren, peaceful with all men,
1 1 The years of his life were ninety
12 And one lustrum and four months.
13 O worthy Father, be a powerful intercessor
14 For the most glorious King Liutprand, who, to thee
15 Devoted, decorated this precious stone tomb
16 That it might be manifest where the precious body lies.
17 Deposited here is Lord Cummian
18 Bishop — XIV. Kalends of September.
19 Master John made this.

BOBIO. 173
BOBIO A.D. 726-730.
Inscription on Tomb of Bishop Cummian.
1 Hie sacra beati membra Cumiani solvuntur.
2 Cujus caelum penetrans anima cum ' Angelis gaudet.
3 Iste fuit magnus, dignitate, genere, forma.
4 Hunc misit Scotia fines ad Italicos senem.
5 Locatur Ebovio T)omira constrictus amore.
6 Ubi venerandi dogma Columbani servando.
7 Vigilans, jejunans, indefessus sedule orans.
8 Olimpiadis quattuor uniusque circolo anni.
9 Sic vixit feliciter ut felix modo credatuf.
10 Mitis, prudens, pius fratribus paceficus cunctis.
1 1 Huic aetatis anni fuerunt novies deni.
12 Lustrum quoque unum, mewsesque quattuor simul.
13 Ac pater egregie potens intercessor exsiste.
14 Pro gloriosissimo Liutprando Rege qui tuum
15 Pra2tioso lapide tumbum decora vit devotus.
16 Sit ut manifestum almum ubi tegitur corpus.
17 Depositus est hie Dominus Cunnanus
18 Episcopus XIIII Kal. Septembris.
19 Fecit Johaniis Magister.
The text of this inscription is printed by Abbot Rossetti in
his " Bobbio illustrato," but he has mutilated the last line so that
it cannot be construed, and omitted the last word Magister
which qualifies the fohannes ; other inaccuracies also occur in his
reading, all certainly owing to the difficulty of deciphering the
stone itself,2 the characters, however well cut in themselves, being
1 In the original the contraction C with a cedilla like the figure 5, (3, which
is an unusual form, but the context proves it to be significant of cum.
2 Thus Rossetti gives Locatus for locatur (1. 5) — Ebobio for Ebovio —
"Sedulo for Sidule (1. 7) — Olympiades for Olimpiadis (1. 8) — Ctirriculo for
Circolo (1. 8)—paaficus for paceficus (1. 10) — Si tuum mafiifestas almum ibi
tegitur corpus for Sit ut manifestum almum ubi tegitur corpus (I. 16) — Positus
for depositus (1. 17). A manuscript copy of this epitaph, made by a certain
Don Colombano, is preserved in the episcopal archives of Bobio, but it also
varies in certain instances, such as E bono instead of ebovio — nonies instead
of novies (1. 11) — and elevatus. instead of devotus (line 15).

174 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
incised and filled with clay, and the words running into one
another without divisions, the last lines being then partially
concealed by a step, which was afterwards removed when
Monsignore Vaggi exposed the altar of St. Columban.
It appears from the eighth line of this inscription that St.
Cummian spent seventeen years at Bobio — not twenty, as has
been stated. And we therefore dissent from the entry in the
Chronicle of Bobio, as well as in the lesson of the office now
recited in the diocese of Bobio, where the saint is said to have
spent twenty years in that monastery. Our version is based on
the testimony of the inscription on the stone, which affirms that
St. Cummian lived at Bobio for four Olympiads and one year,
and by the usual computation four years are contained in one
Olympiad. So that although, according to Ussher ("Veter. Epistol.
Hybern. sylloge," " Works," vol. iv., p. 420), the Olympiad may
be held to signify five years, it seems unnecessary to resort to
this unusual computation in order to maintain the twenty
years' sojourn. If the period of seventeen years be accepted
as true, then the saint, who was ninety-five when he died,
was seventy-eight years of age when he reached Bobio, and this
is borne out by the statement in the fourth line of the epitaph,
that he left Scotia in his old age.
Ughelli ("Italia Sacra"1) informs us that this St. Cummian
was identical with Bishop Cummian, son of Fiachna, King of
West Munster, b. 592, author of the " Hymn of Cummian," but
this Cummian was born fifteen years before our bishop. The
Liutprand who erected his monument was King of Lombardy
from 712 to 735 ; therefore, if this Bishop Cummian died even
in the first year of his reign, he must have been born in Ireland
in 617, and if he was only seventeen years resident at Bobio he
probably left Ireland about A.D. 695.
1 Vol. iv., p. 956.

BOBIO.

'75

Colgan1 is inclined to identify him with St. Cummian, Bishop
of Nendrum, but he died, according to the annalists and
"Martyrology of Donegal," in the year 658, and was venerated
on the ist of July. From this inscription it appears that the 14th
kalends of September, that is, the 19th of August, was the day

i 1 Si

mm

m
.''/•>/<

Fig. 58. — SARCOPHAGUS OF CUMMIAN.
of the Bishop Cummian mentioned in our inscription. True, it
has been held by Padre Rossetti and others who have deciphered
this inscription that this entry refers to the artist Johannes, that
he finished his work on the 14th kal. of September, but the
1 "Act. SS. Hib.,"p. 58.

176

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

rubbing distinctly shows a stop after September and none after
Cumianus in the line above, so that it should be read, " Depositus
est hie Dominus Cumianus Episcopus XIV Kal. Septembris."
Above this inscription a sarcophagus, said to contain the
bones of the saint, projects from the wall (fig. 58). Two similar
sarcophagi may be seen at the right-hand side of the central
altar, in one of which the bones of St. Congal (fig. 59) are said to

T'g- 59- — TOMB OF CONGAL.

be preserved, and in the other the bones and ashes of S. Romano
and many other saints (fig. 60). But these last-mentioned monu
ments are not bond fide. They were all made from fragments of
the ancient ambone of the old church, and although the bones of
the saints, which originally rested beneath the wall on which
they are fixed, were, no doubt, carefully laid into these receptacles,
yet these marble fragments of the ruined pulpit were only thus
utilized in 1480. One can but be thankful that these fine
sculptures are preserved in any form. They are striking
examples of the interlaced work which we have already asso
ciated with the native art of our country.
From the crypt we came upstairs again, and entered the

BOBIO.

177

sacristy, where we saw the other relics of our saint, which I had
already heard of from Sir Samuel Ferguson, who visited Bobio
in the year 1847.
I found the knife to agree with Fleming's description of it. It
has a rude horn handle, and is kept carefully in a velvet-lined
case. " Here also," says Fleming,1 "is to be seen the knife of Colum
banus (fig. 61), which is said to be of such blessing and virtue,
that bread cut with it is never afterwards liable to corruption or
putrescence, and if women eat this bread when nursing it causes

wm

'^'f <' U%;''

Fig. 60. — TOMB OF FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBAN.
an abundance of milk, and moreover has great efficacy against the
bites of mad dogs and against fevers. This knife presents an
appearance of primitive simplicity ; its handle is of black bone or
horn, its blade longish and broad."
Dr. Wordsworth, Lord Bishop of Salisbury, has some ob
servations on this relic in his work entitled, " Old Latin Texts,"
No. 11, on the Bobio MS. (k), now numbered G. vii. 15, in
the National Library of Turin, where he quotes from Peyron
(" Ciceronis Orat," etc., 1824), who, in his description ofthe
relics in the sacristy of the' monastery, says : " Cultellus

1 " Collect.," p. 362.
N

178

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

S. Columbani quo patris populo praeciditur die ascensionis
domini in monticulo qui dicitur crux vera," which is thus
translated by Dr. Wordsworth, "The knife of S. Columbanus,
with which the poplar of the father is trimmed on the day of
the ascension of the Lord, in the mount which is called the True
Cross," and his lordship asks in connection with the patris populo,
"Should 'populo' be 'populus' ? and was 'our father's poplar'
a tree planted by the saint, or one under which he sat ? "
Another suggestion, and one which is at
once supported by the superstitions connected
with this knife, has been offered to me by
Professor Mahaffy, which appears to be the
true solution of the difficulty. It is that we
should read the word patris as panis, meaning
"the knife with which bread is cut for the
people on the day of the Ascension of the
Lord in the mount which is called the True
Cross," patris being the mistake of a scribe
meaning to write panis.
The next relic we were shown was the
wooden cup or mazer (see Appendix) out of
which St. Columban drank (fig. 62). This
plain vessel scooped out of a piece of rough
wood was in the fourteenth century encircled
with a silver band and formed into a chalice
by Padre Abbate de Pietro (" De Garigiis
Bobbiese "), as is revealed by these words, that may be read on
the same cup : —
"Hoc opus factum fuit tempore Domini Petri
abatis monasterii S. Columbani Bobiensis, anno 1354."
" This vessel," writes Fleming,1 " is still preserved with vene-

Fig. 6l. — KNIFE OF
ST. COLUMBAN.

1 Collect.," p. 367.

BOBIO.

'79

ration in the monastery of Bobio with other relics. I have
shown the benefits of the cures which those who drink out of it
undoubtedly obtain on account of the devotion of St. Columban.
Certainly that the rich blessing of Columbanus descended on
this vessel is proved by a miracle which is told in the saint's
history of how, when this cup was let down into a well that had
run dry, the well became filled with water." (See Appendix II.)

¦^z[

&3H

_i BJEg^jV^''^ '

L«

Fig. 62. — BELL AND CUP OF ST. COLUMBAN.

The third relic we were shown was the bell (fig. 62), which is
of peculiar form and structure, according to Padre Rossetti, but
was not peculiar to an Irish eye, as there are many old bells
similar to it in the museum of the Royal Irish Academy. It is
interesting to know that in the twelfth century, when the sacred
body of S. Columbanus was transferred from Bobio to Pavia,

180 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
this little rude old Irish bell was rung at the head of the
procession. The fourth relic of the saint that we were shown was the vessel
given by Pope Gregory I. to Columban (figs. 42 and 51). " Most
of all," writes Padre Rossetti, " to be admired is the alabaster
water-vessel, about fourteen inches in height and eight in

Fig. 63. — SILVER SHRINE OF ST. COLUMBAN.
diameter. According to tradition this water-vessel was given,
full of singularly sacred relics, by St. Gregory the Great to
Columban. It was said to have been borne by the Pope from
Constantinople when he returned from his visit to Pelagio IL,
and that it was one of those vessels used at the wedding feast
in Cana of Galilee, and sanctified by the presence of our Divine
Redeemer."

BOBIO. 181
We were next shown a silver bust representing the head of
St. Columban, in which a portion of the skull of the saint is
said to be enshrined. This is a work of the sixteenth century.
The following inscriptions appear upon it : —
"HOC PIA FVLGENTI MONACORVM CVRA METALLO SANCTA
COLVMBANI CONDIDIT OSSA PATRIS," and at the back the fol
lowing lines : —
"DA PATER UT POPVLVS BOBIENSIS SEMPER ET ISTA SINT
LOCA FELICI NVMINE TVTA TVO."

O

-AN-SALYTIS 1^14 -MEN -MRT1 -IDE-
4 • W- <3 LAMB AN MON • BOE>fN fNNDT.O
5AITSS -PreNTTB^-DLieVKSLtNyftB
P1ENTSS-ET ©VTIS5" MvKCHFS-TE(SA KC
ARGEKITEA-IN-Q-EIVS SACRV GPVT
REPONERETVRFACTA FV'T PAP1E

Fig. 64. — INSCRIPTION AT BASE OF SHRINE OF ST. COLUMBAN.
Two different forms of the monogram of our Saviour are to
be seen upon the sides — that according to the later style which
originated with S. Bernardino of Siena, and the primitive form
composed of the three Greek letters Chi Rho Sigma, X P S, but
in Teutonic characters.
In the silver plate at the base of this shrine (fig. 64) we find the
inscription which relates how this silver shrine was dedicated to

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

St. Columban, the founder of the monastery of Bobio, and was
made at Pavia to contain his sacred head by the care of the
monks, with the abbot, Don Luca di Vercelli, on the 4th March,
A very beautiful ancient ivory cylinder is also preserved in
the sacristy ; it is three inches in diameter by five in height, with
figures in bas-relief most exquisitely
cut, probably the work of some Greek
hand, representing the fable of Orpheus
(fig. 65). The god is seen seated upon
a stone surrounded by wild animals of
various kinds, about seventy in number,
all listening with fixed attention to the
music of the lyre, while an evil spirit,
like a harpy, is flying before the sound
of the music.
The following antiquities described
by Mabillon as in the treasury when
he visited Bobio, and which were still
there when Padre Rossetti wrote his
account of the place, have now disap
peared, nor could the Parocco in charge
give me any account of them. First, a dove of brass, which was
formerly used for containing the viaticum and for carrying it to
the sick and infirm, is described by Mabillon as made from an
ancient copper ore. And also a hollow metal figure of a ram, in
which the sacred oil was placed in ancient times for administer
ing extreme unction. A silver cross, in the back of which three
precious agates were inserted like medallions, on the principal
one of which, says Mabillon, " Isis and Serapis have been carved,
with Egyptian letters running round it. On the right arm of
the cross is the figure of a priest of Isis, with the sistrum in his
left hand ; his right hand raised, as that of a man who gives a

Fig. 65. — IVORY CYLINDER.
ORPHEUS.

BOBIO. 183
blessing ; the chaplet on his head reaching to the top of the cross.
There is an agate without any carved work on the left arm, and
on the lowest portion of the cross is another agate with the image
of the emperor." Padre Rossetti indignantly repudiates the
theory of Mabillon as to the Egyptian origin of these agates.
He says, " Mabillon, with the usual licence of Frenchmen, has
baptized these two crowned heads on the principal agate, Isis
and Serapis, and decided that the inscription running round,
which is in minute characters, was Egyptian, whereas it is really
Greek, and refers to the love of the celebrated and beautiful
Irene of Athens, wedded to Leo IV., Emperor of Constantinople.
So it is more likely that these heads represent the two wedded
sovereigns." (See Appendix IV.)
Fleming1 describes some other relics which were taken from
the tomb in the fifteenth century and placed in the treasury, but
which have now disappeared, " Twelve of the saint's teeth, sup
ported with as many fastenings or stays, are fixed in a silver
circle of elegant workmanship. Some of the saint's hairs are
also kept in a kind of pyramidal tabernacle."
Leaving the sacristy, and passing through the church, we re
entered the portico or paradise at the west end. This consists
of four high and wide arches, supported by eight columns. At
the south side of this porch you enter the door of the monastery,
and pass along a gallery seventy feet long, lit by four windows,
which leads back to the sacristy ; at the end there is a high
door, over which the following inscription may be read : —
"AGILULPHO LONGOBARDORUM REGI QUOD DIVO COLUM-
BANO BASILICAM SANCTI PETRI ET CIRCUMPOSITA LOCA ET
MONTIS AD QUATUOR CIRCUMQUAQUE MILLIARIA DONAVIT
ANN. MDXCIX ABBAS ET MONACHI TANTI BENEFICII MEMORES
POSUERE ANNO MDCCXXV." 1 " Collect.," p. 62.

1 84

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

In front of the said doorway a wide staircase leads upwards
to the abbatial apartments, now government offices. Ascend
ing twenty-two steps, you enter another gallery^ of the same
proportions as that below. This is lighted by nine windows,
and leads to the dormitory of the monastery, a lofty chamber
lighted by two great windows at the end ; this is also used as
government offices. From the gallery here you enter on the
cloister which surrounds the old
garden of the monastery. This
leads to the refectory, which is
now used as a factory for macaroni.
Through the bars of the high iron
railings of the machinery I could
with difficulty see that the whole
end wall ofthe chamber was covered
by a fine, though faded fresco of
the Crucifixion, with the Magdalen
standing at the foot of the cross. I
also noticed a pretty fountain, where
the monks washed their hands
before eating, fixed in the end wall near the entrance, adorned
with ornaments in terra-cotta.
You will remember that in the diploma of Agilulph granting
the land to Columban for his monastery, the king only granted
him the use of half of a well, upon the ground that he had
granted the other half to some former occupant. When I
descended into the garden I was careful to ask the Parocco to
show me the oldest well of the monastery, and what was my
delight when he led me up through a vineyard to the old
boundary wall, and there I saw a semicircular tank, being indeed
the half well mentioned in the diploma. It projects from the
ancient wall of the monastery, which cuts the tank in two
parts, and the marble of its parapet being reddish in colour, or

Fig. 66. — IRON CROWN OF
LOMBARDY.

BOBIO.

185

white veined with red and black, showing against the green,
grey, and bronze hues of the moss-grown wall behind, with
the garlanded vine trellis at one side, combine to form a
lovely picture for a painter. On asking the Parocco why the

4 N 8*

Fig. 67. — HALF OF THE WELL INSIDE THE WALL OF THE MONASTERY.
well was semicircular, he said the other half was outside the wall
for the use of the townspeople, and so indeed I found it when he
led me out into the street into the Piazza S. Lorenzo. Upwards
of twelve hundred years had passed since, in the eighth year
of his reign, King Agilulph had made this curious stipulation

1 86 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES
in his grant.1 Both sides of this well are given in figs. 67
and 68.

Fig. 68. — HALF OF THE WELL OUTSIDE THE WALL OF THE MONASTERY.

1 Fig. 66 represents the iron crown of Lombardy, being a simple band
of iron which, in the time of Queen Theodelinda and King Agilulph, was
enshrined in its present beautiful case, a fine specimen of Byzantine jewellery.
This case is formed of six plates of gold, each double, united by hinges of
the same metal. The crown is decorated with gems and enamels. This
interesting relic is preserved in the sacristy of the Cathedral of Monza.

LA SPANN A. 187

Bobio, Oct. \$th, 1889.
Dear F,
I have been here for ten days, and each day has brought
fresh sources of interest in this delightful place. We have
made rubbings of all the tombs of the Irish saints in
the midst of whom Columban is said to be entombed. We
also made rubbings of the great Latin inscription placed by
King Liutprand over Cummian and the Latin inscription on
the tomb of Columban himself. I found the old well mentioned
in the diploma of Agilulph just as I had hoped to find it, cut
in two by the monastery wall, and photographed both sides
with some success. Firmly convinced of the antiquity of this
old wall by this discovery, I explored every part of it that still
remains, delighting in the variety of beautiful ferns and mosses
with which it is covered. It runs along the north-east side of
the town, where one of the old gates is still standing. This gives
access to a fine mediaeval tower called II Castello, from the top
of which the views of the surrounding country, the forest-clad
mountains glowing in their autumn tints, are magnificent (figs.
41 and 72). There is also a mutilated figure of Columban on
the bridge over the Trebbia, which I photographed. On
Sunday afternoon we drove to La Spanna, the first-mentioned
hermitage which you will remember reading of in the life of
the saint. This proved to be a cave in the face of a cliff, a mere
large hole, exactly like St. Kevin's Bed at Glendalough (fig. 69).
The mouth of the cave measures 4 feet 10 inches across, and
the cavity grows narrower, till at the furthest end there is not
space for a man's head. It is about six feet in depth, but no
man of ordinary height could stand upright in it, although he
might recline at full length. However, we may believe it to
have been larger in the days of our saint, or at least longer, for

. &

nfe . —

"i^-s, '

Fig. 69. — CAVE OF ST. COLUMBAN AT LA SPANNA.

LA SPANNA.

it appears that fragments of the rock at the far end are falling
from time to time so as to choke it up gradually.
So lately as the year 1844 the miraculous influences of the
saint's healing powers were supposed to linger about the walls
of this cave, and the devout peasantry of the surrounding
country visited it in sickness. Nursing mothers brought their
infants at the breast in the hope
that with their milk they would
here imbibe additional health and
strength, and sufferers from ery
sipelas were cured by laying their
faces on the spot where the saint
had lain his head.
At the summit of this cliff there
is a rock said to mark the boundary
of the province of Pavia, which is
marked by the impression of the
palm (spanna) of St. Columban's
hand, and in this instance, also, the
healing power of their patron is
believed to linger in the hollow of
the rock, and many sufferers climb
ing to the spot have sought relief Fig. 70.— print of st. columban's
by laying their hand upon it. (See HAND ON R0CK' LA SPANNA"
Appendix V. and figs. 70 and 71.)
The cliff here is, I suppose, about five hundred feet above
the river Trebbia. This torrent rushes through a narrow
gorge between very dark cliffs, which seem to form quite a
sublime portal to the lovely valley in which Bobio is situated.
The ascent to this cave of La Spanna is by a winding path
through an oak wood, interspersed with juniper, sumach, and
the Judas tree, at the end of which you reach a plateau
beneath the cliff and cave, from which there is a fine view of

i9o

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

the old town. St. Columban, sitting at the door of his cave,
could thus look down on his old monastery, three or four miles
away, nestling in the rich valley closed in by these mighty
Apennines, and follow the silver windings of the river, which
here is just as serpentine as the Arno is represented by
Botticelli in his picture of the Assumption of the Virgin.
Next day I took two views of
the picturesque bridge of Bobio,
and in the afternoon we drove in
the opposite direction to San Sal
vador, a little village at the foot of
another gloomy mountain gorge.
There we attempted to climb to
the second hermitage mentioned
in the life of Columban, San
Michele. However, we had a stupid
guide who did not. know the way,
and after climbing here and there
for two hours or so, we returned to
the road. Baffled though we were,
we felt the time was not spent in
vain ; the scenery was wonderful,
and though the sky was grey, yet
the wood of oak and chestnut was
so brilliant from the golden and fiery colour of the leaves over
your head that you seemed to walk in a sunset glow. We have
had thunderstorms and heavy rains since, but I have finished a
pencil drawing of the bridge and town, and have also photo
graphed the five bas-reliefs of the tomb of Columban by the
magnesium flashlight.

Fig. 71. — HEALING HAND OF
ST. COLUMBAN.

to

192 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

Bobio, Oct. 20, 1889.
Dear M.,
I am quite in love with the Apennines, and think they
are far more picturesque and more beautiful in colouring, not
only by sunset and sunrise, but at every hour of the day, than I
ever felt the Alps to be. One of the greatest adventures I ever
had in my life was the expedition which I undertook alone, with
an old man for guide, to the site of the oratory or the grotto to
which Columban is said to have retired to die. A church was
founded there afterwards dedicated to St. Michael, but only the
foundations remain, and a portion of a wall built against the face
of the cliff (fig. 73). I photographed this, but when I came to
print the photograph I found that a ray of light had got in
somehow, and there was a dark spot, the size of a shilling, at the
side of the grotto. Was not this provoking ? I wish you could
have seen the fine gorges, the cliffs, the oak and chestnut forests,
the rocky beds of the torrents, through which our brave old
saint had to scramble to reach this last resting-place, and you
would have felt there was something wonderful about it all.
The effect of the autumn colouring in the woods was most
extraordinary ; the trees are generally oak, juniper, chestnut,
and the Judas tree. The oak leaves become perfectly golden
here, while those of the chestnut and Judas tree are simply like
fire — I never saw such a red ; the result is that in the depths
of the wood, even at mid-day, the air seems permeated with an
evening light. Some of the mountain gorges are barren, dark,
and gloomy, and most dangerous walking, so I had to hire a
second guide, a forester that we met on the way up, who half
carried me down the cliffs. At a good height above the plateau
on which the church and cemetery of San Michele stood, I
found the cave in which the saint is said to have slept — another

SAN MICHELE. 193
hole, in fact, like St. Kevin's Bed. As this was on the very face
of the cliff, I could not succeed in photographing it. There was
literally no spot on which I could fix the camera. The whole
day's excursion deserves a more detailed description ; so, at the
risk of appearing to emulate the guide-book style, I must begin
to describe it in detail.
The mountain on which these vestiges of the last retreat of
St. Columban — grotto, cemetery, and church — are to be found, lies
to the south-west of Bobio. A drive of two hours will bring you
to San Salvador. The road from the town running first along the
Trebbia, and crossing to the foot of the hill of Coli, passes over
the bridge of the torrent Coriasca, which rushes forth beneath its
lofty arch and divides into two streams at this point. One of
these empties its waters into the Trebbia at San Salvador, where
the ascent begins. The little church so called, with its picturesque
Lombardic tower, crowns a precipitous rock almost encircled by
the meeting waters of the two torrents. It stands at the entrance
of a narrow gorge finer than any I had yet seen in the Apennines.
The Trebbia, which I had left just before bright and smiling in
the sunny reaches ofthe valley, is here hemmed in by precipices
so dark and lofty as to hide every ray of warmth from its surface,
and its deepened waters take a livid death-like hue, an ice-cold
green, as, in their pent-up passion, they flow with irresistible force
through the dark channels of the chasm. The gloom, though
full of grandeur, is all but over-powering, and it is with a
deep sigh of relief that, as the eye travels up the sublime outlines
of these mountain passes, it rests on the deep purple of their
distant summits and the depths of golden sky behind.
But to return to the object of our pilgrimage, the ruins of San
Michele were reached from this point by the steep and tortuous
path I have already mentioned, and I found a deep grotto of
something the same character as that of the Rupe Cavo on Monte
Pisano, where the overhanging rock had been utilised as a roof
O

 1  "7  IS  ^v»X !- J Af

^\\\\^ vVV- a^

•VjS

!"" •

<^S

Fig- 73. — SAN MICHELE— BU RIAL-PLACE OF ST. COLUMBAN.

CO I.I. 195
by the builders of the oratory. Here, however, there were no
walls left standing, nothing but their foundations, half of which
have fallen with the falling cliff. The cave is six yards long and
eight feet high. From the foundations that remain of the walls
built in front of this cave and penetrating its recesses, we can
calculate that the oratory was four yards and a foot in width by
eight feet in length.
A little further along the cliff we come to the cemetery and
the wall of another oratory built against the face of it. The
cliff in its fall has carried away the greater part ofthe cemetery,
as well as its chapel, but human bones may still be seen project
ing from the face of the bank in various places, and a slab with
an incised cross on the face of it was found among the ruins, the
character of which bears a certain resemblance to the Irish
sepulchral slabs of the seventh and eighth centuries. This slab,
in order to save it from destruction, was removed to the opposite
side of the chasm, where it is now preserved within the precincts
of the church of SS. Vito e Modesto of Coli, a parish on the
mountain facing Bobio on the west. This stone is described in
the "Acts of the Pastoral Visitation" of Monsignor Camillo
Aulario on the 18th of August, 1603, now preserved among the
episcopal archives of Bobio : " On the same day, after the
mid-day meal, he went to visit a place where stood in ancient
times the parish church of St. Michael, called after the cave
of St. Columban. On his way to the said parish church of St.
Michael he first paid a visit to a cross in the marble rock
about six cubits in height, carved, which, as the story goes, is
the cross at which St. Columban used to pay his devotions." l
1 " Eadem die post prandium accessit ad visitandum locum ubi antiquitus
erat ecclesia parrochialis Sancti Michaelis appellata de Spelunca Sancti
Columbani. . . . Eundo ad dictam parrochialem ecclesiam Sancti Michaelis
prius visitavit crucem in petra marmorea altitudinis cubitorum sex in circa
insculptam quae ut dicitur est crux ad quam orationem faciebat Sanctus
Columbanus.."

•t-C^V^A®RA!SE>A
i f4i£A'0fca \rvi'Tq®,<ai
FiVaTERAD-QM
cl^'S't"/iR.ie>i'ir: J
I a- ¦;.-¦;¦¦¦• j '

Fig. 74. — CROSS AT COLI.

