STUDY OF THE LATIN CLASSICAL AUTHORS:
We have three sources of evidence that the writings of the great classical writers were not neglected as has sometimes been asserted. These sources are: 1, the numerous works of classical authors which have been copied and preserved in the Irish monastic libraries especially those of St. Gall in Switzerland and Bobbio in Italy; 2, the marginal and interlinear glosses on various MSS. earlier than the tenth century; 3, the quotations and imitations of classical writers which are revealed by study of the actual writing of early Irish mediæval writers.
In the section of Chapter V dealing with Irish libraries we discussed fully the first source of evidence and pointed out the influence of these libraries in late mediæval times. In more than one instance we had occasion to refer to the glosses as exemplifying different phases of intellectual activity in the Irish monastic school. Here we would emphasise the fact that these glosses furnish another objective proof that the Irish monks studied and taught the classics as well as the writings of the Fathers. There is considerable variety in the glosses. Generally they are in the nature of explanations written usually in Irish or Latin but occasionally in Greek. They consist mainly of explanations of obscure passages. They give various historical, mythological, and archæological details. They contain definitions, translations of individual words, free translations of idiomatic expressions, illustrations of the correct use of certain words, a summary of the observations of previous commentators and an elucidation of obscure allusions. In short they contain all that varied and supplementary matter which is essential when making an intensive study of a difficult book. These notes were at once grammatical and encyclopædic.[341]
A good example of this kind of work occurs in the Codex Sangallensis containing one of the many copies of Priscian’s Grammar which were written by Irish scribes. Traube has shown that it was written by some of the friends of Sedulius (of Liège) and supposes that it was copied in some Irish monastery and brought by wandering Irishmen to the Continent. The text is in different hands. The glosses too are in different hands from those which wrote the Latin text. At least three different hands are distinguished. The authorities relied upon by the glossators are: Origen, Isidore, Jerome, Augustine, Gregory, Hilary, Primascius, Virgilius, Ambrosius, Boethius, Cassianus, Dionysius, Thrax, Gaudentius, Baeda, Orascius, Cicero (not the orator, but an obscure grammarian), Hieronymus, Lactantius, Maximianus, Papirinus, Polibius, Medicus, and Probus.[342]
The very fact of being familiar with such an array of grammarians and authors is enough to justify Sedulius (at Liège 840–860 A.D.) in describing himself and his fellow-countrymen as docti grammatici.[343] One of them wrote a treatise on the Art of Versification, Tractus de Metrica Ratione,[344] which Zimmer styles a grammatical treatise of importance.[345] Clement (d. 826 A.D.) who succeeded Alcuin as Instructor to the Imperial Court of Charles the Great,[346] magister palatinus as he was called, wrote a grammatical work[347] which is famous for its erudition and for the wide range of reading which it shows, especially interesting is his reference to the Greeks “who are our masters in all branches of learning.”[348]
These grammatical treatises were much more than books on formal grammar. They dealt with the principles of rhetoric and the art of versification and when enriched by commentaries they must have occupied a prominent place in the educational literature of their own as well as of the succeeding centuries; for we should remember that in those days scholars were inclined to supplement existing works by adding commentaries rather than to attempt anything along original lines. However, many of the Irish monks were accomplished scholars and authors as well as commentators. In this connection many names might be cited, one of the most versatile being Sedulius who taught at Liège from 840 to 860 A.D.[349] Besides writing commentaries on the Scriptures, a grammatical treatise, and a work on the theory of government, he composed numerous poems of much merit.[350] With Sedulius we might rank Donatus (824–874 A.D.), bishop of Fiesole, who was also a poet. Among his poems there is one in which he gives a beautiful description of Ireland and shows that he has a high ideal of the mission of his race. He describes himself as Scottorum sangine creatus and tells how he united the duties of bishop to those of teacher of grammar and poetry.[351]
Such varied activities as copying and glossing the writings of classical authors, teaching poetry, and writing treatises on grammar are sufficient to suggest that the literary interests of the Irish monks extended beyond psalm-singing and a study of the writings of the Fathers. Even if their primary interest was the study of the Scriptures this very interest created a need for an abundance of correct texts. This naturally led to a careful study of orthography and the production of treatises on grammar in the broad sense in which we have defined the term. Possibly at first the rudiments of grammar were all that was necessary, but as Mr. Roger so aptly remarks,[352] “l’émulation créée par l’expansion du monachisme, la hardiesse et la curiosité naturelles des Irlandais, le désir d’approcher de plus en plus la pensée divine en pénétrant le sens d’Écriture, le goût pour l’étude qui n’était pas une nouveauté en Irlande, les entraînent au delà de ces éléments.” Thus having surmounted preliminary difficulties it was but natural that they whose literary taste had been developed by the study of their vernacular literature should not hesitate to study the classical authors. There was no fear of the return of paganism; to the Irish the Greek and Latin deities made no appeal. As they were not likely to sacrifice their faith to pagan rhetoric there was no necessity to confine themselves to rustic Latin as was the custom with the early Christians on the Continent who were daily drawing farther and farther away from correct classical forms. Hence a priori there are many reasons why we should expect to find traces of the classics in the writings of the Irish monks. This view is confirmed by an actual analysis of the existing works of writers of this period.
