Evidence ID
E08383
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Chronicle of Fredegar, 4.36
In this chapter the chronicler reproduces, almost verbatim, text from Jonas' Lives of Columbanus and his Disciples, I. 18-19 (see E07615), centering on the monk's conflict with King Theuderic (II) and Queen Brunhild in the 'fourteenth year of Theuderic's reign' (609), especially his miraculous invocation of thunder (or an earthquake: fragor) and explosion of glass vessels during a confrontation at the monastery of Luxeuil. The chapter ends with a brief summary of the remainder of Book One of Jonas' work.
Text: Wallace-Hadrill 1960, 23-9.
Summary: B. Savill.
Cult PlacesMiracle during lifetime
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Cult building - monastic
Non Liturgical ActivityTransmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
MiraclesMiracle during lifetime
Power over elements (fire, earthquakes, floods, weather)
Power over objects
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Monarchs and their family
Source
The work known as the Chronicle of Fredegar dates from the second half of the 7th century. There is a long history of controversy over the questions of how many authors were involved in its compilation and precisely when they worked, but the current consensus is that it was produced by a single author working in one of the Frankish kingdoms at some point after 659 (Collins 1996, 83, 91-96).While the first three books of the chronicle largely reproduce earlier sources, Book 4 is (besides this chapter) mostly an original composition, covering events from 584 to 642.
Discussion
The chief interest of this passage lies in its evidence for the popularity and perceived significance of Jonas' Life of Columbanus from a comparatively early date; note, however, that the chronicler does not name his or her source. This is the only narrative about a saint's life in Book Four of the Chronicle of Fredegar, and the only passage in that book in which specific miracles are described.Bibliography
Edition and translation:Wallace-Hadrill, J.M., The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar (London, 1960).
Further reading:
Collins, R., "Fredegar," in: P.J. Geary (ed.), Authors of the Middle Ages: Historical and Religious Writers of the Latin West, vol. 4, nos. 12-13 (Aldershot, 1996), 73-138.
Collins, R., Die Fredegar-Chroniken (Hannover, 2007).
Record Created By
David Lambert and Benjamin Savill
Date of Entry
31/01/2023
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S01983 | Columbanus, monk and missionary in Ireland, Gaul and Italy, ob. 615 | Columbanus | Certain |
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