THE RULE OF AN IRO-EGYPTIAN MONK

IN GAUL JONAS VITA IOHANNIS

AND THE CONSTRUCTION
OF A MONASTIC IDENTITY *
by
Albrecht DIEM

Monastic life means living under a regula usually identified with a written
text or a combination of texts. This is one of the basic assumptions in
traditional monastic historiography 1. The roughly thirty preserved early
medieval monastic regulae 2 were usually understood as different internal
monastic pieces of legislation providing both a programmatic basis and an
organizational and disciplinary framework for the specific communities for
which they were written.

* This article has been written in participation of the Wittgenstein Award-Project Ethnic
Identities in Early Medieval Europe of the Institut fr Mittelalterforschung of the sterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, sponsored by the Fonds zur Frderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung. I would like to thank Roberto Begnini, Richard Corradini, Wolfert van
Egmond, Karl Heidecker, Samantha Herrick, Norman Kutcher, Conrad Leyser, Maya
Mascarinec, Walter Pohl, Helmut Reimitz, Irene van Renswoude, Aad Robben, Albrecht Willer
and Michaela Zelzer for reading and commenting different versions of this text, especially
Marianne Pollheimer for checking my translations from Latin and Charles West for turning my
humble attempt to write English into a publishable text. Furthermore I would like to thank the
staff of the Library of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto for maintaining
what is still one of the best resources for medieval studies in the world.
1. See (as a random choice) Charles De Clercq, La lgislation religieuse franque, 1. De
Clovis Charlemagne, Louvain-Paris, 1936, pp. 78-88 ; Clemens M. Kasper, Theologie und
Askese. Die Spiritualitt des Inselmnchtums von Lrins im 5. Jahrhundert, Mnster, 1991,
pp. 291-372 ; Id., Von der exhortatio zur regula. Von mndlicher Regelung zu schriftlicher
Regel im Mnchtum von Lrins, in Vom Kloster zum Klosterverband. Das Werkzeug der
Schriftlichkeit, Hagen Keller and Franz Neiske eds., Munich, 1997, pp. 36-55 ; Terence
P. McLaughlin, Le trs ancien droit monastique de lOccident, Poitiers, 1935, pp. 3-29 ;
William E. Klingshirn, Caesarius of Arles. The Making of A Christian Community in Late
Antique Gaul, Cambridge, 1994, pp. 24-25 ; Friedrich Prinz, Frhes Mnchtum im Frankenreich, Munich, 19882, pp. 50, 72, 124-151.
2. Adalbert de Vog, Les rgles monastiques anciennes (400-700), Turnhout, 1985 (Typologie des sources du Moyen ge occidental, 46) provides a list of the texts and editions. For
recent studies on monastic history that include analyses of monastic rules, see e.g. Albrecht
Diem, Das monastische Experiment. Zur Rolle der Keuschheit bei der Entstehung des westlichen Klosterwesens, Mnster, 2005 (Vita Regularis, 24) ; Marilyn Dunn, The Emergence of
Monasticism. From the Desert Fathers to the Early Middle Ages, Oxford-Malden, 2000 ;
C. M. Kasper, Theologie und Askese, op. cit.
Revue Mabillon, n.s., t. 19 (= t. 80), 2008, p. 5-50.

a. diem

Scholars such as Alain Dierkens 3, Adalbert de Vog 4, and Josef Semmler 5 have expressed some cautious doubts about such a legalistic and
positivistic approach to monastic rules, but without further elaboration of
this theme. This is regrettable since the issue of the changing use and
function of written regula-texts and the specific meanings of expressions
such as regula/regularis, norma or ordo may form a key aspect of early
monastic history and provide excellent access to the early development of the
monastic experiment of creating and organizing an ideal community and
forming a monastic identity.
This article does not aim to give a decisive answer to the regula-problem in
general 6 but elaborates on one specific source, the Vita Iohannis of Jonas of
Bobbio ( after 659). This remarkable saints life has, differently from Jonas
Vita Columbani, scarcely been an object of historical research 7. On first
sight this lack of interest in the comparatively short Vita Iohannis seems to
3. Alain Dierkens, Prolgomnes une histoire des relations culturelles entre les Iles
Britanniques et le Continent pendant le Haut Moyen ge, in La Neustrie. Les pays au nord de
la Loire de 650 850, 2, Hartmut Atsma ed., Sigmaringen, 1989 (Beihefte der Francia, 16/2),
pp. 371-394, here p. 378 : Il serait dailleurs anachronique et de mauvaise mthode de supposer
quavant les mesures de 816/817, une abbaye suivait une seule rgle monastique, quil sagisse de
celle de Benot, de Colomban ou dune autre : lpoque mrovingienne plus encore quaprs la
lgislation carolingienne, une rgle nest un carcan ou un code de droit linterprtation fige.
Chaque abbaye possdait un ensemble de rgles, crites ou/et orales (problmes des coutumes), susceptibles dinterprtations, dvolutions, dadaptations.
4. A. de Vog, Les rgles monastiques anciennes, op. cit., p. 12 : Une dernire clarification
simpose. Regula semploie frquemment, dans les textes, en parlant de lautorit vivante dun
abb, sans quil faille supposer que cette autorit sexprimait par une rgle crite. Quand on lit
ainsi, dans la vie dun saint moine, quil se plaa sous la rgle de tel ou tel Pre, il faut se garder
dimaginer une regula perdue dont cet abb serait lauteur. moins que le contexte nindique
formellement le contraire, il sagit simplement dentre dans une communaut et dassujettissement son suprieur dans lobissance.
5. For example in his article Regula mixta, in Lexikon des Mittelalters, t. 7, Munich, 1995,
cols. 606-607.
6. See A. Diem, Das monastische Experiment, op. cit., pp. 131-146. For a case study, see Id.,
Was bedeutet Regula Columbani ?, in Integration und Herrschaft. Ethnische Identitten
und soziale Organisation im Frhmittelalter, Maximilian Diesenberger and Walter Pohl eds.,
Vienna, 2002 (Forschungen zur Geschichte des Mittelalters, 3), pp. 63-89.
7. Jonas of Bobbio, Vita Iohannis abbatis Reomaensis, ed. Bruno Krusch, Ionae vitae
sanctorum Columbani, Vedastis, Iohannis, Hanover-Leipzig, 1905 (MGH, SRG, 37), pp. 321344. Two presumably Carolingian revisions are edited by Jan Bolland in AASS, January, 2,
Antwerp, 1643, pp. 856-863 (BHL 4426/4427), and by Jean Mabillon in AASSOSB, 1, Paris,
1669, pp. 633-636 (BHL 4425). In his introduction to the edition, pp. 323-325, B. Krusch
identifies the oldest version in the mss Paris, BnF, lat. 11748, s. x, and BnF, lat. 5306, s. xiv.
Literature on John of Rme and the Vita Iohannis : BHL 4424-4427 ; Manfred Clauss, Johan
von Rme, in Biographisch-bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, t. 3, Traugott Bautz
ed., Hamm, 1992, cols. 538-539 (with bibliography, also online in an updated version :
http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/j/Johannes_v_reo.shtml) ; Maximilian Diesenberger, Bausteine
der Erinnerung : Schrift und berrest in der Vita Sequani, in Vom Nutzen des Schreibens.
Soziales Gedchtnis, Herrschaft und Besitz, Walter Pohl and Paul Herold eds., Vienna, 2002
(Forschungen zur Geschichte des Mittelalters, 5), pp. 39-66, here pp. 54-58 ; Bruno Krusch,
Zwei Heiligenleben des Jonas von Susa, Mittheilungen des Instituts fr sterreichische
Geschichtsforschung, t. 14, 1893, pp. 385-427 ; Jean Marilier, Giovanni, abbate di Rome,
Bibliotheca Sanctorum, t. 6, Rome, 1965, cols. 873-874 ; Franois Masai, Les antcdents de
Cluny. La rgle du matre Moutiers-Saint-Jean, in Cluny. Congrs scientifique, Ftes et
crmonies liturgiques en lhonneur des Saints abbs Odon et Odilon, 9-11 juillet 1949, Dijon,
1950, pp. 192-202 ; Fritz Stber, Zur Kritik der Vita Sancti Iohannis Reomaensis, Sitzungs-

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

be justified by its content, which appears rather unremarkable : John, son of

noble Christian parents, founded the monastery Reomaus/Rme 8 and fled,
overwhelmed by his own success, to the monastery of Lrins. When his
identity was disclosed, his bishop forced him to return to the monastery he
had founded, where he resumed his duties as abbot sub regul(ar)e tenore,
quam beatus Macharius indedit 9. For the period after his return, Jonas of
Bobbio tells a series of stories about the life in Johns monastery (ch. 5-10,
13-16) and a number of healing miracles (ch. 11-12, 15, 17). The Vita ends
with a sketch of Johns saintly virtues and monastic ideals (ch. 18). At the age
of 120, John of Rme died. His third successor, abbot Leubardinus, excavated his tomb and moved his sarcophagus into the church of the monastery
(ch. 19-20).
In particular two aspects of the Vita Iohannis will be investigated. Firstly,
the text belongs to the very few early medieval narrative sources that seemingly describe a transfer of a monastic regula from one monastery to another.
In modern historiography the text has served as proof of the use of the
Regula Macharii both at Lrins and at Rme. This generally accepted
interpretation deserves revision. Secondly, the Vita itself can be read as a
monastic program, a regula 10. Jonas used the opportunity of writing the
Vita Iohannis to prove that the Columbanian monastic way of life was in fact
already practised long before Columbanus arrived on the continent. The text
seems to show that basic ideas of Columbanian monasticism were by no
means renewing but just restoring an older state of monasticism in Gaul that
had fallen into decline 11. The second part of this article (sections 2-6) aims
to demonstrate the narrative techniques used by Jonas of Bobbio to give his
readers this impression.
berichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, philosophisch-historische Classe,
t. 160, 1885, pp. 319-398 ; Adalbert de Vog, Aux sources du monachisme colombanien,
I. Jonas de Bobbio. Vie de saint Colomban et de ses disciples, Bgrolles-en-Mauges, 1988 (Vie
monastique, 19), pp. 21-25.
8. Even in French literature there is no consistent spelling for Johns monastery. We find
Rme, Rom, Rome, Reomaus and Moutier-Saint-Jean. I follow the spelling of L. H. Cottineau, Rpertoire topo-bibliographique des abbayes et prieurs, t. 2, Macon, 1939, col. 2006.
On the monastery see also Robert Folz, Moutier-St-Jean, Lexikon des Mittelalters, t. 6,
Munich-Zrich, 1993, cols. 877-878 ; Jean Marilier, Le monastre de Moutier-Saint-Jean et
ses attaches Columbaniennes, in Mlanges Colombaniens. Actes du Congrs international de
Luxeuil, 20-23 juillet 1950, Paris, 1951, pp. 383-384.
9. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 5, p. 332. On regul(ar)e, see p. 11.
10. There are other early hagiographic texts serving as regula, such as Vita patrum Iurensium
= Vita vel regula sanctorum patrum Romani Lupicini et Eugendi monasteriorum Iurensium
abbatum, ed. Franois Martine, Paris, 1968 (SC, 142), and the Vita Pacomii (BHL 6411-6412),
ed. Albrecht Diem and Hildegund Mller, Vita, Regula, Sermo : Eine unbekannte lateinische
Vita Pacomii als Lehrtext fr ungebildete Mnche und als Traktat ber das Sprechen (forthcoming), and possibly Jonas Vita Columbani. See A. Diem, Was bedeutet Regula Columbani ?, art. cit. ; Ian N. Wood, A prelude to Columbanus : The monastic achievement in the
Burgundian territories, in Columbanus and Merovingian Monasticism, H. B. Clarke and
Mary Brennan eds., Oxford, 1981, pp. 3-32, at p. 84. The boundaries between regula and vita are
certainly worth a more thorough investigation.
11. The motif of decline in monastic discipline appears in Jonas of Bobbio, Vita Columbani
I, ch. 5, ed. B. Krusch, Ionae vitae sanctorum, MGH, SRG, 37, p. 161 ; II, ch. 1, p. 230.

a. diem

8
1. Moving the Regula Macharii ?

There are few early medieval hagiographic texts that tell how monastic
rules or other programmatic texts were transferred from one monastic community to another. According to the Vita patrum Iurensium, Romanus
( 460), the founder of the Jura monasteries, went to a monastery in
Lyon, probably lle-Barbe, in order to study the monasterys instituta.
Afterwards he took the libri vitae sanctorum patrum and the eximiae institutiones abbatum (possibly the Institutiones of John Cassian) with him 12.
Gregory of Tours tells in his Liber vitae patrum how he sent the same
texts to the hermit Leobardus 13. Filibert ( 685) travelled around several
Columbanian monasteries including Luxeuil and Bobbio and studied the
Basilii sancti charismata, Macharii regula, Benedicti decreta, and Columbani instituta before becoming founder of Jumiges 14. All three sources
may have used the transfer of a regula to show that a new foundation was
rooted in the most venerable traditions without any direct disciplinary
affiliation with an already existing monastery. Another import of a regula
is described in the already mentioned Decem libri historiarum of Gregory of
Tours and in two other sources. After Radegund founded a monastic community at Poitiers, she imported the Rule for Nuns of Caesarius in order to
fortify the juridical and political position of her probably quite controversial
foundation 15.
This overview of regula-transfers is almost exhaustive. The lack of evidence on the transfer and implementation of written rules makes it understandable that the few extant sources have been widely quoted in studies on
early monastic history ; often they formed the basis of far-reaching theories
and constructions. This is especially the case for the last example, the transfer
of the Regula Macharii according to Jonas Vita Iohannis. The episode of
the Vita Iohannis describing how John brought the Regula Macharii from
Lrins to Rme even seems to be almost the only part of the Vita that has
ever attracted any broader attention 16, after Bruno Krusch had provided a
thorough analysis and edition of Jonas work 17.
Before focusing on the alleged regula-transfer I will first provide a sketch
of its context within the text. In his narrative, Jonas of Bobbio gives two sets
12. Vita patrum Iurensium, ch. 11, SC, 142, pp. 250-252. Cassians work is mentioned along
with the works of Basilius, Pachomius and the Fathers of Lrins in ch. 174, pp. 426-428.
13. Gregory of Tours, Liber vitae patrum XX, ch. 3, ed. B. Krusch, Hanover, 1885 (MGH,
SRM, 1.2), p. 742.
14. Vita Filiberti (s. viii), ch. 5, ed. B. Krusch, Hanover-Leipzig, 1910 (MGH, SRM, 5),
p. 587.
15. Gregory of Tours, Decem libri historiarum IX, ch. 40, ed. B. Krusch, Hanover, 1887
(MGH, SRM, 1.1), pp. 464-465 ; Venantius Fortunatus, Vita Radegundis I, ch. 24, ed.
B. Krusch, Hanover, 1888 (MGH, SRM, 2), p. 372 ; Letter of Caesaria to Richildis and Radegund (587), ed. Ernst Dmmler, Berlin, 1892 (MGH, Epp., 3), pp. 450-453.
16. Another aspect of the Vita Iohannis discussed in the literature is Jonas reception of the
works of John Cassian. See Owen Chadwick, John Cassian, Cambridge, 1968, p. 149 ; M. Diesenberger, Bausteine der Erinnerung, art. cit., p. 55. See here, pp. 38-44.
17. B. Krusch, Zwei Heiligenleben, art. cit. summarizes previous studies on Jonas minor
hagiographical works, especially F. Stber, Zur Kritik, art. cit.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

of rather contradictory arguments for Johns decision to leave his monastery

and to hide at Lrins, and it remains unclear which one was meant to
be decisive. On the one hand, Jonas depicts the saint as being afraid
that a leadership position in his community could interfere with his
ideals of obedience and mortification. On the other hand, he describes
him as being afraid that he is unqualified to lead and protect his community, since all he knew about the regula (Jonas of Bobbio uses tenor regule
and norma materialis regularis) was through hearsay and not experience 18.
According to Jonas, it was not in itself scandalous that John left his
community and proceeded in search of the lifestyle of the religious
(religiosorum mores perquirens) to the monastery of Honoratus ( ca. 429)
who instructed many in a way of religious life and exhorted them in keeping
the order of the discipline of the rule (religionis forma plures instruebat et
regularis discipline normam tenere eos commonebat) 19. The scandal rather
emerged from Johns decision to hide at Lrins as a humble unknown monk
for more than eighteen months, instead of returning to his community after
having obtained the necessary knowledge 20. Moreover, the monks of Lrins
were interested in keeping the holy man for good, not caring about what he
did before he arrived 21.
Problems caused by monks changing monasteries without permission and
conflicts between monasteries caused by recruiting monks from other communities were discussed repeatedly at episcopal councils and in monastic
rules from the sixth and seventh century 22. It is therefore not astonishing
18. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 3, p. 330 : Crescente ergo ibi monachorum caterva, cepit anxio
cordis stimulo pensare, quid melius foret quidque salubrius mercedis cumulo obveniret, si plebi
dominando preesset aut subiectus aliis obediendo sub obtentu religionis proficeret. Fuit
tandem consilii, melius esse sub vinculo mortificationis se subdere, quam aliis imperando
dominari. Et cum presertim ipse, infra monasteriorum septa positus, regularis materie normam
atque precedencium patrum disciplinam sub obediencie rigore nequaquam didicerit, sed tantummodo quod lectio vel fama religionis vel cordi inseruerit vel auri advexerit, postposita
percunctatione atque omni ambiguitate, cepit querere arma, quibus posit subiecta membra
tueri : clipeum, quo diabolicam artem vitaret, galea, qua fidei caput inlesum servaret, mucronem, quo mundiales errores coerecet, impinget. The combination clipeum-galea (shield and
helmet) appears in numerous classical texts, especially in Ovid and Virgil. Similar hesitations
with regard to sufficient qualifications for monastic leadership are expressed for example in the
Vita Pacomii (BHL 6411-6412), ch. 7, PL, t. 73, col. 433D (sentence 107 in forthcoming new
edition). On the community growing by the fama of the founder, see Jonas, Vita Columbani I,
ch. 10, p. 169.
19. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 4, p. 331.
20. At the Council of Arles (554), ch. 3, ed. Charles De Clercq, Turnhout, 1963 (CCSL,
148A), p. 171, it was stated that abbots were not allowed to leave their community of too long a
period : Ut abbatibus longius a monastherio vagari sine episcopi sui permissione non liceat.
Quod si fecerit, iuxta antiquos canones ab episcopo suo regulariter corrigatur.
21. See Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 4, p. 331.
22. See especially Council of Agde (506), ch. 27, ed. Charles Munier, Turnhout, 1963
(CCSL, 148), p. 205 : ... Monachum nisi abbatis sui aut permissu aut voluntate ad alterum
monasterium commigrantem nullus abbas suscipere aut retinere praesumat, sed ubicumque
fuerit, abbati suo auctoritate canonum revocetur. Restrictions against monastic mobility can be
found in first Council of Orlans (511), ch. 19, 22, CCSL, 148A, pp. 10-11 ; Council of Epao
(517), ch. 10, p. 26 ; Council of Tours (567), ch. 16, pp. 181-182 ; Council of Autun (663-680),
ch. 6, p. 319 ; Council of Saint-Jean-de-Losne (673-675), ch. 19, p. 317. The problem of changing

