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Durham E-Theses Durham E-Theses ATONING FOR KILLING: THE PRACTICE OF PENANCE AND THE PERCEPTION OF BLOODSHED AMONG THE EARLY MEDIEVAL IRISH, FIFTH TO NINTH CENTURY. BURKE, DAVID How to cite: BURKE, DAVID (2015) ATONING FOR KILLING: THE PRACTICE OF PENANCE AND THE PERCEPTION OF BLOODSHED AMONG THE EARLY MEDIEVAL IRISH, FIFTH TO NINTH CENTURY., Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11163/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 ATONING FOR KILLING: THE PRACTICE OF PENANCE AND THE PERCEPTION OF BLOODSHED AMONG THE EARLY MEDIEVAL IRISH, FIFTH TO NINTH CENTURY. DAVID BURKE Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History, Durham University 2014 ABSTRACT From the introduction of Christianity into Ireland in the fifth century to the arrival of the Vikings in the ninth, the attitudes of the Irish Church towards bloodshed and violence changed considerably. The moral code of pacifism and non-violence, especially towards other Christians, advocated by the Christian Churches came into direct confrontation with the violent necessities of secular life when the Roman Empire adopted the new faith as its state religion. Further difficulties arose when the Roman Empire gave way to Germanic kingdoms, and when the Christian faith began to make its way out to lands unconquered by Rome, such as Ireland; challenged by cultures in which honour and violence were part of the social fabric, and by the idea that victory in battle demonstrated divine favour, the Church had to both integrate itself into these new lands and try to draw them closer to the Christian ideal. Penance for the sins committed in life could be undertaken, but it was an arduous and humiliating process, such that many did not seek redemption until near death, an attitude which did not rest easy with the Church. The monastic system of penance, fixed in term and confessed in private, became available to the laity in the British Isles, a seismic shift which would allow a layman a new avenue to atone for sins of bloodshed, from murder to killing in war. It has, however, been questioned as to whether such penance was widely available to the laity as a whole or only to a specific group from among them. This thesis will explore how this changing attitude towards violence within the Irish Church demonstrates that this new form of penitential practice was indeed available to the whole laity through examining the development in nuance concerning the various sins of bloodshed across not only the Irish Penitentials, but hagiography, canon law, secular law, narratives, and other texts. 1 Contents Abbreviations 4 Statement of Copyright 6 Acknowledgements 7 Introduction 8 Chapter 1: Precursors and Influences 1.1 Continental Penitential Thought, c.300-c.600 20 1.2 The First Christian Mission to Ireland 27 1.3 Patrick the Evangelist 30 1.4 Four British Texts 35 1.5 The ‘First Synod of Patrick’ 39 1.6 Continental and British Influences on Irish Penitential Thought 44 Chapter 2: Continuity and Development in Irish Penitential Thought and the Nature of Bloodshed 2.1 Finnian’s Penitential 47 2.2 The Ambrosianum 54 2.3 The Penitential of Columbanus 61 2.4 Cummian’s Penitential 67 2.5 Changes and Developments in the First Penitentials 73 Chapter 3: Penance and Bloodshed in the Lives of Brigit and Patrick 3.1 The Lives of Saints 78 3.2 The Patrician Texts 3.2.1 The authors and their texts 81 3.2.2 Bloodshed and penance in the Patrician texts 84 3.3 The Brigitine Tradition 3.3.1 The authors and their texts 88 3.3.2 Penance and bloodshed in the Brigitine tradition 93 3.4 Common threads in the Brigitine and Patrician traditions 103 Chapter 4: Adomnán of Iona on Penance and Bloodshed 4.1 The Fearsome Hagiographer 109 4.2 The Cáin Adomnáin 2 4.2.1 A composite document 110 4.2.2 The Law 114 4.2.3 The angel’s directive 117 4.2.4 Impact 119 4.3 The Vita Columbae 4.3.1 Composition and context 121 4.3.2 The Life of Columba 124 4.4 Canones Adomnani 133 4.5 Forging a new status quo 137 Chapter 5: Theodore of Tarsus and His Impact on Irish Penitential Thought 5.1 Theodore’s Penitential 143 5.2 The Bigotian Penitential 148 5.3 Penance in the Vernacular 151 5.4 The Collectio canonum Hibernensis 157 5.5 Prescriptive Texts Influenced by Theodore 166 Chapter 6: The Clients of God 6.1 A Rare Witness 170 6.2 The Tallaght Memoir 174 6.3 Penance at the Monastery of Tallaght 175 6.4 Who Suffered Penance at Tallaght? 