In the case of the prose works which we have mentioned the more or less technical nature of the subject did not afford scope for the cultivation of a classical style. What was essential was a lucid exposition of the thought-content expressed in clear, correct, intelligible language and this they undoubtedly possessed.[353]
With poetry, however, the case was different. Here naturally enough we find clear traces of the influence of the classical poets, and even in the prose of Irish scholars this same influence is often noticeable. Virgil in particular would appear to have been a special favourite. In this connection it is significant to find Old Irish seventh century glosses on the scholia of Iunius Philargyrius on the Bucolics.[354] Adamnan (624–704 A.D.) knew Virgil well. In his Vita Sancti Columbae, as Reeves has pointed out, there is clear evidence that he was familiar with the Georgics.[355] Roger has found traces of both the Georgics and the Aeneid as well as allusions to the authors Plautus and Suetonius.[356] Indeed it has been rigorously established that the extracts from Philargyrius already referred to are the work of no other than Adamnan himself.[357]
Muirchu who wrote the Memoirs of St. Patrick, in obedience to the command of Bishop Aed of Sletty (d. 698 A.D.) was inspired by Virgil and perhaps by Apollonius of Rhodes.[358] Columbanus (540–615 A.D.) was in many ways the most striking figure of his time. We have referred to the success of his missionary work.[359] As a classical scholar he was no less remarkable. He did not arrive on the Continent until he was fifty[360] years old and as his life there was filled with missionary work his scholarship must be considered as representative of the Bangor school where he spent so many years of his life as a student and a teacher. Columbanus arrived in Gaul about twenty years before the death of Gregory of Tours. But, as a distinguished French author remarks, it is sufficient to glance at the writings of Columbanus to recognise immediately their marvellous superiority over those of Gregory, or of the Gallo-Romans of his time.[361] He wrote an ode in Adonic verse which abounds in apt classical allusions.[362] In his poetry he imitated or cited Horace and Virgil and he has at least one quotation from the satires of Juvenal. Gundlach who submitted both the prose writings and the poetical Epistolae of Columbanus to a careful investigation, discovered in them quotations from, or reminiscences of, Persius, Virgil, Horace, Sallust, Ovid, Juvenal, as well as of the Christian poets Juvencus, Prudentius and Ausonius.[363] The familiarity with the writings of the classical authors so noticeable in the case of Columbanus is by no means an isolated phenomenon. A period spent in a continental library in exploring the collection of mediæval MSS. seldom fails to be rewarded by the discovery of additional writings of Irish scholars.[364] Thus in recent years Traube found in a MS. in Florence verses[365] composed by an abbot named Cellanus who has been identified with Cellach or Cellanus, the abbot of Peronne who succeeded Ultan, the brother of St. Fursey. Cellanus (d. 706 A.D.) is supposed to be the anonymous monk who wrote a letter to Aldhelm in which the educational influence of Irish scholars in England is referred to.[366] Cellanus, like his contemporary Adamnan, is familiar with Virgil;[367] while Cadoc, a student of Lismore, is said to have known Virgil by rote.[368]
We might give many more instances showing the continuity of Irish classical scholarship during the sixth, seventh and eighth centuries, but enough have been given to appreciate the tribute of Kerr when he says:[369] “The Latin education in Ireland began earlier and was better maintained than in other countries. The English and Teutonic nations received instruction from the Irish, and that not only at the beginning of their studies: Irish learning did not exhaust itself in missionary work and was not merged in the progress of its German pupils; it kept its vivifying power through many generations, and repeated in the ninth century the good works of the fifth, again contributing fresh material and a still rarer spirit of inquiry to the common erudition of the Continent.”
That the classical learning carried back into Gaul by the Irish monks did not immediately produce any very encouraging results can be largely accounted for by the disturbed social conditions. The rivalries and weakness of the Merovingian kings prolonged the period of disorder and violence. Besides, according to Jonas,[370] the negligence of the bishops consequent on the troubled situation was as culpable as the frequency of wars for the decay of religion. Hence the activities of the Irish monks were naturally directed partly at least into other channels in trying to bring about a reform in the morals of the people. To quote Roger:[371] “Tandis que saint Benoît trace, avec sérénité, un plan complet de la vie monastique, saint Columban oppose a la violence des vices, dans une société corrompue, la violence dans la penitence; il trace un plan d’attaque où il met toute la fouge de son caractère. La vertu de la religion était presque abolie; il s’efforce de la ranimer et de rendre à la foi l’efficacité qu’elle avait perdue.”
Under the enlightened policy of Charlemagne there was a distinct improvement in the social condition of the people, but the part played by the Irish monks during the seventh and eighth centuries in helping to bring about the moral regeneration of the people must not be overlooked; for even though this aspect of their work lies outside our present study, we cannot completely ignore those social factors which delayed the realization of a literary renaissance until the ninth century. Whether or not the efforts of Charlemagne “resulted in a revival of learning far more important in its consequences than that which is known as the Renaissance”[372] it can no longer be questioned that “during the reign of Charlemagne and his immediate successors the chief share of the literary revival which belongs to that period and is known as the Carolingian Renaissance fell to the Irish teachers in Frankland, and if we except Alcuin, Rhabanus and Fredegis, the men who founded that educational system to which the latter Middle Ages owe everything and the modern world more than it generally acknowledges were Irishmen.”[373]