10

a. diem

that Jonas of Bobbio tells us how the bishop of Johns home diocese
intervened as soon as he heard about Johns illicit stay outside his monastery.
He directed a messenger from his 23 monastery to Lrins carrying with him
two letters, one to the community, and the other to John himself 24. In the
first letter the bishop urged the abbot and the monks of Lrins not to obstruct
Johns return and to avoid a situation in which they would become responsible for any harm to his monastery. To John himself, the bishop wrote a severe
reprimand for his protracted stay in Lrins, commanding him to return
immediately to his community, since he was endangering the souls entrusted
to him while caring for his own salvation 25. The bishops words were carefully chosen ; they reflect not only the position expressed in acts of episcopal
councils, but also the regulations of several monastic rules on the abbots
responsibility for the salvation or damnation of the souls under his tuition 26.
monasteries is discussed as well in the Regula quattuor patrum, ch. 4.3-13, ed. Adalbert de
Vog, Paris, 1982 (SC, 297), pp. 198-200 ; Regula patrum tertia, ch. 14, ed. Id., Paris, 1982
(SC, 298), p. 540 ; Regula Ferrioli, ch. 6.1-9, ed. Vincent Desprez, La Regula Ferrioli. Texte
critique, Revue Mabillon, t. 60, 1982, pp. 117-148, at p. 129, and especially in Regula
Benedicti, ch. 61.13-14, ed. Jean Neufville and Adalbert de Vog, Paris, 1972 (SC, 182),
p. 640.
23. The expression ex eius coenubii septa is remarkable, especially since Jonas uses the same
expression for the bishops authority over the monks of Rme as for the authority of the abbot
of Lrins over his monks : plebs sibi subiecta. This implies that Jonas gives Rme a different
juridical status than Lrins : Lrins was subjected to an abbot ; in Rme the bishop had the
highest authority. An episcopal privilege for Rme from 1126 refers to a (lost or forged)
episcopal exemption issued by bishop Sigoald between 653 and 675, thus exactly in the period
when Jonas wrote his Vita Iohannis : Charter of bishop Wilencus for Rme, in Gallia
Christiana, 4.2, Paris, 1876, cols. 185-186, here col. 185 : Privilegium Sigoaldi episcopi de
consecratione abbatis, de fraterna dilectione, de caritativa fratrum correctione et emendatione,
sed et de omnibus quaecumque episcopaliter praecepit et confirmavit laudamus et confirmamus.
I would assume that there was a link between Jonas assignment to write the Vita Iohannis and
the changing juridical status of Rme. See also Josef Semmler, Episcopi potestas und
karolingische Klosterpolitik, in Mnchtum, Episkopat und Adel zur Grndungszeit des
Klosters Reichenau, Arno Borst ed., Sigmaringen, 1974 (Vortrge und Forschungen, 20),
pp. 305-395, at pp. 336-337, and L. Duchesne, Fastes piscopaux de lancienne Gaule, 2, Paris,
1900, p. 187.
24. In the Carolingian version of the Vita Iohannis I, ch. 1.8, AASS, January, 2, p. 858 the
author regrets that he could not find the original letters in the archive of the monastery.
25. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 4, p. 331 : Quo comperto, Lingonice urbis Gregorius pontifex
egre ferre cepit, ut subiecte sibi plebi solamina perderit, direxitque absque dilatione ex eius
coenubii septa virus cum epistularum subplimentum : unam ad eum qui praeerat adque
subiecta sibi plebe, eius redito contrarii ne essent, nam damno communi particeps forent ;
aliam propriae ad virum venerabilem Iohannem, reditum postulans : quod si, opposita dilatione, facere neclexit, iudicium omnipotentis Dei de damno omisse hac derelicte plebes recipere
metuerit. The Regula patrum tertia, ch. 2, SC, 298, pp. 532-534 describes how the bishop
has to intervene when the abbot fails ; ch. 11, p. 338 imposes on the abbot to stay with his
community.
26. Almost every monastic rule (except for the Regula Macharii) contains sections on the
duties and responsibilities of the abbot or abbess. Some rules state that the he or she should care
for the soul and the spiritual progress of the community (e.g. Regula quattuor patrum,
ch. 2.1-9, SC, 297, pp. 184-186 ; Liber Orsiesii, ch. 7-8, ed. Amand Boon, Pachomiana Latina,
Louvain, 1932 (Bibliothque de la RHE, 7), pp. 112-113 ; Regula Ferrioli, ch. 37.12-16/25-29,
ed. V. Desprez, art. cit., p. 144 ; Regula Basilii, ch. 15, ed. Klaus Zelzer, Vienna, 1976 (CSEL,
86), pp. 64-65 ; Regula cuiusdam ad virgines, ch. 1.16. A new edition of this rule is in
preparation. For most chapters currently the best text is provided in Benedict of Anianes
Concordia Regularum, ed. Pierre Bonnerue, Turnhout, 1999 (CCCM, 168A), here ch. 5.24,

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

11

The community of Lrins and John decided unanimously that it was better
for him to return to his old monastery 27. Back in his monastery, John
resumed his responsibility (according to Kruschs edition) sub regulare
tenore quam beatus Macharius indedit 28.
At this point we are confronted with a small philological problem.
Kruschs edition gives sub regulare tenore, a rather improbable reading.
Grammatically correct alternatives would be sub regulari tenore 29 or sub
regule/regulae 30 tenore. Both constructions can be found in Jonas Vita
Columbani 31, the expression tenor regule appears as well in the Regula
Donati and the Regula cuiusdam ad virgines (two Columbanian monastic
rules for nuns), and in two saints lives related to Columbanian monasticism 32. Since the connection of tenor and regula appears in no other older
or contemporary source, it can be regarded as a typical Columbanian
term. Tenor regule appears significantly more often and especially at two
other occasions within the Vita Iohannis 33. Therefore I assume either a
scribal or a reading error and suggest emendating this passage to sub regule
tenore 34.
Most scholars read the passage on Johns forced return to Rme as a
reference to a short monastic rule preserved as Regula Macharii in Benedict
of Anianes Codex Regularum and four other manuscripts from the eighth
to the tenth century 35. Jonas narrative forms a key source for all arguments
p. 86. A direct responsibility of the abbot for the salvation or damnation of his monks is
expressed in Augustine, Praeceptum VII, ch. 3, ed. Luc Verheijen, La Rgle de Saint
Augustin, 1, Paris, 1967, p. 436, quoted in Caesarius of Arles, Regula ad virgines, ch. 27.1,
ed. Adalbert de Vog and Jol Courreau, Paris, 1988 (SC, 345), p. 204 ; see also ch. 35.8-9,
pp. 216-218. The most explicit statements delegating the responsibility for the monks salvation
to the abbot can be found in the Regula magistri, ch. 2.6-15, ed. Adalbert de Vog, Paris, 1964
(SC, 105), pp. 352-354 ; ch. 7.53-56, p. 392, and in the Regula Benedicti, ed. Id., Paris, 1972 (SC,
181), ch. 2.2-10, pp. 440-442 ; ch. 2.29-38, pp. 448-450 (partially quoted in note 163). See also
Regula Donati, ch. 1.19-20, ed. Id., La Rgle de Donat pour labbesse Gauthstrude, Benedictina, t. 25, 1978, pp. 219-313, at pp. 242-243.
27. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 4, pp. 331-332 : Quam causam utrique, tam qui praeerat ob
boni sodalis amisione, quam etiam venerandus Iohannis ob iudicii inlati penam, anxio cordis
stimulo trucinare ceperunt ; sed omnium consultu victus, ad patriam redire iubetur et, neclectam plebis curam, denuo caelestia preconia administrare, ne iudicium damnationis de omisione tantarum animarum adquireret, qui propriam perpotire cupiebat salutem. In this way
Jonas of Bobbio makes clear that Johns departure is also an act of obedience toward the
monastery of Lrins.
28. Ibid., ch. 5, p. 332.
29. The Carolingian version of the Vita Iohannis printed in the Acta Sanctorum gives sub
regulari tenore. See Vita Iohannis I, ch. 2.12, AASS, January, 2, p. 859.
30. Modern editions often give the classical spelling ae ; in medieval manuscripts the a is
usually omitted or appears as e caudata.
31. Jonas, Vita Columbani II, ch. 1, p. 231 ; II, ch. 10, p. 252 : tenor regularis ; II, ch. 13,
p. 263 : tenor regulae.
32. Regula Donati, dedicatory letter, ed. A. de Vog, art. cit., p. 239 ; Regula cuiusdam
ad virgines, ch. 3.25 and ch. 15.12, cf. CCCM, 168A, ch. 71.4, p. 621 and ch. 45.25, p. 388 ;
Bobolenus, Vita Germani Grandivallensis, ch. 9 (written after 675), ed. B. Krusch, MGH,
SRM, 5, p. 36 ; Vita Sadalbergae, ch. 20, ibid., p. 61.
33. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 2, p. 330, and ch. 19, p. 342.
34. I owe this observation to a suggestion by Rudolf Hiestand.
35. Regula Macharii, ed. A. de Vog, SC, 297, pp. 372-388. The text is preserved in five
early manuscripts, three collections of monastic rules : Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibl.,

12

a. diem

ascribing this Regula Macharii and several other early monastic rules to the
monastery of Lrins. For Friedrich Prinz, this passage served as an indication
that the Regula Macharii was not only in use in Rme but brought from
there to Jumiges, Saint-Seine and other monasteries in central Gaul 36.
Adalbert de Vog used the transfer of the Regula Macharii as an argument for ascribing the Regula Macharii, the Regula patrum secunda
and the Regula quattuor patrum to Lrins and for identifying the
Regula patrum tertia as part of the acts of the Council of Clermont (535) 37.
William Klingshirn assumes that the Regula Macharii was in use at Lrins
when Caesarius of Arles (543) was monk at this monastery. He argues that
this text had a major influence on the development of Caesarius monastic
ideal 38.
Other interpretations, such as Franois Masais idea that Jonas may have
referred to the Regula magistri, have found little reception 39. One of the few
cautiously dissident positions is developed by Marilyn Dunn who accepts the
identifications with the Regula Macharii but remarks that the Vita is not at
all a contemporary source and that the story itself does not actually support
the assumption that John introduced this text in his monastery or
reformed his monastery on the basis of this rule 40.
A closer analysis of Jonas narrative reveals that it is highly unlikely that
the tenor regul(ar)e quam beatus Macharius indedit can be identified with
the Regula Macharii. The full passage in the Vita Iohannis tells about John :
Clm 28118, s. ixin (Codex Regularum) ; Lambach, Stiftsbibl., 31, s. ix1/2 ; Escorial, A.I.13,
s. x ; and two Carolingian collections of acts of ecclesiastical councils : Brussels, Royal Library,
2493 (8780-8793), s. viii-ix ; Paris, BnF, lat. 1564, s. viii-ix.
36. F. Prinz, Frhes Mnchtum, op. cit., pp. 61-62, 72-73, 94, 506-507. See also B. Krusch,
Zwei Heiligenleben, art. cit., pp. 392-393.
37. See A. de Vog, in SC, 297, pp. 32-33, 37, 339, 343-356 ; SC, 298, pp. 521-522. Although
A. de Vog describes several occasions in which a Regula Macharii was identified with the
Regula quattuor patrum, he still comes to the conclusion : Il ny a donc pas de raison de douter
que le texte dont parle Jonas ne soit notre Rgle de Macaire. [...] Sil est vrai que Jean de Rom
mit en application les normes de Macaire son retour de Lrins, vers la fin de la premire
dcennie du ive sicle, nous sommes fortement encourag croire que cette lgislation est un
produit lrinien des dernires annes du sicle prcdent (p. 354). See also C. M. Kasper,
Theologie und Askese, op. cit., pp. 347-348 : Der einzig sichere Beleg dafr, da eine RMac mit
Lrins in Verbindung gebracht werden kann ber den Verfasser oder ihre Entstehung auf
Lrins ist damit noch nichts gesagt wird die 150 Jahre nach ihrem vermuteten Auftauchen von
Jonas von Bobbio in der Vita des Johannes Reomaensis ( 539) erbracht. In ch. 5 berichtet
Jonas, Johannes habe nach seinem Aufenthalt in Lrins um das Jahr 500 sein Kloster nach der
RMac, die er dort kennenlernte, reformiert. Dazu vermerkt er in ch. 4, da die Mnche dort
damals nach der religionis forma des Honoratus lebten, die sie mahnte, die regularis disciplinae
normam einzuhalten. In diesem Zusammenhang kann das nur bedeuten, da die RIVP und die
2RP noch befolgt wurden, zu denen die RMac eine Ergnzung darstellte. See also Id., Von der
exhortatio zur regula, art. cit., p. 55.
38. William S. Klingshirn, Caesarius of Arles. The Making of a Christian Community in
Late Antique Gaul, Cambridge, 1994, pp. 24-28.
39. F. Masai, Les antcdents de Cluny, art. cit., pp. 192-202 ; Id., Recherches sur les
rgles de S. Oyend et de S. Benot, Regulae Benedicti Studia, 5, 1976, pp. 60-61, note 53.
40. M. Dunn, The Emergence of Medieval Monasticism, op. cit., p. 88. Salvatore Pricoco,
Lisola dei Santi. Il cenobio di Lerino e le origini del monachismo gallico, Rome, 1978, p. 88
expresses similar doubts about the reliability of Jonas. Based on that, he argues against the
existence of a written regula in Lrins.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

13

Regressus ergo ad praefatum locum, studuit denuo salubria pocula 41 sub regul(ar)e tenore, quam beatus Macharius indedit, monachis ministrare adque aeducatam in melius plebem 42 ad caelestia gaudia provocare... 43
(Back to the above mentioned place, he once more became zealous by the salutary
goblets under the course of the rule that the blessed Macharius inserted, to serve the
monks and to summon to the heavenly joys the people that have been guided to the
better...)

The tenor regul(ar)e is clearly related to the activities John resumes after
his return, his abbatial duties : ministrare and provocare. Therefore one
would expect that the text that inspired John should have at least some
sections on the duties of the abbot and especially his care for the monks
salvation. The text preserved as Regula Macharii hardly mentions the abbot
or leader of the monastery, with the exception of two very general remarks on
the necessary obedience of the monks 44. As a reference to this text, Jonas
remark does not make sense, especially since the author of the Vita Iohannis
is known as an author who chooses his words very carefully 45.
There is, however, another written Regula that fits perfectly into Jonas
narrative : the Regula quattuor patrum. This text was already brought into
the discussion by Franois Masai without elaborating further on this suggestion 46. Adalbert de Vog suggests linking this rule to Lrins and dates it to
the period of Honoratus 47, who is described in the Vita Iohannis as Johns
source of inspiration on monastic teaching 48. The text is structured in the
form of four speeches delivered by three or four famous desert fathers :
Serapion, Macharius, Pafnutius and again Macharius. The second sermon
starts with an exhortation of how the leader of the monastery (is qui praeest)
should act :
Macharius dixit quoniam fratrum insignia virtutum habitationis vel oboedientiae superius conscripta praevenerunt. Nunc qualiter spiritale exercitium ab his qui
praesunt teneatur Deo iuvante ostendimus. Debet is qui praeest talem se exhibere ut
Apostolus ait : Estote forma credentibus [1 Tm 4.12], hoc est pro qualitate misticae
pietatis et severitatis fratrum animas ad caelestia de terrenis erigere, dicente
41. Probably a reference to Augustine, Sermo 142, ch. 5, PL, t. 38, cols. 780-781 : Accipiat
humilitatis medicamentum : bibat contra tumorem poculum amarum, sed salubre ; bibat
poculum humilitatis.
42. Jonas refers to the monks of the community. Plebs is usually used for monks (see Vita
Iohannis, ch. 2-5, pp. 329-332, 8 times ; ch. 13, p. 336 ; ch. 18, p. 341) ; populus for the people
living outside the community (ch. 5, p. 332 ; ch. 9, p. 334). See also Jonas, Vita Columbani II,
ch. 8, p. 245.
43. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 5, p. 332.
44. Regula Macharii, ch. 4.1, SC, 297, p. 374 : Praeceptum senioris ut salutem suscipias ;
ch. 7.1, p. 374 : Praepositum monasterii timeas ut Deum, diligas ut parentem.
45. See e.g. Walter Berschin, Biographie und Epochenstil, 2, Stuttgart, 1988, pp. 26-48 ;
Albrecht Diem, Monks, Kings, and the transformation of sanctity : Jonas of Bobbio and the
end of the holy man, Speculum, t. 82, 2007, pp. 521-559.
46. F. Masai, Les antcdents de Cluny, art. cit., pp. 196-197 discusses the possibility that
Jonas could refer to the Regula quattuor patrum but dismisses this idea in favour of his
hypothesis that the Regula magistri was in use in Rme. He regards the four sermons of the
Regula quattuor patrum simply as parts of the Regula magistri.
47. See A. de Vog, in SC, 297, pp. 91-155.
48. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 4, pp. 330-331 : Tandem religiosorum mores perquirens, ad
Lirinense monasterium pervenit, ubi tunc venerabilis Honorati religionis forma plures instruebat et regularis discipline normam tenere eos commonebat.

14

a. diem

Apostolo : Argue, obsecra, increpa cum omni lenitate [2 Tm 4.2] ; et alio loco
inquit : Quid vultis ? In virga veniam ad vos an in spiritu mansuetudinis [1 Co
4.21] ? Discernendum est ab illo qui praeest qualiter circa singulos debeat pietatis
affectum monstrare. Aequalitatem tenere debet, non inmemor Domini dicentis : In
qua mensura mensi fueritis, remitietur vobis [Mt 7.2] 49.
(Macharius spoke since before him they had dealt with the above mentioned
attributes of the virtues of the brothers with regard to housing and obedience : Now
we show with Gods help how the exercise in spiritual things has to be performed by
those who carry out leadership. The person who carries out leadership has to behave as
the Apostle says : be a forming example for those who believe, that is : for the mystic
quality of the piety and the strictness to erect the souls of the brothers from earthly
to heavenly [things], as the Apostle says : reproach, admonish and reprimand with all
tenderness. And at another place he says : what do you want ? Mercy to you in the
whip or in the spirit of gentleness ? The person who carries out leadership has to
discern how he has to show loving affection to every single [brother]. He has to keep
equality, not forgetting how the Lord says : in the measure in which you measure, you
shall be forgiven.)

Besides this congruence in authors name and the fact that the content fits
quite well with the Vita Iohannis, there are several other arguments supporting the assumption that Jonas indeed referred to Macharius contribution to
the Regula quattuor patrum. Jonas was by no means the only monastic writer
who used the expression Regula Macharii while referring to sections from
the Regula quattuor patrum. Benedict of Aniane quoted in his Concordia
Regularum several passages from the Regula quattuor patrum as coming
from the Regula Macharii. Six of eleven fragments of the Regula quattuor
patrum in Benedicts work belonged to the second and fourth speech.
Benedict labelled three of them as ex regula Macharii (with variations) 50 ;
for the three other fragments he used ex regula patrum 51. Among the three
fragments identified as ex regula Macharii, we even find the above quoted
passage on the responsibility of the abbot 52. Expressions as ex regula
Serapionis/Pafnutii that would refer to the other two fathers of the
Regula quattuor patrum do not appear in Benedicts Concordia Regularum 53 ; his seven quotations from the real Regula Macharii are assigned
correctly with ex regula Macharii as well. Even in one of the manuscripts of
the Regula quattuor patrum, Montecassino, ms 443, s. xi, the rule has the
title Regula sancti patris nostri Macarii 54.
49. Regula quattuor patrum, ch. 2.1-9, SC, 297, pp. 184-186.
50. Benedict of Aniane, Concordia Regularum, ch. 5.2, CCCM, 168A, p. 67 ; ch. 54.7,
pp. 466-467 ; ch. 60.2, p. 508. See also F. Masai, Les antcdents de Cluny, art. cit., p. 196. In
one case (ch. 55.2-3, pp. 471-472) Benedict used ex regula Macharii for a passage not belonging
to the second and fourth but to the third speech : Regula quattuor patrum, ch. 3.9-14/16-20,
SC, 297, pp. 194-196. See also Smaragdus, Expositio in Regulam S. Benedicti, ch. 53.24, ed.
Alfred Spannagel and Pius Engelbrecht, Siegburg, 1974 (CCM, 8), pp. 283-284 : Hic beatus
Macharius ait...
51. Benedict of Aniane, Concordia Regularum, CCCM, 168A, ch. 63.3, p. 545 ; ch. 65, 3,
pp. 552-553 ; ch. 68.2, pp. 603-604.
52. Ibid., ch. 5.2, p. 67.
53. See also A. de Vog, in SC, 297, p. 353 ; F. Masai, Les antcdents de Cluny, art. cit.,
p. 198, who does not draw any conclusion from this observation.
54. A. de Vog, in SC, 297, p. 166 and pp. 353-545, n. 37 ; F. Masai, Les antcdents de
Cluny, art. cit., p. 195.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

15

Jonas of Bobbio himself left another trace pointing to the Regula quattuor patrum as being the rule he referred to. While using the title abbas
(praef., ch. 1 ; 18 ; 19), senior (ch. 4 ; 7 ; 16) or pater (ch. 7 ; 13 ; 16) for the
abbots of Rme, he gave the abbot of Lrins the rather unusual title is qui
praeerat 55. There are only two monastic rules in which the leader of a
community is consistently called is qui praeest : the Regula Basilii
(20 times) and the Regula quattuor patrum (19 times) 56. In the Regula
Macharii, a text compiled from fragments of various rules, is qui praeest
appears once 57 ; along with no less than three other names of the leader of a
monastic community : senior (ch. 4 ; 12), praepositus (ch. 7) and abbas
(ch. 27). Even without any other reference to a regula, the reference to the
abbot of Lrins as is qui praeerat could serve as an argument that Jonas
wanted to link the Regula quattuor patrum with Lrins 58.
A last argument may be added, which is not as strong as it seems at first
sight. Jonas uses the expression regul(ar)e tenore, quam beatus Macharius
indedit. The expression indedit he inserted does not make much sense
with regard to the Regula Macharii (a text claiming to be written and not
inserted by Macharius) but describes perfectly the contribution that Macharius made to the Regula quattuor patrum : it was his speech inserted to the
rule. This conclusion in challenged by the fact that the phrase regulam
indedit belongs to Jonas very own language ; it appears twice in the Vita
Columbani in the context of Columbanus regula without the implication of
an insertion 59.
No further clue about the meaning of Regula Macharii is given by two
charters referring to this text. One of them is associated directly with Johns
foundation Rme : a forged royal charter for Rme/Moutiers-Saint-Jean,
which is based on information from Jonas Vita Iohannis 60. The other
one, an episcopal privilege for the monastery of Graselle/Grosseaux
(diocese Vaison), extended the usual catalogue of rules associated with a
55. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 4, p. 331 : Bishop Gregory sends a letter ad eum qui praeerat
adque subiecta sibi plebe. The Carolingian version of the Vita Iohannis omits the expression is
qui praeerat/is qui praeest.
56. Besides that, the expression is qui praeest for abbot appears once in the Regula patrum
secunda, ch. 7.46, ed. A. de Vog, SC, 297, p. 282, once in Fructuosus, Regula monachorum,
ch. 3, ed. Julio Campos Ruiz, San Leandro, San Isidoro, San Fructuoso. Reglas monsticas de
la Espaa visigoda, Madrid, 1971, p. 142 (or PL, t. 87, col. 1102A), and once in the Regula
cuiusdam patris ad monachos, ch. 20.6, ed. Fernando Villegas, La Regula cuiusdam Patris
ad monachos. Ses sources littraires et ses rapports avec la Regula monachorum de Colomban,
Revue dhistoire de la spiritualit, t. 49, 1973, pp. 3-36, at p. 26. Gregory I uses this expression
regularly, but not necessarily in a monastic context. Jonas uses qui praeest as well in Vita
Columbani I, ch. 15, p. 178.
57. Regula Macharii, SC, 297, ch. 18, p. 380, quoted from the Regula patrum secunda.
58. Only one other saints life uses is qui praeerat : Vita Filiberti, ch. 2, MGH, SRM, 5,
p. 585. It happens that the Vita Iohannis and the Vita Filiberti are the only hagiographical
works in which a Regula Macharii is mentioned. See Vita Filiberti, ch. 5, p. 587.
59. Jonas, Vita Columbani I, ch. 19, p. 190 ; II, ch. 10, p. 252.
60. Forged charter for Rme ascribed to Clovis (dated 498), ed. Theo Klzer, Hanover,
2001 (MGH, Die Urkunden der Merowinger, 1), no. 3, p. 9 : ... quia domnus Iohannes, clarus
virtutibus, locellum suum in pago Tornotrinse sub regula Macharii ad habitationem monachorum constructum... The charter was forged in the late Carolingian period. See also B. Krusch,
Zwei Heiligenleben, art. cit., pp. 407-408.