189 6.5 The Soldier of Christ 194 Chapter 7: Kings, Killers, and Penitent Laymen 200 Conclusion 224 Appendix Diagram 1: A schematic of the relationship between the various penitential texts discussed in the thesis 234 Diagram 2: A depiction of confraction at Easter and Christimas 235 Table 1: Particular Penitentials 236 Table 2: Comprehensive Penitentials 237 Table 3: Cáin Adomnáin 238 Timeline 239 Bibliography 241 3 Abbreviations Can. Ad. Canones Adamnani AClon. Annals of Clonmacnoise AI Annals of Inisfallen AT Annals of Tigernach AU Annals of Ulster BB Bethu Brigte Bieler, Penitentials Bieler, L., The Irish Penitentials Bieler, Patrician Texts Bieler, L., The Patrician Texts in the Book of Armagh Byrne, Kings Byrne, F. J., Irish Kings and High-Kings Dauid Excerpta Quedam de Libro Dauidis de Clercq, Les canons de Clercq, C., Les canons des conciles mérovingiens (VIe-VIIe siècles) (2 vols.) Etchingham, Church Organisation Etchingham, C., Church Organisation in Ireland A.D.650 to 1000 HE Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum Hefele, Councils Hefele, K. J., A History of the Christian Councils: from the original documents (5 vols.) Hibernensis Collectio canonum Hibernensis Kelly, Law Kelly, F., A Guide to Early Irish Law Kenney, Sources Kenney, J. F., The Sources for the Early History of Ireland: Ecclesiastical. An Introduction and Guide 4 MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica AA Auctores Antiquissimi SRG Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum Muirchú Muirchú, Vita S. Patricii OI Pen. Old Irish Penitential OxDNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (60 vols.) Paen. Amb. Paenitentiale Ambrosianum Paen. Bi. Paenitentiale quod dicitur Bigotianum Paen. Columb. Paenitentiale S. Columbani Paen. Cumm. Paenitentiale Cummeani Pen. Vinn. Penitentialis Vinniani Praefatio Gildae Praefatio Gildae de Poenitentia Sinodus Aq. Sinodus Aquilonalis Britaniae Sinodus Luci Sinodus Luci Victorie Synodus Pat. Synodus I S. Patricii Tírechán Tírechán, Collectanea U ‘The Penitential of Theodore’ VB I / VPB Vita I S. Brigidae; trans. by Connolly, S., ‘Vita Prima Sanctae Brigitae’ VB II / VB Cog. Cogitosus, Vita II S. Brigitae; trans. by Connolly, S., and Picard, J.-M., ‘Cogitosus’s “Life of St Brigit”’ VC Adomnán, Vita S. Columbae 5 Statement of Copyright The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the author’s prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. 6 Acknowledgements I wish to thank my supervisors, Dr Clare Stancliffe and Prof. Richard Gameson, for their invaluable support, guidance, patience, and encouragement over the last few years. I also wish to thank the Department of History, the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies (IMEMS), the Medieval and Early Modern Student Association (MEMSA), and Ustinov College at Durham University for offering a social and academic environment in which to discuss my work and learn from other postgraduates and academics, and for providing funding towards my attendance of conferences and specialist schools. I owe great debt of gratitude to my parents, Marion and Paschal, and my brother, Matthew, for their unwavering faith and endless encouragement. My thanks also go to too many friends to name, but especially to Aversa Sheldon and Anna Dow who read and commented on parts of this thesis. 7 Introduction When Wenilo, archbishop of Sens, provided Louis the German with military support during his invasion of the kingdom of his half-brother, Charles the Bald, in 858, he was explicitly providing material ecclesiastical assistance for the inevitable violence.1 Though the Archbishop would not have personally taken part in the bloodshed, he must have assured the forces under his remit of divine support, and that, though they would be involved in the killing of fellow countrymen, any penance for that sin would be relatively brief. When in 1066 William launched his invasion of Anglo-Saxon England, he had secured papal assent by agreeing to the demand that his men would undertake penance for every life they took, intentionally or not.2 Though separated by centuries, these two conflicts are indicative of an important and far-reaching new line of Christian thought: killing could be condoned by the Church, and it must have been be atoned for, and rather quickly at that. Indeed, not only could killing be forgiven, but the killing of fellow Christians could be absolved.
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