COLI. 197
A much defaced and almost illegible inscription runs along
the base of this cross, which P. Remondini reads as follows : —
" rji CRUX ADORANDA
rji (Crucem) MICAELICAM TU QUOQUE
FRATER ADORA
rji HINC DOMNUS
QUIVIS FERE PRECEPIT
ORANDO.
This may be rendered : Adorable Cross, referring to its title.
Then, regardless of errors in prosody, the two following verses
sounding like hexameters signify : ' Brother, do thou also adore
the cross of St. Michael. Every bishop praying from this place
has made this, as it were, his precept to thee.' " That is, May
every bishop and prelate beginning from St. Columban, who
shall worship at this place, take up his cross as if from him.
To prove the correctness of this reading, it should be observed
that at the head of the second line in the sketch the traces of a
cross are visible, which are also apparent in the original. Such a
cross is required for two reasons in this place. One, that it should
correspond with the other lines commencing with a cross which
form the inscription, and the other to take the place of the word
" Cross " — that which is to be the object of adoration. Then it
should be noticed that a group of letters which may be deciphered
as a semigothic E, an L, and an I runs across the mica and CAM.
As to the date of this inscription Remondini asks, Can we
believe that it belongs to the time of St. Columban ? and
answers, Certainly not. The second hexameter precludes the
notion of such a great age. The stone itself with the cross incised
upon it may well be considered as belonging to that early date,
and there is no reason to doubt the tradition which maintains
that it is of this age. But not the inscription. And as Monsignor
Aulario, who saw the stone in 1603, takes no notice of this

1 98 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
inscription, while carefully describing the stone and the cross, we
may conclude that it did not exist in his time, but was added
after the year 1603. Sepulchral slabs of this peculiar form have
been found on other occasions at San Michele and in the bed of
the torrent Coriasca ; but they have not the cross incised upon
the surface. The stone is of the granite belonging to the district.
When I visited the kindly priest who has charge of this stone
at the church of SS. Vito e Modesto at Coli, and had made a
rubbing of the monument with his assistance, I did not forget to
ask him whether he had ever been able to identify the little
flower Erbilia which was said to have sprung up on the bare rock
and footsteps of St. Columban, but he could not enlighten me on
the subject. I then inquired of Mr. F. W. Burbidge in Dublin,
whose learning as a scientific botanist does not preclude a large
sympathy with the poetic legends that have sprung up around
his subject. I am indebted to him for the following memoranda,
which 'may help the devout inhabitants of Coli and Bobio, as
well as future pilgrims to the grave of Columban, to identify this
plant. " The idea that flowers spring up from the footsteps of the
good is a very old one, and we find allusions to it in the writings
of Scott, of Wordsworth, and of Ruskin. Indeed, legends of the
spontaneous growth of flowers and fruit prevail in many parts
of the world. Many such have sprung up in India about the
flowering and seeding bamboos (tree grasses). These plants
only flower once every thirty years, and then do so simul
taneously, which gives an air of mystery to the occurrence, and,
as the seed is nutritious, people have held that they were
miraculously fed when this flowering and seeding took place in
times of famine.
" The seemingly spontaneous production of wild plant-food
during years of scarcity, as in the case of the Pisam maritimum,
is alluded to in the following extract from Gerard's ' Herbal ' : —

THE FLOWER ERBILIA. 199
"I fincle mention in Stowe's Chronicle, in anno 1555, of a certaine
Pulse or Pease, as they term it, wherewith the poore people, at that time
there being a great dearth, were miraculously helped ; he thus mentions
it : In the moneth of August (saith he), in Suffolk, at a place by the
sea side all of hard stone and pibble, called in those parts a shelfe, lying
betweene the townes of Orford and Aldborough, where nether grew
grasse, nor any earth was ever seene ; it chanced in this barren place
suddnely to spring up without any tillage or sowing, great abundance of
Peason, whereof the poore gathered (as men judged) aboue an hundred
quarters, yet remained some ripe and some blossoming, as many as
ever there were before : to the which place rode the Bishop of Norwich
and the Lord Willoughby, with others in great number, who found
nothing but hard rockie stone the space of three yards under the roots
of these Peason : which roots were great and long, and very sweet."
Alphonse De Candolle (of Geneva), in his " Origin of Culti
vated Plants" (English translation, 1884), p. 328, under "Field
Pea — Pisum arvense L.," says : ' Bobio has a legend (a.d. 930 ')
in which it is said that the Italian peasants called a certain seed
herbilia, whence it has been supposed to be the modern rubiglia,
or the Pisum sativum of botanists.2 The species is cultivated in
the East, and as far as the north of India.3 It is of recent
1 Muratori, " Diss.," 24, describes the cultivation of various seeds which
have preserved their ancient names in Italy, and among others, speaking of
the Pisis, he observes : " 1 Modenesi appellano questo legume Rudea, di
cui abbiamo un1 altra specie appellata dai nostri Villani, e dagli Spagnuoli
Arveja, e da' Fiorentini Rubiglia, voce che il Menagio malamente trasse da
Lupino, perche probabilmente viene dall' Ervilla di Varrone. II Monaco di
Bobio, che circa l'anno 930 scriveva i Miracoli di San Colombano presso il
Mabillone ne' Secoli Bened. scrive cosi : Legumen Pis (lego Pisi) quod
Rustici Herbiliam vocant. Da Herbilia venne Rubilia; ei Modenesi ne
formarono Erviglia, poscia Erveja, o Arveja." The habitats of this flower
are also given by Caruel., "Fl. Toscan.," p. 184; Gussone, "Fl. Sic.
Synopsis," ii., p. 279 ; Morio, " Fl. Sardoa," i., p. 577.
' Muratori, "Antiq. Ital.," i., p. 347 5 Diss., 24.
3 Boissier, " Fl. Orient.," ii., p. 623 ; Royle, " 111. Himal.," p. .200. ,

2bo SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
cultivation in the latter country, for there is no Sanskrit name,
and Piddington1 gives only one name in one of the modern
languages." Whatever may be the date of the introduction of its culture,

Fig- 75- — ERBILIA.
the species is undoubtedly wild in Italy, not only in hedges and
near cultivated ground, but also in forests and wild mountainous
districts. Bertolini describes its habitats in Italy, " Habui ex
districtu Veronensi in campis montanis prope vicum."

1 Piddington, " English Index to Plants of India."

DUNGAL AT PAVIA.
Authorities.
Muratori, " Antiq. Ital.," torn, iii., diss. 43, c. 815, 818. Tiraboschi, " Storia
Litt," etc., torn, iii., 1. iii., cap. 1. Martene, "Coll. ampliss.," torn, vi., col. 811.
Colgan, "A.SS.," pp. 256, 257. D'Achery, "Spic," t. x., p. 143. Lanigan,
"Eccl. Hist," vol. iii., p. 256. Healy, J., D.D., "Ireland's Ancient Schools
and Scholars," p. 381.
BEFORE we enter on the ninth century, it may be well to
review the order and sequence in which these Irish saints
appeared in Italy. They came to the front at a crisis in the
intellectual history of Europe of no little moment, when the
consummation was approaching of the final ruin of the ancient
Roman and barbaric world and the formation of a new era.
Beginning in the sixth century, we find that while Frediano was
still working in his school at home, Ireland had sent forth another
missionary of lesser fame, S. Ursus,1 who, passing through Switzer
land, crossed from Coire (Chur), by way of St. Bernard, to the
Val d'Aosta, where he founded the church now dedicated to his
memory. He died circa 550, ten or fifteen years before Frediano
was raised to the bishopric of Lucca. The great Columban
was also born about the time of Frediano's departure from his
native land, and was at the court of King Agilulph on the
occasion of his first visit to Italy, in the year of Frediano's
death. Contemporary with Columban was another pilgrim,
whose original name is forgotten, but who is commemorated as
S. Pellegrinus ;2 he penetrated to the Holy Land, and fasted
forty days in the very desert where his Saviour had been led by
1 S. Ursus, a.d. 500-550. 2 Pellegrinus, a.d. 553 to 643.

202 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
the Spirit to endure the great moral strife and trial of his human
nature. Then returning through Egypt, he sailed thence to
Italy, and landed at Ancona, whence he journeyed to Lucca,
and sought repose among the fastnesses of the mountains in the
district of Garfagnana in the Apennines. He was succeeded by
Cathaldus,1 born in Waterford about the year 618, who also
went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and who, returning by
Taranto, became bishop of that place about the year 680.
He was joined by Donatus his brother, who founded the church
of Lecce in the kingdom of Naples. About twenty years after
his death (circa 720), the aged Bishop Cummian2 came from
Ireland to end his days in the monastery of Bobio, and fifty
years after his death the names of the learned teachers, Clemens
and Albinus, appear in history. They lived in the reign of
Charlemagne, and arrived in France about the year 772. The
story of their first appearance there is told by an old writer of the
ninth century, a monk of St. Gall, and though its authenticity is
questioned by many, it is accepted by Muratori, Ussher, Ozanam,
Mr. Haddan, and Dr. Lanigan, and may be given as follows : —
" When the illustrious Charles began to reign alone in the
west, and literature was everywhere almost forgotten, it
happened that two Scots of Ireland, Clemens and Albinus,
came over with some British merchants to the shores of France.
These Scots were incomparably skilled in human learning and
in the Holy Scripture. As they had not merchandise for sale,
they used to cry out to the crowds flocking to the churches,
' If anyone is desirous of wisdom, let him come to us and
receive it, for we have it to sell.'3 Their reason for saying
that they had it to sell was that, perceiving the people inclined
to deal in saleable articles, and not to take anything gratui
tously, they might rouse them to the acquisition of wisdom
as well as of objects of value ; or, as the sequel showed, that by
speaking in that manner they might excite their wonder and
1 Cathaldus, a.d. 620 to 680.
Cummian, circa 630 to 720.
1 lt is more than probable that the scene of merchandise related above
took place in the atrium of some church in Gaul. The portico of the
church at that period was the place where moneychangers and speciari
pursued their trades. See p. 83, supra, where this custom is described.

DUNGAL AT PAVIA. 203
astonishment. They repeated this declaration so often, that the
fame of their words was spread abroad either by their admirers
or by others who thought them insane, till it reached King
Charles. He being a lover of wisdom, and very desirous of its
attainment, ordered them to be led before him without delay,
and asked them if the report was true that they did really
possess wisdom.
" They answered that it was so, and that they were ready in
the name of the Lord to communicate it to any such as would
seek it worthily. Then the king inquired of them what com
pensation they would expect, and they replied that they required
nothing more than a convenient situation, ingenuous minds, and,
as they were in a foreign country, to be supplied with food and
raiment. Charles, having heard their proposal, was filled with
joy, and kept them with himself for some time. At length,
when he was obliged to depart on a military expedition, he
ordered Clemens to remain in France, confiding to his care a
number of the nobles' children, as well as those of the middle
classes and lower ranks, who by his order were all provided with
food and suitable habitations."
At a subsequent period Albinus was sent as an ambassador
from the court of King Charles to Pope Adrian,1 and when
Charles afterwards took possession of the city of Pavia, he sent
Albinus there, assigning to him the monastery of St. Augustine
in that city, where all who desired instruction might resort to
him for it. This must have been about the year 774.
Nothing is known of his subsequent life except that he is said
to have continued to teach there, and that he died in that city.
Some writings have been attributed to him, which cannot, how
ever, now be recognised.2
1 "Post haec conjunxerunt ad Sedem Apostolicam missi saspius dicti
Caroli Excellentissimi Regis Francorum et Patricii Romanorum, id est,
Georgius Sanctissimus Episcopus, Gulfardus Religiosus Abbas, et con-
siliarius, seu Albinus Deliciosus ipsius Regis, inquirentes si prsefatus
Longobardorum Rex abstultas civitates, et omnes justitias Beati Petri
reddidissit, sicut false in Franciam dirigebat, assisens si omnia reddidisse." —
Anastasius, " Bibl. de Vitis Rom. Pont. ; " Muratori, " Rerum. Ital. Script.,"
torn, iii., pt. 1, p. 184.
- Ware says, speaking of Albinus, " Some of his epistles are extant, and,
as I think, certain rhetorical rules." Hoveden says that Albinus writ against

204 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
These stray pilgrims from the wild shores of their western
island each in his own time had seen Italy pass through
strange convulsions, changes of race, invasions of new religions,
new customs, that all left their impress in after years upon the
arts and religion of Europe. Recovered to the Eastern empire
under the great Justinian, the Lombard invasion in the begin
ning had crushed the spirit of the people. Then the Eastern
empire began to wane under the assaults of the Saracens, and
Italy was finally separated from its sway. The Franks are called
in, and the coronation of Charlemagne in the year 800 marked
the restoration of the empire of the West, which in 476 Zeno had
made one with the empire of the East.
The kingdom of Lombardy had ceased to exist when Charle
magne, entering Italy, besieged King Desiderius in Pavia, and
taking him prisoner, added his kingdom to his own territories in
774. So long as Charlemagne lived, Italy enjoyed a brief season
of stillness. When he died, his vast empire began to fall to
pieces ; each state followed out its separate destiny. His
successor, Louis the Pious, associated his three sons with himself
in the government of the empire, dividing his dominions among
them from time to time, but it was in vain that he strove to
appease their ambition. On his death these sons, who had
perpetually fought and plotted against him, warred the more
fiercely one with another.
The history of literature at such a period naturally possesses
all the interest that belongs to the story of any ardent struggle
against the forces of barbarism.1 " Such were the perils of these
stormy times," writes Ozanam, speaking of the schools of this
period, " that these institutions, however strong, were still unsure
of permanence in teaching. Unrestrained barbarity made ir
ruptions into the church ; bloodthirsty men, evil and simoniacal
priests took possession of the bishoprics and abbeys, closed the
schools, and made use of their revenues for their bands of men
and horses. Evils so great demanded the intervention of the

the Decree of the Second Nicene Council, which established image worship
in 792. Our Albinus died in St. Augustine's monastery at Pavia, says
Nicholas Crusenius ("Monast. Augustin.," par. 2, cap. 13).
1 " Documens inedits."

DUNGAL AT PAVIA. 205
two powers, temporal and spiritual, by which the Christian world
was ruled."1 In 825 the Emperor Lothair, carrying out the idea
of his ancestor Charlemagne, issued an edict, the tenour of which
is as follows : — Edict of Lothair.2
" As regards true teaching, which through the extreme care
lessness and indolence of certain superiors is on all sides shaken
to its very foundations, it has pleased us that all should observe
that which we have established, knowing — That persons charged
by our orders with teaching in those places hereafter indicated,
should throw all their zeal into securing the progress of their
disciples, and should apply themselves to science as the present
necessity demands. However, we have laid out for this exercise
certain places, chosen in such a manner that neither distance nor
poverty may any more serve as an excuse to the people. We
desire then that at Pavia, and under the superintendence of
Dungal, all students should assemble from Milan, Brescia, Lodi,
Bergamo, Novara, Vercelli, Tortona, Acqui, Genoa, Asti, Como."
We have now to learn something more of the history of this
Dungal, who was placed in such a responsible position in the
city of Pavia. Dungal himself informs us that he was an Irish
man in a poem in praise of Charlemagne, which commences :
" These verses the Irish exile sends to King Charles."
But there is no record of the particular place in Ireland from
which he came, neither is it known to what family he belonged.
Dr. Healy, in his work on " The Ancient Schools of Ireland,"
after stating, on the authority of Muratori, that it was Dungal
that presented the psalter of Bangor to Bobio, takes the fact of
his possession of this MS. as an indication that he came from
Bangor, the school that had produced Columban, Gallus, and
Malachy. Lanigan comes to the same conclusion and adds the following
passage in Ware ("Irish Writers," book i., p. 57, Harris, ed.
1 See Appendix VII. F. Ozanam on " Schools of Italy in the Dark Ages."
2 Pertz, "Monum. Germ.," leg. i., 249; Muratori, "Antiq. Italic," t. iii.,
diss. 43. See Appendix VIII.

206 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
1764): "To this may be added a passage out of Erick of
Auxerre, 'that almost all Ireland, with a vast train of
philosophers, removed to France in the ninth century,' driven
away, no doubt, by the cruelties and devastations of the Danes,
who miserably infested Ireland during that period ; and probably
our Dungal was one of the refugees upon the occasion ; and
this is further confirmed by the writer of the life of St. Buo
(Colgan, A.SS.), who in reckoning up those who in this age had
been obliged to forsake their country to avoid the fury of the
Danes, mentions John Erigena and Dungal the Divine as two,
among others, who took shelter in France."
We first hear of Dungal as a recluse in St. Denis in the year
810, when it is said that an extraordinary phenomenon occurred.
The sun was twice eclipsed in one year. Charlemagne asked
Waldo the abbot to desire his Irish monk, Dungal, to write an
explanation of the portent. Dungal's letter on the subject is
exceedingly interesting ; it is entitled, " Epistola Dungali Reclusi,
de duplici solis eclipsi, anni 810, ad Carolum Magnum."1 lt
contains passages which prove that Dungal was well acquainted
with the works of Virgil, Cicero, and other classical authors. He
starts with an explanation of the celestial sphere according to
the Ptolemaic system. He accounts for the eclipses of the sun
and moon by saying that the zodiac, or space through which
the planets revolve, is bounded by two lines, which he takes care
to explain are imaginary. " A third line drawn between them
is called the ecliptic, because when the sun and moon, during
their revolution, happen to be- in the same straight line in the
plane of this ecliptic, an eclipse of one or the other must of
necessity take place ; of the sun, if the moon overtake it in its
course — ei succedat ; of the moon, if, at the time, it should be
opposite to the sun. Wherefore the sun is never eclipsed except
the moon is in its 30th day, and in like manner the moon is never
eclipsed except when it is near its 15th day. For only then it
comes to pass that the moon, when it is full, being in a straight
line with the earth opposite to the sun, receives the shadow of
the earth ; while, in the other case, when the moon overtakes the
sun, or is in conjunction, it deprives the earth of the sun's light
1 See D'Achery, " Spic.,'' torn, x., p. 143.

DUNGAL AT PAVIA. 207
by its interposition. Therefore, when the sun is eclipsed, the sun
itself suffers nothing, only we are robbed of its light ; but the
moon suffers a real loss by not receiving the sun's light, through
which it is enabled to dispel our darkness." 1
"After the writing of this epistle," says Dr. Healy,2 "we lose
sight of Dungal for several years. Charlemagne died in 814,
and was succeeded by his son, Louis the Pious, and on the 31st
July, 817, Louis associated with himself his son Lothair in
the imperial government. Lothair, young and energetic, was
crowned King of Lombardy in 821, and in the next year pro
ceeded to put his kingdom in order. The warlike Lombards,
though conquered by Charlemagne, and kept in restraint by his
strong arm, were a restless and turbulent people. Lothair,
trusting in the power of education and religion, induced Dungal
and Claudius of Turin, as well as several other scholars of the
imperial court or the famous Palace school, to accompany him
to Italy. Claudius, a Spaniard by birth, was made Bishop of
Turin, and Dungal the Irishman was placed at the head of the
school at Pavia."
At the close of the eighth century the war with the Icono
clasts had spread from Constantinople to Italy ; this was some
years before Dungal was established at Pavia, but as in the year
825 he took an active part in the contest, we must retrace our
steps, and say a few words here on the history of this movement.
About the year 790, Pope Hadrian is said to have sent to
Charlemagne a Latin translation of the Acts of the Synod at
Nice, held in 787, written originally in Greek, of which Charle
magne's copy was an inaccurate translation.3 At this synod the
Council accepted the teaching propounded by Hadrian I. in
1 " Ireland's Ancient Schools," J. Healy, D.D., p. 384.
2 Op. cit., p. 384.
3 The Latin translation of the Acts of the Synod at Nice appears to have
been imperfect. Anastasius, the Roman librarian, declares that the trans
lator knew very little of the genius either of the Greek or of the Latin
language. The learned men summoned by Charlemagne, at whose head
was Alcuin, found in this translation many things to censure in which they
were right, and many other things they censured in which they were clearly
wrong. The result of their labours in the matter is contained in the famous
Caroline Books. They were published under the name of Charles himself,
but Alcuin is generally regarded as the real author.

208 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
his letter 'to the Empress Irene. On the arrival of this letter,
Charles summoned his royal theologians about him, and
Theophylact and Stephen, two bishops of great note, held a
synod of Frank and German bishops at Frankfort in the year
794, " wherein," says Platina, " that which the Greeks called
the Seventh Synod, and the Felician heresy touching the
destruction of images, was condemned. Three hundred
bishops of the Frankish empire are said to have assembled
here." Charlemagne presided in person on this occasion.
The synod met in the great hall of the imperial palace. The
emperor was on his throne, the bishops were seated round in a
circle, an immense throng of priests, deacons, and clerics filled
the hall. Rising up from his seat, Charles advanced, and,
standing on the step of his throne, spoke mainly on the heresy
of the Adoptionists, but referred also to the errors he believed
to exist in the Acts of the Nicene Council, as he understood them
in the garbled version of the Greek original with which he had
been furnished. The result was that, after ten days' discussion,
the prelates of Frankfort censured the decisions of the Council
of Nice as regards the honour due to sacred images, attributing
to the Nicene fathers errors which they never taught. The
Frankish theologians admitted that the images of the saints
may be retained for adorning churches and as memorials of the
past, though it was not lawful to worship them even with such
veneration as is paid to men. Pope Hadrian died on Christmas
day, 795, and the controversy concerning image worship seems
to have been lulled for some years in the west. It broke out
again in 824, when the Greek emperor, Michael the Stammerer,
sent an embassy bearing letters and presents to Rouen, where
Lothair then held his court. Michael in his letters, complaining
of the excesses of the image worshippers at Constantinople,
sued for assistance from Lothair, and begged him to use his
influence with the Pope. Lothair, resolved to aid in the good
work of reconciling the extreme parties in the east, wrote to
Pope Eugenius II. to that effect, and asked permission to
appoint a conference of prelates of his empire to examine the
question thoroughly. The Pope apparently consented to this
course, and the conference met at Paris on the ist November, 825.
The members of this conference appear to have introduced

DUNGAL AT PAVIA. 209
fresh misunderstandings and new elements of discord into the
controversy. They based their observations on mistranslations
of Hadrian's letter to Constantine and Irene, and misrepresenta
tions of the teaching of the Council of Nice. They misquote
St. Augustine, and claim his authority against image worship,
adding that nothing made by the hand of man is to be
worshipped or adored.
The Emperor Lothair, on receiving the documents from the
Frankish prelates by the hands of their deputies, Halitgar and
Amalarius, pronounced that their letter to the Pope contained
some things that were superfluous and more that were imper
tinent. And then he commissioned Jeremias of Sens and Jonas
of Orleans to make extracts of the least objectionable portions
of the documents, and he himself wrote a respectful letter to the
Pope, urging him to send ambassadors to the Greek court, adding
that he might send with them the two bishops who bore the
report of the Paris conference to his holiness, and that thus he
might be instrumental in restoring peace to the churches in the
east. The Pope so far complied with the request of Lothair as to
send an embassy to Constantinople, and just at this crisis
Dungal appeared upon the scene. He had then been for some
years in Italy. The Spaniard Claudius, once in high favour
at the Frankish court, was in secret the follower of Felix,
Bishop of Urgel in Spain, and one of the leaders of the Adop-
tionist heretics ; and, besides this heresy, he also was infected
with the most extreme form of Iconoclasm.
This man had been appointed to the see of Turin by Louis
the Pious (a.d. 816), and when once established there had thrown
off his mask. Entering the cathedral, he took away the crosses,
tore down the holy paintings on the walls, broke the images
of the saints, and denounced their worship or that of their
relics ; while also condemning the custom of pilgrimages to
Rome and other holy places. About 824, his friend, Abbot
Theodemir, wrote a remonstrance to Claudius, adjuring him by
their former friendship to discontinue his wild course, reminding
him how unworthy it was of a Christian bishop to dishonour the
saints of God, to insult the cross of Christ and the images of
his saints and martyrs. But this gentle remonstrance of the
P

210 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
good abbot only drew forth a furious reply in the form of a
letter from Claudius, entitled, " Apologeticum atque Rescriptum
Claudii Episcopi adversus Theutmirum Abbatem," in which he
inveighed against any veneration whatever of images or of the
cross, and against the invocation of saints and the celebration
of their festivals.
This was the work that called forth the treatise of Dungal
against Claudius, entitled, " Dungali Responsa contra Perversas
Claudii Taurinensis Episcopi Sententias," much the most im
portant work of the writer.1 It was composed some years after
the question had been carefully discussed by the light of the
works of the fathers of the Church. The French prelates stood
aloof; Agobard of Lyons even sided with Claudius, and the
teacher educated in Ireland took the field alone against the
mistake of the Frankish theologians.
Dungal accuses Claudius of impiously teaching that Chris
tians are as much idolaters as the Gentiles who worship idols
through the instigation of the devil, and shows how false an
accusation this is to bring against men who, seeing the saints to
be loved and honoured by God, paint images of them and of
Jesus- Christ, thereby showing their love and reverence for the
Saviour and Redeemer of the world and His elect.
Dungal commences by quoting a passage from his opponent's
work. He selects three propositions of his adversary, and
points them out as forming the foundation of his false dogma :
that we ought not to have images, or to render worship to the
cross, or to honour the relics of the saints — Claudius even con
demning pilgrimages to their tombs. Dungal refutes these
errors with firmness, not so much by reasons and argument, as
by the authority of the fathers both Greek and Latin, whom he
brings forward to show that the tradition and practice of the
Church have always been in an opposite direction. The first
authority he quotes is that of the Council of Paris ; he lays
particular stress on the evidence of the Christian poets, from
1 Muratori observes of this work, that it proves Dungal to have been a
man of wide culture : " Accomplished, too, in sacred literature, and at the
same time thoroughly trained in grammatical laws and in the elegancies of
style, as will readily appear to anyone who reads him." See Lanigan, vol.
iii., ch. 20.

DUNGAL AT PAVIA. 211
whose writings he gives extracts, namely, Prudentius, S.
Paulinus of Nola, and Fortunatus of Poictiers. It is through
these quotations that posterity has been made acquainted with
the several poems by Paulinus, and the little episode of S.
Satyr, brother of S. Ambrogio of Milan, of whom there was
no previous knowledge ; and he maintains that Claudius, by
denying that saints ought to be honoured, has renewed the
errors of Eunomius and Vigilantius. Then, coming to the
veneration of the cross, he says that Christians, imitating the
apostles, placed their glory in it ; that our Saviour did not
intend that His passion should be concealed from the faithful
as ignominious, but that the memory of it should be constantly
cherished, and he brings forward many authorities proving that
at all times of the Church the cross has been honoured. As to
the invocation of saints, he observes that if the apostles and
martyrs could, while in this world, pray efficaciously for others,
how much more so can they do it after their crowns and
victories and triumphs ? He opposes to Claudius several
passages of the fathers in support of his position.1
Dungal concludes his essay by saying that the true chil
dren of the Church are well justified in their reverence for the
cross, and holy images and relics of the saints, and the fitting
honour in which they held them, without sacrificing to them or
offering to them one tittle of the worship due to God alone.
Hence we see that Dungal wished that images might be held
in the same veneration that the Gallican Church had shown to
the cross and relics of the saints. Such was also the feeling of
Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, and Walafrid Strabo in the
same, century. Finally, Dungal observes that it is said in the
Book of Kings, "And it came to pass, as they were burying a
certain man, behold they spied a band of men, and they cast
the man into the sepulchre of Elisha, and when the man was
let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood
up on his feet." 2 " Therefore," says Dungal, "most certain and
plain it is that the sacred paintings, the holy cross of God, and
the remains of God's elect, ought to be venerated with suitable
honours by the Catholics and orthodox. Not that, in sacrificing
' See Migne, " Latin Patrol.," vol. cv., p. 527. ' 2 Kings xiii. 21.

212 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
to them, the divine honours and the reverence due to the only
God, Creator of all things, is to be paid to them, but that the
emblems and holy vessels should each of them be venerated by
all the faithful and religious, to His love, honour, praise, and
glory." Then he asks, how can Claudius, as a bishop hating
the cross of God, destroying, injuring, and insulting the offices
of the Church, practise baptism, bless the holy chrism, give the
benediction, or how can he consecrate, or celebrate mass, with
out the use of that saving sign, wanting which these holy
offices and religious observances cannot be decently fulfilled ?
As St. Augustine says, in his exposition of the Gospel of St.
John, " What is it that all recognize as the sign of Christ but
the cross of Christ, or what symbol except this is used on the
foreheads of the believing, or on the water by which they are
regenerated, or on the oil by which they are anointed, or on the
sacrifice by which they are strengthened ? " " How can he be
held a Christian, I ask, who opposes and hates these practices
of the Catholic church, and who is opposed to the commemora
tion or mention of the saints, and who refuses to celebrate
their anniversaries, as if he held them to be empty observances
and useless customs. As Claudius forbids Christians to
light torches or wax tapers in the churches during the day,
and in praying to turn their eyes to the ground as if God
were not everywhere, and this were not a sign of humility
and devotion. As it is written in the Gospel concerning the
publican, he would not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven ;
also Stephen, praying for those who stoned him, kneeled on the
ground ; also Paul is described as having prayed, lying pros
trate on the ground. Through his perversity Claudius refused
to go up to the convention of the bishops, calling their synod a
congregation of asses. But the members of the congregation
had been too patient ; they ought not to have passed over these
things so long, or to have spared such an injurious man, nor
submitted to such a deadly pest, who, as the apostle says, pleases
not G°d, and is an enemy of all men. But I, moved by his
scorn of the divine cross, and greatly stirred up with zeal, cannot
turn a deaf ear to his blasphemy towards the saints, since
contempt of them is injury to Christ, who hath said, ' He that
despiseth you despiseth Me.' "

DUNGAL AT PAVIA. 213
The numerous quotations from Greek and Latin poets which
occur in this treatise on Iconoclasm, as well as in Dungal's epistle
to Charlemagne on the solar eclipses, show that he had a strong
love for poetry. Mabillon discovered some acrostic verses in a
MS. preserved at St. Remi, which, though written under a feigned
name, he believed to be the work of Dungal. Many other short
poems have been attributed to him, which are published by Dom
Martene and Dom Durand in 1729, in the sixth volume of their
collection.1 What adds weight to this conjecture is, that almost
all these pieces were written at St. Denis in the time of Charle
magne, and that in some of them the poet speaks of himself as
an Irish stranger. He does this especially in the first piece,
which is the longest as well as the most beautiful of all. This
is a poem in heroic verse in praise of Charlemagne, in which
the poet pauses to offer a prayer for the prince, and offers a
eulogy on poetry in general. The work, which is not complete,
concludes with a description of the war made by Charlemagne
on Duke Tassilo, and the pardon granted to him after his
subjection. Only two events in the life of the prince are de
scribed, but the poem was originally intended to extend to
greater limits. The following prose translation of the opening
lines of this poem may be read with interest.
Dungal to Charlemagne.2
" These verses the Irish exile sends to King Charles.
" While the great men of the world do honour to the king by
bringing large and weighty gifts of glittering silver and gold,
multitudes of precious stones set in sacred shrines of metal.
shining garments and purple robes embroidered in gold, tawny
steeds who foam beneath the restraining bridle, whose lofty
necks are laden with trappings of barbaric gold. While such
tributes are yearly paid to the great King Charles, the Irish
exile sendeth verses.
" Now tell me, O muse ! What gifts shall we in like manner
1 "Versus de Carolo Magno et aliis ex MS. reginas Suecias eruit Mabil-
lonius." — " Veterum Scriptorum Collectio," ed. Martene et Durand, 1729.
2 " Hos Carolo regi versus Hibernicus exsul." — Martene, etc., vol. vi., p. 81 1.

