Hiberno-Scottish mission - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Hiberno-Scottish mission was a mission

Mission (Christian)

Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...

led by Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

and Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

s which spread Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

and established monasteries in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

and continental Europe

Continental Europe

Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....

during the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

. The mission originated in 563 with the foundation of Iona

Iona

Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...

by the Irish monk Saint Columba

Columba

Saint Columba —also known as Colum Cille , Colm Cille , Calum Cille and Kolban or Kolbjørn —was a Gaelic Irish missionary monk who propagated Christianity among the Picts during the Early Medieval Period...

, and was initially concerned with ministering to the Gaels

Gaels

The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....

of Dál Riata

Dál Riata

Dál Riata was a Gaelic overkingdom on the western coast of Scotland with some territory on the northeast coast of Ireland...

and converting the northern Picts kingdoms. Over the next centuries the mission grew in power and influence and spread through Anglo-Saxon England and the Frankish Empire

Frankish Empire

Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century...

. The early mission is often associated with the Christian practice known as Celtic Christianity

Celtic Christianity

Celtic Christianity or Insular Christianity refers broadly to certain features of Christianity that were common, or held to be common, across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages...

, which was distinguished by its organizations around monasteries rather than dioceses and certain idiosyncratic traditions, but the later mission was more continental in character.

The Latin term Scotti
Scoti
Scoti or Scotti was the generic name used by the Romans to describe those who sailed from Ireland to conduct raids on Roman Britain. It was thus synonymous with the modern term Gaels...

refers to the Gaelic-speaking people of Ireland and the Irish who settled in western Scotland. In early medieval times Ireland was known, not only as Éire

Éire

is the Irish name for the island of Ireland and the sovereign state of the same name.- Etymology :The modern Irish Éire evolved from the Old Irish word Ériu, which was the name of a Gaelic goddess. Ériu is generally believed to have been the matron goddess of Ireland, a goddess of sovereignty, or...

, but also as Scotia
Scotia
Scotia was originally a Roman name for Ireland, inhabited by the people they called Scoti or Scotii. Use of the name shifted in the Middle Ages to designate the part of the island of Great Britain lying north of the Firth of Forth, the Kingdom of Alba...

, a name that the Romans used at times to refer to Ireland as well as Scotland. By the end of the 11th century it generally referred to Scotland. The Romans also gave Ireland the name "Hibernia". Thus, the "Scots" missionaries who were so influential in the early Church history of Germany included men from both Ireland and Scotland in the modern sense.

Schottenklöster (meaning Gaelic monasteries in German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, singular: Schottenkloster) is the name applied to the monastic foundations of Scottish and Irish missionaries in Continental Europe

Continental Europe

Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....

, particularly to the Scottish Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

monasteries in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, which in the beginning of the 13th century were combined into one congregation whose abbot

Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...

-general was the Abbot of the Scots monastery

Scots Monastery, Regensburg

The Scots Monastery is a Benedictine abbey of St James in Regensburg, Germany. It was founded by Hiberno-Scottish missionaries and for most of its history was in the hands of first Irish, then Scottish monks, whence its name The Scots Monastery is a Benedictine abbey of St James (Jakobskirche) in...

at Regensburg

Regensburg

Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...

.

In the 6th century migrations into what is now Scotland were Ulster clans such as the Airgíalla

Airgíalla

Airgíalla or Airgialla was the name of an Irish federation and Irish kingdom which first formed around the 7th century...

and the Uí Néill

Uí Néill

The Uí Néill are Irish and Scottish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noigiallach , an historical King of Tara who died about 405....

. Among them was Columba

Columba

of Gartan

Gartan

Gartan is a parish in County Donegal, Ireland. It is best known for being the birthplace of Saint Colmcille or Columba, one of the three patron saints of Ireland and one of the most revered saints in the Christian world. Here he founded a monastery in 521...

who, with twelve companions, founded Iona

Iona

in the early 6th century. Adomnán of Donegal wrote his biography in the early 8th century. As late as the 11th and early 12th century the name Scot or Scotus identified the missionary or traveller as a Gael

Gaël

Gaël is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department of Brittany in north-western France.It lies southwest of Rennes between Saint-Méen-le-Grand and Mauron...

and thus monks of Irish as well as Scottish origin were commonly both referred to under the same, at the time shared, nomenclature. Marianus Scotus

Blessed Marianus Scotus

Blessed Marianus Scotus, aka Muiredach mac Robartaig, Irish abbot and scribe.-Origins:Baptised Muiredach mac Robartaig, he became known as Marianus Scotus, a Latinazition of his first name with the appellation Scotus indicating his Irish background. He was born sometime before the middle of the...

together with his companions was the founder of St. Peter at Regensburg in 1072.

