Jonas of Bobbio
| Jonas of Bobbio | |
|---|---|
| Abbot, Hagiographer, disciple of Columbanus | |
| Residence | Bobbio Abbey |
| Honored in | Catholic Church |
| Feast | 28 May 28 June |
| Major works | Lives of Saints |
Jonas of Bobbio (also known as Jonas of Susa) (Sigusia, now Susa, Italy, c. 600 – after 659 AD) was a Columbanian monk and a major Latin monastic author of hagiography. His Life of Saint Columbanus is "one of the most influential works of early medieval hagiography."[1]
Biography
Jonas was born in Susa, Piedmont. In 618, Jonas arrived at the Abbey of St. Columbanus at Bobbio in the province of Pavia. He was soon appointed archivist and personal secretary to the abbot Attala (died 627) and later, to his successor Bertulf. In 628, the Bishop of Tortona attempted to bring Bobbio under his own jurisdiction. Jonas accompanied Bertulf on a journey to Rome to persuade Pope Honorius I to exempt Bobbio from episcopal jurisdiction, and make the abbey immediately subject to the Holy See.[1][2] Jonas relates that, while returning to the monastery, Bertulf suffered a deadly fever, but was miraculously cured by St. Peter.[3]
Immediately after his return, Jonas moved to Gaul, and his biography of Eustace of Luxeuil, reflects personal acquaintance. Saint Amand asked Jonas for assistance in his missionary work among the pagans of what is now Belgium and northern France, which occasioned his vita of Saint Vedast, the first Frankish Bishop of Arras. In fulfillment of a promise made to the monks of Bobbio during a short return visit to the monastery in 639, he wrote between 640 and 643 his principal work, the Life of St. Columbanus. Jonas asserted that he had based his account on the testimony of persons who had known him personally, such as the saint's companions. As almost all accounts of the Irish missionaries in Gaul have been lost, the biography of Columban is of great value.[4]
In 659, Jonas was sent by the Queen-Regent Balthild as abbot to a monastery in Chalon-sur-Saône. He has sometimes been identified with Jonatus, recorded as abbot of Marchiennes around the same time, although no medieval source identifies the two or equates their names.[5] During this journey he sojourned for a few days at the monastery of Réôme (Reomans, now Moutiers-Saint-Jean) in the diocese of Langres. To comply with a request made by the monks on this occasion he wrote the life of their founder, Jean de Réôme.
Works
The other works of Jonas are lives of the abbots Attala and Bertulf of Bobbio and of the abbess Burgundofara of Evoriac (modern Faremoutiers). Bede incorporated the lives of Eustace, Attala, and Bertulf into his Ecclesiastical History, while Flodoard turned that of Columbanus into hexameter verse. The "Life of St. Fara" is chiefly an account of miraculous events alleged to have occurred during this saint's rule at Evoriac, but Jonas' elaborate and fantastically miraculous account contains nuggets of historical information that throw light upon a poorly documented time.
The works of Jonas, exclusive of the "Life of St. Vaast", are printed in Patrologia Latina LXXXVII, 1011–88.