a. diem

16

Columbanian monastery (Regula Benedicti et Columbani) with the Regula

Macharii 61. It is possible that this charter was inspired by Jonas Vita
Iohannis as well. Neither charter gives any indication what it meant by
Regula Macharii.
The fact that Jonas most likely referred to the Regula quattuor patrum and
not to the Regula Macharii, leads in first instance only to a negative result,
not more than undermining a couple of assumptions and theories developed
by Kasper, Klingshirn, Prinz and De Vog. The text does not state that John
of Rme really introduced this rule into his monastery, since it only
formed the basis for his return to his monastery and his abbatial duties. We
cannot even conclude from this source with certainty that the Regula quattuor patrum was indeed used in Lrins. The only firm assumption we can
make is that Jonas of Bobbio associated the Regula quattuor patrum =
Macharii with the monastery of Lrins, implying that Johns return to his
former power as abbot was the ultimate fulfilment of the regula that he had
wanted to learn by moving to Lrins and submitting himself to the teachings
of Honoratus 62.
There is another unsolved problem : did Jonas establish a link between
Lrins and the Regula quattuor patrum because of his exact historical
knowledge or because this was simply the most suitable available text to make
his point ? Jonas reliability, the question what one can read and find in the
Vita Iohannis and what one should not read into this text, will be discussed
in the next section of this article.
2. Constructing History : Jonas and Gregory of Tours
Can Jonas Vita Iohannis be used as a source of historical facts ? Early
medieval saints lives have often been used for prosopographical research 63
and the reconstruction and dating of events, especially for periods in which
there are few other sources available 64. This is to a certain extant justifiable,
although it was usually not a hagiographers intention to give a conclusive
record of historical events, but rather to use history in order to transport
his/her message 65. This message may have entailed proving the truth of an
61. J. M. Pardessus, Diplomata, chartae, epistolae, leges aliaque instrumenta ad res GalloFrancicas spectantia, 2, Paris, 1849, no. 401, pp. 191-195, at p. 191 : ... ut secundum normam
venerabilis viri sancti patris Benedicti abbatis, vel sancti Macarii, seu sancti Columbani,
degere vel habitare deberent... See also F. Prinz, Frhes Mnchtum, op. cit., p. 73 ; Eugen Ewig,
Sptantikes und frnkischen Gallien, 2, ed. Hartmut Atsma, Munich, 1979, p. 417.
62. See Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 4, p. 330-331 : Tandem religiosorum mores perquirens, ad
Lirinense monasterium pervenit, ubi tunc venerabilis Honorati religionis forma plures instruebat et regularis discipline normam tenere eos commonebat.
63. See esp. Horst Ebling, Prosopographie der Amtstrger des Merowingerreiches, Munich,
1974 ; Martin Heinzelmann, Gallische Prosopographie 260-527, Francia, t. 10, 1982, pp. 531718.
64. See for example Ian Wood, The Merovingian Kingdoms. 450-751, London-New York,
1994.
65. New approaches to read hagiographical sources beyond positivism and to investigate their
role for the creation of collective identities are developed e.g. in Lynda L. Coon, Sacred Fictions.
Holy Women and Hagiography in Late Antiquity, Philadelphia, 1997 ; Felice Lifshitz,

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

17

account by placing it into a plausible historical context or by giving historical

events a moralizing meaning especially those related to the deeds and
destiny of churchmen and rulers.
We can assume that those hagiographers who were writing for an audience
that could have witness the described events avoided telling obviously incorrect facts, but they still may have given those facts quite particular interpretations. A case in point and a particularly impressive example of making
major political events an instrument of hagiographic propaganda is Jonas
Vita Columbani, a text regarded as one of the most important sources on
Merovingian political history of the early seventh century 66. Here, the
downfall and extinction of an entire branch of the Merovingian family is
described as the simple result of the rulers appropriate and inappropriate
attitudes toward the Columbanian monastic movement. Theuderic II
( 613), Theudebert II ( 614) and Brunhild ( 614) did not pay due respect
to Columbanus and his foundations and therefore they lost throne and life.
Clothar II ( 629) supported Columbanian foundations, obediently followed
the saints advice and became a splendid ruler of all Frankish kingdoms 67.
In the case of the Vita Iohannis, Jonas of Bobbio himself reveals quite
clearly his method and how his saints life should be read. In his preface he
gives a detailed account of both commission and origin of the text : he was
asked to write this saints life while staying at Rme for a couple of days on
a journey to Chalon-sur-Sane in the service of queen Balthild ( 680) in 659.
His short introduction may have been based on a letter that Jonas sent to
abbot Hunna 68 of Rme together with the completed text of the Vita
Iohannis :
... Ionas abbas per Riomao sancti Iohannis monasterio preteriens, paucis diebus
inibi pro labore itineris quievit, cumque victus precibus fratrum ipsius coenubii, ut
que per discipulus memorati confessoris Christi vel posteris eorum veraciter conperta
erant de actuale vita hac spiritale contemplatione articulo dicendi convertit, praedictus Ionas Hunnae abbati inquid 69.
Beyond positivism and genre : hagiographical texts as historical narrative, Viator, t. 25, 1994,
pp. 95-113 ; Ian Wood, The use and abuse of Latin Hagiography, in East and West. Modes of
Communication, Evangelos Chrysos and Ian Wood eds., Leiden, 1999, pp. 93-109.
66. See especially Ian Wood, The Vita Columbani and Merovingian hagiography, Peritia,
t. 1, 1982, pp. 63-80 ; Id., Jonas, the Merovingians, and Pope Honorius, in After Romes Fall.
Narrators and Sources of Early Medieval History, Alexander Callender Murray ed., TorontoBuffalo-London, 1998, pp. 99-120 ; Mayke De Jong, Monastic prisoners or opting out ?
Political coercion and honour in the Frankish Kingdoms, in Topographies of Power in the
Early Middle Ages, Carine van Rhijn, Mayke De Jong and Frans Theuws eds., Leiden-BostonCologne, 2001, pp. 291-328, at pp. 307-312.
67. Jonas, Vita Columbani I, ch. 18-20, pp. 186-198. See A. Diem, Monks, kings and the
transformation of sanctity, art. cit., pp. 531-546.
68. F. Prinz, Frhes Mnchtum, op. cit., p. 297 ; I. Wood, A prelude, art. cit., p. 3, and
J. Marilier, Le monastre Moutier-Saint-Jean, art. cit., assume that abbot Hunna should be
identified with the monk Chunna who, according to Bobolenus, Vita Germani Grandivallensis,
ch. 6, MGH, SRM, 5, p. 35, entered Luxeuil as a young man. For Prinz, this is an argument for
assuming that in the seventh century the Regula Macharii was replaced by the BenedictineColumbanian mixed rule that was in use in Luxeuil. See also R. Folz, Moutier-St-Jean, art.
cit., col. 877.
69. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, prologue, p. 326. Jonas gives a similarly detailed account of the
commission of the Vita Columbani, dedicatory letter, pp. 144-145.

18

a. diem

(... When Abbot Jonas came through Rme, the monastery of Saint John, he
rested there for a couple of days from the hardship of the journey. He gave in to the
requests of the brothers of this monastery that he should convert what they had
been told as true by the disciples of the mentioned confessor of Christ and their
descendants about this real life [of John] into an object for spiritual contemplation.
The above mentioned Jonas speaks to abbot Hunna.)

This text reveals two important aspects of the Vita Jonas was commissioned to write : first, what he came to know about John is entirely based on an
oral tradition transmitted over more than one generation ; second, the text he
delivers is not just an account of this oral tradition but a product of a
transformation intended for spiritual contemplation. Jonas himself, thus,
never claimed to tell a historical truth such as modern historians may want
to find in this text, but rather a spiritual truth. The function of a saints life
in general is subsequently elaborated in a rather exuberantly formulated
prologue focussing on two aspects, the educating function of the given
exempla and the role of exceptional individuals especially favoured by God 70.
In the text itself Jonas gives the impression of a historically reliable
saints life by several references to names, places and traceable events providing dates and contexts to different phases of Johns life. As already stated
by Krusch and Stber, the historical information Jonas inserted in his text are
not at all free from contradictions 71.
John was baptized and converted to monastic life in the time when a certain
Iohannes consul ruled Gaul sub imperii iure 72. Krusch assumed that this
might either refer to one of the three consuls named Iohannes listed in the
Fasti Consulares for the years 453, 456 and 467, or for a provincial governor
of Gaul erroneously called consul 73. All three consuls Iohannes served in the
eastern part of the empire 74. Based on the expression sub imperii iure,
however, I would rather identity Iohannes consul with the Western
emperor/usurper Iohannes who reigned from 423 to 425 and who was indeed
listed as consul for the year 425 75. This would even fit with the information
that John went to the monastery of Lrins to become inspired by its founder
Honoratus, who left Lrins in 426 in order to become bishop of Arles.
70. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, praefatio, p. 326 : Precellentissima sanctorum prosequentes exempla, que luce clarius urbem tam in sermone docendum quam exemplum monstrando inluminavere, prorsus declarare adque omnibus patefacere omne studio omneque conato, cum conperta
fuerint, debemus, ut scilicet tam mentis hominum caelesti desidero innexas, quam etiam
simplicium animos hominibus profanis ad vitam provocemus aeterna... Similar : Vita Columbani, dedicatory letter, pp. 144-146 and Praefatio libri primi, p. 151 ; Jonas, Vita Vedastis,
ch. 1, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRG, 37, p. 309, but also Vita Antonii, dedicatory letter, PL, t. 3,
cols. 126-127A.
71. B. Krusch, Zwei Heiligenleben, art. cit., p. 392 ; F. Stber, Zur Kritik, art. cit.,
pp. 324 and 391.
72. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 2, p. 329 : Agebat enim hoc eo tempore, quo Gallias sub
imperii iure Iohannes consul regebat. Jonas uses a similar expression (sublato imperii iure) in
ch. 15, p. 337 (513) in a description of Merovingian rule in Gaul.
73. B. Krusch, Zwei Heiligenleben, art. cit., pp. 390-391. Two other consules Iohannes are
listed for 498 and 499, but not in Western lists.
74. See Fasti Consulares Imperii Romani, ed. Willy Liebenam, Bonn, 1910, pp. 46-51.
75. Article on emperor Iohannes, in Paulys Realencyclopedie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft, t. 9.2, Stuttgart, 1916, cols. 1745-1746.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

19

Eighteen months later John had to return to his own monastery by the order
of bishop Gregory of Langres. The only bishop of Langres with the name
Gregory was in office between 506 and 540 76, eighty years after Honoratus
death 77.
Two of the miracles John performed are datable as well and would fit
chronologically with Gregorys intervention. John healed a participant of the
Italian campaign of king Theudebert I ( 548), which took place in 532 78.
Another healing miracle is related to a plague, most likely the great plague
of 543 79. Even if we believe that John reached the age of 120 years, it would
hardly be impossible to overcome these chronological contradictions.
Instead of reading the Vita Iohannis as a source for historical events,
I would suggest that Jonas of Bobbio simply used his historical knowledge to
enrich the story he was commissioned with a suitable and plausible
although not necessarily consistent historical background. For this
purpose he did exactly what modern historians do when writing about the
fifth and sixth centuries : he looked things up in the works of Gregory of
Tours 80, especially searching for material that was related to the region and
diocese where Rme was situated 81.
Almost all the names and events appearing in the Vita Iohannes can be
traced back to one of Gregorys works. Hilarius, Johns father, described by
Jonas as non ignobilis, could be identified as a certain senator Helarius
described in Gregorys Liber in gloria confessorum82. If Iohannes consul was
indeed the usurper/emperor Iohannes, he is mentioned in the second book
of Gregorys Decem libri historiarum 83, and if Jonas of Bobbio used
Gregory of Tours work to find a suitable bishop of Langres, Gregory would
have been the first choice. He was not only the first extensively described

76. L. Duchesne, Fastes piscopaux, op. cit., pp. 185-186. On Gregory of Langres, see also
I. Wood, A prelude, art. cit., p. 12.
77. B. Krusch, Zwei Heiligenleben, art. cit., p. 392 tried to solve this problem by suggesting that John did not necessarily have to meet Honoratus in order to be inspired by his teaching.
It is quite unlikely that Jonas did not want to give his readers the impression that John was
trained by Honoratus himself. The Carolingian version, I, ch. 1.8, AASS, January, 2, p. 858
states explicitly that Gregory of Langres wrote to Honoratus.
78. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 15, pp. 337-338. See Gregory of Tours, Decem libri historiarum III, ch. 32, MGH, SRM, 1.1, p. 128.
79. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 17, p. 340. See B. Krusch, Zwei Heiligenleben, art. cit.,
pp. 397-398.
80. Rosamond McKitterick, History and Memory in the Carolingian World, Cambridge,
2004, pp. 9-10, 36-37, 75, 152, 275-276 gives examples for the use of Gregorys work in later
historiographic works.
81. Jonas shows his knowledge of Gregorys work also in his Vita Columbani. Gregorys life
of Nicetius of Trier, Liber vitae patrum XVII, Hanover, 1885 (MGH, SRM, 1.2), pp. 727-733
probably served as a model for Jonas depiction of the conflict between Columbanus and
Theuderic II/Brunhild. See A. Diem, Monks, kings and the transformation of sanctity, art.
cit., pp. 538-542.
82. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 1, p. 329 ; Gregory of Tours, Liber in gloria confessorum,
ch. 41, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM, 1.2, pp. 773-774. The link between Gregorys Helarius and
Jonas Hilarius is suggested by M. Heinzelmann, Gallische Prosopographie, art. cit., pp. 629630 against B. Krusch, Zwei Heiligenleben, art. cit., p. 389.
83. Gregory of Tours, Decem libri historiarum II, ch. 8, MGH, SRM, 1.1, p. 51.

20

a. diem

bishop in Gregory of Tours Decem libri 84, but he was also a member of
Gregorys family with his own saints life in the Liber vitae patrum 85. Other
bishops of Langres appearing in Gregorys work, such as Tetricus ( 572),
Pappolus ( 579/580) and Mummolus ( after 585) were because of chronological aspects even more unsuitable for sending John back to his monastery 86.
In the same book of the Decem libri historiarum in which Gregory of
Langres appears at length, we find the description of the Italian campaign of
king Theudebert I ( 548) 87. Even the names of two participants of the
campaign mentioned in Jonas of Bobbios text, dux Mummolenus and dux
Buccelenus 88, appear prominently in Gregorys work : Buccelenus in Gregorys Decem libri historiarum 89 ; Mummolenus as dux Mummolus in
Gregorys Liber in gloria martyrum 90.
In another episode Jonas tells how a certain Segonus visits Johns monastery. The story of Segonus is most likely based on a chapter of Gregorys
Liber vitae patrum on Sequanus, an abbot in the diocese of Langres 91. The
early Carolingian Vita Sequani combines Jonas story and Gregorys chapter
of his Liber in gloria confessorum 92. The great plague of 543 that played a
role in another healing miracle is mentioned several times in Gregorys Liber
vitae patrum and in his Decem libri historiarum 93. Finally, another Mummolenus, the second successor of John of Rme as abbot and later bishop of
Langres also appears in Gregorys Decem libri 94.
In two cases Jonas may have received his information from a source not
written by Gregory of Tours. Nicasius, a civil servant possessed by a demon,
and Sylvester, the abbot succeeding John of Rme, are mentioned in the
Vita Germani of Venantius Fortunatus 95.
84. Ibid., III, ch. 15, MGH, SRM, 1.1, p. 112 ; III, ch. 19, p. 120 ; V, ch. 5, p. 202. See also
Liber in gloria martyrum, ch. 50, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM, 1.2, pp. 522-523.
85. Gregory of Tours, Liber vitae patrum VII, MGH, SRM, 1.2, pp. 686-690.
86. Gregory mentions only one previous bishop of Langres in his Decem libri historiarum II,
ch. 23, MGH, SRM, 1.1, p. 68, but not in a very favourable situation : Aprunculus barely escaped
an attempt on his life.
87. Ibid., III, ch. 32, MGH, SRM, 1.1, p. 128.
88. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 15, pp. 387-388.
89. See Gregory of Tours, Decem libri historiarum III, ch. 32, MGH, SRM, 1.1, p. 128 ; IV,
ch. 9, p. 140. He is also mentioned in Gregory I, Dialogi I, ch. 2.4, ed. Paul Antin and Adalbert
de Vog, Paris, 1979 (SC, 260), p. 26.
90. Gregory of Tours, Liber in gloria martyrum, ch. 30, MGH, SRM, 1.2, pp. 506-507. See
B. Krusch, Zwei Heiligenleben, art. cit., pp. 395-397 for other sources on Theudeberts war in
Italy.
91. Gregory of Tours, Liber in gloria confessorum, ch. 86, MGH, SRM, 1.2, p. 804. See also
M. Diesenberger, Bausteine der Erinnerung, art. cit., pp. 56-57 ; I. Wood, A prelude, art.
cit., p. 13. The Carolingian versions of the Vita Iohannis call the visitor Sequanus. See Jonas,
Vita Iohannis II, ch. 1.8, AASS, January, 2, p. 861.
92. Vita Sequani, ch. 5, ed. Johannes Cleo, AASS, September, 6, Antwerp, 1757, pp. 37-38.
See M. Diesenberger, Bausteine der Erinnerung, art. cit., pp. 54-57, for more parallels
between the Vita Iohannis and the Vita Sequani.
93. Gregory of Tours, Liber vitae patrum VI, ch. 6, MGH, SRM, 1.2, p. 684 ; IX, ch. 2,
pp. 703-704. Decem libri historiarum IV, ch. 5, p. 144.
94. Ibid., V, ch. 5, MGH, SRM, 1.1, p. 202.
95. Venantius Fortunatus, Vita Germani, ch. 32-33 and ch. 35, ed. B. Krusch, Berlin, 1885
(MGH, AA, 4.2), pp. 18-19. See also B. Krusch, Zwei Heiligenleben, art. cit., p. 398. Sylvester

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

21

There is only one major event that was not directly inspired by the work of
Gregory of Tours : Johns escape from his monastery, his stay in Lrins and
his forced return to his function as abbot. To tell this story Jonas of Bobbio
did not need Gregory at all, even though Gregory provided stories of abbots
leaving their community 96. In his Vita Columbani Jonas depicts monastic
history in Gaul as being divided into two periods : the period when Lrins was
the unquestioned centre of the monastic world of Gaul the place to be and
especially the place to learn about the regula, and the period when Lrins fell
into decline and Luxeuil took over this function, becoming the new centre of
monastic learning and inspiration. Jonas impressively describes this transition by telling how Athala, one of Columbanus successors, first went to
Lrins and, after quite a disappointing experience, found his true place of
monastic education in Luxeuil 97.
In hagiographic texts related to saints of the fifth and sixth century we find
numerous examples of monks who went to Honoratus and his foundation
Lrins on pilgrimage or for education and training 98. For the seventh century
we find as many examples for monks receiving training at Luxeuil 99. If Jonas
of Bobbio wanted to tell a story of an exemplary holy monk living before
Columbanus arrival who tried to obtain necessary monastic knowledge and
to learn about the regula, there was hardly any alternative for sending him to
Lrins 100.
The story of John living there undercover in order to practice humility was
most likely just a variation of a similar episode from the Institutiones of John
Cassian ( 435). Here the famous and well respected abbot Pinufius secretly
left his monastery in order to become the lowest novice at Pachomius
foundation Tabenesi. After having lived there for a long time, he was detected
was also mentioned in a forged charter for Rme, ascribed to Clothar I (dated 516), MGH, Die
Urkunden der Merowinger, 1, no. 15, pp. 47-49. The falsifier may have got his information from
the Vita Iohannis.
96. In Decem libri historiarum VII, ch. 1, MGH, SRM, 1.1, pp. 323-325 Gregory tells the
story of abbot Salvius who also left his community in order to live as a hermit. He did this with
the consent of the community and not in a conflicted setting. See also Liber vitae patrum XV,
ch. 1, MGH, SRM, 1.2, p. 721 ; Liber in gloria confessorum, ch. 22, p. 761.
97. Jonas, Vita Columbani II, ch. 1, pp. 230-231.
98. See for example Vita Agricoli, ch. 1.2-3 (list of bishops from Lrins), ed. Johannes
Stilting, AASS, September, 1, Antwerp, 1746, p. 450C-D ; Vita Aigulphi, ch. 7, ed. Jean
Mabillon, AASSOSB, 2, Macon, 19362, p. 658 ; Ennodius, Vita Antonii, vv. 36-42, ed. Friedrich Vogel, Berlin, 1885 (MGH, AA, 7), pp. 189-190 ; Vita Arnulfi, ch. 6, ed. B. Krusch,
MGH, SRM, 2, pp. 433-434 ; Vita Caesarii I, ch. 5, ed. B. Krusch, Hanover-Leipzig, 1896
(MGH, SRM, 3), p. 459 ; Ennodius, Vita Epiphani, v. 93, ed. F. Vogel, MGH, AA, 7, p. 95 ;
Vita Hilarii II, ch. 7, ed. Samuel Cavallin, Paris, 1995 (SC, 404), p. 86 ; Ps. Venantius
Fortunatus, Vita Leobini, ch. 4, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, AA, 4.2, p. 74 ; Vita Lupi episcopi
Trecensis, ch. 2, ed. B. Krusch, Hanover-Leipzig, 1920 (MGH, SRM, 7), p. 296 ; Dynamius, Vita
Maximi, ch. 3, PL, t. 80, col. 34C-D ; Vita patrum Iurensium, ch. 174, SC, 142, pp. 426-428 ;
ch. 179, p. 432-434 ; Vita Theudarii, ch. 2, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM, 3, p. 526.
99. See for example Vita Agili, ch. 2.5 ; ch. 5.24, AASS, August, 6, pp. 577 and 584 ; Adson,
Vita et miracula Bercharii, ch. 4-6, AASOSB, 2, pp. 833-834 ; Vita Balthildis, ch. 7, ed.
B. Krusch, MGH, SRM, 2, p. 491 ; Vita Filiberti, ch. 2, MGH, SRM, 5, p. 585 ; Vita Walarici,
ch. 7 ; ch. 14, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM, 4, pp. 163 and 165-166 ; Columbanus, Ep. 4, ch. 2,
ed. G. S. M. Walker, Columbani Opera, Dublin, 1970, p. 26.
100. See also I. Wood, A prelude, art. cit., p. 5.