Columba to Columbanus (563-615)

Christianity was spread in northern Scotland from the year 563 with the foundation of Iona

Iona

by Columba

Columba

. Following the foundation of Lindisfarne

Lindisfarne

Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is also known as Holy Island and constitutes a civil parish in Northumberland...

in 635 by Saint Aidan

Aidan of Lindisfarne

Known as Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, Aidan the Apostle of Northumbria , was the founder and first bishop of the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne in England. A Christian missionary, he is credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria. Aidan is the Anglicised form of the original Old...

Hiberno-Scottish missionaries converted most Anglo-Saxon kings during the following decades; the last pagan Anglo-Saxon king, Arwald

Arwald

Arwald was the last Jutish King of the Isle of Wight and last pagan king in Anglo-Saxon England until the Vikings in the 9th century. His name may have been "Arwald" or "Atwald" - Bede's script is often difficult to read...

of the Isle of Wight, was killed in battle in 686.

Columbanus

Columbanus

Columbanus was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries on the European continent from around 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil and Bobbio , and stands as an exemplar of Irish missionary activity in early medieval Europe.He spread among the...

was active in the Frankish Empire from 590, establishing monasteries until his death at Bobbio

Bobbio

Bobbio is a small town and commune in the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It is located in the Trebbia River valley southwest of the town Piacenza. There is also an abbey and a diocese of the same name...

in 615. He arrived on the continent with twelve companions and founded Annegray, Luxeuil, and Fontaines in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

and Bobbio

Bobbio

in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. During the 7th century the disciples of Columbanus and other Scottish and Irish missionaries founded several monasteries in what are now France, Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland. The best known are: St. Gall

Abbey of St. Gall

The Abbey of Saint Gall is a religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in present-day Switzerland. The Carolingian-era Abbey has existed since 719 and became an independent principality during the 13th century, and was for many centuries one of the chief Benedictine abbeys in Europe. It was...

in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, Disibodenberg

Disibodenberg

thumb|right|Disibodenberg todaythumb|Disibodenberg ruinsthumb|Disibodenberg ruinsthumb|Disibodenberg pictureDisibodenberg is a monastery ruin in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was founded by Saint Disibod. Hildegard of Bingen, who wrote Disibod's biography "Vita Sancti Disibodi", also lived in...

in the Rhine Palatinate, St. Paul's at Besançon

Besançon

Besançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008...

, Lure

Lure, Haute-Saône

Lure is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Franche-Comté in eastern France.The Abbey of Lure was situated here. In the seventh century, Clothaire II recognised the virtues of Saint Deicolus and considerably enriched the Abbey of Lure, also granting Deicolus the manor, woods,...

and Cusance in the Diocese of Besançon, Beze in the Diocese of Langres, Remiremont Abbey

Remiremont Abbey

Remiremont Abbey was a Benedictine abbey near Remiremont, Vosges, France.-History:It was founded about 620 by Romaric, a lord at the court of Chlothar II, who, having been converted by Saint Ame, a monk of Luxeuil, took the habit at Luxeuil...

and Moyenmoutier Abbey in the Diocese of Toul

Diocese of Toul

The Diocese of Toul was a Roman Catholic diocese seated at Toul in present-day France. It existed from 365 until 1824. From 1048 until 1552 , it was also a state of the Holy Roman Empire.- History :...

, Fosses-la-Ville

Fosses-la-Ville

Fosses-la-Ville is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Namur. On January 1, 2006 Fosses-la-Ville had a total population of 9,311...

in the Diocese of Liège, Mont-St-Michel at Peronne

Péronne

Péronne is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:* Péronne, Saône-et-Loire, in the Saône-et-Loire département* Péronne, Somme, in the Somme département* Péronne-en-Mélantois, in the Nord département...