Veneration
Jonas is venerated in Catholic Church:
- 28 May – commemoration, (Bollandists),[6]
- 28 June – commemoration, Menologium Scotorum by Thomas Dempster,[7]
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Jonas of Bobbio — (Or Jonas of Susa)
Monk and hagiographer, b. about the close of the sixth century at Sigusia (Susa) in Piedmont; d. after 659. In 618 he entered the monastery of Bobbio in the province of Pavia where he was soon appointed to a position of confidence, probably that of secretary to the abbots Attala (d. 627) and Bertulf. He accompanied the latter on a journey to Rome in 628, and after his return took up his permanent abode in Gaul. Appealed to by St. Amandus for assistance in his missionary work among the heathen, he laboured in what is now Belgium and Northern France. His presence in this district was the occasion of his composition of the life of St. Vaast, the first Frankish Bishop of Arras (Pas-de-Calais). Owing to a promise made to the local monks during a short visit to the monastery of Bobbio in 639, he wrote between 640 and 643 his principal literary work, the "Life of St. Columbanus." In 659, when he was sent by the queen-regent Bathildis on a mission to Chalon-sur-Saône, he was abbot of a monastery which cannot now be determined. During this journey he sojourned for a few days at the monastery of St. John of Réomé (now Moutier-Saint-Jean) in the Diocese of Langres. To comply with a request made by the monks on this occasion he wrote the life of their founder, St. John. The work to which Jonas chiefly owes his literary fame comprises, besides the "Life of St. Columbanus," the lives of the abbots Attala and Bertulf of Bobbio, Eustace of Luxeuil, and the Abbess Burgundofara (or Fara) of Evoriac (now Faremoutiers). The biographies of Columbanus and his successors, though written in a bombastic style, contain invaluable historical information. Jonas arrived at Bobbio but three years after Columbanus's death, and based his invaluable account of the great Irish saint on the testimony of persons who had known him intimately. Eustace, Attala, and Bertulf, he knew personally. Bede incorporated these lives into his ecclesiastical history, while Flodoard turned that of St. Columbanus into hexameter verse. The "Life of St. Fara" is chiefly an account of the miraculous events alleged to have occurred during this saint's rule at Evoriac. The works of Jonas, exclusive of the "Life of St. Vaast," are printed in P.L. LXXXVII, 1011-88; better edition by Krusch in "Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script. Rer. Mer.," III, 406-13, 505-17; IV, 61-152 (Hannover, 1896 and 1902).
BENNETT in Dict. Christ. Biog., III, 430-1; HARDY, Descriptive Catalogue of Materials relating to the History of Great Britain and Ireland, I, i (London, 1862), 210-2; LAWLOR, The Manuscripts of the Vita S. Columbani in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, XXXII, sect. C, part I (Dublin, 1903); SEEBASS in Realencyk. fuer prof. Theol., s.v. Jonas von Bobbio; WATTENBACH, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen, I (7th ed.), 132.
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 O'Hara, Alexander. Jonas of Bobbio and the Legacy of Columbanus, Oxford Studies in Late Antiquity (New York) doi:10.1093/oso/9780190858001.001.0001
- Back to citation "Carolingian Polyptyques", University of Leicester
- Back to citation Odden, Per Einar. "Den hellige Bertulf av Bobbio (d. 640)", Den katolske kirke, February 17, 2009
- Back to citation Munro, D.C. "Introduction", The Life of St. Columban, by the Monk Jonas, Medieval Sourcebook: Fordham University
- Back to citation Karine Ugé (2000), "The Legend of Saint Rictrude: Formation and Transformations (Tenth–Twelfth Century)", Anglo-Norman Studies, 23: 281–298, at 285 and n.
- Back to citation Zeno. "Lexikoneintrag zu »Jonas (12)«. Vollständiges Heiligen-Lexikon, Band 3. Augsburg..." www.zeno.org (in German). Retrieved 2022-12-19.
- Back to citation Dempster, Thomas (1622). Menologium scotorum in quo nullus nisi Scotus gente aut conuersatione,...colligit publicat et inscribit... Thomas Dempsterus... opus ecclesiasticæ hierarchiæ ac monasticæ vitæ dignitati augendæ, hæ resi in Scotia vigenti consundendæ operose utile (in Latin). typis Nicolai Tebaldini.
External links
- Works: Bruno Krusch, ed. (1905). MGH Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum in Usum Scholarum. Vol. 37. Hannover/Leipzig.
- Christoph Dröge (1992). "Jonas von Bobbio (Jonas Bobiensis)". In Bautz, Friedrich Wilhelm (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 3. Herzberg: Bautz. cols. 632–635. ISBN 3-88309-035-2.
- Philip Schaff (ed.). "Jonas of Bobbio". The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Vol. VI.