Oswiu’s Bad Luck

I've been reading Marilyn Dunn's The Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons and just thinking about King Oswiu's bad luck after the Synod of Whitby. He is celebrated by Bede and the Church of England ever after for choosing to accept the authority of Rome over the independent tradition of Iona, the mother house of the Irish...

A Tale of Adomnan and Fínsnechta the Generous, King of Brega

Fínsnechta was King of Mag Breg for 20 years (675-695)  including when the Northumbrians raided Brega in 684 and Adomnan later redeemed the hostages. Fínsnechta and his son were assassinated in 695. A Bóroma is apparently a type of tribute, probably cattle tribute. I have to wonder why Adomnan cared about Finsnechta's cattle tribute unless...

Adomnan, Cuthbert, and King Aldfrith

I was really looking forward to Barbara Yorke's paper "Adomnan at the court of King Aldfrith" from the Adomnan conference published in Adomnan of Iona: Theologian, Lawmaker, Peacemaker. I have a couple of her books and I've learned a lot from her. Unfortunately there are a few things in her chapter that I don't think...

Bishop Coetti of Iona

This past week I read Barbara Yorke's contribution to Adomnan of Iona: Theologian, Lawmaker, Peacemaker. She mentions almost in an off-hand way that some believe that Bishop Coetti of Iona was English with a name along the lines of Cedd (Cedda) and Chad (Caedda). I'm not a linguist so I can't really evaluate the likelihood...

Plague texts from Late Antique Britain

Plague in Late Antique Britain is one of the few topics that has not yet been well studied. Assembling the plague texts for the Plague of Justinian from Anglo-Saxon England and neighboring kingdoms is the best place to start. All of the following at least mention the plague: Adomnan, Life of Columba, c. 700 Anon....

Fostering Princes on Iona

A while back I mentioned that Michael Lapidge has placed Aldhelm on Iona, making him the second Anglo-Saxon prince to study there. This has made me wonder if Iona wasn't running a school for princes and other nobles. There is one other possible example. Stephan of Ripon seems to indicate in his Life of Bishop...