214 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
bring, lest we should appear to serve the king in vain ? What
offering can we give to so great and excellent a father ? Let us
even now sing songs with wide-resounding voice. Let us utter
loud praises from our hearts to our beloved king, and let the
whole world resound with our songs of joy. . . . But do you ask
of what avail are the verses of our song ? Ah, my friend ! dost
thou not know the names of the Muses, or can it be that scorn
fully thou despisest their gifts ? . . . Tell me now, thou greatest
mother of old poets, what spaces of time shall limit our praise of
thee ? While the starry worlds revolve in their loftiest orbits,
while the darkest night is dispelled by their clear radiance, while
the gleaming Phosphor rises from the dark depths, while the swift
wind lashes the swelling waves, while rivers rush in foaming
torrents to the sea, and mountains touch the clouds with their
threatening summits, and lowly valleys lie in dewy places
beneath the rugged summits of high hills, so long will be heard
throughout the ages, the everlasting names of the Muses by
whom the glorious deeds of kings are celebrated."
When Dungal wrote his treatise against Claudius he was
living in the north of Italy, as master of the great public school
established at Pavia by Lothair I., with jurisdiction over
all the other subordinate schools which this prince founded in
the different cities of Italy. He may have spent his closing
years in the Irish monastery of Bobio, to which he bequeathed
his library.
" There is every reason to think," writes Dr. Healy (op. cit.,
p. 392), "that Dungal was buried in the crypts of Bobio. He
sleeps well with the friendly saints of Erin ; and we earnestly
join in his own humble prayer, that he may live for ever with
those saints in heaven, even as their dust has long commingled
in their far-off graves under the shadows of the Apennines.
"Te precor, Omnipotens quadrati conditor orbis,
Dungalus ut vigeat miles ubique tuus,
Sidereum ut valeat rite comprendere Olympum,
Cum Sanctis vitam participare queat." x
Dungal is greatly praised by Muratori, Mabillon, Bellarmine,
1 Muratori, Dissert. 43, p. 19 ; " Classici Italiani," vol. 365.

DUNGAL AT PAVIA. 215
and others, for his learning, and he was valued both in France
and Italy for his varied attainments. Muratori writes, " Dun
gal carried into Italy the Scotic love of learning, and I was the
first to observe that Dungal presented fine copies of books to
the very ancient monastery of St. Columban of Bobio, whence
copies of these were spread throughout other parts of Italy.
The unpublished poems of S. Paolino, that I when a youth
brought to light, come from a great codex that belonged to this
same Dungal. In connection with this, I have published in the
present dissertation a very old catalogue ] (injured in some
places) of the principal codices which once formed the great
ornament of the library of Bobio, but which time has scattered
elsewhere." Muratori adds that in one of the MSS. in Dungal's collection
bequeathed to Bobio are inscribed these words : —
" Sancte Columba, tibi Scotto tuus incola Dungal
Tradidit hunc librum, quo fratrum corda beentur.
Qui legis ergo Deus pretium sit muneris, oro."
" Holy Columban, to you a Scot your fellow-countryman
Dungal gave over this book, by which may the hearts of the
brethren be blessed. Thou therefore who readest this, I pray
that God may be the reward of thy task." (See Appendix IX.)

Antiphonary of Bangor.
The last book but two upon this list given by Muratori
is the Psalterium,2 or, as it was named by Muratori, the Anti
phonary of Bangor, a book of hymns compiled expressly for
the use of the community of Bangor in the county Down. It
is written in Latin, but contains the strongest internal evidence
of its Irish origin. The MS. remained 800 years in the library
of Bobio, until it was removed to Milan by Cardinal Frederic
Borromeo when he founded the Ambrosian Library there, and
now it is to be seen in that collection. It contains : —

1 " Antiq. Ital. Dissert," torn, iii., col. 821.
2 See paper on the Antiphonary of Bangor, by Rev. W. Reeves, in " Ulster
Journal of Archaeology," vol. i., p. 169.

216 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
I. Hymn of St. Hilary on Christ ; a metrical summary of our
Saviour's life, designed for the service of Nocturns.
2. Hymn of the Apostles, chiefly commemorative of the Re
demption.
3. Three short Canticles.
4. Hymn on the Lord's Day — the Te Deum.
5. Hymn when the Priests communicate.
6. Hymn when the wax-light is blessed.
7. Hymn for Midnight.
8. Hymn on Birthday of the Martyrs, or on Saturday at Matins.
9. Hymn at Matins on the Lord's Day — on the Incarnation.
10. Hymn of Sechnall in praise of St. Patrick,
11. Hymn of St. Comgall our Abbot.
12. Hymn of St. Camelac.
13. Collects for the Canonical Hours.
14. Creed — Lord's Prayer.
15. Fifty-one occasional Prayers.
16. Versicles ofthe Family of Benchor.
17. Sixteen occasional Anthems.
18. Commemoration of our Abbots.
The fifth hymn on this list, " Sancti venite, Christi corpus
sumete," as translated by Dr. Neale, has been adopted in the
" Hymns Ancient and Modern " of the English Church.
Draw nigh and take the Body of the Lord,
And drink the holy Blood for you outpoured.
Saved by that Body and that holy Blood,
With souls refreshed, we render thanks to God.
Salvation's Giver, Christ the Only Son,
By His dear Cross and Blood the victory won,
Offered was He for greatest and for least,
Himself the Victim, and Himself the Priest.
Victims were offered by the law of old,
Which in a type this heavenly mystery told.
He Ransomer from death, and Light from shade,
Now gives His holy grace His saints to aid.

DUNGAL AT PAVLA. 217
Approach ye then with faithful hearts sincere,
And take the safeguard of salvation here.
He that His saints in this world rules and shields,
To all believers life eternal yields ;
With heavenly bread makes them that hunger whole,
Gives living water to the thirsting soul.
Alpha and Omega, to whom shall bow
All nations at the Doom, is with us now.1
This hymn, or, as Dr. Moran calls it, " this golden fragment
of our Irish liturgy," dates from the seventh century, and the
legend of its origin is too poetic to be passed over unnoticed.
" On a certain occasion, while St. Sechnall was offering the holy
sacrifice, St. Patrick went to visit him ; and it was when Sechnall
had finished the mass except taking the body of Christ, that he
heard that Patrick had arrived at the place ; " leaving the altar
he prostrated himself at the feet of St. Patrick, and when both
subsequently approached the church, " they heard a choir of
angels chanting a hymn at the offertory in the church, and what
they chanted was the hymn whose beginning is ' Sancti venite,
Christi corpus,' etc., so that from that time to the present that
hymn is chanted in Erin when the body of Christ is received." 2
The martyrologist of Donegal states that St. Patrick erected a
church at the place where Secundinus used to pray alone under
a leafy tree, and that the sign of the cross is in that place at the
well of Mucna in Connaught. And this Sechnall was from
Lombardy ; his mother was the sister of Patrick, and his father
Restitutus Secundinus. This Sechnall also "chanted a song, a
noble solace, in praise of Patrick of Armagh."3
1 The hymnologist Daniel, in his "Thesaurus," vol. iv., p. 109, has given
this hymn, and remarks that there exists a great affinity between the hymn
" Sancti venite" and an antiphon used in the early church of Gaul during the
Paschal Communion, from which he gives this extract : " Venite populi ad
sacrum et immortale mysterium .... quoniam propter nos agnus Dei
Patri sacrificium propositum est." See St. Gregory of Tours, in his treatise
"De Miracul. S. Martini," ii., 13.
2 See "Tripartite Life of St. Patrick," vol. ii., Rolls Series.
3 " Mart. Oengus," Nov. 27.

LETTER FROM PAVIA.
Pavia.
Dear Friend,
SINCE I came to Pavia I have been most unsuccessful in my
search for any memorials of our countryman Dungal. I
suspect that there are none to be found. He was not a saint, or
bishop, or founder of churches, but only a learned monk to
whom no shrine was dedicated, and all traces of whose memory
have disappeared from the city in which he laboured. Not
trusting to my own imperfect knowledge, I was enabled through
the kindness of Dr. Ceriani of Milan to communicate with a
learned archaeologist of Pavia, P. Francesco Maganij, whose
answer on hearing of my quest was rather unsatisfactory. " If,"
he writes to Dr. Ceriani, "your friend is coming to Italy for
amusement, she may come to Pavia, where she will find many
things to admire, but, if Dungal is her object, she may spare
herself the trouble and expense. Except the usual allusions in
the histories of Pavia, and especially those of the University, as
Galli, Villa, Come, there is no pamphlet that speaks of this ex-
professor. " His name appeared upon the scene a few years ago on the
occasion of the meeting of the Congress of Agriculture in this
city, when an historical report of the Pavian Athenaeum was
prepared by certain professors who took the chair, but nothing
particular was disclosed about him except the fact that in the

Fig. 76. — TOMB OF ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, PAVIA.

220 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
time of Charlemagne and Lothair Dungal was named master
in grammar.
"This fact concerning his life rests only upon the capitolare
Otonese of Lothair, 825, ' Primum in Papia conveniunt ad
Dungalum de Mediolano, etc'
" There is no doubt that there was such a master here — no
one disputes it — but little remains of him, as you know better
than I do."
Although my visit to Pavia was so far fruitless, yet I found
the old city full of charm and interest. The river Ticino, which
gave the ancient name Ticinum to Pavia, seems at this point of
its course as if it could hardly be the same torrent I had seen
the day before bursting wildly through its rocky barriers in
the defiles of St. Gothard. Here it expands in all the calm
and majesty of middle age, its slow and stately motion
scarcely perceptible, while its fair bosom reflects the blue
Italian sky as in a mirror. What picturesque groups of
peasant women washing on its gravelly banks I saw as I walked
by its side, from its covered bridge, with its six irregular
arches, round to the station at Porto Borgorato ! Yet the
country in the midst of which Pavia stands is flat and might
be called uninteresting. It did not seem so to Petrarch, who,
writing to Boccaccio, says : " Bella quant' altra mai e la postura
di Pavia ! Nel bel messo dei Liguri (cioe della Gallia Cisalpina)
e collocato questa citta che tanto poco sisolleva sul piano quanto
basta a poterlo avere soggetto, e distendendosi sul pendio d'un
colle leggiermenti inchinato, solleva al cielo le frequenti sue torri
tutt' intorno cosi libero e vasto avente il prospetto che piu grande
e piu bello io non credo averne possa alcun' altra situata in
pianura." To Petrarch (whose house is shown near the Mala-
spina Palace) Pavia was " citta saluberrima e sollazzevole quant'
altre mai." Among the towers described in this passage — and
Pavia is still called the city of ico towers — stood the beautiful

# # #

Figs. 77, 78. — TOMB OF ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, PAVIA.

222 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Torre di Boezio, adorned with terra-cotta statues, which was
said to be built on the site of the tower in which Theodoric
imprisoned the noble-minded Boethius, whose great work, " The
Consolations of Philosophy," was written in the time of his
incarceration. His bones now lie in the cathedral here, where
the bones of St. Augustine of Hippo also are preserved, to
which place they were removed in 799. A marvellously
beautiful marble shrine was raised above them in the year 1362
by a certain Bonino da Campione. One might spend days
studying this monument, every figure in which is a perfect work
of art in its way. The twelve apostles and the sacred and
cardinal virtues stand around the sarcophagus, at the top of
which is the recumbent statue of the saint as he sleeps in death.
A canopy rises above him, on the vault of which the vision of
Paradise that may have visited his dying eyes is sculptured with
marvellous delicacy and feeling. His Saviour and the blessed
Mother, and all the company of heaven, thrones, dominations,
principalities and powers, angels and archangels, are there por
trayed. (See Appendix X.) This tomb was brought from its
original resting-place in the basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro
along with the relics of Boethius. " That saintly soul that shows
The world's deceitfulness, to all who hear him,
Is, with the sight of all the good that is,
Blest there. — The limbs whence it was driven, lie
Down in Ciel d'Oro ; and from martyrdom
An exile came it here." '
Few cities have sent forth a greater number of enlightened
men than Pavia, whether in theology, jurisprudence, literature,
or medicine. And their influence extended to England. Lan-
franc, Archbishop of Canterbury, was born here, and commenced
his career as an advocate in the law courts of Pavia. A son of
1 Dante, "Paradiso," canto x., 124.

PA VIA.

223

Edward III. of England was entombed in the same church, S.
Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, that had received the bones of St. Augustine
and Boethius. The ancient monastery of the Augustinians stands
to the right of this church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro. This
monastery should be of interest to an Irish traveller, since

Fig- 79- — S. PIETRO IN CIEL D'ORO, PAVIA.

Albinus was placed by Charlemagne at the head of the school
here after he had returned from his embassy to Pope Hadrian.
The original dedication appears to have been to St. Peter, but,
when Albinus got the grant, the name had been changed to that
of St. Augustine in consequence of the translation of the bones

224

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

of the saint by King Liutprand. In the present day the church
is again called San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro. (See Appendix XI.)
The remains of art of the seventh and eighth centuries in
Pavia are singularly rare. Portions of sculptured sarcophagi,
now lying in the courts of the Palazzo Malaspina, were carved
by Lombardic or Byzantine sculptors, who may have been
known to Dungal, Albinus, or Cummian. Indeed, there is one
slab there which we may well believe was carved by the same
hand that wrought the tomb of Cummian for King Liutprand.
This slab was the front of the sarcophagus of Teodata, the victim

Fig. 80. — TOMB OF TEODATA, PAVIA.

of the passion of King Cunibert, who died a nun in 720.1 (See
Appendix XII.) This Cunibert was the subject of a poem written
some twenty years before by Magister Stefanus, which is one of
the few contemporary sources of history we have at this period.2
In the art of these monuments we may trace a strong affinity
to that of Cividale in Friuli.3 A border composed of circles
intertwined with much elegance, larger and small by turns,
enclosing rosettes, vines, and vine leaves, treated with delicacy
and skill, forms a cornice to the subjects represented on the face
1 Muratori, " Annali dTtalia." 2 Ugo Balzani, p. 65.
3 See R. Cattaneo, " L'Architettura in Italia," pp. 84, 85.

PA VIA.

225

of the sarcophagus. In one compartment two rude peacocks
may be seen drinking from a vase in the midst of roses, lilies,
and knot-work; two griffins are seated one at each side of a
fantastic tree, like those on the panel of Sigualdo in the
baptistery of Cividale. A lamb bearing a cross is at one end

Fig. 8l. — STA. MARIA FORIS PORTAM, NOW DELLE CACCIE.
EIGHTH CENTURY.

A portion of one building of the eighth century is still
standing at Pavia. It is a brick wall and archway in the side
wall of Sta. Maria foris Portam — now Delle Caccie — and was
portion of a basilica erected by Epifania, daughter of King
Q

226 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Ratchis (744-749). It is interesting to note this carefully,
because no new forms are perceivable here, and it is an addi
tional proof confirming the views of Cattaneo that such was the
Byzantine style from the sixth century, and such buildings were
the work of Greek hands. The blind arcades running along the
external walls of the side aisles corresponding to the internal
arcades, precisely resemble those of the Duomo of Grado and of
S. Apollinare in Classe at Ravenna, and other churches of the
fifth and sixth century in that city and in Greece.
The University, which is still the chief glory of Pavia, seems
to have been planned by Charlemagne, and to have grown into
existence after the edict of Lothair, when Dungal was placed at
the head of the schools of the north of Italy, affiliated with it in
825. The present building dates from the time of the Visconti,
but it was completed by Sforza, and afterwards enlarged and
beautified by Maria Theresa and her successors, Joseph II. and
Francis I. The courts, porticoes, and galleries are filled with a
series of monumental stones, which record the memory of great
men who have studied in this Lombardic Athenaeum, among
whom stands foremost the great Christopher Columbus, who
passed some time at Pavia about 1450, that he might learn
astrology, cosmography, and other sciences, whereby he was
inspired with the idea of the existence of the new world.
But I think nothing that I saw in Pavia at all delighted me
in the same degree as the mutilated painting by Borgognone,
which is now preserved in the Institute of Fine Arts.

DONATUS, BISHOP OF FIESOLE.
Oct. 22, a.d. 824-874.
Born circa 800.
ANDREW, ARCHDEACON OF S. MARTINO A
MENSOLA.
Aug. 22, a.d. 827-875.
BRIGID, PATRONESS OF S. MARTINO A LO BACO.
Feb. 1, a.d. 875-885.
Authorities.
"Vita di S. Donato di Scozia," del M. F. da Cattani da Diacceto.
Colgan, "A.SS. Hib.," p. 238. Ughelli, "Italia Sacra," torn, iii., col. 312.
" St. Andrew, Notes on the Life of," by Constantine Caiatano, " A.SS.
Hib. Boll.," Aug. 22. Rev. J. O'Hanlon, " Lives of Irish Saints," vol. viii.
St. Brigid, "AA.SS. Boll.," Feb. 1. Colgan, "A.SS. Hib." Rev.
J. O'Hanlon, ib., vol. ii., p. 236.
THE name of Donatus of Scotia stands high in ecclesiastical
dignity as that of one among the early prelates who
worthily occupied the chair of Fiesole, and Monsignore
Francesco da Cattani da Diacceto, Florentine gentleman and
Bishop of Fiesole, has thus recorded his merits ' : —
" He whose duty it is to guide the young in the way of good
works and good actions may well follow the holy footsteps of
that most perfect youth Donatus. In him wisdom and learning
grew with increase of years, and his memory was stored with all
1 "Vita di S. Donato," p. 101.

228 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
things most worthy. In the government of the flock committed
to him, he was diligent as Moses, faithful as Abraham, chaste as
Joseph, just as Phineas, courageous in battle as David, and
following our Saviour Christ in love and charity.
" He was born in the kingdom of Scotia, of noble parents,
sprung from a long line of ancestors, all true to that faith which
shone forth in Donatus from his earliest years. To this he
added learning, so that he surpassed all his contemporaries, not
less in intellect than in devotion, while he shunned the company
of wicked men and such as loved vain things, even as the psalmist
saith, ' I have hated the congregation of evil-doers, and will not
sit with the wicked.'
" As the boy grew in wisdom and learning, the memory of his
sayings was preserved, even as the pure Virgin preserved the
sacred utterances of her Son, as it is written, ' His mother kept
all these sayings in her heart' He went forth teaching and
directing all who heard his words, thus shedding abroad the
light of that knowledge which had been vouchsafed to him, and
it was said of him, ' Yea, he loved the people ; all the saints are
in his hand ; and they sat down at his feet ; everyone shall
receive his words.' m
The subject of this eulogy was born about the year 774 in
Ireland, during the reign of Aedh Ornidhe. Many incidental
circumstances have given rise to the belief that he was educated
at the school of Iniscaltra — Holy Island on Lough Derg. A
long metrical life of St. Brigid of Kildare was found in an
ancient manuscript in the library of Monte Cassino. The
prologue to this poem was written by Donatus of Fiesole, and
the poem itself is the work of the writer Caolan, who calls
himself a monk of Iniscaltra. There are also certain allusions
to Iniscaltra in the body of the poem itself, which suggest that
the writer was familiar with this place. " Thus the poet speaks
of the wide water of the river Shannon, in which is Keltra with
its company of wise men living under the rule of Benedict."
Mention is made of this monastery in A.D. 548, where it is said
in the " Annals of Ulster " and of the " Four Masters " — " Colum
of Iniscaltra died " ; but the oldest church now on the island is
1 Deut. xxxiii., 3.

ho

230 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
dedicated to St. Caimin, half-brother of Guaire Aidhne, who
died in the year 662. He was of the race of Cathair mor of
Leinster, and sought an anchorite's life on this island. He
lived there in his solitary cell until the fame of his sanctity
attracted crowds of disciples, for whom he erected a noble
monastery, which became afterwards famous for the multitude
of saints resting there. Some leaves of a psalter, with marginal
glosses which in Ussher's day were commonly believed to have
been written by St. Caimin, were long preserved in St. Isidore's
in Rome, and are now in the Franciscan collection in Dublin.
The annalists give the names of five abbots and one ancho
rite of Iniscaltra. This anchorite, who is called Coscraich,
died in 898. A very remarkable group of ruins may still be
seen on the island. The church of St. Caimin, with its fine
round tower, forms the subject of the landscape from which the
accompanying engraving is taken. It is an early example of
the Irish Romanesque style.
Among the other remains of the monastery which still exist,
is the base of a cross sunk in the ground north-east of a piece of
old wall, part of a small chapel, which is called the church of
the slain men. There are, besides, two other churches and
several sculptured stones without letters, while six stones bearing
Irish inscriptions have been found here.
It happened at the time when Donatus was a teacher in
Ireland, that there lived in the same country a noble virgin
named Brigid, and her brother Andrew, a comely and gallant
youth. Andrew was the elder of the two, and her constant
guide and counsellor. It was their custom from earliest
childhood, when they walked out together on their way to
school, as they passed the church door, to pause and enter
reverently and pray, which service they also repeated at every
hour that they could save from sleep. Nor were there any
poor or miserable that did not leave the house of Andrew com
forted, so deeply was love to the unhappy rooted in his heart ;
his parents meanwhile were careful that he should be taught the
art of riding, as befitted his high rank. As time passed on, a
rumour reached the ear of brother and sister that a great
teacher, named Donatus, had arrived from many miles distant,
who could still further instruct them in divine philosophy, and

DONATUS IN IRELAND. 231
Donatus having already heard ofthe great promise of this youth
Andrew, took him to his school, and soon came to love him as a
son. The kindly greeting with which he was received caused
Andrew more satisfaction to his heart than he could express,
and an old Latin writer has said of these two holy men : " The
greatest happiness of Donatus was the instruction of Andrew ;
the greatest enjoyment of Andrew was in obedience to Donatus."
One day, as they were both standing at the gate outside the
city (cashel) walls, discoursing, as was their wont, upon things
human and divine, Donatus revealed to his disciple that he had
long desired to journey into distant lands, to visit all the holy
places throughout Italy, and then to seek a spot where none
would know him, so that, far removed from family and friends,
he would be free to give up his life to the service of God,
desiring to imitate Heraclitus, who ceased not to mourn over
human suffering.
Andrew, unable to part from his beloved master, prayed that
he might go with him on this journey, and thus these two
servants of God determined to depart. So fixed on Heaven
were their hearts, that they showed no sorrow in parting, and
paid no heed to the opposition of their people.
Great was the grief of Brigid when she learned their project,
yet not even her tears could turn them from their course. The
unhappy sister said, " Brother dear, why dost thou leave me ?
When shall we see one another again ? " They clung to one
another in a close embrace, and their hot tears showed the
tender love that bound them. At last, Andrew with much
gentleness put his sister from him. " Go in peace," she said,
" and pray to God for thy sister, abandoned here in sorrow."
Then the two pilgrims, followed by their friends and families,
went down the island to the sea-coast, where they embarked
upon a ship whose sails soon swelled in the wind, and bore them
to a foreign shore. They had scant money or provision for their
journey, since they meant to beg their way from place to place,
and having landed, they set off on foot with staff and bag,
contented and humble in spirit. They rested at the monasteries
where the relics of the saints were kept and honoured, and they
often turned aside to visit certain hermitages in almost inaccessible
places, where they might hold converse with holy anchorites who

232 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
had resigned the world. As throughout their pilgrimage they
greatly desired to visit every possible place where a holy
sanctuary was to be found, in their careful search for such
they came upon the beautiful mountain of Fiesole, where were
the shrines of numberless martyrs and many stations of the
cross. In those days the people of Fiesole, having been deprived of
a pastor, were in difficulty about the election of a new one,
because of the civil discords that had sprung up after the
recent devastations of the Northmen. The nobles and the
people were at variance, and the state was passing through a
crisis of great difficulty and danger. Then the good men ofthe
city prayed fervently to God to the end that he might save
their tottering state from civil war and mercifully provide them
with a good pastor. Having thus prayed with all their might,
the righteous petition of this multitude reached the ear of Him
who sleepeth not, and He sent them aid in the following manner,
as is related by the old historian of Donatus1 : —
" It was while the dismayed city of Fiesole was in this condi
tion that the men of God, Donatus and Andrew, had turned
thither in their wanderings through Tuscany, and, like other
travellers, wearied with the great height they had climbed, and
tired with their journey, they entered the hospice as the night
closed in. Now it happened that at the moment of their arrival
the abbey of Fiesole was filled with a great crowd of people in
deep distress because they had been deprived of a pastor's care.
With one voice they implored that He who brought Israel up
out of Egypt might protect them with His right hand, and
might deign to preserve their church by some angelic visitation.
While the people thus prayed aloud, Christ worked a new
miracle for them, and brought Donatus and his friend Andrew
to the church door.
" As they ascended the steep hill from the river's side, the bells
of the city on the instant rang forth, and the lamps burst
miraculously into light of themselves. The people of Fiesole,
amazed at this miracle, ran hither and thither through the city
1 "Donati Episc. Fesulani et Conf. Auctore Blasio Monacho." — MS.
Laurentian Library, Florence. Pluto, Codex ix., Col. 47b.

DONATUS IN FIESOLE. 233
in all directions and in great confusion, asking in terror what
might this portent mean. Impelled by their trust in God, they
hurried down the hill to the abbey ;' men, women, and children
of all ages, knelt there in tremblings and sobs and tears, and
piously raising their hands to heaven, made prayer to God that
He would deign to show them the meaning of this miracle.
Suddenly a silence fell upon the multitude, and a voice pro
claimed, ' Receive the stranger who approaches, Donatus of
Scotia ; take him for your shepherd.' When the voice of the
Lord had ceased, the people, not knowing what to do, remained
in prayer. Then behold the men of God, Donatus and Andrew,
having just entered the city, went to the abbey where the con
gregation were at prayer, and believing it to be a feast day,
marvelled to see the dismayed people praying in alarm and
suspense. Advancing slowly, they stood in silence awaiting
the result.
"Then a certain poor man standing by, and happening to see
the strangers, inquired of them whence they came and whither
they were bound, and by what name they were called. Donatus,
with his usual simplicity, answered humbly, 'We are both
men of Scotia. He is named Andrew, I Donatus. We came on
pilgrimage to Rome.' And the poor man, remembering the
divine voice he had just heard, straightway cried aloud,
' Citizens, the man is here of whom the Lord has spoken.'
Then, clasping Donatus in his arms, he led him up the steps, the
people crowded around, and cried with one voice, ' Eia Donatus
Pater Deodatus ! (Hail ! Donatus, O Father given of God !)
Ascend the bishop's chair, that you may lead us to the stars,
that with you for our shepherd we may reach to the pastures of
Heaven, and that through your intercession we may find salva
tion.' Then the gentle Donatus, trembling, and on the very
verge of tears, spake thus from his pure heart : —
' Spare ye me,
O brothers ! vain is your offering to me ;
You would learn to deplore my sins,
You who should not trust me to teach the people.'