a. diem

22

and forced against his will to return to his abbatial duties against his will 101.
Jonas replaced Tabenesi by Lrins implicitly giving both monasteries the
same status and added the aspect of episcopal interference.
As a preliminary conclusion, we can state that Jonas of Bobbios Vita
Iohannis cannot be used as a historically accurate report of events, but rather
as an example of applying available historical knowledge for giving a predominantly constructed narrative some historical background. The text, written more than two centuries after the events, can hardly be read as source on
Lrins, and is probably not a highly reliable source on the historical founder
of Rme, but it certainly shows how a seventh-century hagiographer made
use of the work of Gregory of Tours and other hagiographic traditions.
Both Saint John of Rme and the world in which he lived are the product
of a careful construction that presumably was more determined by what
Jonas of Bobbio wanted to tell the monks of Rme than by what they told
him 102. As such, John of Rme belongs to the group of artificial saints. He
is comparable to, for example, Saint Sequanus, the invented founder of the
monastery Sequanum (which was built on the ruins of a shrine of the Seine
goddess Sequana) 103, or Pacomius in the wonderful sixth century Latin Vita
Pacomii, a monk constructed on the basis of numerous patristic and hagiographic works in order to deliver a fictionally oral theological treatise on pure
speech 104. There are probably numerous non-historical saints hardly known
to historical research hidden in the Acta Sanctorum, since Bruno Krusch
regarded their lives of no value and refused to give them a place in the
Scriptores Rerum Merovingicarum. As a constructed saints life of a monastic founder in Gaul in the fifth and sixth centuries written by a hagiographer
who formulated the programmatic basis of the Columbanian monastic movement in his Vita Columbani 105, the Vita Iohannis can certainly do more
than just provide reference to names, places and events.
3. John of Rme : the new Anthony
Just as Jonas of Bobbio used Gregory of Tours works for providing Johns
life with a historical background, he used one of the most important programmatic monastic texts for making his saint a saint : the Vita Antonii,
written by Athanasius ( 373) and spread in the West in a Latin translation of
Evagrius of Antioch ( 392/393) 106. In his Vita Columbani, Jonas of
101. Cassian, Institutiones IV, ch. 30.2-6, ed. Jean-Claude Guy, Paris, 20012 (SC, 109),
pp. 164-168. The Carolingian revision of the Vita Iohannis I, ch. 1.9, AASS, January, 2, p. 858
explicitly refers to Cassian and the episode on Pinuphius. See also F. Stber, Zur Kritik, art.
cit., p. 333. See also Gregory I, Dialogi I, ch. 1.6, SC, 260, p. 22.
102. On hagiography as construction, see also L. Coon, Sacred Fictions, op. cit., pp. 1-27.
103. Vita Sequani, in AASS, September, 6, pp. 36-41. See M. Diesenberger, Bausteine der
Erinnerung, art. cit., pp. 52-63.
104. Vita Pacomii (BHL 6411-6412). Study and edition in A. Diem and H. Mller, Vita,
Regula, Sermo, art. cit., forthcoming.
105. See A. Diem, Was bedeutet Regula Columbani ?, art. cit.
106. The currently most accessible edition of Athanasius Latin translation of the Vita
Antonii in PL, t. 73, cols. 125-169 has a chapter division different from the editions of the Greek

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

23

Bobbio listed Athanasius work as one of his sources of inspiration and

Anthony probably served as model for depicting Columbanus as a vir Dei in
the tradition of the desert fathers 107. John of Rmes life does not only
generally follow the line of the monastic fathers 108, he is depicted as similar
to Anthony in so many respects that we can conclude that Jonas intended to
present his readers with a new Anthony transposed into a Gallic setting 109.
Both the Vita Iohannis and the Vita Antonii start with a description of
how the text was commissioned and written on the basis of oral sources. Both
prologues continue with a general deliberation on the exemplary value of
saints lives as models and moral exhortations for the faithful 110. Both saints
were sons of good Christian parents and decided to leave their families in
order to live an ascetic life at the age of about twenty 111. So far, these
similarities could be explained by hagiographic conventions. In both cases,
however, their conversion to a solitary life was based on a series of biblical
words they accidentally heard while attending Mass 112. Anthony based his
conversion on Mt 4.20, Act 4.34-35, Col 1.5 and especially Mt 19.21 113. For
John of Rme, the decisive biblical words came from Mc 1.20 and especially
Lc 1.80 114.
At first glance it seems to be obvious why Jonas based Johns monastic
conversion on two biblical phrases related to the two Johns of the New
Testament, but there is probably more going on. As much as Si vis perfectus
esse... forms a announcement of Anthonys continuous quest for perfection
text, ed. G. J. M. Bartelink, Paris, 1994 (SC, 400) and most available translations. The Greek
chapter division is given in brackets. Pascal Bertrand (University of Utrecht) is currently
preparing a new edition of the Evagrius translation of the Vita Antonii.
107. See A. Diem, Monks, kings and the transformation of sanctity, art. cit., p. 522.
108. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 2, p. 330 : Abiectoque eo procul a loco, ibique quantisper
moratus, cenobii locum construxit et sanctorum patrum exemplo sub regule tenore, quam
custodiendo proficerent, subiectam plebem constitutit et, ut precedencium monachorum studia
imitando prosequerentur et celestis antidoti pocula prebendo, quo peccatorum sanies pelleretur,
omni nisu adortatus est. See also praefatio, p. 326 ; ch. 3, p. 330 ; ch. 8, p. 333 : more adletarum
antiquorum ; ch. 18, p. 341. This aspect is even more emphasized in the revised Carolingian
versions. See F. Stber, Zur Kritik, art. cit., p. 339. The expression more adletarum antiquorum may be inspired by Gregory of Tours, Liber vitae patrum XIII, praefatio, MGH, SRM,
1.2, p. 715.
109. Jonas of Bobbio would not have been the first hagiographer using the Vita Antonii in
this way. Especially the Vita patrum Iurensium is full of motifs from the Vita Antonii. See e.g.
Vita patrum Iurensium, ch. 4, SC, 142, p. 242 ; ch. 10, pp. 248-250 ; ch. 12, p. 252 ; ch. 53-58,
pp. 296-302 ; ch. 60, p. 304 ; ch. 63, p. 310.
110. Vita Antonii, dedicatory letter, PL, t. 73, col. 126C-D ; Jonas, Vita Iohannis,
Prologus/Praefatio, pp. 326-327.
111. Vita Antonii, ch. 1-2, col. 127A-C ; Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 1-2, pp. 329-330.
112. This motif is also used in the Columbanian Vita Germani Grandivallensis, ch. 2, MGH,
SRM, 5, p. 34. Here the biblical words come from I Cor 7.31 and Mt 19.23.
113. Vita Antonii, ch. 2, col. 127B-C.
114. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 2, p. 329 : Itaque cum quadam die ad basilicam missarum
solempnia auditurus pergeret, erat enim beati Iohannis Baptiste veneranda sollempnitas,
audita euvangelica lectione et deducta serie, finem eius desiderii igne penetrans, quo ait : Puer
autem crescebat et confortabatur in spiritu et erat in deserto usque ad diem ostensionis sue ad
Israel (Lc 1.80), ac deinceps cum alia vice audisset, quod beatus Iohannes euvangelista
reliquisset patrem Zebedeum cum navi et absque ulla ambiguitate Christum secutus fuisset
(cf. Mc 1.20)...

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a. diem

by means of a radical break with the world, the quotation from Lc 1.80 can be
understood as a announcement of the tension between separation and reintegration that determined the monastic life of John of Rme. Mt 19.21 and
Lc 1.80 can be read as keys of a programmatic shift from a monastic concept
based on giving up secular ties and possessions to a concept of monastic
communities deeply integrated into the Christian community. Therefore,
despite similar beginnings, the lives of John and Anthony developed rather
differently. Instead of seeking perfection by means of a constant withdrawal
from an increasingly demanding world, as Anthony did, John of Rme
eventually became head of a monastic community that was both separated
from the world and integrated into social contexts.
Yet despite these different choices, both lives have more parallels. Both
saints start their ascetic career by visiting other ascetics in order to
profit from their wisdom and to exercise humility and obedience. Both
subsequently transmit their achieved knowledge to other monks 115. Both
settle at a place with a font that has to be cleansed from one or more
serpents 116. Both keep their young face and appearance in spite of (or rather
because of) their ascetic lifestyle. They especially keep excellent eyesight,
perfect teeth and bodily strength until their very old age 117. Both withdraw
from their communities in order to live a solitary life and visit
their monks only occasionally 118. Both enjoy the reverence and the
respect of secular rulers 119. Anthony is almost 105 years old when he dies ;
John even reaches 120 years, the age of Moses 120. Finally, both saints
themselves determine where they want to be buried. Their decisions form a
statement congruent to their conversion. Anthony wants to be buried in the
wilderness at an unknown place, John not far away from the monastic
building (coenobium), within the boundaries of the monastery (monaste115. Vita Antonii, ch. 3 (3-4), PL, t. 73, cols. 128A-129B ; Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 3-5,
pp. 330-332. Almost half of the Vita Antonii consists of the sermons given to his monks ; Jonas
Vita Iohannis, contains a summary of Johns teaching in ch. 18, pp. 340-342.
116. Vita Antonii, ch. 11 (12), col. 133C ; Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 2, p. 330. See also Vita
patrum Iurensium, ch. 57-58, SC, 142, pp. 300-302.
117. Vita Antonii, ch. 60 (93), col. 168A-B. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 19, p. 342 is more
detailed. Non only eyes, teeth and memory remained perfect until Johns death, he also was never
afflicted with the misery of old age. Gregory of Tours uses this motif in Decem libri historiarum
V, ch. 10, MGH, SRM, 1.1, pp. 204-205.
118. Vita Antonii, ch. 28 (54), PL, t. 73, cols. 150D-151B ; Vita Iohannis, ch. 8, pp. 332334. Jonas tells the same about Columbanus in Vita Columbani I, ch. 4, pp. 158-160 ; ch. 8-9,
pp. 166-169 ; ch. 15, pp. 177-178 ; ch. 17, pp. 181-182 ; ch. 27, pp. 216-217. See also Gregory
of Tours, Decem libri historiarum VII, ch. 1, MGH, SRM, 1.1, p. 323-325 on abbot Salvius.
119. Vita Antonii, ch. 50 (81), col. 162A-C ; Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 18, p. 340. See also
Vita Columbani I, ch. 18, pp. 186-187.
120. Vita Antonii, ch. 56 (89), col. 165D ; Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 19, p. 342. There is one
other desert father outstripping Antony. Jerome gave his hermit Paul 113 years. See Jerome,
Vita Pauli, ch. 7, PL, t. 23, col. 22A. To my knowledge there are no early medieval saints
described as having reached such an exceptional age. Gregory of Tours gives several somewhat
more realistic examples of holy bishops reaching their eighties and nineties in Liber vitae
patrum XII, ch. 3, MGH, SRM, 1.2, p. 713 ; XIV, ch. 4, p. 720 ; Liber in gloria confessorum,
ch. 78, pp. 794-795 ; ch. 84, p. 802 ; Decem libri historiarum V, ch. 45, MGH, SRM, 1.1, p. 256.
Giving John such a long life could have had a triple function : he was older than Anthony, as old
as Moses (Dt 34.5-7) and lived long enough to make all the anachronisms in the text somewhat
less obvious.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

25

rium) 121. Both saints abstain from post mortem-miracles 122 and most of
the miracles performed during their lifetime were healings or exorcisms 123
and visionary miracles 124.
Three central themes of the Vita Antonii were omitted by Jonas
altogether : Anthonys struggle with demons, his teachings on demons
and his battles against heathens and heretics. By omitting the theme of
demon fights and temptations and reducing demons to easy targets and
victims of the saints exorcisms 125, Jonas follows a general trend in Merovingian hagiography. As impressive as Athanasius Anthony may have been,
Merovingians were not interested in saints who had to fight demonic
temptations 126.
Anthony serves as an important model for the construction of John of
Rme, but Jonas certainly used other texts on the monastic fathers as well.
For example, Johns refusal to speak to his mother, allowing her to see him
only once from afar, was probably inspired by Dionysius Exiguus Vita
Pachomii 127, the Vita Simeonis 128 or John Cassians Institutiones 129.
Moreover, the parallels between John of Rme and Anthony do not imply
that Jonas designed his saint as a simple copy of the first hermit. John is
depicted as similar in many ways and certainly as venerable as the desert
fathers, but he still represents a monastic ideal that is distinctly different
from the one of the sancti patres, as I will show in the next sections. By
adapting the ancient models of Anthony and the desert fathers Jonas of
Bobbio stands in the tradition of Sulpicius Severus 130, the author of the Vita
patrum Iurensium 131 and Gregory the Great 132, who extensively referred to
the desert father tradition to show that their own monastic world shared all
the good qualities with the old monastic world, but explaining at the same
time why the new monastic heroes lived differently in many respects.
121. Vita Antonii, ch. 59 (92), cols. 167D-168A ; Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 19, p. 342 :
Sepultusque est aut procul a cenobio infra terminos monasterii, loco quem ipse predixerat. For
Jonas, the expressions coenobium and monasterium clearly define two different spaces.
122. At least in the first version of the Vita Iohannis ; the Carolingian revision comprises
numerous post mortem-miracles, see AASS, January, 2, pp. 863-868.
123. Vita Antonii, ch. 24 (48), PL, t. 73, cols. 147D-148D ; ch. 29-30 (57-58), col. 152A-D ;
ch. 33 (61), col. 154A-B ; ch. 35-36 (63-64), cols. 154C-155A ; ch. 43 (71), cols. 157D-158A ;
Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 10-11 ; ch. 15, pp. 335-337.
124. Vita Antonii, ch. 31-32 (59-60), cols. 152D-154A ; ch. 34 (62), col. 154 B-C ; ch. 37-39
(65-66), cols. 155A-156C ; Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 14, p. 337.
125. Ibid., ch. 11-12, pp. 335-336.
126. See Albrecht Diem, Encounters between monks and demons, in Miracles and the
Miraculous in Medieval Latin and Germanic Literature, Tette Hofstra and Karin Olsen eds.,
Groningen, 2005 (Germania Latina, 5), pp. 51-67.
127. Dionysius Exiguus, Vita Pachomii, ch. 31, ed. H. van Cranenburgh, La Vie Latine de
saint Pachme, Brussels, 1969, pp. 158-160.
128. Vita Simeonis stylitae, ch. 9, PL, t. 73, col. 329B-D. The chapter on Simeon in Gregory of Tours, Liber in gloria confessorum, ch. 26, MGH, SRM, 1.2, p. 764 does not mention
his mother.
129. Cassian, Institutiones VI, ch. 13, SC, 109, pp. 276-278.
130. See e.g. Sulpicius Severus, Dialogi I, ch. 2, ed. Jacques Fontaine and Nicole Dupr,
Paris, 2006 (SC, 510), pp. 106-110.
131. See e.g. Vita patrum Iurensium, ch. 174, SC, 142, pp. 426-428.
132. See e.g. Gregory I, Dialogi, prologus 6, SC, 260, p. 14.

a. diem

26
4. A Columbanian monk avant la lettre

Jonas wanted to give his readers the impression of the vir Dei John of
Rme as a new Anthony placed in a setting of a fifth-century Gaul. But this
is not the end of the story and probably not the story Jonas of Bobbio wanted
to tell. His third and by far most important source for the construction of his
saint was Columbanian monasticism as it was masterly depicted in his own
Vita Columbani but also in quite a diverse corpus of monastic rules, charters
and other hagiographic works 133. Jonas of Bobbios new Anthony is, as it will
be shown in this section, a saint sharing numerous habits with the vir Dei
Columbanus ; his monastic world reflects the same monastic ideals as Columbanian monasticism. In this way Jonas of Bobbio could convince his readers
that these ideals were in fact not new and not introduced by the Irish monks
but had thrived in Gaul before they had fallen into decay 134.
In order to stress parallels between the (constructed) monastic world of
John and the Columbanian world, Jonas of Bobbio uses for his Vita Iohannis
a set of terminology that appears partly exclusively, partly predominantly in
texts related to Columbanian monasticism. Some of these expressions, such
as tenor regule 135, septa monasterii 136 and septa coenubii 137 have a programmatic function, expressing the Columbanian attitude toward the role of
the regula and notions of the separated monastic space 138. Besides these
expressions the text contains numerous other terms that appear in both texts
but rarely elsewhere, such as anxio corde/cordis 139, ardor mentis 140, arrepto
133. Although his interpretations are sometimes doubtful, the best overview of the sources
on Columbanian or Iro-Frankish monasticism is still F. Prinz, Frhes Mnchtum, op. cit.,
pp. 121-185. See also M. Dunn, The Emergence of Monasticism, op. cit., pp. 158-190 ; Grard
Moyse, Les origines du monachisme dans le diocse de Besanon (ve-xe sicles), Bibliothque
de lcole des chartes, t. 131, 1973, pp. 21-104 and 369-485 ; I. Wood, Jonas, the Merovingians, art. cit. ; A. Diem, Monks, kings and the transformation of sanctity, art. cit. For
parallels between Vita Iohannis and Vita Columbani, see also F. Stber, Zur Kritik, art. cit.,
pp. 361-378.
134. Jonas, Vita Columbani I, ch. 5, p. 161 : A Brittanicis ergo sinibus progressi, ad Gallias
tendunt, ubi tunc vel ob frequentia hostium externorum vel neglegentia praesulum religionis virtus pene abolita habebatur. Fides tantum manebat christiana, nam penitentiae
medicamenta et mortificationis amor vix vel paucis in ea repperiebatur locis. See also II, ch. 1,
p. 230.
135. See p. 11.
136. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 3, p. 331 ; Vita Columbani I, ch. 20, p. 194 ; II, ch. 5, p. 237 ;
II, ch. 17, p. 268 ; II, ch. 19, p. 272 and in numerous other Columbanian saints lives and rules.
137. Vita Iohannis, ch. 4, p. 331 ; ch. 17, p. 340 ; Vita Columbani I, ch. 10, p. 170 ; II,
ch. 13, p. 262 ; privilege for Rebais (636), ed. J. M. Pardessus, 2, op. cit, no. 275, pp. 39-41 ;
privilege for Soissons (667), ibid., no. 355, pp. 138-141 ; privilege for St. Di (before 678),
no. 360, ibid., pp. 147-148.
138. See also A. Diem, Was bedeutet Regula Columbani ?, art. cit. ; Barbara Rosenwein,
Negotiating Space : Power, Restraint, and Privileges of Immunity in Early Medieval Europe,
Ithaca, NY, 1999, pp. 66-73.
139. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 2, p. 329 ; ch. 3, p. 330 ; ch. 4, p. 331 ; ch. 16, p. 339 ; Vita
Columbani I, ch. 7, p. 164 ; I, ch. 13, p. 173.
140. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 2, p. 329 ; ch. 16, p. 339 ; Regula magistri, ch. 15.10, SC,
106, p. 64 ; Columbanus, Regula coenobialis, ch. 15, ed. G. S. M. Walker, op. cit., p. 166 ;
Walahfrid Strabo, Vita Galli I (833-834), ch. 2, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM, 4, p. 286.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