, Ebersmunster in Lower Alsace, St. Martin's at Cologne, the Scots Monastery, Regensburg

Scots Monastery, Regensburg

, Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, Erfurt

Erfurt

Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...

and Würzburg

St. James's Abbey, Würzburg

St. James's Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Würzburg. It was founded as a Scotch monastery by Embrico, Bishop of Würzburg, about 1134.-History:...

. In Italy, Fiesole produced Saint Donatus of Fiesole

Saint Donatus of Fiesole

Saint Donatus of Fiesole was an Irish teacher and poet, and Bishop of Fiesole, about 829-876.-Biography:According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, in an ancient collection of the Vitae Patrum, of which an eleventh century copy exists in the Laurentian library of Florence, there is an account of the...

and Andrew the Scot

Andrew the Scot

St. Andrew the Scot was the brother of St. Brigid the younger, been born in Ireland near the beginning of the ninth century to a noble family. Both Andrew and his sister studied under St. Donatus...

of Fiesole

Fiesole

Fiesole is a town and comune of the province of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a famously scenic height above Florence, 8 km NE of that city...

. Another early Schottenkloster was Säckingen

Säckingen Abbey

Säckingen Abbey is a former Roman Catholic abbey located in Bad Säckingen, Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The Abbey was founded in the 6th or 7th Century by Fridolin of Säckingen, an Irish monk...

in Baden

Baden

Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....

, founded by the Irish missionary Fridolin of Säckingen

Fridolin of Säckingen

Saint Fridolin, otherwise Fridolin of Säckingen, traditionally believed to have been born in Ireland, was a missionary, and the founder of Säckingen Abbey, Baden, in the 6th or 7th century. He is honoured as the apostle of the Alamanns.-Life:...

who is said to have founded another at Konstanz

Konstanz

Konstanz is a university city with approximately 80,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany, bordering Switzerland. The city houses the University of Konstanz.-Location:...

. Other Hiberno-Scottish missionaries active at the time, predominantly in Swabia

Swabia

Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...

, were Wendelin of Trier

Wendelin of Trier

Saint Wendelin or Wendelin of Trier was a hermit and abbot.-Life:There is very little definite information about this saint. His earliest biographies , did not appear until after 1417. The story as told there is that Wendelin was the son of a Scottish king...

, Kilian, Arbogast

Arbogast

Arbogast is a Germanic name composed of arbi ‘inheritance’ + gast ‘stranger’.Arbogast may refer to:* Arbogast , a Frankish general in the late Roman Empire* Saint Arbogast, an Irish saint...

, Landelin

Landelin

Saint Landelin was a former brigand who underwent a Christian conversion. As a result of this, in about 650 he founded a monastery at Lobbes in Hainaut - Lobbes Abbey - in order to make amends to the area which he had formerly injured.He also founded Crespin Abbey, and is credited with the...

, Trudpert

Trudpert

Saint Trudpert was a missionary in Germany in the seventh century. He is generally called a Celtic monk from Ireland, but some consider him a German....

, Pirmin (founded Reichenau abbey), Saint Gall

Saint Gall

Saint Gall, Gallen, or Gallus was an Irish disciple and one of the traditionally twelve companions of Saint Columbanus on his mission from Ireland to the continent. Saint Deicolus is called an older brother of Gall.-Biography:...

(Abbey of St. Gall), Corbinian

Corbinian

Saint Corbinian was a Frankish bishop. His feast day is September 8. The commemoration of the translation of his relics is November 20.-Life:...

, Emmeram and Rupert of Salzburg

Rupert of Salzburg

Rupert of Salzburg is a saint in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches and a founder of the Austrian city of Salzburg...

After Columbanus (8th to 13th c.)

Hiberno-Scottish activity in Europe gradually declined after the death of Columbanus. There were monastic foundations in Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...

Britain, the first in about 630 at "Cnobheresburg", an unknown place in East Anglia

East Anglia

East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...

, possibly Burgh Castle

Burgh Castle

Burgh Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the east bank of the River Waveney, near Great Yarmouth, some 6 km west of Great Yarmouth and within the Broads National Park.-Roman Fort:...