The Badia of Fiesole over the river Mugnone.

234 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
When he had said these words, the multitude made answer : —
' As when the eastern sun doth visit us on high,
So hath Christ led him here out of the west ;
Here then let us meet this holy man ;
Here, in Fiesole, let us elect him.
For behold, Donatus is declared worthy
By Christ, Who is our Lord and God.
Let him then be led to the throne,
For Donatus is given us for a father.
If he still strives to resist,
Yet must he still be elected.'
Then Donatus tremblingly said, ' Men and brethren, why do ye
vainly strive to turn from his vows the desire of one who hastens
on his journey ? Why compel one so unworthy to become your
pastor ? A stranger mean and abject, half barbarous, and almost
ignorant of your manners. Let him toil on that journey on
which he started.' By these and like words, and with much
modesty, he strove to avoid the burden, but as he resisted, so
much the more vehemently did the multitude insist upon their
choice. At length his resistance was overborne by the people,
and he was enthroned in the chair of Fiesole." J
The Badia, or abbey of Fiesole, where this scene was enacted,
stands below the hills of Fiesole, midway on the incline from San
Domenico, down to the river Mugnone. This was the original
1 Ozanam, having described the scene at Donatus' election, continues in
these words : "And thus the laborious traditions of the Irish school were
awakened in the episcopal school of Fiesole. We need not, therefore, be
astonished, if the old biographer of S. Donatus blends learning with his
popular rhymes, Hellenisms that recur to us among the Irish and Anglo-
Saxon writers of the barbarous age. He calls the word of God, Theou Logon,
the Holy Spirit, Pneuma, and when the people, excited by the miracle, give
glory to the Father, the gravity of the subject again demands a Greek word.
Mttlta mox in doxa Patris cecinit populus. Doubtless these examples only
prove that Greek was known in Fiesole ; at least they make it appear that it
was not despised there ; that in these dark ages the language of the New
Testament, of St. Basil and of St. Chrysostom, was considered not as the
language of heresy, but as a holy idiom that still held its place in the liturgy
from which theology borrowed her sacramental words, a language which men
should not be permitted to ignore, and which it was well to introduce at
certain periods of their discourse, so as to embue it with an indefinable
character of solemnity and mystery. But that which was certainly well-

236 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
church of Fiesole, although it stood outside the walls of that
ancient city. It was founded by S. Romolo, in the year of our
Lord 60; and though originally dedicated to St. Peter, it was
called by the founder's name until the year 1028, when the
present cathedral of Fiesole, on the top of the hill above, was
erected by Bishop Jacopo Bavaro. Then it was that it ceased
to be a cathedral, and became a Benedictine abbey. At the
date of our story, about the year 824, six bishops had already
filled the see of Fiesole, first of whom was S. Romolo, sent by
St. Peter himself about the year 60 ; then a blank of 400 years
occurs in the history of the place, till in 536 Rustico was elected
bishop, who was also papal legate in the Council of Constan
tinople held against Anastasius, patriarch of that city. He was
succeeded by S. Leto, who became bishop in 573, who in his
turn was followed by Alessandro, Bishop of Fiesole in 582, who
died a martyr in 587. The fifth was S. Romano, who occupied
the see about the year 590, and was followed by Teodato, bishop
in 715. The seventh name on the list is that of S. Donato di
Scozia, bishop in the year 824. His election took place at the
time when Pope Eugenius held the Roman chair, and Louis the
Pious and Lothair reigned together.
After his consecration, writes the old biographer, " Donatus
appeared so apt and devoted that it seemed as if he had always
filled that office to which he had been lately appointed. For
he was liberal in almsgiving, sedulous in watching, devout in
known in Fiesole, and which Donatus did not disdain to teach his disciples,
was metrical Latin, the imitation of the Christian poets who had sung in the
rhythm of Virgil of the mysteries of the Saviour and of the saints and their
crowns. At first the biographer makes use of no other ornament in his nar
rative than a redundance of epithets and numerous Biblical quotations.
One perceives that it is an effort to the author to restrain his thoughts within
the rule of Latin syntax. More than once he betrays himself, and falls into
the construction of the vulgar tongue. But as his recital advances, his style
changes to something more warm and animated. It still remains prose, but
it is a prose rimie, prose with rhyme. Classic writers have not disdained this
recurrence of the same sound, homoioteleuta; rhetoricians in times of de
cadence have even abused it, and ecclesiastical writers have not always
despised an ornament recommended by the schools and favoured by the
crowd. The historian of S. Donatus only followed these examples when his
tale is unrolled in a long stream of verses, falling in successive couplets
with like endings."

WRITINGS OF DONATUS. 237
prayer, excellent in doctrine, ready in speech, holy in life ; his
countenance betrayed the serenity of his spirit, and the gentle
ness of his speech revealed the tenderness of his heart. He
would weep bitter tears if any report were brought to him of
sin committed by those under his rule, so that he could say
with the prophet, ' My tears have been my meat day and night.'
In his aspect he was terrible to sinners, mild to penitents, feared
in his severity, and revered in his mildness. Happy Scotia,
which brought forth such a one ; let Hibernia rejoice, which
sent forth such a teacher ; let Fiesole and the whole province of
Tuscany be glad."
" Some tracts," says Dr. Lanigan, " were written by S.
Donatus, but none of them, as far as I know, are now extant.
Ware mentions some, and it is certain that he was an author."
The passage in Ware's "Writers" here alluded to is as follows :
" Donat forsook Ireland, and in company with his associate,
Andrew, took a journey through France and Italy, and for
some time lived the life of a hermit in Hetruria or Tuscany,
until he was elected Bishop of Fiesole, A.D. 824, in which office
he became very eminent on the score -of his great virtues. He
is reported to have written, ' De peregrinatione sua,' Lib. I,
'De Officio suae Ecclesiae,' Lib. 1, ' Commentaria in sacras
Scripturas.' "
Three fragments of the writings of Donatus have been pre
served. The first is a prologue to the life of St. Brigid of
Kildare, in an ancient MS. preserved in the Laurentian
Library, Florence. (" Bibl. Mugellanae," xix., p. 78.)
" Far in the west they tell of a matchless land,
Which goes in ancient books by name of Scotia ;
Rich in resources this land, having silver,
Precious stones, vesture, and gold ;
Well suited to earth-born creatures as regards
Its climate, its sun, and its arable soil,
That Scotia with lovely fields that flow
With milk and honey,
Hath skill in husbandry, and raiments, and arms, and arts, and fruits ;
There are no fierce bears there, nor ever
Has the land of Scotia brought forth savage
Broods of lions. No poisons hurt, no serpent
Creeps through the grass, nor does the babbling frog

238 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Croak and complain by the lake. In this land
The Scottish race are worthy to dwell, a renowned race of men
In war, in peace, in fidelity. Here was born in former days
The most holy virgin,
Brigid, glory of the Scots ; her name, her honour,
A tower reaching to the highest points of the flame-bearing heaven,
An inexhaustible light, a noble crown of God,
A blessed fountain rejoicing, reforming the hearts of the Scots ;
While recreating them, she takes care of herself, she feeds, she grows ;
A ladder prepared for men, excellent for youths and girls,
For mothers and for saints, she reaches to the stars of heaven.
Her father was called by name Dubtacus ;
A man renowned for his good deeds, of famous ancestry ;
Noble and humble, gentle and full of piety ;
Nobler because of his wife and pious offspring.
Many have written of the virtues of this virgin soul,
The learned Ultan and Eleran honouring her ;
One called Animosus has written many books
Concerning the life and studies of this virgin and her good deeds.
I shall begin from the least, nor shall greater things follow,
But so shall I gather fitting blossoms in a garden full of flowers.
If, beholding the glittering stars of heaven, we seek to know
their order and high-aspiring course,
If we could number the minutest grains of sand which the troubled
waves of the sea have scattered on our shores,
Then might we number the virtues of this virgin
Whose body was the temple of the Most High God." x
1 A metrical translation of these lines, which appeared many years ago in
O'Halloran's " History of Ireland," is alluded to by Thomas Moore. He
says, " This was one of the earliest pieces of poetry with which I in my youth
was familiar, and it is purely in the indulgence of old recollections that I
here venture to cite a few ofthe lines : —
" Far westward lies an isle of ancient fame
By nature blessed, and Scotia is her name.
Enrolled in books, — exhaustless is her store
Of veiny silver and of golden ore.
Her fruitful soil for ever teems with wealth,
With gems her waters, and her air with health.
Her verdant fields with milk and honey flow,
Her woolly fleeces vie with virgin snow,
Her waving furrows float with bearded corn,
And arts and arms her envied sons adorni"
Lady Ferguson, in her work entitled " The Irish before the Conquest," thus
refers to this passage : " Another voice from beyond sea, which testifies to the

MIRACLES OF DONATUS. 239

Miracles of Donatus.
"We shall now," says the old author of our saint's life,
" gather a few of the wonders which render this saint's life
famous, as you might cull a basketful of blossoms from the
many flowers of spring." First in order comes the following
miracle : —
. On a certain day, when Donatus had anointed many children
with the baptism of Christ, it happened through the carelessness
of a certain mother that one of these little ones was seized by
the cunning of a wolf. The mother, with torn garments and
streaming hair, ran to the shepherd, loudly bewailing her loss.
Donatus, filled with inward grief, poured forth this prayer to the
Most High God : " O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, help us !
and do Thou, who for our sakes hast endured the death of the
cross, have mercy upon us ! Do not suffer Thy child, now
enviable condition of the island during these days of comparative happiness,
comes from a greater distance. Donatus, Bishop of Fiesole, saw nothing in
Tuscany fairer or more amiable than the aspect of the land and people from
amongst whom he had come to fix his habitation beside the Arno. His verses
have the tenderness of home affection mingled with a pardonable pride in his
country : — " Far in the confines of the west
There lies a land, of lands the best ;
An island, rich in all good store
Of robe, and gem, and golden ore ;
An isle, in soil, and sun, and wind,
Most healthful to the human kind.
With honey all the land abounds,
With lovely lawns and pasture grounds ;
With weeds of peace and peaceful arts,
With arms of war and manly hearts.

And worthy of that blessed spot,
There dwell the nations of the Scot ;
A race of men renowned high
For honour, arms, and courtesy."*
* See Appendix, "Ancient Descriptions of Ireland."

240 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
dedicated to Christ, to be devoured by a cruel foe, nor permit
him whom I have signed with holy oil to be swallowed by a
hungry wolf, for Thou hast said, ' I am the Good Shepherd. A
good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.' Thou hast ordained
me shepherd in Thy name ; now therefore, I pray Thee, count me
not a hireling, for Thou hast said, ' The wolf seizeth the sheep,
and scattereth them ; the hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling,
and careth not for the sheep.' Behold now this sheep within my
charge, dedicated and sealed by me for Thee, and think of the
hungry wolf who will feed upon it. I pray Thee, Son of the
Most High, who didst restore the widow's son to life, despise not
now the prayer of this poor woman in the peril of her son."
As the holy man prayed, the wolf, as if pierced by divine
shafts, ran back with speed, bearing the child it had tried to
devour to the feet of the shepherd, whose prayer had been
granted. The people sang hymns in honour of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, and the virtue of Donatus shone in the eyes of
all like a city that is set upon a hill.
On another occasion, as the bishop was toiling to restore the
lost treasures of his church, a certain wicked man strove to
despoil it. Repeatedly did the blessed Donatus rebuke and
admonish him, so that sometimes the man's heart was softened,
and he restored those things he had unjustly seized, remembering
the words of the Psalmist against those who say, "Let us take
to ourselves the house of God in possession," " Oh ! my God,
make them like a wheel or as the stubble before the wind."
But once when the evil spirit- was upon him, he turned from the
holy man, not in contrition, but in anger, and was about to go
back to his home despising the admonitions of the saint, and
insulting him by twisting his countenance in derision. As he
went he heard the words, " Go on henceforth with distorted coun
tenance, as you have twisted it now in your obstinacy." Then his
face turned towards his back, and his tongue stiffened and his
covetous eyes closed, and his grasping hands were contracted,
and he fell prostrate on the ground, stammering he strove to
say, " Bring me to the man of God, for I have sinned in carrying
off his treasure." Led by the hands of a servant he was laid at
the feet of the saint, whom he earnestly prayed to take back the
things which he had stolen, as well as to accept many free gifts

DONATUS AND ANDREW AT FIESOLE. 241
from his own stores, and the saint in his mercy repeated over
him the prayers of penitence, and pronouncing the benediction,
restored him to health.
Many other miracles are told of Donatus, who is compared to
Joshua. It is said that once he struck a mountain barren,
because, when he was praying one day, it shut out the light of
the sun from him, and then at the prayer of the country people
he restored it to fertility again. One day the saint was very ill,
and when he could scarcely bear his pain he prayed to Christ to
help him, and on the following night the power of the Lord was
revealed, for as the darkness descended and the mountains were
wrapped in gloom, behold a great light shone, and he saw virgins
in white robes standing at the side of his couch. After gazing
on them for some time he said, " Oh, you shining ones, what
light do you bring into the darkness ? what mean these lamps
you bear ? What wish you, or where would you have me to go ?"
Then one of the virgins, who was Bridget, the servant of God,
thus answered, " We have come to thee, to heal thee." And
opening her hands she blessed and anointed him, a sweet-scented
balm dropping from her fingers. And thus she restored the
bishop to health.
On another day, as the bishop, now an old man, was on the
way to church, riding, a violent storm of rain came on, but the
rain did not wet his aged frame, and he was received by his
people with tears and blessings.

Donatus and Andrew at Fiesole.
Andrew, the faithful disciple who had followed Donatus
from Ireland, remained at his side till death, serving him
in humility and goodness. Such was his wisdom that he was
loved by the people of Fiesole no less than by his master.
Donatus desired to promote him to the office of archdeacon, so
as to raise his rank in the people's eyes. Henceforth Andrew
followed the footsteps of the first deacon, and is said to have
resembled Stephen and Laurence in his habits of life.
It happened that one day the two friends were walking
together round the foot of the hill of Fiesole, when they came
R

242 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
to the banks of the little river Mensola, which flows at the foot
of a certain height crowned by a church dedicated to St. Martin.
Ascending the hill, they found the ancient sanctuary in ruins,
and on inquiring the cause of this desolation from the people in
the neighbourhood, they learned that it had been laid waste in
former days by the barbarous soldiers of Totila.
Donatus, as he stood in his sadness among the broken walls
and bewailed the destruction of the temple, wept, and then in
silent prayer the bishop entreated of God to send and restore
his church, and the deacon Andrew, standing by, seeing the tears
of his most holy father, inquired the cause of his sorrow ; the
bishop lifting up his voice to heaven, cried aloud, " Behold how
Thy sanctuaries are laid low, and Thy high places are made
desolate, and Thy temple has become the den of robbers and of
wicked men, who show tyranny against Thy house before the
eyes of all men." Andrew hearing these words, and filled with
the zeal of charity, humbly offered to the bishop his earnest
service for the restoration of the temple, and then, fixing his eyes
on the ground, awaited his pleasure and commands. Donatus
praised the devotion of the holy man, whose offer corresponded
with his own thought. He made the sign of the cross, with
hands stretched over him, and blessing him in God's name, said
that henceforth he was free to devote himself to this pious work,
and that when he had restored the monastery, he might therein
dedicate the days of his life to the Lord, along with such of the
brethren as he might choose. Andrew, though the work seemed
arduous and difficult for a poor and needy man, thus strengthened
by the holy, bishop, began to clear the sacred place of brambles
and of thorns, to search for the ancient foundations and dig out
the stones of the old walls, hidden under the ruins. He also
prepared new stones and cement and other things necessary for
the building, with sedulous care. He sought alms from the
pious and faithful persons in the neighbourhood around ; he hired
builders, with whom he laboured himself after the manner of a
reasonable bee, continually fulfilling these labours in the restora
tion ofthe church so far as his little body, attenuated by fasting,
would allow.
In a short time the basilica was not only restored but enlarged ;
moreover, the man of God bought lands sufficient for his small

PUBLIC LIFE OF DONATUS. 243
company of monks with such sums as he could save by a holy
parsimony, and earn through his own labours and that of his
brethren. During these labours they lived on a most scanty
subsistence, rejecting all superfluous things that might soften
and enervate the rigour of their penitence, and after the comple
tion of their work he distributed the surplus among the poor,
not allowing these offerings to be hidden in chests, even to the
amount of one jot; for the man of God thought avarice the
greatest sin.
Having thus established his monastery near that of his master
Donatus, he led a holy life in this place until he attained a
good old age, expecting with a tranquil mind the gradual
approach of his latter end. Were I to relate all the miracles
which God deigned to grant to the prayers of this holy man, my
work would expand beyond the limits usual in sacred writings.
But here, in S. Martino a Mensola, did St. Andrew draw around
him a number of devoted men who, invested with the sacred
religious garb, led a life of austerity and purity ; nor can the pen
record the glorious deeds of his old age, how he cast out demons,
gave sight to the blind, health to the fevered, and strength to
the infirm, so that they might live to render thanks to their
Creator.
Public Life of Donatus.
Circa 840.
The first public event recorded in the life of Donatus, after
he was raised to the episcopal chair, is that of his presence
at the coronation of Louis II. in Rome. Lothair, who received
the imperial title in 843 at the Peace of Verdun, gave his son
Louis a share in the imperial dignity and the special charge of
the kingdom of Lombardy. Platina gives a graphic account of
this event.' " Matters being thus composed, Lotharius sends his
son Louis, whom he had taken into a partnership in the empire,2
into Italy with a mighty army, giving him for companions
Drogon, Bishop of Metz, and others of the clergy eminent for
prudence and gravity, by whose advice he was to govern himself.
1 Op. cit., pp. 219, 220. 2 a.d. 844.

244 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES
But the young man, being puffed up with his great fortune,
wheresoever he marched, filled the country with slaughter,
rapine, and destruction. Yet when he approached the city, and
the citizens of Rome came out of respect to meet him, laying
by his Gaulish fierceness he grew more mild, because contrary
to his expectation he found that he might enter the city without
force of arms. The religious also came a mile out ofthe city to
meet him with their crucifixes, singing, " Blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the Highest."
Thus they accompanied him as far as the steps of St. Peter's
Church, where, meeting the Pope, they reciprocally kissed and
greeted each other, and went together to the Silver Gates, which
were not opened. Then said the Pope,1 ' If thou comest hither
with peaceable and friendly intentions, and if thou hast more
regard to the advantage of Christianity than to the pleasure of
exercising cruelty and rapine, then with my good will thou
mayest enter ; if thou art otherwise minded, touch not these
gates, for over thy head hangs a sword, which will certainly
avenge any such wickedness.'
" But when he had given the Pope assurance, immediately the
doors were thrown open. Hereupon a multitude of Romans
and Franks entering pell-mell, as soon as they came to the
altar of St. Peter, they all kneeling down together, gave thanks
to God Almighty and to the Prince of the Apostles, that matters
had been carried according to their minds without hurt to
anybody; this was done upon Monday after Whitsunday.
But soon after the suburbs were sacked by the soldiers, and it
wanted little but that they had got into the city for the same
end, so that the eighth day after their coming the Pope anointed
Louis with the holy oil, crowned him and declared him King of
Italy. Soon after came Siconolfus, Prince of Beneventum, to
congratulate him, and then the multitude was such that the trees
were lopped, the beasts driven away, and even the standing corn
cut down, that their horses might not want provender. The
Pope therefore easily agreed to all their requests, if they were
reasonable, that he might the sooner rid the city of them : and
the Romans being now delivered from the fear of their tyrannical
1 Pope Sergius II.

PUBLIC LIFE OF DONATUS. 245
barbarity, celebrated the Pope as the true vicar of Christ and the
only father of his country."
The authority for the statement that Donatus was present on
this occasion in Rome is to be found in the following passage in
the "Life of Pope Sergius II.," by the librarian Anastasius, in
which also the blame of all this great disturbance seems to be
laid at the feet of the Archbishop of Metz ' : —
" But then this same Drogo, archbishop of the church of
Metz, was daily stirring up a very great strife and contest with
the most holy pontiff and all our bishops and principal men, he
himself doing so, as well as all the archbishops and bishops who
had joined with him against this universal church, the head of
all God's churches, without the leave and summons of their
Metropolitan, that is Gregory, Archbishop of Ravenna, and
Angilbert, Archbishop of the Milan church," and the writer goes
on to enumerate nineteen other bishops from various towns of
Italy, till we come to the name of our Irish saint, " Donatus
episcopus Ecclesiae Fesolanus."
Donatus returned to Fiesole after this exciting time in Rome,
and seems to have continued to rule his diocese there in quiet
for the next sixteen years, while Pope Sergius II. was succeeded
by Leo IV. (847-855), who did much for the advancement of the
arts, adding adornments of precious stones to the cross given by
Charles the Emperor to the Basilica Constantiniana, finishing
the decorations and mosaics of the churches of St. Martin and
St. Silvester, and building the church of the Quattro Coronati
in Rome. Also, having defeated in battle the Saracens who
besieged Rome, he employed the prisoners in re-edifying those
churches which the Saracens had heretofore ruined and burnt,
and in building the wall about the Vatican, which from his own
name he called Urbs Leonina. Then after the three years'
pontificate of his successor, Benedict III., we come to Nicholas I.,
during whose reign as Pope, Donatus again visited Rome, when
he was present at a Lateran Council that sat in the year 861
against John, Archbishop of Ravenna.2

1 Anastasii Bibliothecarii, "Hist, de Vit. Rom Pont. Sergius II.,"
vol. ii., 486. "Patrol.," torn, cxxviii., p. 1298.
2 See Coleti's addition to Ughelli, torn, ii., col. 350.

246 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Platina says: "Nicholas, being earnestly intent upon the
conservation ofthe pontifical dignity, deprived John, Archbishop
of Ravenna, for refusing to obey a citation from the apostolic
chair to answer some accusations. Whereupon he goes to Pavia,
and procures of the Emperor (Louis) commendatory letters to
the Pope, and to his ambassadors, that they should get leave that
the Archbishop John should have a safe conduct to come to
Rome and plead his own cause, which the Pope readily granted ;
and John, in a great convention of prelates [among whom was
our Donatus, Bishop of Fiesole], being allowed liberty of speech,
only confessed himself guilty, and begged pardon of the Pope
and of all that were present. By which confession, and the
intercession of the auditors, the Pope was persuaded to receive
him into favour upon these conditions : that he should recant
his error before the synod ; that he should promise to come once
a year, if possible, to Rome ; that he should not be capable of
consecrating any bishop in Romagna, however canonically
elected, without leave first obtained from the see apostolic ; and
that he should not hinder any of those bishops from coming to
Rome as often as they pleased ; that he should not introduce
any exaction, custom, or usage contrary to the sacred canons ;
and lastly, that under the penalty of anathema he should not alter
or meddle with the treasure of Holy Church without the consent
of the Pope, nor should without the same allowance receive
anything secular. These holy institutions were so highly
approved by the whole synod, that thrice they all shouted,
' Righteous is the judgment of the supreme prelate ; just is the
decree of the universal bishop ; all Christians agree to this
wholesome institution. We all say, think, and judge the same
thing.' Then John, in the sight of them all, took his oath, and
gave it under his hand that he would observe the articles."
Then the convocation was dissolved, and John returned to
Ravenna, and our Donatus to Fiesole.1
1 See Platina, "Lives ofthe Popes," p. 229.

DEATH AND BURIAL OF DONATUS. 747

The Death and Burial of Donatus.
It remains to tell in what manner the saint laid aside the
burden of the flesh and reached the green pastures, for all
the days of his life he had given no rest to his soul, but was
occupied with prayer or study, or the business of the church, or
care for the widow and the orphan. But at last, when God
willed that his labour should end, he was seized with a fatal
illness. Feeling his end approaching, he called the brethren
together; having received "the sacrament, he admonished them
that they should live as holy and just men, and with lifted hands
he poured forth prayers and vows to the Lord, and commended
them to God and to the service of His word. Scarcely was his
prayer ended, when behold ! a great multitude ofthe people came
around him weeping and saying, "Oh, holy minister of God,
have pity on our grief! Holy Father, have mercy upon us !
hearken to the words of those who call upon Thee ! Give
warmth back to those limbs that are now grown cold !"
Hearing these words, Donatus blessed the whole multitude
with the benediction of the saints, and moved by their sorrow
he poured forth this prayer in the presence of the crowd : —
" O Christ, the virtue and splendour of God, the wisdom of the Father,
Begotten without time and before all ages ;
Who, being born of a Virgin, didst take our form,
Nourished and suckled at the breast of a mother ;
Who dost cleanse our sins in holy baptism,
' So that a new offspring descends from heaven ;' l
1 Here Donatus refers to a remarkable verse in the fourth eclogue of
Virgil, lines 5 to 7, from which this line is taken. It is one of those
passages in the writings of the heathen poet which seem like unconscious
prophecies of the coming of Christ : —
" Magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo
Jam redit et virgo ; redeunt Saturnia regna ;
Jam nova progenies caelo demittitur alto."
" The great series of ages begins anew
Now the Virgin returns ; returns the Saturnian reign ;
Now a new progeny is sent down from the high heaven."
This instance of Donatus on his deathbed quoting these words of Virgil,
"may," writes Dean Plumptre (Dante, vol. i., p. 303), "have had a special

248 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Who destroyed the noxious power of the forbidden fruit,
Who healed our wounds with His blood,
Who by dying gave us life, and redeemed us from death,
And who when buried, changed the law of the grave,
By rising up from death and destroying its bitterness ;
Who formerly destroyed Tartarus, and the realms of gloomy Pluto ;
Who overcame the floods of greedy Acheron ;
Who hurled down the wicked enemy into the pit.
He arose, and led the captive captive to the right hand of the Father,
And thousand, thousand virtues praise His victory.
Thou also who hast deigned to suffer for our sins,
Thou who hast given the kingdom of heaven to the wretched,
Grant me power to climb the lofty stair of Paradise,
Open the gates of Life to me who duly knock,
Let no proud or greedy enemy overtake me,
Let no strange hand touch me or snatch away my prize ;
But do Thou, O Christ, receive Thy humble servant,
That I, though trembling, may deserve to see those glorious guests,
That I may behold the company of saints, rejoicing with Thee,
Thou who rulest with the Father and the Holy Spirit throughout all ages."
(God delights in odd numbers.)
Having uttered these words, Donatus signed his brethren and
his spiritual children with the cross, and the old man was
gathered to the fathers, and full of days went on his way to
heaven, and his disciples laid him in a stone coffin in the same
place where the other holy bishops were laid, and carved upon
his tomb the epitaph that Donatus himself had written : —

influence on Dante's mind." The great Italian poet takes up the theme
again when he writes : —
 " Secol si rinnova,
Torna justizia e primo tempo umano
E progenie scende dal ciel nova." (Ptirg., c. xxii., 70.)
 " A renovated age,
Justice returns and man's primaeval time,
And a new race descends from Heaven."
For the application of Virgil's prophecy to the Incarnation, see Natalis
Alexander, " Hist. Eccl. Sasc. 1," Dissert. 1, Paris, 1679, vi., p. 166.
"Many writers," says Dantier, "have been found to demonstrate, holding
the fourth eclogue in their hand, that the Swan of Mantua had announced
the coming of the Messiah. Armed by this text, the author of the Bucolics
was allowed to pass unopposed, and with him all the other Latin poets."