27

itinere 141, cultus religionis 142, damnum inferre 143, damnum negligentiae 144, evangelici praeconii 145, fessa membra 146, infra/extra terminos
monasterii 147, mentem polluere 148, orationem pulsare 149, oratione lectioneque incumbere 150, pavimento prostratus 151, peccatorum maculates 152,
peracta oratione 153, signo tacto 154, sines ecclesiae 155, sospitatem recipere 156, stimulo elationis 157, tumido cordis 158, and vestigia magistri 159.
These expressions make the world assigned to John of Rme at least
semantically part of the Columbanian monastic world ; Jonas technique,
however, of projecting Columbanian monastic ideals back into a preColumbanian past goes further than using new words for describing an
old world. His main narrative technique consists of creating variations on
well known and easily recognizable themes if not from the Vita Antonii or
141. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch 6, p. 332 ; Vita Columbani I, ch. 4, p. 160 ; I, ch. 25, p. 208 ;
II, ch. 7, p. 241 ; Passio Praeiecti, ch. 20, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM, 5, p. 237.
142. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 1, pp. 328-329 ; ch. 2, p. 329 ; Vita Columbani I, ch. 5,
p. 162 ; I, ch. 10, p. 169 ; II, ch. 11, p. 259 ; II, ch. 12, p. 259 ; II, ch. 23, pp. 280, 282 ; Regula
cuiusdam ad virgines, ch. 1.9, cf. CCCM, 168A, ch. 5.24, pp. 85-86.
143. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 7, p. 333 ; Vita Columbani II, ch. 25, p. 292 ; Walahfrid
Strabo, Vita Galli II, ch. 19-20, MGH, SRM, 4, p. 326 ; Vita et Passio Haimhrammi, ch. 27,
ed. B. Krusch, ibid., p. 500 ; ch. 41, p. 518 ; Vita Balthildis, ch. 6, MGH, SRM, 2, p. 488.
144. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 7, p. 333 ; Vita Columbani II, ch. 17, p. 268 ; Regula
cuiusdam ad virgines, ch. 4.16 ; ch. 14.4, cf. CCCM, 168A, ch. 40.11, p. 340.
145. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 13, p. 336 ; Vita Columbani I, ch. 6, p. 163.
146. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 16, p. 339 ; ch. 20, p. 343 ; Vita Columbani I, ch. 12, p. 172 ;
I, ch. 21, p. 198 ; I, ch. 22, p. 204 ; II, ch. 25, p. 292.
147. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 19, p. 342 ; Vita Columbani I, ch. 19, p. 188 ; Vita Menelei,
ch. 11, ed. W. Levison, MGH, SRM, 5, p. 154.
148. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 16, p. 339 ; Vita Columbani, dedicatory letter, p. 147.
149. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch 7, p. 333 ; ch. 9, p. 334 ; ch. 14, p. 337 ; Vita Columbani II,
ch. 9, p. 251.
150. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 7, p. 333 ; Vita Columbani II, ch. 9, p. 251 ; Caesarius of
Arles, Ep. Vereor, ch. 7, ed. A. de Vog and J. Courreau, SC, 345, p. 320 ; Regula Isidori,
ch. 5.6, ed. J. Campos Ruiz, op. cit., p. 99 (PL, t. 83, col. 875A) ; Regula magistri, ch. 3.61-62,
SC, 105, p. 370 ; Regula Benedicti, ch. 4.55-56, SC, 181, p. 460 ; Regula Donati, ch. 3.55-56,
ed. cit., pp. 246.
151. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 9, p. 334 ; Vita Columbani I, ch. 3, p. 235 ; Vita Audoini,
ch. 10, ed. W. Levison, MGH, SRM, 5, p. 560 ; Vita Anstrudis, ch. 7, ed. Id., Hanover-Leipzig,
1913 (MGH, SRM, 6), p. 69.
152. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 16, p. 339 ; Regula cuiusdam ad virgines, ch. 5.11, PL, t. 88,
col. 1058C, new ed. in preparation.
153. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 2, p. 330 ; ch. 7, p. 333 ; ch. 13, p. 337 ; Regula cuiusdam ad
virgines, ch. 6.23, cf. CCCM, 148A, ch. 15.9, p. 154 ; Vita Walarici, ch. 17, MGH, SRM, 4, p. 167.
154. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 14, p. 337 ; ch. 16, p. 339 ; Vita Columbani I, ch. 17, p. 184 ;
Audoin, Vita Eligii II, ch. 21, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM, 4, p. 713 ; Vita Ansberti (s. viiiex),
ch. 6, ed. Levison, MGH, SRM, 5, p. 623 ; Vita Bertilae, ch. 3, ed. Id., MGH, SRM, 6, p. 103 ;
Caesarius of Arles, Regula ad virgines, ch. 12, SC, 345, p. 188 ; Id., Regula ad monachos,
ch. 11, ed. Adalbert de Vog and Jol Courreau, Paris, 1994 (SC, 398), p. 210 ; Regula
cuiusdam ad virgines, ch. 10.14, cf. CCCM, 168A, ch. 48.10, p. 416 ; Regula Donati, ch. 14.1,
ed. cit., p. 259 ; Venantius Fortunatus, Vita Radegundis, ch. 37, MGH, SRM, 2, p. 376.
155. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 16, p. 338 ; Vita Columbani I, ch. 27, p. 213 ; II, ch. 7, p. 243.
156. Vita Iohannis, ch. 15, p. 338 ; ch. 17, p. 340 ; Vita Columbani II, ch. 23, p. 285.
157. Vita Iohannis, ch. 16, p. 339 ; Vita Columbani II, ch. 16, p. 267.
158. Vita Iohannis, ch. 9, p. 335 ; ch. 16, p. 339 ; Audoin, Vita Eligii II, ch. 6, MGH, SRM,
4, p. 697 ; Vita Sadalbergae, ch. 15, MGH, SRM, 5, p. 58.
159. Vita Iohannis, ch. 19, p. 342 ; Vita Columbani I, ch. 30, p. 223 ; II, ch. 1, p. 230.

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a. diem

from Gregory, then usually appearing in his own Vita Columbani 160. Quite
often the clue, the message to be understood, or if one wants to say so, the
regula, is hidden in the variation rather than in the theme itself.
One example for this narrative technique has already been given. John
underwent the same conversion on the basis of a biblical phrase he heard in
church as did Anthony. Johns conversion is based on a biblical quotation
implying that living an ascetic life does not mean a permanent separation but
also includes the aspect of integration. This can be read as a reference to one
of the central new ideals of Columbanian monasticism : a combination of
strict separation and the respected inaccessibility of monastic space on the
one hand and a profound integration in secular and ecclesiastical structures
of power on the other. Consequently this theme comes back at several other
places in the Vita Iohannis (ch. 9, 14, 17, discussed below).
A similar technique is applied in the episode of Johns stay at Lrins and
forced return to Rme, which is a combination and variation of well known
themes, again with some significant extra-messages : the motif of Lrins as a
place of monastic training and learning is combined with the topos of a
monk escaping fame and the crowd, preferring asceticism to leadership, as it
was developed in several places in the Vita Antonii 161 but especially in the
Pinufius-Episode in Cassians Institutiones 162.
Lrins receives in this episode a status similar to Tabenesi, but Jonas
combines this with a statement on the responsibilities of the abbot. It is quite
possible that at this point he got his inspiration from the Regula Benedicti or
the Regula magistri. Almost every monastic rule emphasizes in a general
way the responsibility of the abbot or abbess. These two rules, however, state
just as the Vita Iohannis that the abbot has to give account at the last
judgement for the salvation or damnation of those subordinate to him 163. A
connection between Regula Benedicti and Vita Iohannis is certainly possible, since it was during Jonas lifetime that the Regula Benedicti left its first
160. The following analysis of episodes from the Vita Iohannis is almost exhaustive. For
reasons of space two chapters were omitted even though they would have provided more
supportive arguments : ch. 6, pp. 332-333 on Johns refusal to see his mother, and ch. 8,
pp. 333-334 on John meeting a poor person while living in the wilderness as a hermit.
161. Vita Antonii, ch. 7 (8), PL, t. 73, col. 131B-C ; ch. 10 (11), col. 133 A-B ; ch. 22 (45),
cols. 146C-147A ; ch. 23-25 (47-51), cols. 147B-149D.
162. See pp. 21-22.
163. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 4, pp. 331-332 : ... nam damno communi particeps forent,
[...] iudicium omnipotentis Dei de damno omisse hac derelicte plebes recipere metuerit. [...]
neclectam plebis curam, denuo caelestia preconia administrare, ne iudicium damnationis de
omisione tantarum animarum adquireret, qui propriam perpotire cupiebat salutem... ; ch. 5,
p. 332 : studuit denuo salubria pocula sub regulare tenore, quam beatus Macharius indedit,
monachis ministrare adque aeducatam in melius plebem ad caelestia gaudia provocare...
Regula Benedicti, ch. 2.6, SC, 181, p. 442 : Memor semper abbas quia doctrinae suae vel
discipulorum oboedientiae, utrarumque rerum, in tremendo iudicio Dei facienda erit discussio.
Sciatque abbas culpae pastoris incumbere quidquid in ovibus paterfamilias utilitatis minus
potuerit invenire... ; ch. 2.37, p. 450 : Sciatque quia qui suscipit animas regendas paret se ad
rationem reddendam, et quantum sub cura sua fratrum se habere scierit numerum, agnoscat pro
certo quia in die iudicii ipsarum omnium animarum est redditurus Domino rationem, sine
dubio addita et suae animae. See also Regula magistri, ch. 2.6-15, SC, 105, pp. 352-354 ;
ch. 7.53-56, p. 392.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

29

traces within the Frankish world and, more specifically, within Columbanian
monasticism 164.
The following episode of the Vita Iohannis further elaborates on the
theme of leadership, showing that the leading role of a vir Dei has, at least
partly, a symbolic character. After his forced return, John appointed a
representative, who had to take care of everyday monastic life 165. This
representative may be identified with the senior mentioned on two occasions
in Jonas text (ch. 7, 16). John himself spent, like Columbanus, parts of his
life outside the community, living as a hermit. Jonas shows that both saints
did not need to be physically present in order to rule their monasteries 166
which is crucial to ensure the continuity of the community after their
death 167.
The central part of the Vita Iohannis consists of a series of edifying
stories and miracles, which cover the major part of the saints life. These
episodes have neither a clear chronological order nor do they form a coherent
narrative 168. Since they are limited in number, we can assume that Jonas of
Bobbio wanted to make his point by telling some well chosen exemplary
stories, rather than by proving the saints sanctity with an impressive number
of spectacular miracles, as happens in many other hagiographical texts and
especially in the works of Gregory of Tours. Therefore each episode appears
to be worth a closer analysis.
Chapter seven describes how the monks were clearing land in order to turn
it into farmland. Called by a senior they dropped their tools and immediately
returned to the monastery. Later they realized that someone had stolen their
164. The first witnesses for the use of the Regula Benedicti in the Frankish world are the two
Columbanian rules for nuns (Regula Donati and Regula cuiusdam ad virgines) and the first
episcopal privileges issued to Columbanian monastic foundations, especially the privilege for
Rebais (636), ed. J. M. Pardessus, op. cit., 2, no. 275, pp. 39-41.
165. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 5, p. 332 : ... adnitente sibi monacho Filomere nomine, omni
sanctitate et relegione deditum, cuius fultus auxilio, caelestem praeconium tam monachis
quam populo annuens absque delatione conferebat. Similar : Vita Columbani I, ch. 10, p. 170 :
Dedit gubernatores praepositus, de quorum religione nihil dubitabatur. His ergo in locis
monachorum plebes constitutas, ipse vicissim omnibus intererat regulamque, quam tenerent,
Spiritu sancto repletus condedit, in quam, qualis et quantae disciplinae vir sanctus fuerit,
prudens lector vel auditor agnoscit. See also Vita Columbani, dedicatory letter, p. 145 on
Columbanus successors : ... quorum primus Ebobiensis, secundum Luxoviensis coenobii, quo
vos presules existitis, eius successores fuerunt, qui magistri instituta suis plebibus servanda
tradiderunt. For other representatives, see Gregory of Tours, Liber vitae patrum XVIII, ch. 1,
MGH, SRM, 1.2, p. 734.
166. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 5, p. 332 ; ch. 8, pp. 333-334 ; ch. 19, p. 342 ; Vita Columbani
I, ch. 8, pp. 155-157 ; I, ch. 9, pp. 167-168 ; I, ch. 12, pp. 172-173 ; I, ch. 13, pp. 173-174 ; I,
ch. 17, pp. 181-186 ; I, ch. 27, pp. 216-217. See also Gregory of Tours, Liber vitae patrum IX,
ch. 3, MGH, SRM, 1.2, pp. 704-705 on saint Patroclus founding a monastery and living in its
neighbourhood as a hermit. On the motif of the absent saint, see A. Diem, Monks, kings and
the transformation of sanctity, art. cit., pp. 542-559.
167. This aspect plays a central role in the Vita Columbani, but it is also expressed in the Vita
Iohannis, esp. in the description of Johns successor Sylvester (ch. 19, p. 342) : Suffectusque est
in loco eius abbas Silvester nomine, quem ipse antea vivens fratrum cetui preesse preciperat ;
qui et religionis forma et regule tenore per vestigia magistri gradiens, longevo floruit tempore.
168. Both Carolingian revisions of the Vita Iohannis changed the order of the miracle
stories.

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a. diem

sickles an incident that could have been life threatening for a young
community dependent on the cultivation of land 169. John showed his anger
about the monks negligentia and urged them to pray. In his own prayer he
asked God why his monks had to suffer such damage. After the prayers he
returned to the fields and found the thief who repented and handed him back
the stolen sickles, even confirming his repentance with gifts to the monastery 170.
This story is a dense collation of motifs from Columbanian texts. The
topic of negligentia with regard to tools is elaborated in the Regula
coenobialis and in the Regula cuiusdam ad virgines171. The Regula
cuiusdam ad virgines also prescribes how manual work has to be interrupted promptly and without any hesitation when the nuns are called for
prayer 172. The Vita Columbani tells at several occasions how the monks were
engaged in rural work 173. The motif of negligence out of (an erroneous
understanding of) obedience appears in the Vita Columbani as well 174.
Finally the Vita Columbani also contains the theme of the caught and
repenting thief 175.
Yet Jonas of Bobbios story has some more dimensions. First Jonas repeats
on the level of the monastic community the tension between oboedientia
and negligentia that already played a central role in the episode on Johns
escape to Lrins 176 : a wrong notion of oboedientia may harm the community. More remarkable is that this first miracle of the entire saints life
(finding a repenting thief) was actually not caused by the saint himself but by
169. On monks cultivating land and on their tools, see Vita patrum Iurensium, ch. 23, SC,
142, pp. 262-264 ; ch. 79, pp. 324-326 ; ch. 90, p. 334 ; Gregory of Tours, Liber vitae patrum
I, ch. 2, MGH, SRM, 1.2, pp. 664-665. A similar sickle-miracle (but without the theme of
negligentia) can be found in Gregory I, Dialogi II, ch. 6, SC, 260, p. 156.
170. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 7, p. 333 : Eodem namque tempore fratrum coniventia ad
rura purganda, sentium frutecumque densitate amputanda processerat, quo ager cultui redditus uberius deferret fructus. Quo cum operis labore incumberent, mox a seniore vocati, relictis
oboediendo in opere securibus, ad coenobium remeant ; peracta oboediencia, modo ad agrum
cura laborandi redire procurant. Ablatis furto securibus reperiunt adque neglegentiae damnum
patri nuntianda properant. Cumque ille eorum neglegentiam aegre ferens, fratribus imperaret,
ut oratione lectioneque incumberent, ipse oratione innexus, Dominum pulsando deposcit, qur
hunc famulis suis patiatur damnum inferri. Moxque peracta oratione, ad agrum properat et
propere qui furti scelus patraverat venire conspicit : festinoque conamine ad vestigia beati viri
curruit, patrati sceleris reatum denuntiat reformandaque praede absque dilatione horam
pollicetur. Tum ille et veniam postulanti et eologias non abnuit tribuere confitenti.
171. Columbanus, Regula coenobialis, ch. 2-3, ed. G. S. M. Walker, op. cit., p. 146, ch. 15,
pp. 164-166 ; Regula cuiusdam ad virgines, ch. 16, cf. CCCM, 168A, ch. 36.3, pp. 310-311.
Neglegentia is a central theme in this rule. See ibid., ch. 2.15, 3.6, 3.22, 3.25, 4.14, 4.21, 5.11,
9.20, 12.23, 13.5, 15.9.
172. Ibid., ch. 8.1-3, cf. CCCM, 168A, ch. 52.34, p. 461.
173. For example Jonas, Vita Columbani I, ch. 15, p. 177 ; I, ch. 17, pp. 182-183.
174. Ibid., I, ch. 16, pp. 179-180 : A monk left open the tub of a barrel of beer, immediately
following the call of his senior. Miraculously no beer is spilled. Here as well Jonas uses
oboedientia and negligentia as key expressions.
175. Ibid., I, ch. 15, pp. 178-179 : In this case it is a raven who stole a glove of Columbanus.
Another repenting thief is mentioned in I, ch. 20, pp. 194-195.
176. Here as well, John was accused of negligentia. See ibid., ch. 4, p. 331 : quod si, opposita
dilatione, facere neclexit, iudicium omnipotentis Dei de damno omisse hac derelicte plebes
recipere metuerit, neclectam plebis curam...

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

31

the prayer of the entire community 177. The transfer of sanctity from the vir
Dei to the community and the monastic space is one of the main themes of
the first book of the Vita Columbani 178.
In the following episodes Jonas shows a similar hesitation to place John
alone in the centre of attention as a performer of miracles. His status as a
vir Dei is based rather on his authority, his exemplary lifestyle and his
teachings than on spectacular miraculous acts 179. Already during Johns
lifetime a part of the miracles told in the Vita are rather related to the
monastic space and to the community than to his own person (ch. 13, 14, 16,
17, see below).
Chapter nine deals with a theme similar to the most dramatic episode of
the Vita Columbani : the necessity of respecting the monastic boundaries.
In the Vita Columbani Jonas describes the conflict between the saint and
king Theuderic II, who wanted to enter the inner part of the monastery and
therefore received a dramatic punishment for his violation of the monastic
boundaries 180. In the Vita Iohannis, a man called Agrestius (certainly not by
chance the same name as the person who launched an uprising within the
Columbanian monasteries that challenged the liturgical practice of Columbanian monasteries) 181 visited the monastery in order to hear the Holy Mass.
He was allowed to enter the church but was asked to leave when the monks
performed Mass, since it was their habit (mos) to celebrate the Eucharist
undisturbed from the disturbance (tumultus) of the public. After Mass the
public was obviously allowed to return into the church to receive the Eucharist, but Agrestius, angry about this exclusion, refused to wait and went
home. The following night John appeared in Agrestius dreams severely
reprimanding his blasphemous behaviour and announcing that, because of
his refusal of the Eucharist, he would be denied it in future. The next
morning Agrestius returned to the monastery and asked the saint for forgiveness 182.
177. The same is the case in ibid., I, ch. 7, p. 164. Here Columbanus imposes prayer and
fasting on the community in order to heal both a sick fellow monk and a sick woman.
178. See also A. Diem, Monks, kings and the transformation of sanctity, art. cit. ; Id., Das
monastische Experiment, op. cit., pp. 310-312.
179. See e.g. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 8, pp. 333-334 ; ch. 9, pp. 334-335 ; ch. 10, p. 335 ;
ch. 16, p. 339. The same can be stated about Columbanus, who received the fame of sanctity in
first instance because of his lifestyle and not because of miracles. See e.g. Jonas, Vita Columbani I, ch. 5, p. 162.
180. Ibid., I, ch. 19-20, pp. 187-198. See A. Diem, Monks, kings and the transformation of
sanctity, art. cit., pp. 532-535 ; M. De Jong, Monastic prisoners, art. cit., pp. 307-312 (with
further references).
181. Jonas, Vita Columbani II, ch. 9, pp. 167-169.
182. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 9, pp. 334-335 : Quidam etenim vir Agrestius nomine ad
praefatum coenobium ad missarum solemnia audienda desiderio actus venerat, et pavimento
prostratus uberis fundens praeces communem Dominum oratione pulsabat. Tandem a pavimento elevatus, ad ore beati viri missarum solemnia audire cupiens expectabat. Cumque iam
hora adesset, vir Dei imperat, ut foris eclesia egressi omnes, locum quieti tribuant, qualiter
solita solemnia, ut eius mos erat, suis consodalibus perageret atque hostias Deo absque
populari tumultu offeret. At ille, mutu animo, foris progreditur nec subsistere ante fores neque
oblationum sacramenta patetur expectare. Tumido cordis intimo domum repedat, ibique
intempesta nocte stratui obvolutus, vidit venerabilem virum dextera gemmam eucharistiae
ferentem ante stratum adstare eique increpando dicere : Cerne, inquid, Agrestiae, quia, si