, mentioned by Bede

Bede

Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...

. Others were Malmesbury Abbey

Malmesbury Abbey

Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, was founded as a Benedictine monastery around 676 by the scholar-poet Aldhelm, a nephew of King Ine of Wessex. In 941 AD, King Athelstan was buried in the Abbey. By the 11th century it contained the second largest library in Europe and was...

, perhaps Bosham

Bosham

Bosham is a small coastal village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England, about ) west of Chichester on an inlet of Chichester Harbour....

, and Glastonbury Abbey

Glastonbury Abbey

Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. The ruins are now a grade I listed building, and a Scheduled Ancient Monument and are open as a visitor attraction....

had strong Irish links, if already in existence before they arrived. The profile of Iona declined, and from 698 until the reign of Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

in the 770s, the Hiberno-Scottish efforts in the Frankish Empire were continued by the Anglo-Saxon mission

Anglo-Saxon mission

Anglo-Saxon missionaries were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century, continuing the work of Hiberno-Scottish missionaries which had been spreading Celtic Christianity across the Frankish Empire as well as in Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England itself...

. See: Germanic Christianity

Germanic Christianity

The Germanic people underwent gradual Christianization in the course of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. By the 8th century, England and the Frankish Empire were Christian, and by AD 1100 Germanic paganism had also ceased to have political influence in Scandinavia.-History:In the 4th...

.

Irish monks known as Papar

Papar

The Papar were, according to early Icelandic historical sources, a group of Irish or Scottish monks resident in parts of Iceland at the time of the arrival of the Norsemen...

are said to have been present in Iceland before its settlement by the Norse

Norsemen

Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...

in the 9th century. Among the Irish monks who were active in Central Europe were two particularly important theologians, Marianus Scotus

Marianus Scotus

Marianus Scotus , was an Irish monk and chronicler , was an Irishman by birth, and called Máel Brigte, or Devotee of St...

and Johannes Scotus Eriugena

Johannes Scotus Eriugena

Johannes Scotus Eriugena was an Irish theologian, Neoplatonist philosopher, and poet. He is known for having translated and made commentaries upon the work of Pseudo-Dionysius.-Name:...

. Legends surrounding Iro-Scottish foundations are recorded in a Middle High German

Middle High German

Middle High German , abbreviated MHG , is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German and followed by Early New High German...

text known as Charlemagne and the Scottish Saints (BL

British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...

Harley 3971).

The rule of St. Columbanus, which was originally followed in most of these monasteries, was soon superseded by that of St. Benedict. Later Gaelic

Gaels

missionaries, founded Honau in Baden (about 721), Murbach

Murbach

Murbach is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.Murbach Abbey is located near Murbach.-References:*...

in Upper Alsace (about 727), Altomünster

Altomünster

Altomünster is a municipality in the district of Dachau in Bavaria in Germany.-Education:The Grund- und Mittelschule Altomünster has about 500 pupils. Since October 2011 the Volksschule Altomünster has a Comenius-partnership. Declared school-partners are the „Primary School“ in Crook and the...

in Upper Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

(about 749), while other Gaelic monks restored St. Michel in Thiérache (940), Walsort near Namur

Namur (city)

Namur is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia....

(945), and, at Cologne, the Monasteries of St. Clement (about 953), St. Martin (about 980), St. Symphorian (about 990), and St. Pantaléon (1042).

Towards the end of the 11th and in the 12th century, a number of Schottenklöster, intended for Scottish and Irish monks exclusively, sprang up in Germany. About 1072, three Scottish monks, Marianus, Iohannus, and Candidus, took up their abode at the little Church of Weih-St-Peter at Ratisbon

Regensburg

. Their number soon increased and a larger monastery was built for them (about 1090) by Burgrave Otto of Ratisbon and his brother Henry. This became the famous Scottish Monastery of St. Jacob at Ratisbon

Scots Monastery, Regensburg

, the mother-house of a series of other Schottenklöster. It founded the Abbeys of St. Jacob at Würzburg

Würzburg

Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....