EPITAPH ON DONATUS. 249
" Here I, Donatus, sprung from Scotish blood,
Alone in this tomb, among the worms and dust dissolve.
For many years I served the kings of Italy,
Lothair the Great and Louis the Good. '
For more than eight lustrums and seven years
I was ruler in the city of Fiesole ;
I dictated exercises in grammar to my pupils,
Metrical schemes, and the lives of the blessed saints.
You traveller, whoever you are, for Christ's sake
Be not unwilling to behold my tomb,
And pray to God, who rules in highest heaven,
That He may grant to me His blessed kingdom."
The old biographer of Donatus, at the conclusion of his history,
adds these lines : —
" Let us therefore all unite and say,
Oh, saint of God and beloved confessor,
Father and pontiff,
Educator and nourisher, ruler and shepherd,
Help with thy prayers the destitute and fallen,
Have pity on the widow and the captive,
Help the orphan and the weak,
Help those who live to-day, and those who will come after,
Give aid to those who live and those who die ;
Refuse not, we beseech thee, to listen to our prayers,
Who though imprisoned in the bonds of iniquity,
Yet so far as their ignoble nature may permit,
Make offering of these things to their superiors.
Them we implore with all our might
To amend that which is faulty, and to be indulgent to
All that which is worthless, and to pity our presumption,
And since we cannot of ourselves mount to the pastures of Paradise,
Help us to pray that so we may entreat the aid of Jesus Christ,
To whom, with the Holy Trinity, are all things, world without end." 2
1 On the 30th of July, 817, Lothair was on the throne with Louis the Good.
Louis died 840.
2 "This prayer," writes Ozanam, "in which there is much naivete,
humility, and faith, is a characteristic termination to the little work before us.
It is the writing of some student under the direction of his master. One of
those miraculous histories, favourite exercises among young clerks, by which
the libraries of the churches were enlarged, and- which in the end grew to
volumes of legend of great size. We recognise in these works the taste of
the middle ages for pieces farcies, mixtures of prose and verse, now in the
vulgar tongue, and again in that of the learned. Let us not too much despise
this rudeness, for on one hand these limping hexameters, here and there
sustained by a hemistich, or by an entire verse from Virgil, prove that

250 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

Death of St. Andrew in San Martino.
Andrew survived his master but a short time. When the
Lord revealed to him that his last days were approaching,
and he lay upon his sick-bed wasted by fever, he collected or
assembled his monks around him, exhorting them to good works
and faithful obedience to their monastic rule. Then turning
his mind to heavenly things, the memory of his childhood came
back to him, and he thought of his sister Brigid, whom he had
left behind in Ireland, from whom he had been parted for
upwards of forty years, and whom he greatly longed to see
before he died. Just at this time Brigid was seated at home
in a retired place in Ireland, at her frugal meal of salad and
small fishes. Then the Lord, mercifully willing to comfort
Andrew, and grant his earnest prayer that he might once more
behold his sister's face, sent an angel to her chamber, who bore
her to the bedside of her brother at Fiesole.
The monks who stood around his bed in tears were amazed
and dumb at her appearance. Brigid, trembling and awestruck,
thought the crowd before her in their strange costumes and the
aged dying man upon the bed to be but a vision. Andrew
lifted his eyes, and when they rested on the aged woman
standing at the foot of his couch, he understood it all. He spoke
to her in tender tones, and said, " Brigid, my beloved sister, long
have I in my heart wished to see thee before I die, but all my
hope was fading out as death approached and I remembered the
great distance between us. But the fount of eternal love has

antiquity is neither forgotten nor proscribed. On the other hand, this
rhymed prose, in which Thomas Aquinas did not disdain to compose his
hymns, this prose ofthe ' Dies irae ' and ofthe ' Stabat Mater,' is it not destined
to become the type of versification in all modern languages? .and when a
hagiography had exhausted all the resources of prose, and when, in one last
effort, the writer, rising to the grandeur of his subject, shows the old bishop
in his sickness visited in a dream by St. Brigid, the Irish patroness of
Kildare, and tells how she let fall upon him one drop of oil from her lamp,
and he recovers, his narrative is given in hexameters. And at the last,
when Donatus, sinking from the weight of years and labour, comes to offer
up his great soul, and for once, finally uplifts his voice in the midst of his
weeping brethren, his prayer was offered in verse."

DEATH OF ST. ANDREW. 251
granted to me, a sinner, this great favour that thou seest now.
Fear not, for it is in very deed and truth Andrew of Ireland, thy
brother, whom thou now seest before thee. Now thou shalt
behold him but a little while, him who, thou thoughtest, had
long emigrated from this world. I trusted that God for thy
merits would grant my dying prayer ; I always hoped that here
to this place, where I, far from my country, a feeble soldier, have
passed my days, thou wouldest at some time come, a solitary
and a penitent, to fill up the measure of the shortcomings in my
soldiership by thy virtues. Behold herein the mercy of God. Fear
not, but pray for me with all the fervour of thy soul. Behold
the hour is at hand and my summons has come. Lay down thy
soul's amazement, and know that what thou now seest is true."
Then Brigid, awaking as it were from sleep, wept for joy and
fervour and grief; kissing her brother's hand she held it tightly,
but could not speak, so choked was she by sobs and sighs.
She folded her brother in the chaste embrace of her most
modest arms, and crying out in prayer she bathed him in her
tears. Then wearied out in this hour of sorrow, she was first
silent, and afterwards, kneeling to the ground, she thus broke
forth in prayer : —
"All powerful God, who alone doest marvels, whom the
powers of Heaven serve, whom the elements obey, on whom
all creatures justly wait, I give Thee thanks with praise and
blessing, since Thou hast vouchsafed to Thine handmaiden to
lead her to the presence of her brother. All honour and glory
be unto Thee." Then turning to the dying man, she said, " 0
most holy brother, long years ago the best guide of my youth
and the director and guardian of that life which by thy holy
persuasion I have dedicated to the Lord, now I both rejoice
and mourn at the same moment. For when I see thy weakness
I pity thee in my affection, and yet I grieve and mourn that thou
shouldest go so soon from this miserable world wherein thou
leavest me unconsoled. But when I see with what great striving
thou hast resisted the temptations of this life, and hast defeated
the evil one, and in thy good deeds art justified before the Lord,
I exult and rejoice. For the rest I do but say, Whatsoever
days remain for me after thou hast gone I am resolved to
dedicate to thy just will, following in thy footsteps so far as the

252 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
weakness of my sinful frame allows. I will tarry patiently in
this place whither the angel of the Lord has borne me so long as
God wills, but praying of thee, dearest brother, to entreat of Him
that He may grant a man's strength to aid my woman's frailty.
And now, oh, my brother ! be strong in the Lord, and show in
death that strength in the cross which thou didst bear in life."
When she had thus spoken, Andrew, the man of God,
strengthened by his sister's words, raised himself on his knees
from the harsh hairy couch on which he lay, and having clasped
his hands on high so far as his failing strength allowed, he bade
farewell to his sister and to his brethren, and raising his eyes to
heaven he prayed, " Receive into Thy bosom, O Jesus Christ,
my Lord and Saviour, the spirit of Thy servant Andrew." Then
having covered his eyes, he straightway died.
And the brethren, who with his sister were praying around
him expecting the hour of his departure, suddenly beheld a
splendour of light descend upon the man of God from heaven,
which from its excessive brilliancy was more than their eyes
could endure, and the whole house was filled with a fragrant
odour, and when this great light had returned to the heaven
whence it came, and they could look upon the holy corpse again,
they saw him laid upon the bed as if in sleep, his arms folded
like a cross upon his breast. The monks then, according to their
usual custom, reverently carried the body thence, and laid it on
a bier opposite the altar, until such time as they could duly
celebrate the funeral.
Meanwhile, all the people of Fiesole, male and female, young
and old, as if summoned by a heavenly trumpet, left the city and
hastened in crowds to the monastery of St. Martin on the Mensola.
Moreover, crowds assembled from the regions round about, to the
place where the body lay, and they kissed his hands and feet in
their reverence and devotion, carrying away with them as relics
whatever little fragments of the holy man's garments they could
secure.1 1 " Andrew, Archdeacon of Fiesole," says Ware, " and the faithful
companion of the before-mentioned Donat, is said to have written, ' De
Poenitentiae bono,' Lib. I, ' De Eleemosynas Effectu,' Lib. i, 'Ad Fratres a
se indutos,' Lib. I, ' De Actis Donati Magistri,' Lib. i, ' Moralium
Dictionum,' Lib. I."

DEATH OF ST. BRIGID. 253
After her brother's death, Brigid left the monastery without
delay, and settled near the source of the river Sieci, where she
founded a church dedicated to St. Martin of Tours. Then, in
her old age, she sought in a thick forest, among the higher
Apennines, a place where she might lead a solitary life in
penitence and prayer. She found a cave in a lonely place called
Opacum, now Lobaco, high among the mountains which were
haunted by wild beasts ; here she spent her remaining years —
her only food being fruits and roots — far from the haunts of
men, and passed her time in fasting, watching, and in prayer.
When she had attained a great old age, she was often visited in
her hermitage- by peasants, who, when out upon the mountains
hunting, were wont to offer her a share of their spoil, but she
refused to accept their gifts. Knights and holy matrons are
said to have come to her in her cave, and now and then a devout
monk came to comfort her soul. At length, spent with old age,
she died upon the ist of February, about the year 870.
The inhabitants of the country, venerating her as a saint,
buried her remains, and built a church in her name, up among
the mountains, on the site of her hermitage. This was called
S. Brigida, and her birthday was. celebrated there in after years
with great solemnity. The result of these pilgrimages to her
shrine was, that the wild places round it were cultivated, the
forest was cleared, and the fields were planted, so that in a short
time the country was reclaimed, and the region was no longer
uninhabited.

LETTERS FROM FIESOLE.
Nov., 1889.
My dear E.,
IN following the footsteps of S. Donatus, the first building we
should visit must be the Badia or old abbey of Fiesole.
It seems as if the saint, with his companion Andrew, must
have approached it by the low road which, leaving Florence
from Porta San Gallo, runs along the bank of the river Mugnone,
and have crossed the bridge at the foot of the hill, and climbed
the steep ascent leading to the terrace before the church door.
The present building was erected in 1462 by Cosimo de' Medici.
The facade facing the west is unfinished. Before the door rise
the great buildings of the monastery. There is a beautiful view
from the terrace, and the valley you look down upon was famous
in early Italian history. According to tradition, the ancient
fortress of Fiesole stood near the site of the Badia, close to which
the army of Radagasius, King of the Goths, was routed by
Stilicho and his Florentines. The Gothic king had led his army
of 200,000 men, from beyond the Danube, to besiege Florence
on his way to Rome, and when they took refuge in the wild
recesses of the Fiesolean hills, Stilicho defeated them in this
narrow gorge below the Badia.
My first object was to see if any trace were still left of the
ancient oratory of the founder, S. Romolo — a little oratory that
I might be sure SS. Donatus and Andrew had often knelt and

BADIA OF FIESOLE. 255
worshipped in. It is described as an octagon building, of very
small size, beneath the altar of which the body of the founder
lay for, at all events, 1,800 years. The building is represented
by Botticelli in his great picture of the Assumption of the
Virgin in the National Gallery of London, the foreground of
which, to the left, represents the view of the Badia and the
valley of the Mugnone. From this picture I knew where to look
for the ancient oratory, but when I walked along the south wall,
against which it stood, what was my disappointment to find the
building had disappeared ; nothing remaining but a dark stain
in the wall, and a white marble tablet, stating that here stood
the original oratory of the founder, which in the year 1875 was
removed to add to the elegance of the church — " Per crescere 1'
eleganza della chiesa."
At the time of Donatus, this abbey was dedicated to St. Peter,
but in the year 1028 it was re-dedicated to St. Bartholomew. It
then ceased' to be the cathedral of Fiesole, and became a
Benedictine abbey. In 1440, Cosimo de' Medici handed the
monastery over to the Lateran Canons. This prince enriched
and rebuilt the church/entrusting the work to Brunellesco, who
commenced the facade after the manner of the tenth century,
veneering the walls with white and black mosaic. This part of
the work was never finished. He added a fine sacristy, spacious
cloisters and refectory, rebuilt the library and enriched it with a
splendid collection of codici and rare works. In the lifetime of
Cosimo this abbey was the resort of all the great men who
adorned the court ofthe Medici. And here Giovanni de' Medici,
afterwards Pope Leo X., was invested with his cardinal's robe.
In the year 1778 the monastery was suppressed, the church
was closed, and the valuable library was removed to the Lauren-
tian Library of Florence. The library of the Badia contained
two hundred MS. codici of ancient and mediaeval times, almost
all in the Latin language, eleven of which were Latin gospels.

Fig. 84. — INTERIOR OF CATHEDRAL OF FIESOLE.

TOMB OF S. DONATUS. 257
According to the Roman martyrology the feast of S. Donatus,
Bishop and Confessor, was annually kept at Fiesole, in the
cathedral of which town he was buried. Also, in the British
martyrologies, Donatus Scotus is honoured as the chief patron of
Fiesole, and his feast was celebrated on the 22nd October, the
day of his death. His feast is now celebrated throughout the

Fig. 85. — TOMB OF S. DONATUS.
whole of Ireland on the same day, in accordance with a decree
of Benedict XIV, quoted by Thomas de Burgh, issued on the
ist July, 1747.
I have learned that the body of Donatus is no longer buried
in the church here called the Badia, or abbey. His bones are
now laid in the cathedral of Fiesole, where his relics were removed,
S

258

SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.

along with those of SS. Romolus and Alexander, and buried in
the chapel of the sacrament.
It appears that, on the occasion of a great festa in honour of
the final overthrow of Napoleon, held on the 14th, 15th, and
16th days of August, 1814, the vicar, wishing to give the thanks
giving service due impressiveness, proposed to the chapter that
not only should they expose
to the gaze of the faithful the
crucifix to be brought from the
neighbouring oratory of Fonte
Lucente, but also all the re
markable relics in the old
abbey were to be taken from
their places and laid upon the
altar in the sight of the con
gregation.1 The bones of the
patron of the church, who lived
A.D. 60, S. Romolo, were then
all taken, excepting his head,
and laid in a marble tomb
beneath the altar. This was
opened, and the relics were
removed for three days to a
gilded coffer, along with the
bones of S. Alessandro, S.
Donato, and S. Andrea Corsini. At the end of the ceremony the
holy relics were restored to their places, especially those of S.
Romolo, which were carefully laid back again in the tomb
beneath the altar. In 1827-28, works of restoration were carried
on, and repairs were made in the choir and crypt ; again, in 1838,
a government grant of 500 scudi toscani enabled them to carry

Fig. 86. — SILVER SHRINE OF HEAD
OF S. DONATUS.

'La Cattedrale di Fiesole," p. 131. P. Federigo Bargilli. Florence, 1883.

TOMB OF S. DONATUS. 259
on repairs and restorations. It was during the episcopate of
Bishop Ranieri Mancini, A.D. 1787- 18 14, that the altar of S.
Donato was erected in the cathedral. The head of the saint is
enshrined in a silver bust in the church of S. Domenico (see
fig. 86).
" It appears," writes P. Bargilli (p. 128), " that in 1795 Bishop Mancini
sought permission to remove the remains of the body of S. Donatus
from the abbey of Fiesole, where it had been originally buried. After
some delay he succeeded, and wishing to revive the devotion of the
people to their holy bishop, he resolved to make a solemn ceremony of
the translation, and to have a public festival in honour of the Virgin
Brigid. But the disturbed state of the country at the time so distracted
the minds of the people of Tuscany, that he had to effect the translation
of the relics of Donato in the most private possible manner. Therefore,
in the evening ofthe 5th May, 1810, the bishop and a few of his canons
went to the old abbey and took the relics out of the tomb. They
laid them in a wooden coffin, and secretly transported them to Fiesole,
hoping that in better days they might be able to give them the due
honour then forbidden by the unhappy circumstances of the time.
Pending the erection of the altar within the cathedral, the relics were
consigned to the guardianship of the Curato Romolo Pelagi, to be kept
in his private oratory. The design for the altar was finished and the
materials were ready, when a letter arrived from Paris condemning the
good bishop to exile.
" The canons, moved by inexpressible grief, met to consult together in
this crisis. They wrote an affectionate letter of condolence to their
prelate, and added prayers to their ritual for the return of their bishop
to his diocese, and the restoration of peace to their country.
"Bishop Mancini had been Napoleon's constant and avowed oppo
nent, condemning his actions as unjust and unrighteous; therefore it
was in vain that the noblest citizens of Florence united with the clergy
of Fiesole to entreat that this unjust sentence might be revoked.
The good bishop died in exile on the 10th February, 1814, and
when his will was opened, it was found to contain an injunction that

260 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
the altar for the relics of S. Donatus should be built as soon as possible.
The order was carried out by his relation, Lancilotto Mancini, when he
had obtained the new bishop's consent. It was finished in June, 1817,
and the coffin was prepared to receive the sacred bones, which were
carried to it in solemn procession upon St. Peter's day. The sorrow
for the death of their beloved bishop was soon alleviated by the news of
the fall of the dreaded conqueror, who had overrun Italy and devastated
the Church. The cathedral resounded with songs of thanksgiving."
In all this history of the translation of the bones of S. Donatus
there is no mention made of the ancient sarcophagus, with the
Latin epitaph written by the saint himself, and carved by his
disciples on his tomb. It would be most interesting to discover
at what time this monument disappeared.
Bargilli states that one of the ancient ambone of the cathedral
was carried away in 1544, and first placed in S. Pietro Scheraggio,
and after many vicissitudes was found in 1742 in S. Leonardo in
Arcetri, " an object for the study and admiration of all lovers of
art." The Bishop of Fiesole, Benozzo Federighi, in 1440 ordered a
picture to be presented to the cathedral, representing Our Lady
between St. Peter and St. Paul, S. Donato and S. Alessandro. It
is not certain who the painter of this picture was, but this much
is certain, that Federighi ordered the picture to be executed;
his arms may be seen on a shield at the side of the step, which
is divided into compartments, each illustrating scenes in the life
of the saint painted above.
Outside the cathedral of Fiesole, the following inscription may
be read upon a stone fixed into a wall near the side door1 : —
" Ossa S. Donati antistitis Faesulani
Thesaurus ille habet condita
Quorum sedes ad D. Bartholomsei
^Edem suburbanam perdiu fuit
1 Op. tit., p. 215.

BOTTICELLI'S VIEW OF FLORENCE. 261
Unde Raynerius Mancini episc. Fsesul.
Dum apud Parmenses exularet
In hoc Templum maximum
Ut sua? faceret pietati satis
Transferre voverat
Ubi primum ad suos
Posliminio rediret
At morte interceptus
Id operis nepoti Lancillotto
Absolvendum reliquit
Qui patrui votum libens animo
Solvit
Eaque solemni pompa
Facibus cereisque ardentibus
circumducta
Huic altari gradu et loculo
Marmoreis exornato
III". Kal. Quintil. MDCCCXVII.
Inlata fuere."
Having seen this inscription and photographed the altar of
S. Donato in the cathedral, I felt as if I had had enough of
archaeology for one day, and I went down the hill of Fiesole
again to the Badia. I was haunted by the desire to find out the
point of view whence Botticelli drew his picture of Florence and
the Villa Palmieri in the painting already alluded to above, so,
having passed the old Badia, now converted into a college, I
crossed the bridge over the Mugnone and walked up the hill
towards the Villa Salviati. Turning off the high road to the
right, I got among the lanes on Monte Rinaldi near La Lastra,
on the Via Bolognese, and soon found myself among the ruined
terraces of an ancient garden, where cactus and aloe grew side
by side with brambles, periwinkle, and ivy. Beds of narcissus
carpeted the ground, and fragments of broken pillars and
mouldings, the ruins of some old summerhouse once standing
here, lay half buried in creepers of every imaginable variety.

262 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Having reached an open in the thicket into which I had strayed,
I was startled to see the very scene represented by Botticelli
about the year 1455 lying at my feet — the wide horizon reaching
from San Domenico and the Apennines beyond Monte Moro,
Scala, and Monte Maggio, round the whole Val d'Arno, to San
Lorenzo and the northern boundary of Florence.
Seated on the same mountain-side where the great painter
must have sat four hundred and thirty years ago, and holding my
little copy of his landscape in my hand (see fig. 87), it was intensely
interesting to trace the objects still remaining on which his eye
had rested, and which his conscientious pencil had outlined, and
to note the changes wrought by time in the aspect of the scene.
A bridge crossed the river at the same point in its course, but
now one single arch spans the water where formerly three arches
stood. The gravelly reaches and rocky banks of the stream on
this side of the bridge are marvellously unchanged ; so also is
the road that winds along to Fonte Lucente, and the steep cause
way leading up the hill-side from the bridge to the Badia. This
causeway may have been very old even in Botticelli's day — may
have been the same road travelled by our Irish pilgrims, Donatus
and Andrew, when they first ascended the hill to the church
door. Not a stone seems to have been altered in the church
itself since the painter's day — the half-finished facade of inlaid
marbles is half-finished still. The monastic buildings at the side,
with all their irregular windows and doors so faithfully drawn by
Botticelli, remain untouched. Only one change is visible, and
that the mournful one already mentioned, wrought within the
last fifteen years — the sweeping away of the ancient oratory of
the founder. In the painting a spire is represented as rising from
the square tower of the Badia. This spire really belongs to the
church of San Domenico on the hill behind, which, seen from
this lofty point of view, appears just over the tower of the Badia,
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VIEW OF FLORENCE. 263
ignorant restorer, seeing the faint distant outline, has repainted
the spire as belonging to the church in front.
The old country seat of Bartolommeo Scala, the friend of
Lorenzo de' Medici, now called Villa della Luna in Camerata (see
fig. 88),has been modernized since the days when Botticelli drew it.
On the distant hills above the eastern side of the city, the basilica
as well as fortress of San Miniato are clearly visible ; on the
next line of hills Arcetri and the observatory of Galileo come
into view. Further west the hill of Bellosguardo and the whole
valley of the Arno are seen extending to the horizon. Here the
view is interrupted in the picture of Botticelli by the group of
apostles round the virgin's tomb in the foreground, but the city
of Florence lies in the middle distance. The old towered walls
and noble gateways represented by the painter are no longer
visible. The walls have been swept away in recent years, and
the present aspect of the city, as viewed from this seat of
Botticelli's, is as that of a lake that has overflowed its boundaries,
and its long streets and tiled roofs reach even to San Marco
Vecchio, where the steam from the neighbouring mill, curling in
wreaths above the surrounding buildings, forms a constant feature
in the scene. The dome of San Lorenzo, the spire of Sta. Croce,
with numbers of other buildings raised since the fifteenth century,
are all clearly distinguishable from this bank on Monte Rinaldi.
At this particular moment, however, my interest was concentrated
on the villa that rises amid tall cypress and olive-trees on the
height above the Mugnone beyond the bridge. This is the
house of Matteo Palmieri, the author of the poem, " La Citta di
Vita," which inspired this great painting of Botticelli's. It is now
the home of the widowed Lady Crawford of Balcarres and her
daughters, and was the residence occupied by Her Majesty
Queen Victoria on the occasion of her visit to Florence in 1888.1
1 The circumstances under which this picture was composed are described
by Sir Frederic Burton in the Catalogue of the National Gallery, London,

264 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
The house was formerly called La Fonte de Trevisi, from an old
three-faced head of Janus placed above it, and was named after
Matteo Palmieri when this learned Florentine purchased it in
1450. A further interest attaches to this place, since tradition
states that Boccaccio selected it for one of the homes of his fair
storytellers in the " Decameron."
Here, then, no doubt, Botticelli was often a guest of Matteo
Palmieri, who, besides being a profound theologian and an
earnest student of Dante's works, had composed the poem we
have already alluded to, somewhat on the model of the " Divina
Commedia," in which he supposes himself conducted by the
Cumean Sibyl through the Elysian Fields to Heaven — the "City of
Life." These two friends may have here planned this great altar-
piece for the Palmieri Chapel which was to illustrate the closing
canto of the poem. It is perfectly in keeping with the poetic
instincts of sacred painters of the quattro cento that this great
vision of Heaven should be represented as bursting on the poet
in his own very home. Gazing upwards from his cypress groves
into the unfathomable blue above, it is as if that sky had slowly
opened, and the interior of a vast dome were revealed, rising above
three iridescent bands of light peopled with nine successive zones
of sacred forms, all gazing in absorbed ecstasy on the figure of
the Divine Mother, lowliest of women, kneeling at the feet of the
Redeemer, the Alpha and the Omega.
Dear E.,
I started yesterday in search of St. Andrew's Church on the
Mensola, called S. Martino a Mensola. I left Florence by the
Porta alia Croce, and, passing the Barriere Settinanese, walked on
but the poem which inspired it has never appeared in print. A magnificently
illuminated copy of the manuscript is preserved in the Laurentian Library.
Another copy, without ornament and of later date, is in the Magliabecchian
Library, and a third is preserved in the Ambrosian Library of Milan.

Fig. 89. — SAN MARTINO A MENSOLA.

266 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
past the turn down to the abbey of S. Salvi (where the beautiful
fresco of the Last Supper by Andrea del Sarto is to be seen) till
I reached the gate of Villa Poggio Gherardo, where Mrs. Ross,
the authoress of " The Land of Manfred," lives. A little further
on I came to a bridge over the Mensola, and saw the little church
and its tower on a height above. A steep paved road or cause
way, evidently very old, and possibly that which was trod by
Andrew and Donatus in the ninth century, leads up to it, which
is shown clearly enough in the drawing. It runs by the side of
the vineyard of Villa Gherardo. Here I may tell you a few facts
that I have been able to gather on the history of this monastery
of former days, founded by our Irish Andrew.
Some years after its foundation it was ceded' to the Benedic
tines of the Badia of Florence, along with all its annexations.
About the year 1070 Abbot Pietro IL, with the consent of his
monks, instituted a Benedictine cloister here, granting to these
clerics the old church and monastery which were founded two
centuries before by Bishop S. Donatus and his archdeacon
St. Andrew. The building had suffered great injuries in the
course of these centuries, and threatened to fall into ruin when
it was restored towards the end of the thirteenth century. Finally,
in the middle of the fifteenth century, the monastery was sup
pressed by a bull of Pope Nicholas V., dated the 12th of March,
145 1, and the church of S. Martino with all its possessions came
beneath the jurisdiction of the Florentine Badia. The church
itself, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, was almost
rebuilt by the direction of the Abbot of Florence, Luca da
Buggiano, who was careful to place the bones of St. Andrew of
Ireland with all due honour beneath the new altar, and he then
had the following epitaph placed near the altar : —
"D. O. M.
Aram hanc quam vetustate attritam R. P. D. Lucas
a Bojano (Buggiano) abbas abbatiae Florentinse in

¦S-. MARTINO A MENSOLA. 267
Divum Andream Scotum pietatis ergo renovata
Structura asportatis importatisq; ejusdem divi sacris
ossibus exornandam colendamque curavit
R. D. Alexander Burgices Burgi sancti se pulchri
episcopus sacrato lapide dicavit Anno Domini
M.D.CXI.XX. Kal. Augusti."
This church of S. Martino in Mensola is marked on the ancient
maps of the thirteenth century as a parochial and suburban of
Florence, or a daughter of the metropolitan church, which it
continued to be until the year 1795, when, by an agreement
between the Archbishop of Florence and the Bishop of Fiesole,
it was connected with the parish of S. Lucia of Trcspiano, which
till then had been a suburban of Fiesole.
The church of S. Martino was restored about the year 1450
by a member of the noble Florentine family, the Lords Gherardi,
whose arms may be seen in many parts of the walls of the same
church. The Italian biographer of St. Andrew speaks of an
English inscription in this church, which I, however, failed to
find. He says : —
" Upon a dado of marble which supports the vase for holy water
the following English words were cut in an ancient character :—
' Help Help, Ghod,'
which the learned Doctor Antonio Cocchi interprets,
'AlUTA AlUTA O DlO.'
We may conjecture from the appearance of this inscription,
that as St. Andrew originally came from Ireland, an island
beyond England, where the English tongue is spoken, this
fragment of the English language proves that some connection
may have been kept up with the native land of the founder."
The interior of the budding consists of three naves, with
columns of the Ionic order. It is enriched with some good
works of art, a fine triptych, said to be the work of Bernardo

268 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Orgagna, upon the high altar, and an Annunciation of the school
of Fra Angelico. The body of the saint, embalmed, is laid
beneath the high altar.

Fig. 90. — INTERIOR OF S. MARTINO A MENSOLA.