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This episode gives unique insight into the complicated tension between the
accessibility and inaccessibility of monastic space. The absolute necessity to
respect monastic space has been elaborated on dramatically not only in the
Vita Columbani, but also in later hagiographic texts such as the Vita Agili,
the Vita Carileffi and the Vita Anstrudis 183. For the period before Columbanus, we know descriptions of separated and inaccessible monastic space
mainly in the context of cloistered communities of women, especially in the
monastery St. John of Arles 184.
Generally, pre-Columbanian monastic hagiography, such as Gregory of
Tours works, the Vita patrum Iurensium and the works of Sulpicius Severus,
do not give the impression of monasteries as separated or inaccessible
spaces, at least not for people of the same sex 185. It is therefore likely that
Jonas of Bobbio again projected a practice that was new and typical for
Columbanian monasticism back into a pre-Columbanian past, showing that
the mos of excluding outsiders had already been established before Columbanus arrival 186.
The episode told in the Vita Iohannis focuses on one specific aspect of
space and its accessibility, the accessibility of the church of the monastery
and especially the Holy Mass performed by the monastic community an
aspect most other early medieval monastic sources are silent about 187. Mass
die exsterna blasphemare distulisses, quamquam corporis ore eocharistie sacramento non
accepisses, tibi spiritaliter largiretur ; nunc vero quia blasphemare praesumpsisti, spiritaliter
tibi denegatur. Ille a somno consurgens, noxae suae maculas abluere parat, hac rediens ad
virum Dei, veniam postulando ablui culpas inplorat.
183. Vita Agili, ch. 2.5-11, AASS, August, 6, Antwerp, 1743, p. 577 ; Vita Carileffi,
ch. 3.27-29, AASS, July, 1, Antwerp, 1719, pp. 96-97 ; Vita Anstrudis, ch. 8-12, MGH, SRM, 6,
pp. 70-71. See also Regula cuiusdam ad virgines, ch. 3.23-24, cf. CCCM, 168A, ch. 71.4,
p. 620-621 ; privilege for Rebais, ed. J. M. Pardessus, 2, op. cit., no. 275, pp. 39-41.
184. See A. Diem, Das monastische Experiment, op. cit., pp. 173-192 (with further references). A single exception is the Rule for Monks of Aurelianus of Arles, the only rule for a
community of monks that imposes strict enclosure and therefore prohibits outsiders to enter the
monastic church. See Aurelianus of Arles, Regula ad monachos, ch. 14, ed. Albert Schmidt,
Zur Komposition der Mnchsregel des Heiligen Aurelian von Arles, I, Studia Monastica,
t. 17, 1975, pp. 237-256, at p. 245. Aurelianus rule is deeply influenced by Caesarius Rule for
Nuns.
185. An especially illuminating example is given by the Vita patrum Iurensium. The author
describes the male communities as open spaces, crowded with guests, pilgrims and sick people,
but he imposes a strict natural enclosure on the female Jura monastery. The nuns live in an
inaccessible valley that is sealed with a church as its only entrance. See Vita patrum Iurensium,
ch. 14, SC 142, pp. 254-256 ; ch. 26, pp. 266-268 ; ch. 61, pp. 304-306. Gregory of Tours
hagiographic works give numerous examples of accessible monasteries. See e.g. Liber vitae
patrum XIV, ch. 2, MGH, SRM, 1.2, pp. 718-719 ; XIV, ch. 4, p. 720 ; Liber in gloria confessorum, ch. 22, p. 762.
186. It is remarkable that in both cases Jonas uses the expression mos. It is the mos of
the community to perform the Eucharist without outsiders (Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 9,
p. 335), but Theuderic II reprimands Columbanus for violating the mores comprovinciales by
denying the king access to the inner parts of the monastery (Id., Vita Columbani I, ch. 19,
p. 190).
187. The expression missarum solemnia is almost completely absent in Latin hagiography,
except for the works of Gregory of Tours. Exceptions are Vita Carileffi, ch. 5, ed. B. Krusch,
MGH, SRM, 3, p. 391 ; Virtutes Geretrudis, ch. 11, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM, 2, p. 470 ; Jonas,
Vita Columbani II, ch. 12, p. 262 ; II, ch. 16, p. 266 most remarkably Vita Columbani II,
ch. 9, p. 250 on the conflict with the rebellious monk Agrestius on how Mass has to be celebrated

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

33

is mentioned only marginally in the Vita Columbani 188 ; in the Regula

coenobialis we find a few regulations on required purity for the performance
of Mass 189. Slightly more detailed is the Regula cuiusdam patris ad monachos, a continental-Irish text not directly connected to Columbanian monasticism 190. None of these texts gives insights in how far the public was allowed
to be present at different parts of Mass and liturgy and which role monasteries in this period actually played in priestly care for the souls. The message
of the Vita Iohannis is clear : the public is welcome in the church and allowed
to receive the Holy Communion, but under the condition of respecting
rituals and boundaries and especially the fact that Mass itself is performed
withdrawn from the eyes of the public 191.
The following episode (ch. 10) deals both with the status of the vir Dei as
arbiter in conflicts and protector of the weak according to Peter Brown one
of the central functions of the holy man 192 and with the status of the
monastery as place of asylum. A slave who had committed a crime obviously
deserving capital punishment escaped to the saint, who sent a letter to his
master, asking for pardon for his slave. When the master angrily refused, his
mouth and face were hit by divine punishment so heavily that he was not able
to eat bread or even to receive Holy Communion for a long period 193. In the
period before Columbanus arrival churches served as a place of asylum, as is
shown on many occasions in Gregory of Tours Decem libri historiarum.
Monasteries received this function (and the necessary juridical status) on a
wider scale within the Columbanian monastic movement 194. Again, Jonas
in Columbanian monasteries : At ille prorumpit, se scire Columbanum a ceterorum mores
disciscere et ipsa missarum sollemnia multiplicatione orationum vel collectarum celebrare et
multa alia superflua, quae cum auctori acsi heresea tradita execrari debere.
188. Jonas, Vita Columbani I, ch. 17, p. 184 : Columbanus gives the Holy Communion to a
dying monk.
189. Columbanus, Regula coenobialis, ch. 8, ed. G. S. M. Walker, op. cit., p. 154 ; ch. 9,
pp. 156-158 ; ch. 13, p. 162 ; ch. 15, p. 162.
190. Regula cuiusdam ad patris ad monachos, ed. F. Villegas, op. cit., ch. 32, p. 35.
191. See also Jonas, Vita Columbani I, ch. 19, p. 190 : ... se consuetudinem non habere, ut
saecularium hominum et relegione alienis famulorum Dei habitationes pandant introitum ; se
et oportuna apatque loca ad hoc habere parata, quo omnium hospitum adventus suscipiatur.
192. See Peter Brown, The rise and function of the holy man in Late Antiquity, The
Journal of Roman Studies, t. 61, 1971, pp. 81-101, at pp. 85-92.
193. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 10, p. 335 : Subsequente vero tempore quidam famulus
cuiusdam viri, cuius vocabulum erat Clarus, ad beatum virum ob noxam sceleris confugit.
Cumque ille studiose reati culpam requireret, repperit noxam rei commisse, et ne veniam petenti
misericordiam denegaret, iubet cuidam, ut apicum seriem susciperet, et pro reatum miseri
homines ad Clarum pergens, et vitam et veniam impetraret. Cumque ergo Clarus oblatam a
gerolo epistolam suscepisset, causam rei exquiret, et quid se textus epistole vel gerolus vellit.
Ille rei causam depromit. Cumque Clarus nomen audisset, in furore versus, beati viri epistolam
salibo inlitam abiecit, et ferocia redens responsa, gerolum exprevit. Nec dilata divina ultio !
Orem Clari faucisque ita vehemens perculit, ut per multa spacia temporum nec panis alimenta
nec sacri corporis sacramenta capere possit. Similarly Gregory of Tours, Liber vitae patrum
XVI, ch. 4, MGH, SRM, 1.2, p. 727 ; Vita Genovefae, c. 43, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM, 3,
p. 233.
194. There are several examples of people seeking protection or being placed under safe
custody in monasteries described in Columbanian saints lives, e.g. in Vita Balthildis, ch. 10,
MGH, SRM, 2, p. 495 ; Passio Leudegarii, ch. 12, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, SRM, 5, p. 294 ; Passio
Praeiecti, ch. 26, ibid., p. 241 ; Vita Anstrudis, ch. 11-13, MGH, SRM, 6, pp. 71-72. See also

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monastery is depicted as Columbanian place long before Columbanian

monasticism existed.
The two healing miracles/exorcisms told in the next two chapters (ch. 1112) could be found similarly in Gregorys hagiographic works and in many
other places 195. The miracles themselves confirm the picture of a vir Dei
approachable by everybody in need of help and healing. But even here, Jonas
adds an extra message. In the first story a civil servants slave possessed by a
demon was brought to the saint who successfully prayed for him to be healed.
Once purified, the slave did not return to his master but stayed with John as
a servant for a long period 196. Another filius cuiusdam, thus not a slave, who
was mute by demonic possession received healing from the prayers of the
saint as well. He was admitted to the community and stayed in the monastery
for the rest of his life 197.
In both cases it seems that Johns success in calling on Gods mercy could
imply a certain right of possession regarding those who profited from his
intercession an aspect we find in the Vita Columbani as well 198. The form
of how the saint could take possession depended on the social status of the
person who profited from the miracle. A slave probably stayed as a slave and
served the community as such until released 199. Only a free man could
B. Rosenwein, Negotiating Space, op. cit., pp. 36-41 ; Rob Meens, The sanctity of the basilica
of St. Martin. Gregory of Tours and the practice of sanctuary in the Merovingian period, in
Texts and Identities in the Early Middle Ages, Richard Corradini, Rob Meens, Christina
Pssel et al. eds., Vienna, 2006 (Forschungen zur Geschichte des Mittelalters, 12), pp. 275-288
(on the development of church asylum) ; M. De Jong, Monastic prisoners, art. cit., pp. 312317.
195. See for example Vita patrum Iurensium, ch. 141-144, SC, 142, pp. 388-394.
196. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 11, pp. 335-336 : Ac deinceps famulus cuiusdam, cui nomen
erat Nicasius, qui eo tempore curam rei publicae administrabat, demones arte obsessus, diversis
cruciatibus vexatus, ut vix angi catenis crederetur, ad venerabilem virum Iohannem adductus
hac obtutibus eius oblatus est. Quem cum intuens vidisset, misertus cruciatui, sese in orationem
dedit ; pulsaque daemonis peste, homo reditur sanitatae. Qui post incolomis multo tempore
famulatui eius iunctus mansit. This passage may be influenced by Sulpicius Severus, Vita
Martini, ch. 17.1, ed. Jacques Fontaine, Paris, 1967 (SC, 133), p. 288. See F. Stber, Zur
Kritik, art. cit., p. 340.
197. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 12, p. 336 : Post haec cuiusdam filius astu demonis captus,
usu lingue sublatu, quemque longeva labiorum vexaverant silentia, ad virum Dei deductus
eique oblatus est. Quem intuens mestus, pro humani generis dispendio et iniqui hostis permisso
oratione adque deprecatione intentionem dedit. Nec dilata diu divine pietatis bonitas : et sui
famuli libens praeces suscepit et usum lingue damnato restituit, qui post fratrum coetu
insertus, sub obtentu relegionis eodem in loco usque ad finem permansit. Jonas uses the
expression famulus both for slave (ch. 10, p. 335/511) and for monk (ch. 7, p. 333/510). On
monasteries having slaves, see Gregory of Tours, Passio Iuliani, ch. 37, ed. B. Krusch, MGH,
SRM, 1.2, p. 580.
198. Some of the most important propagators of the Columbanian monastic network described in the second part of the Vita Columbani had been healed or blessed by the saint himself
a generation earlier. See Jonas, Vita Columbani I, ch. 14, pp. 174-175 : Columbanus prayers
helped the infertile noble woman Flavia to become pregnant. Her son Donatus grew up in the
monastery and later became bishop of Besanon and founder of several Columbanian monasteries. In ch. 26, pp. 209-210 Columbanus gave his blessings on the children of Burgundofara,
Ado and Dado (Audoin) who later became important founders of Columbanian monasteries as
well. See also Peter Brown, The Cult of the Saints, Chicago, 1981, pp. 50-68.
199. In the Carolingian version I, ch. 2.17, AASS, January, 2, p. 860 the healed slave was
handed back to his owner.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

35

become a full member of the community 200. Here the Vita Iohannis provides us with details about monastic recruitment not given in the Vita Columbani or any other early medieval monastic texts.
The next episode (ch. 13) shows a monastery rich enough to provide food
for the surrounding population during a period of famine. When the supplies
designated for the poor were exhausted, John ordered to give away the food
stored for the use of the monks themselves. After the last barrel was empty,
the saint prayed for divine help and the barrel was found refilled miraculously 201. Here Jonas of Bobbio combines two miracle stories of the Vita
Columbani : the community giving away to the poor their very last supplies
and receiving help 202, and the miraculously refilled granary after the community itself had run out of food 203. Stronger than even in the Vita
Columbani, Jonas emphasizes here that the care and economic support of the
poor is an essential part of the monasterys responsibilities within the world.
The following episode (ch. 14) shows Johns visionary capacities. When
the monk Segonus arrived at the monastery at night and entered the oratory,
the saint saw in a vision what was happening outside and awakened the monks
in order to welcome the brother with all honours 204. This miracle, giving
John similar visionary abilities to Anthony 205, may have been inserted to
200. A counter example gives Gregory, Liber vitae patrum V, MGH, SRM, 1.2, pp. 677-679
on abbot Portianus, who started his monastic career as a fugitive slave.
201. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 13, pp. 336-337 : Quodam in tempore loca circummanentia
valida famis torrebat ita vehemens, ut nec spes vivendi plerumque foret. Cumque ergo ad virum
Dei ob alimonia querenda properarent, ille aeuangelicae praeconii dictum ante oculos ferens,
quo ait : Frange esurienti panem tuum (Is 58.7), et : Omni petenti te tribue (Lc 6.30), quosque
advenire cerneret, necessaria ministrabat. Cumque iam undique egentum plebs crebrius adveniret, ille adsuetum opus inpendens, omnibus fenerabat. Tum unus e subditis ad patrem
accedens, ait, se tanti farris cupiem non habere, quantum egentum poscebant quohortes. Ille
gemens poscit sibi vas quem voluissent plenum segregari, unde egentum alimenta preberentur.
Moxque ille obplebere vas, capientem plus fere modia quinquies quinta ; cetera que habuissent
usui fratrum proficerent. Cumque ergo turba aegentum pro aliquod temporis spatium ex eo vase
alerentur, evenit ut quidam iuxta morem sibi dare necessaria poposcerit. Ille mensuram
consuetam dare iubet egenti. Tum minister : Nequaquam, inquid, vel perparvum in vase
remansit, sed totum imperiis tuis pauperibus est erogatum. Quo audito, oculos ad caelum
adtollit, genuque flexo, largitorem omnium Dominum inplorat. Peractaque oratione, ministro
iubet : Vade, inquid cum fidei adminiculo deffer alimenta aegentum. Pergens minister,
repperit vas plenum, sumptaque mensura, pauperibus tribuit. Deinde patri nuntianda credit,
sed ille silendum esse imperat, ne elationis macula cumulum gratiae tollat.
202. Jonas, Vita Columbani I, ch. 22, p. 204. Similar food argumentation miracles can be
found e.g. in Gregory of Tours, Liber in gloria confessorum, ch. 1, MGH, SRM, 1.2, pp. 748749 ; Liber vitae patrum III, ch. 1, p. 673 ; Vita patrum Iurensium, ch. 10, SC, 142, pp. 248-250 ;
ch. 68-70, pp. 314-318 ; Gregory I, Dialogi II, ch. 28-29, SC, 260, pp. 216-220 ; Eugippius,
Vita Severini, ch. 28.3-4, ed. Philippe Rgerat, Paris, 1991 (SC, 374).
203. Jonas, Vita Columbani, I, ch. 7, pp. 165-166 ; I, ch. 17, p. 183. A similar miracle is
described in Gregory of Tours, Liber in gloria martyrum, ch. 9, MGH, SRM, 1.2, pp. 494-495.
204. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 14, p. 337 : Quadam etenim nocte inter densa tenebrarum
adveniens vir venerabilis Segonus ad cellula sua, basilicam latenter introivit, communem
Dominum orationibus pulsabat. Quod divinitus viro Dei revelatum est, ascitoque ministro
imperat, ut concito gradu pergat, tactoque signo sodales excitet, quia frater communis Segonus
abdite fores ecclesie penetrando Dominum orationibus pulsat. Quod ita repertum est, atque de
industria venerando fratri ospitalitatis munus est impletum.
205. See also Gregory I, Dialogi II, ch. 14, 17-18, 22, SC, 260, pp. 180-182, 192-194,
200-204.

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showthat the monastery was not only integrated in the secular landscape but
also held close contact with the neighbouring communities. But even in the
case of a visitor of goodwill, the saint showed his vigilance and awoke when
an outsider threatened to cross the boundaries of the monastic confines.
Besides that, it may have been a discrete reference to the Regula Benedicti
with its detailed regulations on how to welcome a monk from another
community 206.
The next story (ch. 15) has already been discussed in the context of
the question of the historical reliability. First Jonas gives a rather disapproving description of Theudeberts I Italian campaign and Merovingian
rule in general. Then he tells a story about a sick man whose brother
approached the saint asking for prayers and blessings for his brother. The
brother received a piece of blessed bread and five apples, which indeed cured
the sick man 207. The Italian campaign is not related to the miracle except for
stating that the miracle happened at the same time. We do not know if Jonas
wanted to give the impression that the sick man actually took part in this
campaign or if he simply inserted the reference to the campaign in order
to criticize the Merovingian rulers 208. Another possible explanation for
this rather odd construction could be a lacuna in the preserved text. In
any case, John proved here that the miraculous effects of his intercession
do not depend on his physical presence. Just as Columbanus was able to
cause divine punishment from a distance 209, John of Rme could cause
a miraculous healing without being present himself. This interpretation
of this story is supported by the first sentence of the following chapter,
praising how the miracles of the saints can find their effects in all parts
206. Regula Benedicti, ch. 61.1-3, SC, 182, pp. 636-638.
207. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 15, pp. 337-338 : Cumque iam Gallias Francorum regis sue
dictione, sublato imperii iure, gubernacula ponerent et, postposita rei publice dominatione,
propria fruerentur potestate, evenit, ut Theudebertus, filius Teuderici, Clodovei condam filii,
bellum Italie inferret, transactis Alpibus, Italiam inquietaret ; celerque reversus, demissis
ducibus, quibus summam bellorum commiserat, Mumoleno et Bucceleno, ipse ad propriam
repedavit. [Here could have been a lacuna]. Eo itaque in tempore quidam vir cum quartano
inquomodo eger teneretur et pene ultimum anelitum dimissurus expectaretur, germanus eius ad
virum Dei properat, festinans advenit donumque eulogiarum cum premessa ad Dominum
oratione ad egri solamina humili prece deposcit. Tum ille et orationem atque eulogiarum
solamina dare non distulit, sed enim cuivis cum fidei ardore petenti suffragium porrexit :
inlatum unum paximacio cum quinque pomorum numero egri deferri iussit. Receptum munus
celer ad germanum, venit ; eum procul positum adveniente munus eger sensit, hac germanum
requirens, dari sibi eologiarum munus deposcit. Cumque ille introiens, deportasset, factis
tribus particulas vinoque infusis, egro esurienti administravit. Cumque ovans cum fidei ardore
eologiarum munus sumpsisset, statim pulsa tabe, sospitatem recepit. A similarly description of
Merovingian rule can be found in Vita patrum Iurensium, ch. 92, SC, 142, pp. 336-338 :
... coram viro inlustri Galliae quondam patricio Hilperico sub condicione regia ius publicum
tempore illo redactum est...
208. B. Krusch, Zwei Heiligenleben, art. cit., p. 395 assumes that the sick man was
actually a soldier who took part in Theudeberts campaign. This interpretation is supported by
the fact that Gregory of Tours, Decem Libri historiarum III, ch. 32, MGH, SRM, 1.1, p. 128
mentions the outbreak of fevers in Theudeberts army, and that the Carolingian revision of the
Vita Iohannis II, ch. 1.4, AASS, January, 2, p. 861 makes him a soldier of Theudeberts army
as well.
209. E.g. Jonas, Vita Columbani I, ch. 19, pp. 190-191 : Theuderic II could exile the saint
but not escape his predictions. See also Gregory I, Dialogi II, ch. 22.4-6, SC, 260, p. 208.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

37

of the world 210. Since this statement is not related to the rest of chapter 16,
I would propose to change Kruschs chapter and assign this sentence to
chapter 15 211.
This third healing miracle is followed by an episode that emphasizes not so
much Johns miraculous power as the role of the entire community. A monk
guarding the harvest on the fields at night became anxious as to whether the
sleeping monks would awake in time for morning prayer, lest they deviate
from the righteous path by negligence 212. While thinking about this, he
suddenly saw how the heavens opened and God enlightened earth by a
glowing globe 213. Shortly afterwards, a cock crowed and the community got
up and went to prayer. When the monk told John about this vision, the saint
urged him to keep silent about it, since man weakened by the stain of his sins
should not have deserved to see heavenly revelations 214.
Besides giving a lively picture of the rural activities of the monastery, this
episode is in the first instance a statement about the absolute necessity of
liturgical discipline and the fact that the monks prayer is indeed directly
connected with the heavenly. This connection is usually hidden from man
because of his sinfulness, but was here miraculously revealed in order to show
210. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 16, pp. 338-339 : Quantaque sublimia miraculorum Domini
in sanctis suis redoleant exempla, sinibus eclesie in orbem terrarum diffuse personuit adque,
elucubranti luce veritatis, fidelibus notum est. See also I, ch. 5, p. 161.
211. For the chapter division of ch. 16 and 17 Krusch relied on the Carolingian version, since
ms Paris, BnF, lat. 11748 omits these two chapter divisions. The other ms of the original version,
Paris, BnF, lat. 5306 does not have chapter divisions at all.
212. Negligentia is one of the key expressions in the context of monastic discipline. It is
mentioned occasionally in the context of discipline of prayer. See Regula patrum secunda,
ch. 6.35-36, SC, 297, p. 280 (on attending prayer) ; Caesarius, Regula ad virgines, ch. 15, SC,
345, p. 190 ; Aurelianus of Arles, Regula ad monachos, ch. 29, ed. A. Schmidt, art. cit., p. 249
(on falling asleep during vigils) ; Columbanus, Regula coenobialis, ch. 15, ed. C. S. M. Walker,
op. cit., p. 162 (on negligence in handling the Eucharist).
213. Glowing globes appear at numerous occasions in Gregory of Tours work. See for
example Liber vitae patrum II, ch. 3, MGH, SRM, 1.2, p. 670 ; XII, ch. 3, p. 714 ; Liber in gloria
confessorum, ch. 20, p. 760, ch. 58, p. 781 ; ch. 102, p. 813. See also Gregory I, Dialogi II,
ch. 35.3, SC 260, p. 238.
214. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 16 (cont.), p. 339 : Cum eo in tempore segetis, annuam
maturitatem confecte, ad praecidendum in supradictum coenubio fuissent paratae, concio
fratrum ad segitem praecidendam catervatim properare studuit, opusque per totius diei meta
peractum adventus tetrae noctis proibuit. Cumque omnes ad coenobium remeassent, imperio
seniorum unus e fratribus Claudius nomine ad frugem custodiendam remansit. Qui cum somno
caperet, hac intempesta nocte evigilans, mentis ardorem ad caelum tolleret iuxta illud : Ego
enim dormio, et cor meum vigilat (Ct 5.2), coepit cogitare, ne, fessus artus, sodalium membra
nimio occubuissent sopore, neglectuque orationis usu, in aurore adventum iustum tramitis
usum deferrent. Cumque hec anxio cordis animo trucinaret, vidit subito caelos apertos et
micantem globum totum lustrare mundum. Moxque, dum mirandi facta mens pavefacta
pulsaret, alifer gallus solitam vocem adtollens, mundo venturam lucem nuntiavit, signoque
tacto, omnis concio fratrum ad orationem cantosque peragendos ecleseam penetravit. Ovans
ille, postquam lux dedeta mundo fuit, patri de industria, quid viderit, nuntiavit. Ille, ne
stimulo elacionis corruptus, mentem pollueret, increpans ait : Nequaquam talia te vel corde
tumido vidisse praesumas narrare! Quid enim fas est, ut homo sub fragilitate positus et
contagione peccatorum maculatus mereatur caelestia contemplare ? The expression Qui cum
somno caperet is rather odd, since Jonas says in the same sentence that the monk stayed awake.
It would make more sense to write Qui cum somno caperent, although no version gives this
reading.