(about 1134), St. Aegidius at Nuremberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

(1140), St. Jacob at Constance

Constance

Constance is a female given name that derives from Latin and means "constant." Variations of the name include Connie, Constancia, Constanze, Constanza, Stanzy, and Konstanze.Constance may refer to:-People:*Constance Bennett , American actress...

(1142), Our Blessed Lady

Schottenstift, Vienna

The Schottenstift or Scottish Abbey is a Roman Catholic monastery founded in Vienna in 1155 when Henry II brought Irish monks to Vienna. The monks did not come directly from Ireland, but came instead from St Jakob's, the Irish monastery in Regensburg, Germany...

at Vienna

Vienna

(1158), St. Nicolas at Memmingen

Memmingen

Memmingen is a town in the Bavarian administrative region of Swabia in Germany. It is the central economic, educational and administrative centre in the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the river that marks the Baden-Württemberg border...

(1168), Holy Cross at Eichstätt

Eichstätt

Eichstätt is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the District of Eichstätt. It is located along the Altmühl River, at , and had a population of 13,078 in 2002. It is home to the Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, the lone Catholic university in Germany. The...

(1194), and the Priory of Kelheim

Kelheim

Kelheim is a municipality in Bavaria, capital of the district Kelheim. It is situated at the confluence of Altmühl and Danube. As of June 30, 2005, the town had a population of 15,667....

(1231). These, together with the Abbey of St. Jacob at Erfurt

Erfurt

(1036), and the Priory of Weih-St-Peter at Ratisbon formed the famous congregation of the German Schottenklöster which was erected by Innocent III in 1215, with the Abbot of St. Jacob at Ratisbon as abbot-general.

14th century onwards

In the 14th and 15th centuries most of these monasteries were on the decline, partly for want of Scottish or Irish monks, and partly on account of great laxity of discipline and financial difficulties. In consequence, the abbeys of Nuremberg

Nuremberg

and Vienna

Vienna

were withdrawn from the Scottish congregation and repeopled by German monks in 1418. The Abbey of St. Jacob, Würzburg was left without any monks after the death of Abbot Philip in 1497. It was then re-peopled by German monks and in 1506 joined the congregation of Bursfeld. In 1595, however, it was restored to the Scottish congregation and continued to be occupied by Scottish monks until its suppression in 1803. The abbey of Constance began to decline in the first half of the 15th century and was suppressed in 1530. That of Memmingen also disappeared during the early period of the Protestant Reformation. The Abbey of Holy Cross at Eichstatt seems to have ceased early in the 14th century. In consequence of the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

in Scotland many Scottish Benedictines left their country and took refuge in the Schottenklöster of Germany during the 16th century. The Scottish monasteries in Ratisbon, Erfurt

Erfurt

, and Würzburg again began to flourish temporarily, but all endeavours to regain the monasteries of Nuremberg, Vienna, and Constance for monks of Scottish nationality were useless.

In 1692 Abbot Placidus Flemming of Ratisbon reorganized the Scottish congregation which now comprised the monasteries of Ratisbon Regensburg

Regensburg

, Erfurt, and Würzburg, the only remaining Schottenklöster in Germany. He also erected a seminary in connection with the monastery at Ratisbon. But the forced secularization of monasteries in 1803 put an end to the Scottish abbeys of Erfurt and Würzburg, leaving St. Jacob's at Ratisbon as the only surviving Schottenkloster in Germany. Though since 1827 this monastery was again permitted to accept novices, the number of its monks dwindled down to two capitulars in 1862. There being no hope of any increase, Pope Pius IX

Pope Pius IX

Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...

suppressed this last Schottenkloster in his brief of 2 September 1862. Its revenues were distributed between the diocesan seminary of Ratisbon and the Scotch College at Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

Literature

Bowen, E. G. (1977) Saints, Seaways and Settlements in the Celtic Lands. Cardiff: University of Wales Press ISBN 0 900768 30 4
Shaw, Frank (ed.) (1981) Karl der Große und die Schottischen Heiligen. Nach der Handschrift Harley 3971 der Britischen Bibliothek London, (Deutsche Texte des Mittelalters; LXXI). Berlin (DDR)

External links

Original Catholic Encyclopedia text of this article

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Columba to Columbanus (563-615)

After Columbanus (8th to 13th c.)

14th century onwards

Literature

See also

External links