The Benedictines of S. Martino a Mensola became connected
with the monks of S. Andrea in Arco near the Mercato Vecchio,
where in 893 Ingelberta, daughter of Count Ubaldo, was abbess.
These monks then came to live in the church of Andrea, and the

i-. MARTINO A MENSOLA. 269
body of St. Andrew of Ireland was found in 1285. Connected
with this monastery in Mensola was the humble church of S.
Martino in the Via dei Magazzini in Florence, founded in 786
by St. Andrew of Ireland. Much interest belongs to this place
now, as S. Antonio, in the thirteenth century, there instituted a
society called the " Buonuomini di San Martino." The object of
this society was very much the same as that we have at home
for the distressed ladies of Ireland ; it was for the private relief
of persons of the upper class who had been reduced to poverty
by misfortune — "I Poveri Vergognosi" as they were called.
There is a reference to this society in George Eliot's " Romola."
The church stands in the piazza facing the house of Dante, and
its interior was once beautifully decorated with frescoes ; now,
alas ! half faded and gone, representing the seven acts of mercy.
These works are said to belong to the school of Fra Filippo
Lippi. But to return to our hills : the scenery immediately
around the church of S. Martino a Mensola is full of interesting
associations to an English eye. Close by was the villa of Walter
Savage Landor, which is described by Dickens, when he visited
him there, and recalled the memory of Leigh Hunt.
" Leigh loved to wander among the Fiesolean hills, thinking
of Boccaccio. The streams Affrico and Mensola were the meta
morphosed lovers in his Nimphale Fiesolano ; at his feet the
Valley of the Ladies. To the left the house of Macchiavelli.
Further on, Michael Angelo's birthplace at Settignano. On the
banks of the neighbouring river Mugnone the house of Dante,
and in the background Galileo's villa of Arcetri. In the thick
of this noble landscape, forming part of the village of San
Domenico di Fiesole, stood Landor's second villa. The Valley
of the Ladies was in his grounds, the Affrico and Mensola ran
through them. Above, the ivy-clad convent of the Doccia, over
hung with cypress, and Val d'Arno and Vallombrosa were
visible from his entrance gate." Dickens describes the house as

270 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
nestling among olive-trees and vines, with its upper windows
open to the setting sun, " and all Italy, except the sea, is melted
down into the glowing landscape it commands."
Here Landor planted his garden with myrtles, pomegranates,
oranges, lemons, gagias, and mimosas, in great quantities.
Landor describes his farm in the following lines : —
"Where the hewn rocks of Fiesole impend
O'er Doccia's dell, and fig and olive blend.
There the twin streams in Affrico unite,
One dimly seen, the other out of sight ;
But ever playing in his smoothened bed
Of polished stone, and willing to be led
Where clustering vines protect him from the sun ;
Never too grave to smile, too tired to run,
Here, by the lake, Boccaccio's fair brigade
Beguiled the hours, and tale for tale repaid."
And when he was returning to England in 1835, after five
years spent in Villa Gherardesca, he writes again : —
" I leave thee, beauteous Italy ! no more
From the high terraces, at eventide,
To look supine into thy depths of sky,
Thy golden moon between the cliff and me,
Or thy dark spires of fretted cypresses
Bordering the channel ofthe milky way ;
Fiesole and Val d'Arno must be dreams
Hereafter, and my own lost Affrico
Murmur to me but in the poet's song."

Florence, fan., 1890.
My dear Friend,
Yesterday was a bright springlike day when we started
from Fiesole about one o'clock on our pilgrimage to the hermitage
of St. Andrew's sister Brigid. We drove through Borgunto,

¦^y

272 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
where two roads branch off leading to this beautiful and lonely
spot. The one crossing the tops of the mountains is rough and
difficult, although the shortest as a bird flies. The other, skirting
round the sides of Monte Magherini, looks down on the valley of
the Mugnone to the river's source. On the opposite side of the
valley we saw the viaducts of the Via Faentina leading from the
church of S. Andrea Sveglia along the hills on the northern side
of the Mugnone to Ponte di Sagginale on the river Sieve. They
form a striking feature in the landscape. As far as Olmo our road
lay through fields of olive and long lines of cypress-trees. Then
we came out upon oak and brushwood, and then branched off
on a rough mountain road leading across a moor as desolate as
any Scottish wilderness.
We passed some very old square military towers on the way;
the doorways of which strongly reminded me of some of our old
Irish church doorways, the horizontal lintels relieved by a rude
arch above. We then commenced our descent to the other side
of the mountain, where we saw, on a spur of a hill on which we
stood, a grove of tall old cypress-trees, in the midst of which rose
the low square castellated tower of Castel Lobaco, beneath the
shelter of whose walls rises the little church of S. Martino in
Baco. It would be difficult to conceive a more solemn and
beautiful scene. From the great height at which we stood, the
vast flowing lines of the Apennines, wave beyond wave, stretched
out to the horizon, in warm violet hues floating in the tender
mists that rose from their valleys, the afternoon sun striking its
rays across the sides of the nearer mountains, throwing some into
broad relief, veiling others in a golden veil of light — the only
spot of verdure being this tall cypress-crowned island of rock.
The road leads down a long avenue, lined on each side by
these noble solemn trees, and after passing the castle, a turn of
the way brought us on our little church. It is a simple quad
rangular building, without transepts or side aisles ; the porch and

6-. BRIG! DA A LOBACO. 273
a tiny round apse at the east end and an old baptismal font on
the north wall are the only features of interest it possesses. The
priest's house and garden are annexed to it, and from the piazza
at the east end we looked across the valley watered by the river
Sieci to the face of the hill two miles distant, where is the cave
to which St. Brigid, in her old age, retired to die.
The church is described by Ripetti as in the Florentine Val
d'Arno, a filial parish ofthe baptismal church of the ancient castle
of Lo Baco, Lubaco, Obaco, now Castel Lobaco, with its old
baptismal church, S. Gervasio d'Alpiniano in S. Martino a Lobaco,
about eight miles above Pontasieve, placed on a hill between
Monte Rotondo and the opening of Strada Salajole, near the
source of the torrent Sieci, and at a short distance from the
sanctuary of the Madonna del Sasso. A bull issued by Pope
Pasquale II. in the year 1103, and another by Innocent II. in
1 1 34, prove that this church and castle of Lobaco were then
also known by the name Corte di Alpiniano. Here we find that
the plebana church of S. Gervasio, along with the Corte di
Alpiniano, and its neighbouring church of S. Miniato, now called
Pagnolli, were confirmed to the bishops of Fiesole. It also appears
that, in the year 1028, the Bishop of Fiesole, Jacopo Bavaro, had
assigned the parish church of Alpiniano in benefice to the chapter
ofthe new cathedral of Fiesole. Later on, the church of S. Gervasio
having in its old age fallen into ruin, its baptistery was transferred
to its daughter church of S. Martino a Lobaco, long under the
patronage of the order of the Serviti. The Pieve of Lobaco owns
two filial parishes, St. Brigid at Lobaco and S. Miniato at
Pagnolli. In the district of the parish is situated the holy
oratory ofthe most holy Vergine del Sasso. In 1833 the parish
of S. Martino in Lobaco numbered 591 inhabitants.
The hermitage or cave of St. Brigid yet remained to be
explored, and on last Friday I started for this place by a different
route, although it lies within two miles of Lobaco. I went by
T

CAVE OF ST. BRIGID.

275

train to Pontasieve, the place where the ascent to Vallombrosa
commences ; there I took a carriage and drove along the Arno to
Sieci, the point at which the torrent so called empties itself into
the greater river. Owing to a breakwater, the Arno here spreads
into a wide basin like a lake or great milldam, and the houses of
this picturesque village, built in a semicircle along its banks,

Fig- 93- — CAVE OF ST. BRIGID AT LOBACO.

seemed to rise straight out of it, casting long reflections in its
quiet waters. Here the road to our oratory turns north, follow
ing the torrent Sieci up to its source, and keeping in the bottom
of the valley for a distance of five or six miles. Then, when we
had come under the walls of the fortress of Lobaco in Trebbio,
we commenced the steep ascent to the hermitage. The church

276 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
of the Madonna del Sasso now came into sight, — a striking pile
of grey walls, with their lofty tower high on the mountain side.
Close to this building, looking eastward, the driver said I should
soon see St. Brigid's grotto, and the villagers did seem astonished
when our good horse dashed in among them. I found the cave
quite easily, below the east wall of the church. A path and a
flight of steps leads down to it from the priest's garden. A little
altar in the side of the cave bears the following inscription
(fig. 93) sculptured upon a shield : —
" Grotta nella quale S. Brigida sorella di S. Donato
Faceva penitenitiis nel secolo nono."
It will be seen from this inscription that the pious hand who
put it there was not very accurately informed as to the history
of St. Brigid, since he states that she was sister to Donato, not, as
was the case, to his deacon, Andrew. The church is a plain
quadrangular building, with a pretty belfry, but no interna]
feature of interest that I could discover.
Is it not curious that, as my letters to you began with a cave,
they should end also with a cave ? For here my pilgrimage in
search of traces of our Irish saints in Italy must end, for this
year at all events. The winter approaches and the days are
growing short. As I sat at the mouth of Brigid's cell that
evening, and watched the sun go down behind the Apennines,
and looked along the lonely valley all brown and grey, save
where those funereal cypress-trees made it seem like some vast
cemetery, my mind went back to the home whence the faithful
sister travelled— back to the green hills of the Holy Island and
blue waters of Lough Derg, and the song of its wild birds. Did
she, too, suffer from home-sickness as she thought of her long-lost
joys and all her early love, or did it suffice to her to find her
love was merged in that of Him whose cross she bore ?

APPENDICES.

APPENDICES.
I. Mystic Mirrors, p. 279.
II. Bowl or Mazer of St. Columban, p. 280.
III. The Library of Bobio, p. 281.
IV. Visit of Mabillon to the Library of Bobio, p. 283.
V. Rock-Markings : Handprints and Footprints, p. 285.
VI. Writings of St. Columban, p. 290.
VII. Ozanam, Schools of Italy in the Dark Ages, p. 292.
VIII. Edict of Lothair, p. 294.
IX. Dungal's Bequest of Books to Bobio, p. 296.
X. Tomb of St. Augustine at Pavia, p. 297.
XI. S. Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, p. 300.
XII. Teodata and King Cunibert, p. 301.
XIII. Ancient Descriptions of Ireland, p. 302.

APPENDIX I.
Mystic Mirrors, Fig. 19, P. 71.
WE may hope that a more general knowledge than we
have yet attained of such pagan funereal symbols as
were occasionally adopted by early Christians, may cast a light
on the meaning of the symbols on the Scottish sepulchral monu
ments. Mr. Stuart's theory has always appeared to be most
unsatisfactory. He says in vol. ii., p. 30, of his work on the
"Sculptured Stones of Scotland": "The conclusion I have
arrived at is that the symbols — comb, mirror, books, brooches,
spectacles, crescents, etc. — were all objects of personal ornament
or use, and that when they appear on our pillar stones, they are
to be regarded as symbols, representing the dignity, office, or
descent of individuals." Their intention is surely something
more solemn than this. They appear along with the cross, the
fish, the pincers, the hammer, the nails, the sword, the blossom
ing rod, all well-known instruments of Christ's passion, or symbols
of death and resurrection. And, if we accept Inghirami's ex
planation of the mystic mirror, no one of those symbols is more
deeply significant than this. The Etruscan mirrors were cir
cular in form, thus symbolising the globe. They were of bronze,
with a surface so highly polished as to form a perfect reflector.
It appears from the figures and subjects engraved upon them
that they were meant to convey to devout pagans the idea of
divine contemplation. The figures in these groups are endowed
with certain attributes, the allegorical significance of which was
revealed to those who were initiated into the sacred mysteries.
Thus on one ancient Etruscan vase a genius is seen to stand
holding up a mirror before a female figure. She, holding a
bandelette and branch in one hand, with the other raises a
vase with offerings before him.

280 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
The mirror, the branch, and the sacred bandelette, no less
than the figure of the mysterious genius, prove that here the
sense of some occult — perhaps inexplicable — mystery is meant
to be conveyed. In another example a solitary youth is seen
seated on a rock. The sacred wreath that it was customary to
offer to the initiated, hangs above him. The youth, in profound
thought, gazes into the mirror. That such mystic mirrors ap
peared not only on pagan tombs, but were adopted into Christian
symbolism, is proved by their representation on the tombs of
primitive Christians (vide Boldetti, lib. ii., cap. xiv., p. 500). And
St. Paul makes use ofthe symbol when writing to the Corinthians :
" Videmus nunc per speculum in aenigmate (i.e., in this life we see
God and the divine mysteries in a mirror, in enigma, that is, in
allegory), tunc autem faciem ad faciem ; " tunc, then, i.e., when
we shall be in another life, face to face. Here we have the
language of the time when such mirrors were in use as symbols
of contemplation, when the custom was still in practice of placing
them in tombs, with the meaning that, the dead having left their
bodies here, passed into the other world to meet God face to
face ; thus seeing that in very truth which, in this world, they
could only meditate upon when shadowed forth in the dark
surface of the mystic mirror.
See Stuart's " Sculptured Stones of Scotland ; " " Proceedings
of Soe. Antiqs. Scotland, 1881-1882 ;" Inghirami, "Mon. Etrusc,"
ii., p. 762 ; Calmet, " Comm. Literale in Biblia," torn, viii., p. 221.

APPENDIX II.
The Wooden Bowl or Mazer of St. Columban, P. 179.
PEYRON describes this cup in the following words : " Cup of St.
Columban surrounded with silver gilt, in which is contained
thick glass holding relics and protected by hazel bark. It
is said to have been brought from Ireland." The glass vessel
contained in the hazel cup was no longer to be seen when I
examined the cup, nor did the Parocco appear to know what
had become of it.
This cup belongs to a class of antiquities called mazers. King

APPENDICES. 281
Edward III. presented to the house of Friars Preachers a
mazer cup called Edward and thirty-nine other mazer cups,
with a particular injunction that they should never be alienated
from this house (see "Archaeologia," vol. xlvi., pp. 303-4). They
are drinking bowls, and their name is derived from mase, Old
German masa, meaning a spot — a mazer is a bowl of spotted
wood. In the " Rites of Durham " (Surtees Society, xv., 68), full
information is to be found as to the use of mazers : " There
lay also in the same ambrie the goodly cup called Saint Bede's
bowl, the outside whereof was of black mazer, and the inside of
silver double gilt ; the edge finely wrought about with silver and
double gilt ; and in the midst of it was the picture of the holy
man Saint Bede, sitting as if he had been writing. . . . And
every monk had his mazer severally by himself to drink in, . . .
and all the said mazers were largely and finely edged with silver
double gilt."
Mr. W. H. St. John Hope, in his essay on the English
mediaeval drinking bowls called mazers (" Archaeologia," vol. 1.,
p. 127), gives a list of "undoubted mazers that have survived to
our time," none of which seem to be earlier than the fourteenth
or fifteenth centuries.

APPENDIX III.
Library of Bobio.
" PADRE ROSSETTI," writes Gianelli, " says little of the dis
tinguished library of the monastery of Bobio, but we should
bear in mind that two catalogues have been published of it, and
when we remember that the codices of this collection are
scattered throughout the great libraries of Europe, we may
conceive what rich treasures and precious volumes it once
contained." The first catalogue of the library of Bobio, made
about the tenth century, was printed by Muratori. Arranged
according to the names of authors and donors, and interrupted
by many omissions, although it enumerates an enormous store
of ancient codices, yet it does not satisfy the exigencies of the
critic. The second inventory, described as restored in 1461, was

282 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
brought to light by the learned Abbe^Peyron in 1824. In
this the codices enumerated amount to 280 volumes, each of
which contains several tracts and treatises by several authors.
The fame that this great library enjoyed attracted Giorgio
Merula in the year 1493, and Tomaso Inghirami in 1495, who,
when they quitted it, carried away many precious codices.
Cardinal Federico Borromeo in the year 1606 carried away
many codices for his Ambrosian_library jt^Milan, and for the
high pontiff Paul V, TrTThe year 1618, for the Vatican. In
the year 1685 Pere Mabillon visited this library. Some of
the volumes were transported to Turin in the last century, and
the library of the Royal University was enriched by seventy
volumes from that of Bobio. The greater part of the Bobiensian
library thus dispersed throughout the libraries of Rome, Milan,
Turin, Naples, and Vienna, being recognized, we may rest
assured that its fame will be perpetual.
Most remarkable amongst its treasures were the palimpsests,
among the most ancient of which have been discovered un
published fragments of Cicero, Fronto, Symmachus, and the
Theodosian Code.
A very famous relic of this library is the MS. called the
Muratorian fragment, now preserved in the Ambrosian library at
Milan. This contains the earliest extant catalogue (though
imperfect at the beginning and ending) of the New Testament
books, and holds a very prominent place in all modern works
which treat ofthe New Testament canon.1 The MS. is one of a
collection brought from Bobio by Cardinal Borromeo to the
-Ambrosian library. It has been described as ofthe eighth century,
but in the opinion of Bishop Reeves, judging from Dr. Tregelles's
facsimile, it is even older. This MS. was evidently copied from
a MS. of much higher antiquity. It was mutilated at the
beginning and the end before it was transcribed, and the writer
claims to be a contemporary of Pius, who was Bishop of Rome
in the middle of the second century.2
1 See Dr. Salmon's "Historical Introduction to the Books of the New
Testament Canon," p. 527 ; Dr. Westcott's "Bible in the Church," pp. 112-
116; Dr. Salmon's article on it in the third vol. of "Diet. Christian Bio
graphy ; " Tregelles' monograph upon the same work.
2 Extract from- a letter to the writer from Bishop Reeves.

APPENDICES. 283
APPENDIX IV
Visit of Mabillon to the Monastery of Bobio, P. 182.
Between the 16th of April and the 10th of June, 1682, Dom
Mabillon, accompanied by his brother Benedictine, Michael
Germanus, made a journey through Burgundy, the object of
their expedition being to examine or to search for documents
relating to the royal family. That he executed his task with
skill and fidelity, and, at the same time, took an opportunity for
doing his own business in his own way of antiquarian research,
nobody will doubt. Two years after he drew up an account of
his tour, and it was subsequently printed under the title of " Iter
Burgundicum." Next year appeared an account of his journey
through part of Germany, under the title of " Iter Germanicum."
In the year 1685, at the suggestion of Le Tellier, Archbishop
of Rheims, the brother of the minister who had succeeded
Colbert, and the owner of 5,000 volumes, Mabillon was sent
at the royal cost to investigate the libraries of Italy and to
procure books for the king's library. He set out with the same
companion as before on the 1st of April, and returned in the
June of the following year. The royal library was enriched by
the addition of 3,000 volumes, and Mabillon published an account
of the journey in the first volume of his " Museum Italicum,"
under the title of " Iter Italicum." l On this journey he visited the
monastery of Columban at Bobio, of which he has left us the
following account : —
" As we were about to go to the Bobian (called by the ancients
Ebobian) monastery, rendered famous by the death and tomb of
St. Columban, we crossed the Po, on either bank of which the
Spanish guards were placed, communicating with each other by
means of a bridge constructed of small boats. We arrived first
at Bronius, where the body of St. Gothard is preserved in a
celebrated shrine ; afterwards, by a perpetual ascending and de
scending of the mountains, on the following day we reached
Bobium, which is situated close by the river Trebbia, in a very
1 See Maitland, " Dark Ages," p. 223.

284 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
deep valle}', pleasing enough as regards the situation, and well
adapted for bearing corn and wine. It was there that the
emperor, Henry I., established the episcopate in the year 1014.
"There is scarcely anything in the monastery except the
shadow of a great name. The monks have been reduced to a
very few.
" The basilica of the monastery, that is, of St. Peter, or of
St. Columban, is choicely situated. It is famous for the cathedral
of the Blessed Mary. There is almost nothing remaining of the
monastery's former antiquity, except the subterranean vaults,
where there are four altars, and there were once five. On the
principal one, the body of St. Columban is seen on a stone
sarcophagus, which was constructed in the year 1480. You
must know that this is the proud mausoleum of the once great
Abbot Columban, but worthy of being preferred to all the
golden coffins in the world. Carved in stone, the figure of
Columban is seen, on bended knees, before a certain pontiff,
from whom, as a suppliant, he is receiving an urn filled with relics,
which urn, made of alabaster, is preserved to this day in the
sanctuary." Here follows a long digression on the intercourse between
Columban and Pope Gregory the Great. And then the writer
returns to the description of the crypt : —
" In the same vault at Bobium, at the left-hand side of the
principal altar, the body of St. Cummian lies, likewise in a stone
coffin, with an old epitaph, as related by Ughellus, in which it is
said that the tomb was constructed by order of King Liutprand.
Two altars on either side contained the remains of SS. Attala and
Bertulfus, abbots. A fifth is distinguished by the name of the
Virgin Deipara. In the Sanctuary is preserved the head of
St. Columban in a silver shrine ; also the little knife and goblet or
bowl of the same ; the vase or unguent box being the same, no
doubt, which Gregory the Great is said to have given as a gift
filled with relics to the holy abbot.
" In the same place is retained also an ancient dove made from
copper for the carrying of the viaticum, and the hollow figure of
a ram, in which we think the holy oil was preserved. In the
back of the new cross made of silver some precious stones have
been placed, principally, indeed, the agate, on which Isis and

APPENDICES. 285
Serapis have been carved with Egyptian letters surrounding
them.1 On the right arm of the cross a priest of Isis with the
sistrum in his left hand may be seen, while his right hand is
extended as if in blessing ; the chaplet on his head ending at
the summit of the cross. On the left arm there is an agate
without any carved work, and on the lowest portion of the cross
there is another with an image of the emperor."

APPENDIX V.
ROCK-MARKINGS : HANDPRINTS AND FOOTPRINTS,5 Pp. 143
AND 189.
HANDPRINTS of saintly or divine beings are not so often found
as footprints, and therefore I looked at this stone-marking with
peculiar interest. (See Fig. 70.)
In the mosque of Omar at Jerusalem, as we learn from Curzon's
"Monasteries of the Levant," p. 182, there is a stone called
Hadjr el Sakhara, and on it are shown the prints of the angel
Gabriel's fingers, who brought it from heaven.
In Mexico the hand of Quetzalcoatl is imprinted jn the solid
rock. The veneration for footprints, and all the curious stories con
nected with it that have arisen in Christian mythology, are
evidently to be reckoned amongst the traces of paganism in
primitive Christianity lingering on still in the minds of the
peasantry. Mr. Tylor3 has some interesting remarks on the
myths which have been applied to fancied resemblances in
inanimate objects to the human form, and the myths of footprints
stamped into the rock by gods or mighty men are not the least
curious of this class, not only from the power of imagination
required to see footprints in mere round or long cavities, but
also from the unanimity with which Egyptians, Greeks, Brahmins,
1 See p. 183, supra.
3 See paper by the writer in "The Antiquary," No. 17, N.S., May, 1891,
p. 209.
3 Tylor, "Early Hist, of Mankind," p. 115.

286 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Buddhists, Christians, and Moslems have adopted them as relics,
each from their own point of view. And the same writer adds after
wards,1 " For all we know, the whole mass of the Old-World foot
print-myths may have had but a single origin, and have travelled
from one people to another. The story is found, too, in the
Pacific Islands, for in Samoa two hollow places, nearly six feet
long, in a rock, are shown as the footprints of Tiitii, where he
stood when he pushed the heavens up from the earth." 2 " In
North America, at the edge of the great Pipestone Quarry,
where the Great Spirit stood when the blood of the buffaloes he
was devouring ran down upon the stone and turned it red, there
his footsteps are to be seen deeply marked in the rock, in the
form of a track of a great bird." a While Mexican eyes could
discern in the solid rock at Ilaneparths the mark of hand and
foot left by the mighty Quetzalcoatl.4
There are three kinds of prints in the rock which may have
served as a foundation for such tales as these. In many parts
of the world there are fossil footprints of birds and beasts, many
of huge size. The North-American Indians, also, whose atten
tion is specially alive to the footprints of men and animals, very
often carve them on rocks, sometimes with figures ofthe animals
to which they belong. Again, Anderson (" Lake Ngami," p. 327)
speaks of a- rock in South Africa in which the tracks of all the
different animals indigenous to the country are distinctly visible,
This is probably another such sculptured rock. Thirdly, there
are such mere shapeless holes as those to which most, or all, of
the Old-World myths seem to be attached.
The typical case is the sacred footprint of Ceylon, which is a
cavity in the rock 5 feet in length by 2i feet in breadth, shaped
to resemble a human foot. At one end it presents a straight
line, on which the five toes are artificially formed by several
tolerably thick, narrow crevices, filled with mortar, and about 8
or 9 inches in length, which jut inwards, the great toe being on
the right or east side, and thus indicating that it is a representa
tion of the left foot. The heel is narrowed and rounded off. To
1 Tylor, "Early Hist, of Mankind," p. 116.
2 Rev. G. Turner, "Nineteen Years in Polynesia," p. 246. Lond., 1861.
1 Catlin, vol. ii., p. 165, etc.
1 Southey, "Hist, of Brazil,"- vol. i., sup., p. xx. Lond., 1822.

APPENDICES. 287
the Brahmin it is the footstep of Siva ; to the Buddhists, of the
great founder of his religion, Gautama Buddha ; and to the
Moslem it is the spot where Adam stood when he was driven
from Paradise. Here, according to the Mohammedan belief, our
common father passed many years in expiatory exile before his
reunion with Eve on Mount Arapath, which overhangs Mecca.
The veneration with which the majestic mountain called Adam's
Peak has been regarded for ages probably took its rise among
the natives of Ceylon, whom the sublimities of Nature, awaking
in them the instinct of worship, impelled to do homage to the
mountains and the sun. Under the influence of such feelings the
aspect of this solitary alp towering above the loftiest ranges of
the hills, and often shrouded in storms and thunder-clouds, was
calculated to convert awe into adoration.
The pilgrimage to the " Holy Footstep " is well described in
the following passage from the " Voyage of the Novara " (vol. i.,
p. 411): "By 6 p.m., we at length reached the summit, and
were rewarded with a panoramic view of indescribable magnifi
cence. The mists were almost entirely dispersed, and in the
clear, calm evening light, the eye wandered at pleasure over the
vast, almost limitless, panorama at our feet, as far as the sea,
barely visible in the gray distance. . . . The followers of three
religions, — Buddhists," Brahmins, and Mahometans,- — stand face
to face with each other on this space of barely a few steps, in
order to bow before these visible emblems, in sincere devotion to
the invisible Deity. The highest surface, which is nearly level,
is of an irregular oval form, and is about 60 or 70 feet in length,
by from 36 to 40 feet in breadth, and is enclosed within a wall 5
feet in height. ... In the middle of this enclosure stands a block
of rock some 10 or 11 feet high, which on the extreme top has a
depression, the divine Sri-pada, or Holy Footstep. The adora
tion consists chiefly of offerings of flowers, which are brought up
hither and presented with innumerable genuflections, invocations,
and exclamations of ' Sadoo,' which corresponds to the Christian
'Amen.'"
Camoens (in " Lusiads," x., fol. 183) refers to these footsteps
in the following verse as translated by Captain Burton : —

2S8 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
" See in Ceylon that Peak so stark, so gaunt,
Shooting high o'er the clouds, or mocking sight ;
The native peoples hold it Sacrosanct
For the famed Stone where print of foot is pight." l
Moor notices the existence of the impressions of a pair of feet
cut upon a flat stone about many Hindoo temples, and the tra
dition is that they commemorated Suati, marking the place
whence the widow stepped from earth upon the funeral-pile or
into the gate of heaven.
It is possible that the veneration for footsteps in Ireland
existed in pre-Christian times in this island, for, according to
Spenser, the old inauguration stones, some of which appear to
date from a very early period, bore such marks upon them.
The passage occurs in this writer's "View of the State of
Ireland," p. n, where the ceremonies and rites of the Irish in
the election of a chief are discussed : —
" They are to place him that shalbe their Captaine, upon a stone
alwayes reserved for that purpose, and placed commonly upon a
hill : In some of which I have seen formed and ingraven a foot,
which they say was the measure of their first Captaines foot,
whereon hee standing, receives an oath to preserve all the
auncient former customes ofthe countrey inviolable, and to deliver
up the succession peaceably to his Tanist, and then hath a wand
delivered unto him by some whose proper office that is : after
which, descending from the stone, he turneth himselfe round,
thrice forward, and thrice backward." . . . The Tanist " setteth
but one foot upon the stone, and receiveth the like oath that the
Captaine did."
We come now to the introduction of this curious custom into
Christian art. In early text-books for mural painters such
as the " Mirror of Human Salvation," the impression of Christ's
footprints on the Mount of Olives invariably occurs as a pre
scribed subject for treatment in the series illustrating our Lord's
Passion. When Christ ascended, it was held that the prints of
His sacred feet remained upon the rock on which He was last
1 " Olha em Ceilao, que o monte se alevanta
Tanto, que as nuvens passa, ou a vista engana ;
Os naturaes o tern por cousa santa
Pe!a pedra onde est! a pegada humana."