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the importance of discipline and synchrony of prayer. Discipline of prayer

plays a role in most early monastic rules ; the necessity to start the hours of
prayer at exactly the right time is emphasized especially in the Columbanian
Regula cuiusdam ad virgines 215.
Johns last miracle (ch. 17) has again several layers of meaning. A man
travelling from Paris was struck by a plague that at that time devastated Gaul
(presumably the plague of 543). He approached the monastery and asked for
water from the font that had been blessed by the holy man a font that was
placed within the confines of the monastery (inter septa coenubii). A minister of the monastery brought him the water and healed him 216. This miracle
is one of the episodes that link the saints life with a well-known historical
event. It also shows this time without conflict the necessity of respecting
the monastic boundaries. The blessed font itself is not accessible to the sick
stranger. He received healing, not even by the saint himself (whose presence
was not necessary any more, since he had blessed the font) but by a serving
monk of the monastery. In this way this healing miracle again emphasizes the
transfer of sanctity from the saint himself to the monastic space and community. With this episode Jonas list of miraculous events in the life of John
comes to an end.
5. How to overcome sinfulness : Jonas use of John Cassian
After these miracles a chapter follows that deals predominantly with
Johns virtues und teaching. It starts by stating that it would occupy too much
space to tell how much honour kings and the nobility attributed to the
saint 217 a statement that Jonas might have avoided if he really had any
evidence for contacts between John and members of royal or noble families.
The Carolingian revision inserts at this point a reference to royal charters
issued in favour of the saint. It is possible that the author knew the two
still-preserved forged privileges ascribed to Clovis and Clothar II 218.
For the Merovingian world of the fifth and sixth centuries this statement is
rather anachronistic. Before the arrival of Columbanus on the continent,
royal involvement in ascetic or monastic matters was the exception rather
215. Regula cuiusdam ad virgines, ch. 8.11, cf. CCCM, 168A, ch. 54.11 (as ch. 9.1-2), p. 468.
216. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 17, p. 340 : Quidam enim vir cum de Parius properae ad
patriam remearet, percussus ulcerae pessimo, quod passim per Galiae finibus dilatatum loca
plurima pollulabat, veniensque ad propriam, petiit, ut sibi de puteo, quem vir Dei benedixerat,
et inter septa coenubii sui situs erat, limpa deferretur : moxque se fidem haberae sospitatem
recepturum. Dericto ministro, laticem cum benedictionem deportat ; austaque eger, vim doloris
incendii vulnus craebuit, adque suspitatem reditus, vitam post incolomis cum superis egit. The
verb pollulare is extremely rare and appears in the same period only in the works of Gregory of
Tours. A similar miracle (although with oil in place of water) is told in Gregory of Tours, Liber
vitae patrum XIX, ch. 4, MGH, SRM, 1.2, pp. 739-740.
217. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 18, p. 340 : Quanto iam onorae hac veneratione regum
Francorum adque nobilium fulceretur, enarrare longum est.
218. Carolingian version of Jonas, Vita Iohannis II, ch. 3.10, AASS, January, 2, p. 862 ;
forged royal charters ascribed to Clovis (to 498) and to Clothar II (to 516), MGH, Die Urkunden
der Merowinger, 1, no. 3, pp. 7-10 and no. 15, pp. 47-49.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

39

than the rule 219. Yet retrospective hagiographic texts and forged charters
intended to give the impression that already after Clovis conversion the
Merovingian royal family established close ties with monasteries 220.
The rest of chapter 18 is dedicated to the habits and attitudes of the saint
and his activities as a teacher of his monks. Instead of restricting himself to
the usual lists of saintly virtues starting with Erat enim..., Jonas inserts a
short but dense treatise on monastic theology and ascetic teaching. This
treatise is inspired by a source not yet mentioned, the Collationes of John
Cassian ( ca 435) 221. This work presents itself as twenty-four interviews
with famous desert fathers, in which Cassian claims to make their teachings
accessible to monasticism in Gaul. In fact, the Collationes are much more
than just a Latin summary of eastern monastic teaching. The work forms a
consistent monastic programme establishing and legitimizing ascetic
techniques to overcome or at least to control human sinfulness and to
approach a state of puritas cordis or perfectio 222. As such, Cassian had a deep
impact on the further development of monasticism 223, and his influence was
hardly diminished by the fact that his ideas on the effects of good works and
ascetic acts and his implicit criticism of the doctrine of predestination
placed him at the edge of orthodoxy. In hagiographic texts John Cassian left
a few traces 224. Yet no Merovingian hagiographer used Cassian as intensely as
Jonas of Bobbio did in the Vita Iohannis. Both the fact that Jonas choose to
insert Cassians thoughts and how he did so deserve a closer analysis.
All important textual witnesses of Columbanian monasticism, the Vita
Columbani, Columbanus rules and especially the two Columbanian monastic rules for women, deal implicitly or explicitly with a problem that had
219. See Leo Ueding, Die Klostergrndungen der Merowingerzeit, Berlin, 1935, pp. 75-79,
165-178 and 226-230. There are only three significant exceptions : the foundation of Childebert I and bishop Aurelianus ( 549) in Arles, the monastery St. Maurice dAgaune, re-founded
by the Burgundian king Sigibert ( 575) and the monastic foundations of Brunhild ( 615).
220. The first twenty-one royal charters edited in MGH, Die Urkunden der Merowinger, 1,
pp. 1-62 are (with two exceptions not related to monasteries) forged monastic privileges and
immunities ascribed to Clovis I ( 511), Childebert I ( 558), Clothar I ( 561), Sigibert I
( 575), Chilperic I ( 584) and Guntram ( 593).
221. John Cassian, Collationes, ed. E. Pichry, Paris, 1955, 1958, 1959 (SC, 42, 54, 64) ;
English translation by Boniface Ramsey, John Cassian. The Conferences, New York, 1997
(Ancient Christian Writers, 57).
222. On Cassian, see Columba Steward, Cassian the Monk, Oxford, 1998 ; Philip Rousseau, Ascetics, Authority, and the Church in the Age of Jerome and Cassian, Oxford, 1978,
pp. 169-234 ; Conrad Leyser, Authority and Asceticism from Augustine to Gregory the Great,
Oxford, 2000, pp. 33-61.
223. On the reception of Cassian, see O. Chadwick, John Cassian, op. cit., pp. 148-162 ;
A. Diem, Das monastische Experiment, op. cit., pp. 112-128 ; Ph. Rousseau, Ascetics, Authority, op. cit., pp. 235-239. The Regula Benedicti, ch. 73.5, SC, 182, p. 672 not only recommends
the lecture of Cassian but the rule also contains not less than 268 allusions to Cassian. See A. de
Vog, in SC, 186, pp. 1418-1424.
224. E.g. Vita patrum Iurensium, ch. 11, SC, 142, pp. 250-252 and ch. 174, pp. 426-428 ;
Gregory of Tours, Liber vitae patrum XX, ch. 3, MGH, SRM, 1.2, p. 742. The Vita Sequani,
ch. 4-5, AASS, September, 6, p. 37F tells how Sequanus first studies Cassians Collationes and
Institutiones. Later he proceeds to John of Rme. See also M. Diesenberger, Bausteine der
Erinnerung, art. cit., p. 55 ; A. Diem, Das monastische Experiment, op. cit., pp. 117-125 on
parallels between Cassians work and Dionysius Exiguus, Vita Pachomii, ed. H. van Cranenburgh, op. cit.

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already determined Cassians work, although on a slightly different level :

how to overcome or control human sinfulness by means of monastic discipline. John Cassian discussed this problem on the level of the individuals
battle for chastity and his life-long striving for a never completely attainable
purity of the heart 225. For him the community was never more than a means
to an end in this battle. Columbanian monasticism was not so much interested in the problem of individual perfection but rather in the question of how
to organize a perfect and holy community. How could monastic discipline be
used to organize sanctity despite the inevitable sinfulness of man ? Many new
features of Columbanian monasticism, such as the sacralisation of space and
regula, the introduction of confession as a self-cleansing ritual, and the
imposition of silence as means to avoid pollution, were related to the problem
of overcoming individual sinfulness for the sake of collective sanctity 226.
In his Institutiones and his Collationes Cassianus provides an ingenious
analysis of human sinfulness. His most important contribution to Western
moral thought was to systematize the sinful state of man in a catalogue of
eight vices or maybe better destructive powers that are inherent in every
sinful human being 227. Analysing these eight vices and the way they were
related to each other should provide a repertoire of ascetic techniques and
rules suitable for receiving at least some control over human sinfulness and to
limit its effects.
Cassian was not only one of the most important monastic theologians in
Gaul ; he also fitted chronologically quite well with Johns (constructed)
lifespan. He stood in contact with Johns assigned teacher Honoratus and
dedicated parts of his Collationes to him 228. For Jonas of Bobbio it was
therefore almost logical to refer to Cassian when describing John. The way
how Jonas of Bobbio inserted Cassians ideas went beyond simply reproducing his thoughts : Jonas used Cassian (and his authority) to create his own
distinct monastic programme.
For early medieval monastic writers, Cassians work was not provocative so
much because of his implicit critique of the Augustinian concept of predestination, but rather because of his consistent emphasis on inevitable sinfulness and the ascetics life-long struggle. For him, ascetic life and monastic
discipline could only help to approach purity and to reach moments of
control over ones sinful state, but certainly not to gain a final victory. The
advice Cassian provided based on his analysis was excellent and almost
unavoidable ; yet the doctrine connected with it was hard to digest for a
225. See esp. Michel Foucault, The battle for chastity, in Western Sexuality : Practice
and Precept in Past and Present Times, Philippe Aris and Andr Bjin eds., Oxford, 1985,
pp. 14-25.
226. This aspect is investigated extensively in A. Diem, Das monastische Experiment, op. cit.,
pp. 162-266. Here I analyse the contributions of Caesarius of Arless rules and the Columbanian
monastic rules to the experiment to organize sanctity by means of monastic discipline.
227. Siegfried Wenzel, The Sin of Sloth, Chapel Hill, NC, 1960, pp. 3-46 ; Richard
Newhauser, The Treatise on Vices and Virtues in Latin and the Vernacular, Turnhout, 1993
(Typologie des sources du Moyen ge occidental, 68), pp. 108-114, 180-193 ; A. Diem, Das
monastische Experiment, op. cit., pp. 100-104.
228. The second and third of three parts of the Collationes were dedicated Honoratus. See
also F. Stber, Zur Kritik, art. cit., p. 349.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

41

monastic world that had to provide real saints, truly holy communities and
sacred places suitable for effective intercessory prayer.
Jonas reading of Cassian in the Vita Iohannis shows a pragmatic way of
turning this stumbling block of monastic heritage into something suitable
for a new monastic programme fitting with the needs of organisable sanctity.
Jonas basically uses two ideas of Cassian, both related to the problem of the
sinful state of man and the techniques to overcome it. First, Jonas of Bobbio
tells his readers that John especially aimed to protect his monks from the sins
of gula/castrimagia (gluttony), xenodoxia/aelatio (vainglory) and
arogantia/superbia (pride), lest his monks fall into damnation, since these
were the sins that caused Adams Fall and expulsion from paradise :
Inerrat in eum, ut opido iurae dicam, omnium virtutum flagrantia, corporis
castigatio ; ieiuniis et orationibus aeque ut iuvenili aetate tulerat, eodem modo et
senile portabat : exemplum subditus edocens, ut castrimargiae, id est gule, cenodoxiae, id est aelatione, arogantiae, id est superbiae, vicia maxima, per que conpareret
Adam in paradiso deceptum, omnimodis plebem subditam cavere suadebat, ne
simili modo, sicut Adam his tribus vitiis delapsus adque ad gaudia paradisi
segraegatus et deiectus est, simili modo immitatores eius, dum ventris ingluviae
gule obediendo subcumbunt, dum elationis stimolo inbecillitate animi perturbantur, dum superbiae malum anime Deo dicatae vulnerantur, a consorcia iustorum
abscise et omni gaudio perpetuae lucis private eterno cruciato damnerentur 229.
(It was in him, as I speak plainly and truthfully, the ardour of all virtues, the
chastising of the body. He took upon himself fasting and prayers in a similar way in
his youthful age as he did it in his old age. Giving himself as example he taught and
convinced them that they should watch out in all possible ways from gluttony, that is
greed, vainglory, that is idleness, and arrogance, that is pride. These were the capital
vices through which Adam has been found caught in Paradise. In this way he wanted
to prevent that they [fall] in a similar way as Adam had fallen by these three vices he,
who has been separated from the joys of paradise and thrown out. He wanted to
prevent that [his monks] as imitators of him [Adam] would have been cut off from the
community of the righteous and, deprived from the everlasting joy of the eternal
light, be damned in eternal torment, succumbing to the greediness of the stomach by
obeying gluttony, disturbed by the incitement of vainglory by the weakness of their
mind, and with the souls once dedicated to God wounded by the evil of pride.)

The idea that Adams Fall was based on gluttony, vainglory and pride is
taken from the fifth book of Cassians Collationes :
In illis enim passionibus etiam ipse temptari debuit incorruptam imaginem dei ac
similitudinem possidens, in quibus et Adam temptatus est, cum adhuc in illa
inviolata dei imagine perduraret, hoc est gastrimargia, cenodoxia, superbia, non in
quibus post prevaricationem mandati imagine dei ac similitudine violata suo iam
vitio devolutus involvitur 230.
(The one who possessed the incorruptible image and likeness of God had to be
tempted himself by the same passions by which Adam also was tempted when he still
enjoyed the inviolate image of God that is, by gluttony, vainglory, and pride and
not by those in which he entangled himself after having broken the commandment,
when the image and likeness of God was violated as he had already fallen through his
own fault 231).
229. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 18, pp. 340-341.
230. Cassian, Collationes V, ch. 6, SC, 42, p. 193.
231. Translated by B. Ramsey, John Cassian. The Conferences, op. cit., p. 185.

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For Cassian, this was just a starting point for developing the complete
catalogue of eight capital vices. Jonas went another way that probably would
not have been supported by Cassian : since Adam was expelled from Paradise
because of these three sins, avoiding them could prevent the monks from
separating themselves from the community of the righteous and from running into eternal damnation. One can even read in this passage that overcoming these three sins would place the community in a pre-Fall state a
solution to ensure salvation and to organise sanctity, which is as provocative as
it is simple.
After this theologically rather controversial idea implying that teaching
and discipline could keep monks with the consorcia iustorum, Jonas of
Bobbio returns to safe ground by prizing Johns achievements in fasting,
vigils and continence and illustrating with a series of biblical quotations his
fiery passion and his zeal to teach his monks 232.
With the next reference to Cassian Jonas touches the problem of how to
achieve saintly virtues. Here Jonas text reads at first sight almost as a literal
quotation from John Cassian. Jonas gives the following text :
Et requirens instituta sanctorum patrum, inter multas collationes precipue sancti
Ysaac abbatis Scithae doctrinam meditans, pro Christi dilectione se coartavit et
crucem domini nostri Iesu Christi non erubuit, sed portavit. Semper habens profunde humilitatis inconcussa fundamina, ab omni lubrice impulsationis
incursu animum inhibuit et ita paulatim ex contemplatione divina ac spiritali intuitu meruit sublimari. Sollicitudine rerum carnalium preter certas
necessitatis generaliter abscidit et nullius negocii causaeve non solum curam,
sed, nec memoriam quidam penitus admisit. Detractionem, vaniloquia seu
multiloquia, scurilitatis partier amputavit, sciens illud quod sibi quomodum
religionis ordo convexerat, hoc aliis utile fore impleri, quicquid scilicet ipse a pube
tenus ad senilem etatem perduxerat 233.
(And seeking the institutions of the holy fathers he meditated, among the many
conferences, especially on the teaching of abbot Ysaak from Scetis and he constrained
himself for the love of Christ and he was not ashamed of the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ but he carried it. Always having the unshakable foundations of deep humility,
he protected the spirit from all lascivious attacks from the exterior. In this way he
earned gradually to ascend by contemplation to divine and spiritual vision. He cut off
entirely any concern about fleshly matters just as other needs, and he did not allow
neither the care nor the memory of any affairs and business to enter his mind. He cut
away detraction, idle speech, talkativeness just as buffoonery, because he knew the
religious way of life that he had applied on himself, would as well be useful to be
followed by others, just as he had exercised it from his youth to his old age.)
232. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 18 (cont.), p. 341 : Ipse vero ieiuniis et vigiliis vacans,
omnibus inlecebris aelisis, pullulantibus virtutibus, animi vigore corporis voluptate prohibuit,
ut ignitum illo igne animi desiderium, de quo igne Dominus ait : Ignem veni mittere in
terram ; quam volo, ut ardeat ? [Lc 12.49] ut omnium virtutum fructus adtraheret, hoc verbum
semper corde et ore proferrens : Concupivit anima mea desiderare iustificationes tuas in omni
tempore [Ps 118.10], et item : Ideo dilexi mandata tua super auro et topazion [Ps 118.127].
Fratres cohortans, vultu hilaris et letus facie monebat, dicens : Venite, exultemus Domino,
iubilemus Deo salutari nostro. Preoccupemus faciem eius in confessione et in psalmis iubilemus ei [Ps 94.1-2]. Venite, adoremus et procidamus ante Dominum et ploremus ante Deum, qui
fecit nos, quia ipse est dominus Deus noster [Ps 94.6-7]. Operi piisimo corde et corpore vacans,
memorabat sanctum Paulum dixisse, si quis non laborasset, panem sine periculo non potuisset
sumere [cf. 2 Thess 3.10].
233. Ibid., ch. 18, pp. 341-342.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

43

Compare with John Cassian :

Et idcirco ut eo fervore ac puritate qua debet emitti possit oratio, haec sunt
omnimodis observanda. Primum sollicitudo rerum carnalium generaliter abscidenda est ; deinde nullius negotii causaeve non solum cura, sed ne memoria quidem penitus admittenda, detractationes, vaniloquia seu multiloquia, scurrilitates quoque similiter amputandae, irae prae omnibus sive tristitiae
perturbatio funditus eruenda, concupiscentiae carnalis ac filargyriae noxius fomes
radicitus evellendus. Et ita his ac similibus vitiis extrusis penitus et abscisis, quae
hominum quoque possunt patere conspectibus, talique ut diximus repurgii emundatione praemissa, quae simplicitatis et innocentiae puritate perficitur, iacienda sunt
primum profundae humilitatis inconcussa fundamina, quae scilicet turrem
intraturam caelos valeant sustinere, deinde superponenda virtutum spiritalis extructio et ab omni discursu atque evagatione lubrica animus inhibendus, ut ita
paulatim ad contemplationem dei ac spiritales intuitus incipiat sublimari 234.
(Therefore, so that prayer may be made with the fervour and purity that it
deserves, the following things should be observed in every respect. First, anxiety
about fleshly matters should be completely cut off. Then, not only the concern for
but in fact even the memory of affairs and business should be refused all entry
whatsoever ; detraction, idle speech, talkativeness, and buffoonery should also be
done away with ; the disturbance of anger, in particular, and of sadness should be
entirely torn out ; and the harmful shoot of fleshly lust and of avarice should be
uprooted. And thus, when these and similar vices that could also make their appearance among men have been completely thrust out and cut off and there has taken
place a cleansing purgation such as we have spoken of, which is perfected in the purity
of simplicity in innocence, the unshakable foundations of deep humility should be
laid, which can support a tower that will penetrate the heavens. Then the spiritual
structure of the virtues must be raised above it, and the mind must be restrained from
all dangerous wandering and staying, so that this it could gradually begin to be
elevated to the contemplation of God and to spiritual vision 235.)