APPENDICES. 28 j
seen to stand. "A similar form of relic worship," writes Mr.
King, " manifests itself in the very metropolis of Christianity ;
for the prints of Christ's feet on a slab of basalt, a paving-stone
of the Via Appia, have been worshipped from time immemorial
in the church of Domine quo Vadis, built over the consecrated
spot. The legend is as follows : When, after the burning of
Rome, Nero accused the Christians of having fired the city, they
besought St. Peter to save himself by flight, which he at length
consented to do. He departed by the Appian Way, and when
about two miles from the city he met the figure of the Saviour.
Peter exclaimed, ' Domine, quo vadis ? ' — ' Lord, where goest
thou ? ' Christ replied, sorrowing, ' I go to Rome to be crucified
a second time.' And Peter, understanding the implied rebuke,
returned to Rome to die for his Lord."
It is related of St. Thomas, that he not only travelled very far
into the East, but that he even penetrated to America, and left
his footprints in the rock on the shore of Bahia as a record of
his journeyings.1
Stanley, in his "Hist. Mem. of Canterbury," p. 13, describes
St. Augustine landing at Ebbes Fleet "that he might remain
safe on that side the broad river, till he knew the mind of the
king." The rock was long preserved on which he set foot, and
which was supposed to have received the impression of his foot
mark. In later times it became an object of pilgrimage, and a
little chapel was built over it ; though it was afterwards called
the Footmark of St. Mildred, and the rock, even till the beginning
of the last century, was called " St. Mildred's Rock." The foot
steps of St. Audrey were long shown on the rock called Colbert's
Bed, to which this saint fled for security from her husband after
she had become a nun.
The latest myths of this kind that appear to exist in these
islands are those of John Wesley and George IV. John Wesley
was born at Epworth, and on one or more occasions he preached
from his father's tombstone,-a flat slab in Epworth churchyard.
In this slab are two holes, not much like feet, which were believed
to be the marks of his feet, which had miraculously impressed
themselves on the stone.
1 Bahia Hunda, Island of Cuba, west of Havana, West India Islands.
U

290 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
We have found two instances of this veneration for footprints
in Ireland. On the island of Inismurray the imprint of a child's
foot may be seen on the right hand of the entrance to the station
called Trahanee. The legend is as follows : A poor woman
carrying her load of kelp along the seashore of Inismurray
suddenly beheld a lady of divine beauty and majesty holding a
radiant child by the hand, who stood on a slab of rock at her
feet. The woman, terrified by the vision, dropped her load and
fled to a neighbouring cottage, where she told what she had
seen. On returning to the spot followed by a number of the
islanders, they found that the lady and the child had vanished ;
but the mark of the child's footprint remains on the flagstone to
the present day.
The other instance is that of an inscribed tombstone in the
churchyard of St. Caimin's Church, Iniscaltra, or Holy Island,
Lough Derg. It was discovered by Sir Thomas Deane in
the excavation of the churchyard of St. Caimin's Church on
Iniscaltra, when carrying on the works for the preservation
of national monuments and ecclesiastical buildings under the
Commission of Public Works in the year 1878-79, and was
since that date stolen by a party of American tourists. This
stone is adorned with an Irish cross, and bears the name " Cos-
graoch Lagnech," with the prints of two footsteps deeply
indented in the stone. A stone is said to have been preserved
to a late date at Lismore, on which the head of the infant
Cathaldus (afterwards Bishop of Taranto in Italy) left its impress,
the child having fallen on this stone at the moment of its birth.
A similar story is told of the Irish St. Sillan (Silao), who died
on pilgrimage at Lucca in the sixth century.

APPENDIX VI.
Writings of St. Columban.
The writings of Columban are to be found in Migne, " Patro-
logia Latina," torn, lxxx., and also in " Collectanea Sacra
Patricii Flemingi," Lovanii, A.D. 1667.

APPENDICES. 291
They are as follows : —
Regula Monastica. Flem. Coll., pp. 4-18.
Regula Ccenobialis. Ib., pp. 19-24.
(17) Sermones. lb., pp. 41-90.
De Pcenitentiarum mensura taxanda. Ib., pp. 94-103.
Instructio de octo vitiis principalibus. Ib., pp. 104-107.
Epistola I. Ad Bonifacium IV. lb., pp. 110-113.
Super Quaestione Paschae congregatae. Ib., p. 113.
Ad Discipulos et Monachos suos. Ib., pp. 131- 138.
Ad Bonifacium Papam. Ib., pp. 138-156.
Ad S. Gregorium Papam. Ib., 157-163.
Ad Quemdam suum Discipulum. Migne, " Patrol.
Lat," lxxx., p. 285.
Ad Hunaldum Epistola.
Epistola ad Sethum.
Monosticha.
Ad Fedolium Epistola.
In Mulieres.
De vanitate et miseria vitae mortalis.
In addition to these, Possevinus mentions an epistle of
Columban to Theodoric, and verses against avarice, which he
says were printed at Basle in a volume of ancient poets, and
he adds : " Sigebertus ait, ilium alia multa edidisse, vel ad
canendum digna, vel ad docendum utilia : libro de viris illus-
tribus, c. 60." See Possevini, A., " Apparatus Sacer," A.D. 1618,
P- 373-
There still exists in the Ambrosian Library of Milan an
old Irish codex brought thither from the monastery of Bobio,
which consists of a Commentary on the Psalms written in
Latin, which was formerly attributed to St. Jerome, but is now
ascribed to St. Columban, and has been held to be the very
work he wrote in Cleenish Island. Its great value arises from
the notes and glosses in early Irish which are written on its
margins. Thus there is the following introduction in Irish to
Psalm xxxiii., consisting of eleven lines written on a slip of
parchment in a hand of exquisite clearness and delicacy :—
" Psalmus David et reliqua. Not certain to us now is the
canonical history which is related in this title, unless it be that
which is related here : When David went into exile to the

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292 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Edomites or to the Ammonites before Saul, much treasure was
given by him to Abimelech in payment for killing David, and he
went a day then after that unto David, and. did not recognize"
him, for God cast a form of great madness and of a foolish man
on that David, to make him. unlike himself, and that Abimelech
did not know him, though he desired his death. And it is to
render thanks unto God after that salvation which saved him,
that David sang this psalm below, i.e., Benedicam, etc.
"Psalm xxxiv. — I will bless the Lord at all times."1

APPENDIX VII.
Ozanam. Schools of Italy in the Dark Ages.8
P. 205.
In those cities of Lombardy where the dispute between
Arianism and orthodoxy was rife, the bishops appear to have
gathered around them a small number of clerks, whom they
employed in the culture of letters as well as in the defence of
the faith. In the seventh century Archbishop Benedictus
Crispus of Milan took credit to himself for having initiated
his disciples in the knowledge of the seven arts. A little later,
the Church of Lucca had her schools even under the portico of
the cathedral ; already the priests Gaudentius and Deusdedit
figure there, in the two acts of 747 and 748, as entrusted with the
supervision of public instruction. The deacon Peter of Pisa
was professor in Pavia when Alcuin assisted him in his public
dispute with the Israelite Julius ; and among the representatives
of the ecclesiastical school in Lombardy we find Paul the Deacon,
1 From Nob David fled to Achish, King of Gath; but the Philistine
chieftains showed so quick a memory of his slaughter of Goliath, that he
only saved his life by feigning the madness of a slavering idiot ; and Achish
dismissed him with contempt. The Irish commentator here seems to
confuse Abimelech and Achish.
2 See Ozanam, F., " Documents Inedits."

APPENDICES. 293
Paulinus of Aquileia, and Theodulfus, all three clerks, and all
three destined to -second these reforms of Charlemagne which
Italy at first inspired and finally succumbed to.
On the other hand, monastic instruction commenced at both
ends of the peninsula, in Monte Cassino and in Bobio. Doubt
less the Benedictine rule was not especially concerned with
cloistral schools, yet it received, and accordingly brought up
children consecrated to the, service of God by their parents'
vows. According to the rule, reading was a duty, a work by
which Sunday was sanctified as well as fast-days. The rule
seems not only to" have opened the asylum of the monastery to
faith,- piety, and penitence, but, in the desire for peace and
meditation and self-collectedness, the love of letters also pene
trated and continued there. Many of the first disciples of St.
Benedict, such as Maurus, Placidus, and Marcus, are praised for
their application to reading and for their knowledge.
All the traditions of Italian monasticism were in favour of
mental exercise. St. Fulgentius of Cagliari held that the
labour of his hands was less important than study, and Cassio-
dorus wrote his beautiful treatise on divine and human institu
tions for the monks of Vivaria.
While the south of Italy thus shed the light of learning, another
hearth was illumined in the north. The apostolic zeal which
drove the monks of Ireland to the continent, had led St. Colum
ban to Bobio, at the foot of the wild deserts of the Apennines.
He -bore to this place, along with the severe observances of the
cenobifes of his country, their passion for letters, and the neces
sity which possessed them of learning and teaching. The spirit
of this great reformer lived after him, and spread on from those
Irishmen who were his companions to their Italian disciples and
successors. In the seventh century Jonas of Bobio wrote the history of
St. Columban. His style is formed by study of the ancients;
he quotes Titus Livius and Virgil. In the tenth century the
library of Bobio possessed the writings of Demosthenes, Aristotle,
and the Latin poets of antiquity, but, above all, an incredible
number of the grammarians.
It demanded the energies of a very numerous school to
produce so many copies of such dry writings as the latter, and

294 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
here lives consecrated to God were consumed in copying, not
the homilies of St. Chrysostom and of St. Augustine, but the
treatise of Caper on orthography or that of Flavian on the agree
ment of the noun with the verb.

APPENDIX VIII.
Edict of Lothair, P. 205.
Muratori observes in the " Annali di Italia," torn. iv.,.p. 479:
" Sia lecito a me di rammentar qui un suo Capitolare, che gia
diedi alia luce fra le Leggi Longobardiche, quantunque sia incerto
l'Anno, in cui esso fu formato dal suddetto Lottario Augusto.
Dice egli di aver trovato, che lo studio delle Lettere, per colpa e
dappocaggine de i Ministri sacri e profani, e affatto estinto nel
Regno d'ltalia e pero di aver deputati Maestri, che insegnino . le
Lettere, con raccomandar loro di usar tutta la premura possibile,
affinche i Giovani ne caverio profitto," and Ozanam ("Docum.
Inedits") has the following remarks on this passage: —
"We must be always on our guard against the exaggeration in
the terms of this edict, where ' the general ruin of learning ' is
assumed. This is the ordinary language of the day to celebrate
the restorer of a church as if he were the founder, or the reformer
as if he were the author of an institution. There is more of truth
in the canon of Pope Eugenius IL, who only declares 'that in
many places neither masters nor zeal for letters is to be found.'
Therefore it is that he orders that 'in all bishoprics, all parishes,
and in any other place where they have need, they should
institute professors, men learned in the liberal arts.' This
canon, issued A.D. 826,1 quite indicates a concerted design of
Pope and Emperor for the restoration of learning. However,
Leo IV. in 853 renews the complaints and the orders of Eugenius
II., adding ' that it is rare to find masters capable of professing
letters in ordinary simple parishes.' In fact we are dealing
with an age of iron, where, in face of the Holy See profaned,
1 Lothair's edict was issued in 825.

APPENDICES. 295
of the empire crumbling away, cf cities burned by Northmen,
Saracens, and Huns, Italy might well tremble for her faith and
despair of her illumination. It is at this time above all, and in
the three centuries that intervened from Charlemagne to
Gregory VII., that we should study the destiny of our ecclesias
tical schools.
" In the north, and among those cities which the edict of Lothair
had endowed with public instruction, I find Verona, where, in
the tenth century, Bishop Rathier announces that he will admit
young clerks to orders who have studied letters in his episcopal
city. Atto of Vercelli orders that in the boroughs and villages
the priests should hold schools, and that if any of the faithful
wish to trust their children to them to be taught letters, they
should not refuse to receive and to instruct them.
" In the eleventh century Milan had two schools richly endowed
by the archbishops of that city. There youths were exercised
in all those studies which, in the language of the day, were said
to form a complete philosophy, and in a contemporary chronicle
two priests are indeed mentioned by name, Andrew and Ambrose
Biffi, who were equally versed in Greek and Latin letters.
" At the same period the chair of Parma became famous, and
skilled lecturers taught the seven arts there, three of which
masters, Siegfried, Ingo, and Homodeus, are mentioned in
charts which assign considerable benefices to their care.
" The school of Modena was governed by a priest in the tenth
century, but the benefices of the bishops of that day extended
outside the walls ; two acts, the one in 796, the other in 908,
show two rural parishes of St. Peter in Siculo and of Rubiano,
assigned to two priests charged with the service of Christ there,
who had to preserve the church in good repair and to hold a
school for the education of children.
"A diploma from Siena, dated A.D. 1056, shows the clerk
Roland as prior of the school.
"In Rome, John the Deacon attests that in the midst ofthe
disorder of the tenth century the school of the Lateran still pre
served the traditions of St. Gregory. And St. Athanasius,
Bishop of Naples, also following the example of this great pope,
founded schools in that city for church music and for secular
learning ; and he appointed certain among his clerks to the

296 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
study of grammar, and others to the transcription of books.
For himself, he did not disdain to resume the literary studies of
his youth; and, as if to consecrate this alliance of learning and
piety, he, having restored the church of St. Januarius, desired
that they should paint therein the images of the holy teachers.
' Nobiliumque doctorum effigies in ea depinxit.' — ' Vita S.
Athanasii neapolit. ep.,' apud Muratori, Script. 1 1, pars 2, col.
I057-"

APPENDIX IX.
Dungal's Bequest of Books to Bobio, P. 215.
Item. Of the books which Dungal, Principal of the Scots, gave
to the most blessed Columbanus : —
First. — Origen on Genesis 1. On the Song of Songs, by the same,
in one book, in which is contained the exposition of Bede
on Esdras, and the questions of Jerome on Genesis, and
concerning the places of the Land of Promise, and con
cerning Hebrew names. Exposition on Ecclesiastes, on
Daniel and Jeremiah. One book of Origen on the Ep.
to the Romans, in which is contained the exposition of
John of Constantinople on the Epistle to the Hebrews.
One book of St. Ambrose on Luke, in which is the exposition of
Bede on the same.
The Book of the Homilies of Gregory on Ezekiel 1, in which is
contained the exposition of Jerome on the same.
A book by somebody on the Epistle of St. Paul, in which is
contained the exposition of Jerome on the Epistle to the
Ephesians, to Titus, to Philemon, to the Galatians ; and
the exposition of some one on the seven canonical epistles.
One book of Augustine upon John.
One book of Augustine on the Trinity.
One book by the same on the City of God.
One book of Jerome on Isaiah.
One book of the same on the Minor Prophets.
One book of the Epistles of Jerome.

APPENDICES. 297
Book of Eugeppius in which is contained —
1. The book of the Lectures of Cassiodorus of the Divine
Institutions.
2. Jerome on Illustrious Men.
3. The Soliloquies of Augustine.
4. The Exposition of Albinus on Genesis.
One book of Bede on Genesis, in which is Albinus' exposition on
John.
Bede on the seven canonical epistles.
One book of the etymologies of Isidorus.
A short exposition of someone on John and Solomon.
A book of Prudentius.
-One book of Fortunatus, in which is Paulinus, Arator,1 Juvencus,
and Cato.
One book of Pompeius.
One book of Josephus the historian.
The full Gospels.
Book of the Manual of St. Jerome.
A Psalter.
A book of the Irish language in Latin.
The book of Dungal against the perverse opinions of Claudius.
One book of St. Augustine on Music.

APPENDIX X.
Tomb of St. Augustine at Pavia,2
P. 222, supra.
The " area," or shrine of St. Augustine at Pavia (in the south
transept of the Duomo), is attributed by the best critics to the
brothers of Venice (Jacobello and Pietro Paolo), and without a
shadow of doubt belongs to the Sienese branch of the Pisan
1 This means " Ploughman." It may have been the name of a treatise,
but one asks : Can it be the Roman poetical version of Aratus?
2 Lord Lindsay, "Hist. Christian Art," vol. ii., p. 141-

298 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
school. It is rather heavy, perhaps, but not the less a most
elaborate and beautiful piece of architectural sculpture. The
sarcophagus, on which the effigy is laid down by angels, the
canopy that overshadows it, the pillars that support the canopy,
each and all are covered with bas-reliefs delineating the life and
miracles of the saint, and interspersed with small statues of
apostles and virtues ingeniously allegorized. These single
figures struck me as superior to the bas-reliefs, although, even
in them, there are many pleasing figures ; the soft contemplative
expression prevails throughout, and some of the figures have
even grace and dignity. This area was begun in 1362, and
must have taken several years to execute.
The first storey rests upon a base ornamented with intarsiatura
in black. It is divided into three compartments, in which we
see bas-reliefs of the Apostles : St. Peter, St. John, St. James,
St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St. Bartholomew. The eagle is seated
at St. Matthew's feet. The statues of female figures on this front
symbolize the virtues. Faith, whose mantle, clasped at her
neck, falls across her figure from the right arm and hangs down
over the left. Her head is veiled, and she holds a cross, turned
up so as to resemble a sword, in one hand, and a chalice in the
other. Next to her stands Hope, an inspired figure, her eyes
fixed on Heaven, her abundant hair confined by a wreath of
roses and lilies. Her inner garment is confined by a cord at the
waist, and then falling to her feet she lifts it with her left hand.
In her right hand she carries a basket of flowers. Charity looks
upwards lovingly, and clasps two infant children in her left arm,
whom she presses to her bosom, while in her right she holds a
human heart. A crown of flowers encircles the veil on her head.
Her outer mantle almost covers her whole figure with its large
folds. Last comes the figure of Religion, clad in a simple tunic
fitting close to neck and shoulders, with ornaments on the arms
and breast. Her hair falls in long curls on her shoulders ; she is
crowned with simple flowers. She holds a papyrus in her right
hand and a palm in the left; her feet are firmly planted on
a rock. The canopy above the recumbent figure of the saint is adorned
with bas-reliefs illustrating certain events in his life. In the
first we see him listening to the preaching of St. Ambrose

APPENDICES. 299
along with a number of figures among whom his head is the only
one surrounded by an aureole. In the second bas-relief two
scenes are represented : first, that in which the saint visits the
cell of S. Simplicianus, who discourses with him from his window,
and the second, where St. Augustine is seen seated and reading
a book that lies open on his knee, while an angel descends from
above, bringing him the book of the Apostle Paul which he had
seen in a vision. In the third compartment we see the saint at
Milan, where he kneels at an altar while receiving the habit of a
catechumen. SS. Simplicianus and Monica are at prayer beside
him. The triangular spaces in the corona of this monument are
also filled with bas-reliefs illustrating the saint's life. Thus, in
the first, the saint liberates a prisoner who kneels in gratitude
at his feet ; in the second, he leads the prisoner back to his
home, which is a house on the hillside ; in the third, he casts
out a demon from a girl possessed of devils, who kneels before
him as he raises his hands in blessing.
The sides are also adorned with statues and bas-reliefs : on the
right (fig. 77), St. Mark and St. Luke are seen with their evan
gelical symbols, between whom stands St. Paul ; then come the
statues of Mercy and Poverty. The figure of Mercy is that of
a female with garlanded head, who holds a lamb in her left arm
while she looks towards her companion, Poverty. This figure is
poorly dressed and carries an olive branch in her right hand, a
palm and tablets in the left.
The other side shows the figures of St. Stephen and St.
Laurence, with St. Paul, the first hermit, standing between
them, their names inscribed in Gothic characters at the base.
The scene represented in bas-relief on these two ends are
(fig. 78) : St. Augustine teaching in the schools of Rome and of
Milan — two domestic animals are to be seen seated at the students'
feet ; (fig. 77) the voyage from Sardinia when the relics of the
saint were transported to Pavia. This is in two stages and a
ship in each stage, in the smallest of which a king, a bishop,
and a frate are seen together. In the midst of the second
vessel, which is in full sail, the saint's body with his mitre is
laid, while a bishop and two monks watch over it. King
Liutprand, a figure clad in mail and wearing a crown, stands
to the left. A sailor at the helm and others at the rigging seem

3oo SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
to be hard at work, while buildings at each side represent
Sardinia and Pavia.

APPENDIX XI.
San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, P. 222, supra.
VASARI, in his "Life of Girolamo da Carpi," mentions having seen
a very beautiful book of antiquities, drawn and measured by
the hand of Bramantino, and to have noticed among those
designs the church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro at Pavia. The
building of this church is attributed to the Lombard King
Agilulph in 604. The urn of Boethius was removed here.
The ceiling of the principal apse of this basilica was gilded after
the fashion of the Byzantine artists ; and hence it was called San
Pietro in Ciel d'Oro. Selvatico, in his " Storia dell' Estetica,"
mentions that Liutprand caused this church to be magnificently
decorated, in order to profit by the ability of the numerous
Byzantine artists who had left their native land to escape the
wrath of Leo the Isaurian during the rage of the Iconoclasts.
Boccaccio refers more than once to the church of S. Pietro in
Ciel d'Oro in Novella ix. of the tenth day, where he relates how
MesserTorello returns to Pavia from the court ofthe Sultan Saladin
but just in time to prevent his lady's second marriage. He was
transported by magic from Alexandria, and set down in the
church of Ciel d'Oro on a wondrous bed that had been prepared
for him by the Sultan's orders, formed of velvet and cloth of
gold, the coverings of which were embroidered with orient pearls
and precious stones.
An account of the transportation of the relics of St. Augustine
to the church of Ciel d'Oro is given in the following passage
from " Hist, des Ordres Monastiques," torn, ii., p. 9 : —
" Son corps resta a Hippone jusques en l'an 504 que les
Eveques d'Afrique ai'ant eterelegues en Sardaigne parTrasamond
Roi des Vandales, y transporterent avec eux ces saintes reliques,

APPENDICES. 301
qui y demeurerent jusqu'a ce que les Sarasins etant entres dans
cette Isle, et l'ai'ant ravaged, Liutprand, Roi des Lombards,
donna une grande somme d'argent pour les avoir, et les fit
porter d'abord a Gennes et de la a Pavie, 011 il les fit mettre dans
une Eglise qu'il avoit fait batir sous le titre de S. Pierre au
Ciel d'Or. Les Benedictins la possiderent d'abord, et y demeu
rerent jusqu'en Fan 1222, qu'Honorius III. y mit des Chanoines
Reguliers ; Jean XXII. leur joignit en 1327 les Ermites de S.
Augustins. lis eurent d'abord chacun en partage un coste de
cette Eglise qui fut separde par une ligne ou trait que Ton voit
encore."

APPENDIX XII.
Teodata and King Cunibert, P. 224, supra.
A MONASTERY in Pavia, now called " della Posterla," because a
little postern door was to be seen in the wall of the city here in
former days, was named Sta. Maria Teodata or Sta. Maria di
Teodata. Paulus Diaconus (1. v., c. 37) speaks of this sacred
place in connection with an episode in the life of King Cunibert,
A.D. 688. He was one day at the baths of the city according
to the custom of the time (no city at that date being without
its terme or baths, which were places of public resort), when he
met there a very lovely maiden, not of Lombard birth, but of a
noble Roman family. She was singularly beautiful, and her fair
hair fell almost to her feet. It was directed by the law of
Lombardy that maidens of that time should be thus distinguished
from matrons, always wearing their hair loose and without any
covering or ornament, and happy was she who had the longest
and most beautiful hair ; and these maidens were styled intonsce,
which word has now degenerated to tosa, a word used by the
Milanese to signify maidens. When women are about to marry
they say " si tosanauo," a custom still prevailing amongst the Jews.
The young girl, whose name was Teodata, was observed by

302 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
Queen Ermelinda, who met her at the baths, and who then, with
the usual indiscretion of women, spoke in high terms of her beauty
to her husband, King Cunibert. He pretended to give no heed
to her words, but in his heart he was so enamoured of this new
beauty that he found no means of escape from her power. He
therefore took his Queen Ermelinda to a castle in a neighbouring
forest, as if going there to hunt, and leaving her there at night,
he returned to his palace and had the lovely girl brought to him
there. But it was not long before he repented of his sin, when
he placed her in this convent, which has since been named from
her Sta. Maria di Teodata.

APPENDIX XIII.
(See Page 237.)
Ancient Descriptions of Ireland.
It may not be uninteresting in connection with these lines of
Donatus to notice some other descriptions of Ireland written in
Italy at a very early date. The first is from the pen of Caius
Julius Solinus, a Roman writer and grammarian, who, according
to some authorities, lived at the end of the first century, and to
others in the middle of the third. This description is found in
his work entitled " Polyhistor," and there is an old English trans
lation by Arthur Golding, which was published in London irr
1587 ':-
" Cap. XIII. Ireland and the manners ofthe Irish men in old time,
not altogether altered to thys day.
" It (Britain) is enuironed with many iles and those not unrenovned :
whereof Ireland draweth neerest to it in bygnesse, vnciuill for the
sauage manners of the inhabiters, but otherwise so full of fat pasture
1 " Solinus Polyhistor, with a necessary table for Thys Booke : Right
pleasant and profitable for Gentlemen, Marchaunts, Mariners and Travellers,
Tianslated into Englishe by Arthur Golding, Gentleman. At London
Printed for Thomas Hacket, and to be sold at his shoppe in Lumpert Streete
under the signe of the Pope's head, A.D. 1 590."

APPENDICES. 303
that if theyr cattele in sommer season be not now and then kept from
feeding, they should run in daunger of bursting. There are no snakes,
and fewe byrdes, the people are harbourlesse and warlike. When they
have overcome their enemies they first besmeere with blood the faces of
them that be slayne, and then drinke of it. Be it right or be it wrong all
is one to them. If a woman be delivered of a man-child, shee layes his
firste meate uppon her husband's sworde and putting it softlie to his pretie
mouth giueth him the first hansell of his foode uppon the very point of
the weapon, praying according to the manner of their countrey, that he
may not otherwise come to his death, than in battel and among weapons.
They that loue to bee fine, doo trimme the hylts of theyr swords with
the teeth of monsters that swymme in the sea, for they be as white and
as cleere as iuorie, for the men doo chiefly glorie in the beautie of their
armour. There is not any Bee among them and if a man bring out of
the duste or the stones from thence and strow them among bee-hyves,
the swarmes forsake ye combes. The sea that is betweene Ireland and
Brytaine, beeing full of shallowes and rough all the yeere long cannot
be sayled but a fewe dayes in the sommer time. They sayle in Keeles
of wicker doone oner with neats leather. How long soever their passage
continueth, the passengers abstaine from meate. Such as have discussed
the certainty of the matter according to reason, have esteemed the
breadth of that narrow sea to be an hundred and twenty miles."
The geographer ^Ethicus the Istrian, whose Ireland lay at the
very confines of the world, has also left a short description of the
country. He was a traveller of the time of the decay of the
Roman empire, born of a noble family in Istria. He seems to
have been a Christian, and to judge from his chronicle he appears
to have visited Greece before the year 312, but it is impossible
to know precisely at what date he lived. He was familiar with
the writings of Josephus. The " Cosmographia ^Ethici Istrici" was
translated from the Greek into Latin by a presbyter named
Hieronymus, and edited in 1853 by Heinrich Wuttke, Leipzig.'
At page 14 of this work we read the following passage, which
was translated for me by the late Bishop Reeves : —
" Then he hastened to Ireland, and he delayed some time turning
over their volumes. And he called them (?) ideomochos vel ideohistas
( (?) idiot monks or idiot historians), that is, unskilled labourers or unin-
1 " Die Kosnlographie des Istrier Aithikos, im Lateinischen ausziige des
Hieronymus." Heinrich Wuttke. Leipzig, 1853.

304 SIX MONTHS IN THE APENNINES.
structed teachers. For, regarding them as of no worth, he says : ' It
is a wearisome labour to arrive at Ireland and to remain here at the far
end of the world, but there is no experience, however horrible, that does
not contribute to some good end. It has unskilful husbandmen, and
its inhabitants are destitute of teachers.
" Then he sailed to the British Islands and to Thule (Shetland), which
he called Brutanicas. A most ignorant and excessively horrible people.
Pursuing many arts they excel in that of land (? agriculture). He adds
that metals of gold and silver, and a great deal of tin and iron, may be
found there, and discovered many other things which have not been
found out by other nations."
Another ancient description of Ireland is to be found in a MS.
in the Bodleian, Rawlinson, B. 512, fol. 97, line 14. -Note on
the resemblance of Ireland to Paradise : —
"Now the island of Ireland has been set in the west. As Adam's
paradise stands at the sunrise, so Ireland stands at the sunset. And
they are alike in the nature of the soil, to wit, as paradise is without
beasts, without a snake, without a lion, without a dragon, without a
scorpion, without a mouse, without a frog, so is Ireland in the same
manner without any harmful animal, save only the wolf, as sages say."
Description of Ireland by the Venerable Bede : —
" Ireland, in breadth, and for wholesomeness and serene air, far
surpasses Britain ; for the snow scarcely ever lies there above three days ;
no man makes hay in the summer for winter's provision, or builds
stables for his beasts of burden. No reptiles are found there ; for,
though often carried thither out of Britain, as soon as the ship comes-
near the shore, and the scent of the air reaches them, they die. On the
contrary, almost all things in the island are good against poison. In
short, we have known that when some persons have been bitten by
serpents, the scrapings of leaves of books that were brought out of Ireland,
being put into water, and given them to drink, have immediately
expelled the spreading poison, and assuaged the swelling. The island
abounds in milk and honey, nor is there any want of vines, fish, or fowl ;
and it is remarkable for deer and goats. It is properly the country of
the Scots, who, migrating from thence, as has been said, added a third
nation in Britain to the Britons and the Picts." 1
1 Bede, " Eccl. Hist.," translated by Stevens, ed. J. B. Giles, 1859, p. 49.

INDEX.

ACCADEMIA, Florence, 79.
Acton, Baron, 63, 105.
Adamnan, quoted, 29.
Ado, 136.
Adoptionists, heresy of, 208.
Adrian I., Pope, 203, 207, 208.
Aedh Ornidhe, King, 228.
Aelred, quoted, 23.
^Engus, Calendar of, quoted, 25.
Agilulph, King, 125, 126, 129, 141,
142, 183, 184.
Agnes, St., Rome, 67.
Agobard of Lyons, 210.
Albertus, Abbot of Bobio, 170.
Albinus, 4, 202, 203, 204 note, 223.
Alboin, Lombard king, 35, 36, 39,
43-
Alcuin, 207 note.
Alexander II., Pope, 83.
Alvernia, 33.
Amalarius, 209.
Amboise, 3.
Ambrose, St., 211.
Ambrosian Library, 215.
Amphitheatre of Lucca, 14, 69, 71, 74.
Anchorite system, origin of, 12, 31.
Ancient descriptions of Ireland, 237,
239, Appendix XIII.
Ancona, 202.
Andegisio, Bishop, 10.
Andrea del Sarto, fresco by, 266.
Andrew, St., Archdeacon at Fiesole,
4, 13, 230 ; rebuilds S. Martino a
Mensola, 242 ; death at S. Martino
a Mensola, 250, 252 ; church of,
265 ; altar of, 268 ; inscription to,
266.

Anegray, 3, 163.
Angelico, School of, 268.
Angilbert, Archbishop of Milan, 245.
Animals mentioned in Legends, 15.
Annals of Four Masters quoted, 228.
Annals of Ulster quoted, 228.
Anselm, 84, 86.
Antonino, S., 31, 52.
Antoninus of Florence, 55.
Apennines, 192, 272.
Apparition of St. Brigid of Kildare,
241.
Aqua Viva, 31.
Arbona, 139.
Arcetri, 263.
Architecture, styles of, 5.
Argegno, 165.
Arians, 35, 43, 125, 151.
Arliano, 44.
Aspertini, Amico, 79.
Assisi, 10.
Attala, 5, 133, 135, 168, 169; Abbot,
170.
Augustin, St., 31, 55, 79, 209, 212 ;
tomb at Pavia, 222 ; monastery of,
Pavia, 204.
Augustus, coins of, 64.
Aunacarius of Auxerrc, Bithop, 35.
Aurelia, S., 139.
Austrasia, 136, 168.
Autharis, 43.
Autharius, 136.
Auxer, river, 41.

Badia of Fiesole, 233,
library of, 255, 261.
Badia of Florence, 266,

34, 255

p6

INDEX.

Bagni di San Giuliano, 51, 53.
Bale, 138.
Bangor, no, 111,112 113,118,205,
215.
Beaulieu, 3.
Bell of Columban, 14, 179.
Bellosguardo, hill of, 263.
Benedict III., Pope, 245.
Benedict, St., 32.
Bernard, St., of Clairvaux, 3, in.
Bertini referred to, 74.
Bertulfus, Abbot, tomb of, 168.
Besancon, 3 ; church at, 67, 1 34.
Bezieres, 3.
Bientina Lake, 39.
Bingen, 138.
Bobio, 4, 5, 127, 142, 152 ; entrance
to valley of, 153 ; monastic build
ings, 183, 214.
Bobulenus, 133.
Boccaccio, 220, 264, 269.
Boethius, tower of, 222 ; tomb of,
223.
Boniface IV, Pope, 141.
Boniface, St., 83.
Bonino da Campione, 222.
Book satchels, 14 ; book satchel of
St. Columban, 159, 160.
Borgognone, 226.
Borgondofora, 136.
Borgunto, 270.
Borromeo, Cardinal F., 215 ; Appen
dix III.
Botticelli, Assumption of the Virgin,
255 ; View of Florence, 261 ;
landscape identified, 262 ; paint
ing by, National Gallery, London,
263.
Brancoli, 44.
Bregentz, 139, 140, 145.
Brezille, 3.
Brie, 136.
Brigid of Kildare, 237, 241.
Brigid of Lobaco, 4 ; at Fiesole, 227,
230 ; at her brother Andrew's
death-bed, 250, 252 ; dies at
Lobaco, 253 ; hermitage of, 270.
Brunehilde, 133, 138.

Brunellesco, 255.
Brusca, river, 164.
Buonuomini di San Martino, 269.
Burbidge,' Mr. F. W., 193.
Burton, Sir Frederic, on Botticelli,
263 note.
Byzantine art at Pavia, 225, 226
Caelan, St., 20.
Cagnoald, 136.
Caimin, St., 230 ; psalter of, 230.
Camaiore, 44.
Camaldoli, 33.
Camelac, St., hymn of, 216.
Camerata, 263.
Campanari, Matfeo, 84.
Campo Santo, Pisa, fresco in, 61, 85.
Cana, water vessel of, 133, 180.
Canals made by Frediano, 41.
Candida Casa, 23, 24.
Candolle, Alphonse de, quoted, 199.
Cappanori, 39.
Caprera, 5 1 .
Carlovingian art, 5.
Caroline Books, 207 note.
Carraia, 39.
Carrara, 57, 59.
Castel Lobaco, 272.
Castel Moriano, 39.
Cathach of the O'Donnells, 26 note.
Cathaldus, St., font of, 78, 202.
Catherine, St., 150.
Cattaneo, Raffaele, 6 ; quoted, 8,
224, 226.
Cattani, Francisco, Bishop, 2, 227.
Cave at San Michele, 12, 16, 193.
Cave of Brigid of Lobaco, 253.
Cave of Columban, La Spanna, 12,
16, 143, 187, 188.
Cave of S. Brigid, 273, 276.
Cave of St. Kevin, 12.
Cave of St. Ninian, 12.
Celtic Church on the continent, 3.
CentumcellEe, 56.
Cerasomma, 54.
Ceriani, Dr., 218.
Charlemagne, 4, 202, 207.
Charles the Bald, capitularies of, 3.

INDEX.

3°7

Christian Art, origins of, 4.
Christ Kriophoros, 76.
Church of St. Columban, 154 ; atrium
of, 155; crypt, 156.
Citta di Vita, 263.
Cividale, 224, 225.
Civita Vecchia, 55.
Claudius of Turin, 207.
Clemens, 202, 203.
Clemente, S., Rome, 6, 8.
Cleph, 36, 39, 43.
Clothair, 113, 136, 144.
Clothair, King of Neustria, 168.
Cogolato, 170.
Coire, 5.
Coli, 193, 197.
Colman's hymn to St. Michael, 30.
Colman, St., 20.
Cologne, Carthusian monastery of,
26!
Cologne, St. Martin's Church at, 3.
Colombano, San, town of, 129, 142.
Columba, St., of Iona, pupil of St.
Finnian, 29.
Columban, 4 ; founds Monastery of
Bobio, 130; at Pavia, 129; in
Milan, 129 ; banished by King
Thierry, 134; visits Rome, 132;
rebukes Queen Brunehault, 133 ;
at Nantes, 134; writes letter from
Nantes, 135 ; at Soissons, 136 ; at
Paris, 136; at Meaux-, 136: at
Metz, 136 ; at Maintz, 138 ; at Zug,
138 ; Lake Constance, 139 ; at Bre-
gentz, 139, 140 ; writes to Pope
Boniface IV, 141 ; returns to Bo
bio, 142 ; death of, 145 ; staff of, 146 ;
grave of, 192 ; epitaph on original
tomb of, 167 ; tames a bear, 130,
158; casts out devils, 136; dedi
cates his monastery, bas-relief, 162 ;
alabaster vase of, 132, 180; com
poses his rule, bas-relief, 1 59 ;
silver shrine of head, 180, 181 ;
knife of, 14, 177, 178 ; cup of, 178 ;
crosier of, 14 ; bell of, 179 ; hand
print of, 190; translation of his
relics, 166 ; figure of, on bridge,

Bobio, 187; tomb of followers of,
177.
Columbus, Christopher, 226.
Columcille, origin of the name, 30.
Comgall, St., hymn of, 216.
Como, 5.
Compito, 39, 44.
Conga], tomb of, 5, 176.
Constance, Lake, 139.
Constantinople, 207.
Contronc, 44.
Coriasca, 193.
Coscraich, anchorite, 230.
Cosimo de' Medici, 254, 255.
Cow, wild, of S. Frediano, 73, 74.
Crimthann, Columba so called, 30.
Croce, Sta., 263.
Cross, veneration of, 211; of silver,
183 ; Appendix IV. ; of Columban
at S. Michele, 195, 197.
Cummian, Bishop, 202 ; tomb of, 5,
170, 224.
Cummian, friend of Columban, 133.
Cunibert, King, 49, 64, 224 ; Appen
dix XII.
Cunimond, 36.
Cup of St. Columban, 179.
Cusance, 3.
Dado, 136.
Dairy, 25.
Dante, 50 ; house of, 222, 269 ; Fal-
mieri, student of, 264.
Danube, 140.
Della Torre, quoted, 129, 140.
Denis, St., Dungal at, 213.
Desiderius, King, in Pavia, 204.
Dialogues of Gregory, St., 40, 41.
Dickens' visit to Fiesole, 269.
Diecimo, 44.
Dogmael, 133.
Donatus, 4, 15 ; Bishop of Fiesole, 227,
234, 236 ; miracle of the wolf,
239 ; of the despoiler of the
Church, 240 ; writings of, 237 ; de
scription of Ireland, 237 ; public
life of, 243 ; dying prayer of, 247 ;
quotes Virgil, 247 ; death and

3oS

INDEX.

burial of, 248 ; tomb of, 257, 258,
260 ; veneration of, in Ireland,
257 ; ancient panegyric on, 249 ;
silver shrine of head, 258 ; paint
ing of, in cathedra], 260 ; transla
tion of relics, 257-260.
Donatus, S., of Lecce, 202.
Dove for carrying the viaticum, 182.
Drogo, Bishop of Metz, 243, 245.
Dromore, 20.
Dungal, 4 ; at Pavia, 201, 207 ; letter
to Charlemagne on solar eclipse,
20S ; answer to Claudius of Turin,
210 ; verses by, 213 ; poem to
Charlemagne, 213 ; death of, 214 ;
bequest of books to Bobio, 214, 216.
Edward III. of England buried in
S. Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, 223.
Egypt, anchorite life in, 31.
Elba, 36.
Emly, 20.
Epifania, daughter of King Ratchis,
225.
Erb.iglia of St. Columban, 143, 198.
Erick of Auxerre, 206.
Eugenius II., Pope, 208.
Eugenius III., Pope, 67.
Eunomius, 211.
Eussy, 136.
Eustathius, 144.
Famine in sixth century in Italy, 34.
Fanucchi, 2, 33 note.
Faremoutier, 3.
Faulone, 64.
Federigo di Poggio, 30.
Fedolius, 145.
Ferguson, Lady, 238.
Ferguson, Sir Samuel, 177.
Fiesole, 4, 13, 227, 232 ; letters from,
254 ; cathedral of, 257.
Finnian, St., of Moville, 13, 19 ; le
gend of, 20 ; in Scotland, 25 ; mi
racle of the watercourse at Moville,
28 ; restores the dead to life, 29 ;
goes to Lucca, 30 ; change of name
to Frediano, 19, 30 ; chosen for

the bishopric of Lucca, 34 ; re
builds churches, 37 ; acts of, 38 ;
turns the course of the Serchio,
39, 40 ; in Lunata, church of, 43 ;
churches founded and restored lay,
44, 45 ; miracles of the stone and
the wild cows, restores a wounded
man, money found inside a fish,
45, 46 ; passage of Arno, 47 ; death
of, 48, 49 ; church of, 64, 65 ; dis
covery of his bones, 69 ; tomb of,
69 ; inscription on tomb, 69 ; bas-
reliefs on, 71.
Fintan, St., 26.
Fiorentini, 30, 55.
Fleming, quoted, 177, 178.
Fleury on ascetics, 32.
Florence, 2, 37, 62 ; ancient view of,
262 ; view of, in the present day,
263.
Flower of St. Columban, 143, 144.
Flowers, miraculous growth of, 198.
Fonte de Trevisi, 264.
Fonte Lucente, oratory of, 258.
Fontenelles, 3.
Fontevrault, 64.
Font of S. Frediano, 74 ; inscription
upon, 77.
Footprints on rock, 143; Appendix V.
Fortunatus of Poictiers, 211.
Fosciana, 45.
Franciotti, Padre, 30.
Frankfort, Synod at, 208.
Freeman, Professor, quoted, 64, 85.
Frescoes of miracle of Serchio, 79,
80.
Frigidian, origin of name, 19.
Frisia, 168.
Friuli, 35.
Fulda, 30.
Fiissen, 14.
Galileo, observatory of, 263.
Gallican church, 211.
Gallicano, 44.
Galloway, 23.
Gallus, 139, 140, 145.
Gaily Knight, quoted, 67.

INDEX.

3°?

Garfagnana, 45, 202.
Garnoch, 25, 41.
Gennaro, S., 44.
Genoa, 36.
Gerard's " Herbal," quoted, 199.
German characters, inscriptions in,
169.
Germany, Celtic monasteries in, 3.
Gervasio, S., d'Alpiniano, 273.
Ginese, S., di Vico Vallari, 44, 48.
Giovanni, S., e Reparata, church of,
13, 34,38, 63, 64 ; font of, 74, 79.
Giovanni, S., in Laterano, 25.
Glastonbury, 64.
Goths, 35.
Grado, 36 ; duomo of, 226.
Greek poets quoted by Dungal, 213.
Gregory, Archbishop of Ravenna,
245.
Gregory I., St., quoted, 40 ; Pope,
125 ; grants charter to Bobio, 132,
155, 160, 180.
Guido, Marmolario, 85.
Guiscard, R., 8.
Gwynn, Dr., quoted, 55.
Halitgar, 209.
Handprint of St. Columban, 143.
Hautvilliers, 3.
Healy, Dr.,' quoted, 205, 207, 214.
Hermitage of Rupe Cavo, 54.
Hilary, St., hymn of, 216.
Holy Island, Lough Derg, 228 : ex
isting remains at, 230.
Holy Land, pilgrims to, 3.
Holywood, in Scotland, 25.
Hospitalia Scotorum, 3.
Huns, 35.
Hydria given by Gregory I., 180.
Hymns, Ancient and Modern, 216.
Hymns ofthe early Irish church, 18.
Iconoclasm, 207, 209.
Ilice, 44.
Ingelberta, Abbess, 268.
Inghirami, 14, 71 ; Appendix I.
Iniscaltra, 228.
Inscriptions on the tomb of Columban,

163, 166; on cross at Coli, 197;
silver shrine of head of Columban,
181 ; to St. Cummian, 170.
Interlaced ornament, 5, 6 ; Irish
varieties, 1 1 ; interlaced ornament
on San Martino, Lucca, 84.
Irene, Empress, 208.
Irish art, characteristics of, 10; inter
laced design, 10, 12.
Iron crown of Lombardy, 184, 186.
Isidore, St., Rome, 230.
Italy, 3.
Ivory cylinder at Bobio, 182.
Jacopo Bavaro, Bishop, 236.
Jacopo della Quercia, 82.
Janus, three-faced head of, 264.
Jeremias of Sens, 209.
Jerome, St., translation of Bible, 27.
Joannes Patruarcis, sculptor, 165.
John Erigena, 206.
John II., Pope, 34.
John the Baptist, ten churches dedi
cated to, 44, 45.
Jonas of Orleans, 209.
Jouarre, 3, 136.
Jumieges, 3.
Kempten, 14.
Kildare, 151.
Kilwinning, 25.
King, Rev. R., quoted, 141.
Lagny, 3.
La Lastra, 261.
Lami, Florentine antiquary, 37.
Lammari, 44, 94.
Landor, W. S., 269, 270.
Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury,
222.
Lanigan, quoted, 210 note, 237.
Laon, 136.
La Spanna, 14?.
Lateran Canons, 47 ; Museum, 6.
Latin poets quoted by Dungal, 213.
Laura of Egypt, 12.
Legend of St. Mochae and the bird,

X 2

3io

INDEX.

Leghorn, 37, 51.
Leo III., Pope, 6.
Leo IV.. Pope, 245.
Leo X., Pope, 255.
Leonardo, S., in Arcetri, 260.
Letters from Piacenza, 149-152 ;
from Bobio, 153 ; from Pavia, 218 ;
Fiesole, 254.
Liguria occupied by Lombards, 36.
Lippo, Filippo, 79.
Liutprand, King, 6, 170, 223, 224 ;
translates bones of St. Augustine
to S. Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, 224 ;
Appendix X.
Lobaco, 253, 273.
Lodi, 129.
Loignon, river, 164.
Loire, 134.
Lombard invasion described by Pope
Gregory the Great, 36, 37.
Lombardic Romanesque, 5, 6.
Lombardic sculpture, 9.
Lombards, conversion of, 37, 38.
Loppia, 45.
Lorenzo fuor le Mure, S., 9.
Lorenzo, S., di Vaccoli, 72.
Lothair, 4 ; edict of, 205, and Appendix
VIII., 207, 208, 209.
Lough Derg, 276.
Louis the Pious, 204, 207, 209.
Louis II., coronation of, 243.
Louvre, painting in, 79.
Lucca, 4 ; duomo of, 5 ; Lucca, 12,
J3, 3°, 37 ! neighbourhood of, 33 ;
capital of thirty dukedoms, 38, 50,
53, 63, 202.
Lunata, 39, 44.
Lure, 3.
Luxeuil, 3, 134, 136, 145, 163.
Mabillon, quoted, 71, 182, 183, 213.
Macchiavelli, house of, 269.
Madonna del Sasso, church of, 273.
Maghbile, 27.
Magnus, S., 145, 146.
Mahaffy, Professor, 178.
Mahee Island, 21, 22 ; ruined
monastery, 23.

Maintz, 138.
Malaspina, Palazzo, 224.
Mansuetus, Archbishop, 67.
Mantegna, 62.
Marchio, excavations in Lucca, 37.
Maria degli Angeli, S., 10, n;
delle Caccie, 225 ; dei Giudici,
31, 53, 54 ; in Monte, 45 ; foris
Portam, 225 ; di Rupe Cavo, 54 ;
in Trastevere, 7, 9.
Marianus Scotus, 30.
Maria Theresa, 226.
Marlia, 39.
Marmoutiers, 23.
Marques, G., 55.
Martin, Christopher, 70.
Martin, St., of Tours, 23, 44, 82, 83,
84, 86; a Mensola, 242, 253, 264,
268, 269.
Martyrology of vEngus, 148 ; of
Marian O'Gorman, 148.
Massa Buggianese, 45.
Maurice, Emperor, 49.
Maur les Fosses, 3.
Maurus, S., 32.
Mayence, 30.
Mazers, wooden cups, 178, and
Appendix II.
Meaux, 136.
Medici, Giovanni de', 255.
Mercato Vecchio, Florence, 268.
Metz, 136.
Michael, St., church of, 143, 192.
Michael the Stammerer, 208.
Milan, 2, 5, 129, 165.
Mill of St. Finnian,- 28.
Miniato, S., al Tedesco, 44, 48, 263.
Miracles ofthe Saints, 14, 15.
Mirrors, mystic, 71, Appendix I.
Mochua, St., 13, 15, 20.
Mombrione, 129, 142.
Monica, 31.
Monogram of Christ, Frontispiece,
170, 181.
Monsegrati, 44. .
Monte Diero, 57 ; S. Pantaleone, 52 ;
Pisano, 31, 50.
Moore, Thomas, 238.

INDEX.

3'i

Moran, Dr., quoted, 217.
Moriano, 87.
Moselle, river, 163.
Moutier-en-Der, 3.
Moutier la Celle, 3.
Moville, co. of Down, 13, 27, 30, 41.
Mucna, crqss at, 217.
Mugnone, river, 234, 254.
Muratori, quoted, 37, 210 note, 215.
Mystic mirrors, 71 ; on Scottish
stones, Appendix I.
Nantes, 134.
Naples, 2.
Napoleon, overthrow of, 258.
Narcissus, Bishop, 146.
Narses, 35.
Neale, Dr., translation of Irish hymn,
216.
Nendrum, 20.
Netherlands, Celtic monasteries, 3.
Neustria, 168.
Newman on Arianism, 16.
Newtownards, 27.
Nicholas I., Pope, 245.
Nicholas V., Pope, 266.
Nicodemus, legend of, 82.
Ninian, St., cave of, 12 ; church of,
13, 23, 24.
Norfini, Cavaliere, 63, 77.
Northmen devastate Italy, 232.
Nozzana, 40.
Octavarium, 43.
Old wall of Bobio, 187.
Olmo, 272.
Olympiad, 174.
Onorato, Archbishop of Milan, 35.
Opacum, 253.
Order of St. Columban, nun's habit,
136.
Oriel in Ulster, 29.
Origins of Irish art, 4, II.
Ostia, 31.
Otto III., Emperor, 54.
Ozanam, quoted, 204, 234 note, 249
note.
Ozzori, 39.

Pagan temples used for Christian
worship, 13, 64-69.
Paintings, sacred, 211.
Palestine, monasticism in, 32.
Palmieri, Matteo, house of, 261 263 ;
chapel, 264 ; poem by, 263.
Pannonia, 35.
Pantaleone, S., 31, 44, 52.
Paolino, San, 31, 52.
Parezzana, 39.
Paris, 136, 208.
Patrick, St., 16, 18, 100.
Paulinus of Aquileia, 36.
Paul, St., church of, 39, 71.
Pavia, 4, 43, 129, 179, 204, 218, 220,
224.
Pelagius I., Pope, 25, 35.
Pelagius II., 32, 49, 180.
Pellegrinus, S., of Garfagnana, 202.
Peronne, 3.
Pertarito, 65.
Pescia, 44, 48.
Petrarch, 55, 220.
Physgil Glen, 24.
Piacenza, 4, 129, 149, 152.
Pianus, monk of Pavia, 170.
Picciorane, 39.^
Piddington, quoted, 200.
Pietro in Campo, S., 45.
Pietro, S., a'Vico, 39.
Pietro, S., in Ciel d'Oro, 222.
Pievi, 43.
Pisa, 4, 5, 12,31, 50, 53.
Pistoia, 37.
Piviere, meaning of the term, 54.
Pizzetti, Pietro, quoted, 37.
Placidus, S., 32.
Platina, B., quoted, 37, 49, 208, 243,
246.
Pletz, quoted, 140.
Plumptre, Dean, refers to Donatus
247.
Poggi, P., historian of Lucca, 38.
Pola in Istria, 9, 10.
Pontasieve, 273, 275.
Ponte a Moriano, 39.
Ponte Barberino, 153.
Populonia, 36.

312

INDEX.

Porches of churches, traffic carried
on in, 82, 83, 202 note.
Pordenone, fresco at Piacenza, 1 50.
Porta San Gallo, Florence, 254.
Porto of Trajan, 7, 8.
Possideus, 57.
Poynsi, 136.
Procopius, quoted, 34.
Prudentius, 211.
Psalterium of Bangor, 215.
Quarto, II, 72.
Quattro Coronati, church of, 245.
Quatuor Novissima, 61.
Quirico, S., 39, 87.
Rabiola, 46.
Radagasius, 254.
Ram, for containing the holy oil,
182.
Rangenius, Bishop, 84.
Ratisbon, 5.
Ravenna, 35, 36, 226.
Rebais, 3.
Reeves, Bishop, quoted, 1, 21, 215.
Relics at Bobio, 183, Appendix IV.
Religion ofthe early Irish, 16, 17.
Remi, S., 213.
Remiremont, 3>
Remondini, M., quoted, 163, 167,
169, 170.
Reuil, 3.
Rheims, 211.
Richard, King, 80.
Rinaldi, Monte, 261-263.
Ripafratta, 39, 53, 57.
Rivezzano, 152.
Rock-markings, 16, 189, Appendix
V.
Romain Moutier, 3.
Romano, St., 32, 176.
Rome, pilgrims to, 3, 8, 25, 132.
Romola, novel of, quoted, 269.
Romolo, S., 236, 258 ; oratory of, 254.
Roncioni, lords of Ripafratta, 54.
Rosamund, Lombard queen, 36.
Rossetti, P., 2.
Roto, Abbot, 67, 70.

Rouen, 208.
Rovegnano, 152.
Rupe Cavo, 12, 53, 56, 58.
Rusticus, 31, 54.
St. Saens, 3.
St. Salaberga, 3.
Saltocchio, 39.
Salvador, S., church of, 143, 193.
Salvi, S., abbey of, 266.
Salviati, villa, 261.
Saracens, invasion of, 245.
Sarcophagus of S. Frediano, 49.
Satyr, S., 211.
Scala, Bartolommeo, 263.
Schaffliausen, 138.
Scriptures, new translation of, brought
to Ireland, 25.
Sechnall, S., legend of, 217 ; hymn
of, 216.
Segromigno, 44.
Serchio, river, 39, 59.
Sergius II., Pope, 245.
Sesto, lake, 39 ; a Moriano, 44, 87.
Seven Acts of Mercy, frescoes of, 269.
Shelley, 51, 61.
Sieci, river, 253, 273.
Sieve, river of, 272.
Silaus, 15, 97-108.
Silk weaving, 33.
Skellig Michael, 12.
Soissons, 136.
Spanna, La, 187.
Spardaco, 39.
Spirito, Santo, church of Florence,
80.
Staff of Columban, 146.
Stefanus, Magister, 224.
Stephen, Bishop, 208.
Stephen, Vincent, and Laurence,
church of, 64.
Stilicho, 254.
Stokes, Rev. G. T., quoted, 133, 138.
Stone churches, 13.
Stone church of Ninian, 23.
Stone-markings, 143, 189, Appendix
Stone of S. Frediano, 72, 73.

INDEX.

313

Strangford Lough, 27.
Subiaco, cave of, 32.
Suevi, 138.
Sylvestro, S., chapsl of, 157.
Symbols on font, 74, y,, 79.
Synod at Nice, 207.
Tarentum, 78, 202.
Targioni, Dr., referred to, 74.
Tassilo, Duke, 213.
Teodata, tomb of, at Pavia, 224,
Appendix XII.
Theodebert, 136, 138.
Theodelinda, Queen, 41, 130, 142.
Theodemir, Abbot, 209.
Theodoric, 136, 138.
Theodorus, 146.
Theophylact, Bishop, 208.
Thierry, 133.
Three Levites, church of, 44, 64.
Ticino, river, 220.
Todd, Dr., quoted, 27.
Tolomeo, Bishop, 84.
Tomb of St. Columban, 157; bas-re
liefs on tomb of, 158-162.
Tomb of S. Frediano, 14.
Toul, 3.
Tours, 13.
Trao, 152.
Trebbia, 143.
Triquetra knot, 10.
Turin, 2, 159, 177, 207.
Tuscany, 30, 232.

Uffizi- Gallery, 62.
Ughelli, quoted, 132

174-

Ulster Journ. Arch., quoted, 2.
Ursanne, St., 3.
Ursus, Magister, sculptor, 6.
Ursus, S., of Aosta, 201.
Val d'Arno, 37, 262.
Val d'Elsa, 37.
Val di Nievole, 37.
Valle Arriano, 44.
Vallombrosa, 33.
Vatican, library of, 2.
Verona, lapidary museum, 6.
Villa Basilica, 44.
Vincent and Laurence, SS., 37.
Virgil, quoted, 247.
Visconti, 226.
Vito e Modesto, SS., 195.
Volterra, 37.
Volto Santo, 83.
Walafrid Strabo, 211.
Waldo, S., 83.
Wallimar, 139, 140.
Ware, quoted, 237.
Warren, F. F., quoted, 3.
Waterford, 202.
Watkins, J. Colles, painting by, 229.
Whitherne, 23.
William the Conqueror, 86.
Woden, 138.
Wooden churches, 13.
Wordsworth, Bishop, quoted, 1 Kg,
160, 177.
Zug, 138.
Zurich, 138.

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