John Cassian explained in this passage the permanent struggle against sins,
detractions and worldly concerns as a means to improve the efficacy of
prayer. Striving to overcome these sins would eventually lead to a foundation of humilitas suitable for the building of a tower of virtues that could
lead to a gradual ascent to the contemplation of God. He puts a strong
emphasis on the fact that this is a never ending process. The contemplation of
God is a goal to strive towards, but certainly not a state that could be attained
permanently. Jonas of Bobbio uses Cassians words but expresses a
rather different attitude. He clearly acknowledges the instruments provided
by Cassian (sollicitudinem rerum carnalium abscidere, curam negotii
causaeve/sollicitudines amputare), but for him these are just habits
(semper habens) of the saint nothing to strive for, but a possession
that simply has to be transmitted to other monks. John possesses
the inconcussa fundamina humilitatis which for Cassian can only be
achieved as a result of an ascetic struggle. John, and implicitly those
following his rule and imitating his life, are clearly different from Cassians
ever struggling ascetics. Moreover, Jonas of Bobbio ignores the general
context of Cassians original text : an instruction for improving the ability to
pray. If prayer of any quality could only be produced through such struggle,
234. Cassian, Collationes IX, ch. 3, SC, 54, pp. 41-42.
235. Translated by B. Ramsey, John Cassian. The Conferences, op. cit., p. 330.

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monasteries would hardly have been able to perform any successful intercessory prayer.
Jonass way of adapting Cassians ideas is by no means exceptional in the
early medieval world. As I have shown elsewhere, neither the numerous
references to Cassian as a great authority on asceticism and monastic theology in early medieval texts, nor the wide and early manuscript distribution
led to his central ideas on the permanent ascetic struggle, the unreachable
state of castitas and the strive for puritas cordis becoming part of medieval
monastic theology 236. By quoting him while avoiding him, Jonas dealt with
Cassian just as most other early medieval monastic authors had done.
6. A saint without bones : Jonas statement against a cult of relics
The last two chapters of the Vita Iohannis deal with Johns death, his
successors and eventually his translatio to his final resting place in his
monasterys church. For the period after Johns death, Jonas of Bobbio
mentions three successors. The first one, abbot Sylvester, had already been
leading the community when John was still alive 237, just as Eustasius, was
appointed by Columbanus to lead his monasteries after he had left 238. Jonas
emphasises that Sylvester applied the same tenor regulae and forma religionis for maintaining the communitys sanctity. In this sense he describes in
short the same transition from a community gathered around a founding
saint to a community based on a regula as it is described extensively in the
Vita Columbani 239.
The next abbot, Mummolinus, was, like Sylvester installed by his predecessor. Later he became bishop of Langres 240. His successor Leubardinus
was not just appointed but also chosen with the consent of the community 241. The practice of appointing the first two abbots and then changing to
a principle of election by the community finds its parallels in various
Columbanian monasteries and may reflect the transition from a community
in which authoritative members of the pioneer generation were still alive, to
a perpetual monastic institution 242.
236. A general overview of adapting and simplifying Cassian is early medieval monastic
texts is given in A. Diem, Das monastische Experiment, op. cit., pp. 112-128.
237. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 19, p. 342 : Suffectusque est in loco eius abbas Silvester
nomine, quem ipse antea vivens fratrum cetui preesse preciperat ; qui et religionis forma et
regule tenore per vestigia magistri gradiens, longevo floruit tempore.
238. Jonas, Vita Columbani II, ch. 7, pp. 240-242. The only monastic rule prescribing the
appointment of a new abbot by his predecessor is Regula magistri, ch. 93, SC, 106, pp. 424-428.
239. The first book describes the role of the saint for monastic communities, while in the
second book the saint is replaced by his regula. See A. Diem, Monks, kings and the transformation of sanctity, art. cit., pp. 546-559.
240. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 19 (cont.), p. 342 : Post quem in supradicto cenobio Mumulinus ex iussu venerabilis viri Silvestri curam regiminis suscepit.
241. Ibid., ch. 19 (cont.), pp. 342-343 : Qui post Lingonice ecclesie pontifex electus, in loco
suo Leubardinum cum consensu fratrum abbatem prefecit, qui sepulcrum, ubi reliquie sancti
corporis beati Iohannis condite erant, in loco in quo nunc est mutavit.
242. See A. Diem, Was bedeutet Regula Columbani ?, art. cit., pp. 71-75 and 88-89 with
sources on the appointment and elections of abbots in Columbanian monasteries.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

45

The final chapter of the Vita Iohannis is dedicated to Johns translatio 243, an event that took place after Mummolinus appointment as bishop of
Langres in 579/580. It may therefore have been part of the active memory of
the monks who instructed Jonas and probably insisted on including the
translatio in his vita 244. The way Jonas of Bobbio tells this story, however,
may not have pleased the monks of Rme very much. Right in the beginning, Jonas makes clear that for him the transfer of Johns tomb does not
form part of the saints life. It is a supplement of sorts, starting with the
opening sentence : Nec absurdum videtur huic operi inserere, que tunc in ea
sunt acta commutatione 245.
Unfortunately the preserved manuscripts give no clear evidence about one
important element of the subsequent narrative : the saints resistance to his
translatio. According to the Carolingian version, the monks of Rme
were not able to move the excavated sarcophagus. Therefore they decided
to submit themselves to the three-day fast that usually precedes a
translatio 246. Only one of the two manuscripts on which Kruschs edition
is based contains the episode on the translation, and here the aspect of
the immovable sarcophagus is missing 247. Krusch himself regarded this
aspect of the narrative as authentic and inserted it in his edition 248. All
versions, however, agree on the three-day fast before the translatio took
place 249.
If we assume that the unmovable sarcophagus belongs to Jonas original
text, he would not have invented this motif. Again, Gregory of Tours may
have served as a source of inspiration. Two episodes in his Liber vitae
243. On relic translations in general, see Arnold Angenendt, Heilige und Reliquien. Die
Geschichte ihres Kultes vom frhen Christentum bis zur Gegenwart, Munich, 1994, esp.
pp. 102-122 and 149-182 ; P. Brown, The Cult of the Saints, op. cit., pp. 92-97 ; Heinrich
Fichtenau, Zum Reliquienwesen im frheren Mittelalter, in Id., Beitrge zur Medivistik, 1,
Stuttgart, 1975, pp. 108-144 ; Patrick Geary, Furta Sacra. Thefts of Relics in the Central
Middle Ages, Princeton, 1978, esp. pp. 3-50 ; Martin Heinzelmann, Translationsberichte
und andere Quellen des Reliquienkultes, Turnhout, 1979 (Typologie des sources du Moyen
ge occidental, 33) ; Anne-Marie Helvetius, Les inventions de reliques en Gaule du Nord, in
Les reliques. Objets, cultes, symboles, Ead. and Edina Bozky eds., Turnhout, 1999,
pp. 292-311 ; Robert A. Markus, The End of Ancient Christianity, Cambridge, 1990,
pp. 97-106, 139-155.
244. The translatio is mentioned in a martyrology of Rme, preserved in a fifteenth-century
manuscript from Semur, Bibl. mun., ms 24. The passages related to Rme are edited by Bruno
Krusch, Reise nach Frankreich im Frhjahr 1892, Neues Archiv, t. 18, 1883, pp. 549-649, at
p. 10 : 10 Kl. Octobris. Et in Reomao cenobio translacio corporis sancti patris nostri beatissimi
Iohannis conf., ad cuius reverentissimam turbam beneficia devote postulata multigena.
245. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 20, p. 343.
246. According to P. Geary, Furta Sacra, op. cit., p. 13, the period of three day fasting to
overcome the saints resistance is a common hagiographic topos. See also A. Angenendt,
Heilige und Reliquien, op. cit., pp. 173-174.
247. Paris, BnF, lat. 5306 contains the entire text. In the other manuscript, BnF, lat. 11748,
the text breaks off in the middle of chapter 18.
248. The words et sublata humo undique, nequaquam tamen sarcofagum movere possent are
missing in the Paris ms. For the Carolingian version, see Vita Iohannis, translatio, ch. 1.1,
AASS, January, 2, p. 863.
249. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 20 (cont.), p. 343 : Nam cum sepulcrum illud a loco in quo
positum erat avellere ac commutare voluissent, [et sublata humo undique, nequaquam tamen
sarcofagum movere possent], triduani ieiunii subire laborem consilii fuit.

46

a. diem

patrum describe immovable tombs. Bishop Palladius was not able to move the
tomb of Martin of Saintes without the support of the saint himself 250. In
another episode even 300 people were not able to move the sarcophagus of a
holy chaste couple from one corner of the monastery to another. The next day
the sarcophagus was found miraculously to have moved to its appropriate
place 251. Neither episode indicates that the saint himself actively resisted his
transfer an aspect that is at least implied in the Vita Iohannis, since the
monks later received permission from the saint to finish the translatio.
If the immovable sarcophagus belonged to the original text, the vita most
likely formed the model for a similar episode in the Vita Eligii by bishop
Audoin of Rouen ( 684), written in its original version soon after the Vita
Iohannis. Eligius was a nobleman, royal diplomat who later becam bishop of
Noyon. In his vita he appears both as a fervent supporter of the cult of relics
and of Columbanian monasticism, however clearly separating these two
forms of devotion. After his death in 660, Queen Balthild ( 680) wanted to
claim the body of the saint for her monastery, Chelles. Eligius, however,
refused to become a monastic relic and remained immovable despite a
three-day period of fasting and prayers, until it was decided to bury him in his
own cathedral church at Noyon 252.
Audoin was not only author of the Vita Eligii and bishop of Rouen but
also founder of Rebais and one of the first noble supporters of Columbanian
monasticism. With this story he made a clear statement against combining
the cult of relics with Columbanian monasticism. Both forms of devotion are
completely acceptable, but monastic sanctity should not be based on the
possession of holy bones but on the basis of the appropriate teaching and
lifestyle. He certainly shared this attitude with Jonas of Bobbio, whose Vita
Columbani can be read as a strong statement against a monastic cult of relics
as well. Here Jonas spends just two short sentences on death and burial of
Columbanus at Bobbio mainly emphasizing that his power was preserved in
his teaching (dicta) rather than in his bones 253. The second book of his Vita
Columbani usually the place where post mortem-miracles should take
place tells the history of a monastic network based on Columbanus regula.
This network was ruled from Columbanus main foundation Luxeuil, where
there was no need of the saints bones in order to keep his cult alive. We have
to keep this in mind when reading how Jonas fulfilled his commission to
describe Johns way to the altar.
Even without the motif of the saints refusal to move, Jonas described the
translatio in a way that taught the monks at Rme not to pay too much
attention to their founders bones. After the three day fasting period, which
250. Gregory of Tours, Liber in gloria confessorum, ch. 56, MGH, SRM, 1.2, p. 780.
251. Ibid., ch. 59, p. 782.
252. Audoin, Vita Eligii II, ch. 37-38, MGH, SRM, 4, pp. 721-722.
253. Jonas, Vita Columbani I, ch. 29, pp. 223-224 : Porro beatus Columbanus, expleto anni
circulo, in antedictu caenubio Ebobiensi vita beata functus, animam membris solutam caelo
reddidit VIII. Kl. Decembris. Cuius strenuitatem si quis nosse vellit, in eius dictis repperiet.
Reliquiaeque eius eo habentur in loco conditae, ubi et virtutum decore pollent presole Christo,
cui est gloria per omnia secula seculorum. Amen.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

47

ended on September 22, the feast of the churchs patron saint Mauricius, the
exhausted monks returned to their beds after having sung the Matins. One
monk, who was possibly old enough to have met the first abbots of Rme
personally, did not return to sleep but entered the church of the monastery.
Here he saw John surrounded by his successor Sylvester and several other
people in white vestments standing in front of the tomb. He heard how John
gave the order to move the tomb to the place where it is now, that is, when
Jonas visited the monastery 254.
This passage is puzzling since it implies that Johns tomb had already been
transferred into the church and was only awaiting movement to its final place.
It seems that the old monk caught the saint when he was about to perform a
tomb-moving miracle similar to the one described in Gregorys Liber in
gloria confessorum 255. However, when the saint realized the presence of an
unwished witness, he first became angry and reproached the monk for
entering the church illicitly, then he decided that the living monks should
complete by themselves what they had begun. Following the wish and the
permission of the saint, the monks moved the tomb to its final place without
any problem 256.
Jonas unusual translatio does not only comprise an ironic allusion to
Gregory of Tours, telling how a typical Gregory-miracle could also go wrong ;
it also provides a statement about the meaning of relics. Differently from the
dozens of saints whose cult of relics is described in great detail, especially in
Gregorys Liber in gloria martyrum, John is not present in his bones or in his
body 257. He and the other deceased monks come together in the church of
the monastery, regardless of where their body is actually located. His meetings simply take place at hours when the living monks usually do not enter
the church. What the old man saw, was not described as a dream or a vision ;
it was the saint himself. Moreover John did not give the order to move his
body, his relics or his tomb, but just the tomb (sepulcrum) just as if the object
of the translatio had nothing to do with himself.
254. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 20 (cont.), p. 343 : Cum iam tercia dies a ieiunio illuxit,
erat enim X. Kals. Octobris, in quo die veneranda festivitas beati Mauricii martiris cum sociis
suis mundo clara nitescit, et fessa iam ieiunio membra post matutinos cantus rursum in sopore
requiescerent, quidam senex ecclesiam introiens, cernit beatos senes, sibique videbatur Iohannem et Silvestrum ante sepulcrum adstare atque his qui cum eis inerant, albis vestitis stolis,
imperare, ut sepulcrum moverent ac in locum ubi nunc est situm promoverint.
255. Gregory of Tours, Liber in gloria confessorum, ch. 59, MGH, SRM, 1.2, p. 782.
256. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 20 (cont.), p. 343 : Cumque ille audaci animo cerneret, quid
ageretur, a Iohanne, ut ipse arbitrabatur, increpatus est : Cur, inquid, ausus ecclesiam
introisti ? Sed quia simplici corde tuum cognovi introitum, vade, inquid, et concito gradu,
tam Leubardino quam sodalibus excitatis, ceptum opus cito peragant. Festinus ille a Leubardinum abbatem cucurrit ac rei geste causam deprompsit. Ille cum suis ovans surrexit, ac agnita
voluntate atque permissione proprie devocionis, surgentes atque sepulcrum amoventes, eo in
loco ubi nunc est commutarunt...
257. On the problem of the presence of the saint in the relics, see A. Angenendt, Heilige
und Reliquien, op. cit., pp. 102-122 ; P. Brown, The Cult of the Saints, op. cit., pp. 86-105 ;
M. Heinzelmann, Translationsberichte, op. cit., p. 18 ; P. Geary, Furta Sacra, op. cit., pp. 3340 ; Hedwig Rckelein, Reliquientranslationen nach Sachsen im 9. Jahrhundert, Sigmaringen, 2002, esp. pp. 325-365. Gregory emphasized the presence of the saint in his remains by
telling numerous stories of translations revealing a corpus incorruptum.

a. diem

48

In Gregory of Tours hagiographic works, there are hardly any dead

saints acting outside their grave and showing a presence separated from their
own physical remains. One of the few exceptions can be found in Gregorys
Liber in gloria martyrum. Here a mother of a dead monk regularly went to
church in order to hear her sons voice in the choir of the living monks,
implying that the monastic community is really a community of the living
and dead 258.
The community of Rme received permission to move Johns tomb at the
moment when the old man and with him all the other monks had realized
that John was already present in the church, regardless of the actual spot of
his grave. Besides that, Jonas emphasises his attitude toward relics by consistently not mentioning them. In fact, the entire chapter deals with moving the
sepulcrum or the sarcofagus, but Jonas never speaks about the saint, his
body, his relics or his bones 259.
Just as in the first book of the Vita Columbani Jonas uses the very last
sentence of the work for a powerful summary of his critical attitude toward
relics and his concept of sanctity. He tells how the monks installed a holy
altar (sanctum altarium) with the proper consent of the bishops. At this altar
they celebrated Eucharist and performed the offices of prayer. Here the sick
and needy people received solace of the benefices of him who is honour and
glory in eternity 260. If there is anything holy and causing miracles, it is the
properly consecrated altar, the Eucharist, the Mass and the prayer of the
monks, but not the bones in the altar.
Conclusion
Almost every detail about the life of John of Rme, his deeds, his
monastic world and his visions, attitudes and saintly virtues can be identified
as being recycled from older monastic texts. Thus the Vita Iohannis may
serve as an illuminating example of a hagiographical text that would be
thoroughly misinterpreted by being read as a historical or even worse
biographical source. It does not give any reliable information about the
founder of Rme. Of all information concerning Rme, we eventually may
accept the list of abbots and the fact of a translatio, but little more. Jonas
wanted his reader to identify the Regula quattuor patrum/Macharii as the
rule used in Lrins, but this does not say anything about how this rule or rules
in general were used in Lrins or Rme.
258. Gregory of Tours, Liber in gloria martyrum, ch. 75, MGH, SRM, 1.2, pp. 537-539.
Another story of dead priests singing with the living is told in ch. 46, pp. 519-520. See also Vita
patrum Iurensium, ch. 123, SC, 142, pp. 370-372.
259. Expressions such as ossa, reliquiae and corpus belong to the repertoire used in
translatio-records. Jonas expression sarcofagus is used regularly in the hagiographical works of
Gregory of Tours but rarely in other Merovingian hagiographic texts. Sepulcrum appears more
often but not as an object to be moved.
260. Jonas, Vita Iohannis, ch. 20 (cont.), pp. 343-344 : ... eo in loco ubi nunc est commutarunt, et ad sanctum altarium cum consilio episcoporum est situm, quo Christi hostiae litantur
atque orationum officia persolvuntur, ubi et remedia egris et quorumque votis solamina
beneficiorum accommodantur, cui est honor et gloria in seculorum secula. Amen.

john of rme, an iro-egyptian monk

49

Nevertheless, the work Jonas was commissioned to write is certainly

much more than just a collation of topoi grabbed from a remarkably rich
repertoire of older hagiographical, historiographic and theological texts.
Jonas transformed these topoi into a language suitable for telling his very own
story. Hardly any of the motifs Jonas used retained their original meaning
and function. Analysing how Jonas constantly gave his material a certain twist
actually makes this text one of the most fascinating pieces of Merovingian
hagiography.
His creativity may be outstanding, but his technique of saying new things
with old words was by no means exceptional and can teach us that medieval
thinkers were, despite their omnipresent references to sancti patres and
auctoritates and their constant use of traditional metaphors and categories,
by no means as conservative as they may appear on first sight.
In the case of the Vita Iohannis Jonas used the narrative form of a saints
life as a wrapping for a highly elaborated monastic programme. This programme comprises a wide although not entirely complete collection of
aspects of typical Columbanian monasticism, such as the sacralisation of
space, the role of intercessory prayer, the transfer of sanctity from the vir Dei
to the community, the notion of a regula as basis for a monastic identity
instead of relics, and the integration of the monastery into wider social
structures.
Jonas main work, the Vita Columbani, has a strong apologetic character,
aiming at convincing the readers of the social value, doctrinal correctness
and metaphysical power of the new monastic movement initiated by Columbanus and his followers. Jonas wanted to convince his audience that Columbanus monastic movement was by no means a break with monastic tradition
but rather a return to an older and more ideal state of monastic life. The
establishment of this new monastic movement was a controversial process,
which is reflected in the Vita Columbani in a long series of conflict situations.
The battle between Columbanus and Theuderic II/Brunhild over respect for
monastic space and the monk Agrestius attack on the liturgical practice in
Columbanian monasteries are only the most dramatic examples.
Being commissioned to write the Vita Iohannis gave Jonas a chance to
construct this older ideal state of monastic life that, according to the Vita
Columbani, had been abandoned before Columbanus arrival but was restored in his monastic foundations. It gave him the opportunity to establish
central aspects of Columbanian monasticism in the much less conflict-laden
setting of a remote past. By means of a couple well-chosen anachronisms
Jonas simply showed that some of the main innovations of Columbanian
monasticism had not been innovations at all. In the Vita Iohannis it is not
necessary to use the extinction of an entire branch of the Merovingian royal
family for demonstrating the imperative to respect monastic boundaries ; a
severe reproach in a dream vision is enough. Here no saint has to be exiled by
force in order to explain the transition of virtus from the vir Dei to the
community.
Jonas attempt to provide his narrative with a trustworthy historic background cannot convince modern historians, and even giving John a life span

a. diem

50

of 120 years did not overcome the factual contradictions. For Jonas it was
obviously more important to give his saint a past in Lrins and have him be
trained by Honoratus than to keep a plausible chronology. He showed his
narrative mastery by shaping a supposedly fifth-century but nevertheless
Columbanian monastic world by using Lrins as stage, Cassians work as
ascetic programme, the Regula quattuor patrum/Macharii as rule, the Vita
Antonii as hagiographical model, and Gregory of Tours work as a repertoire
of history and miracles.
One of the expressions that were certainly popularized, if not invented by
Jonas of Bobbio is tenor regulae. Tenor regulae included the monastic
lifestyle and discipline, its programmatic and theological basis, and the
authority of founder and abbot. Written rules, such as the Regula quattuor
patrum were just a written manifestation of this tenor regulae ; texts such as
the Vita Iohannis should probably be regarded as having a very similar
function, though expressed in a different form. The monks of Rme asked
John to write a vita, but what he gave him was in fact a regula, to be precise,
the Regula Columbani.
Albrecht Diem
Syracuse University, USA