A City upon a Hill: How the Irish Nation preserved Christendom during the Early Middle Ages
31 July 2024
Introduction
In the pre-modern era, prior to the invention of the printing press, one of the most important tasks performed by Christian civilization was the preservation of manuscripts, both sacred and otherwise. The significance of the role played by early medieval Irish monasteries can hardly be overestimated in this regard. This contribution seeks to appraise the perpetual value of this vital work of the Irish people, especially through their monasteries, in preserving the first Christendom so as to inspire Christian communities today to continue to work hard for the future of our progeny and for the establishment of the New Christendom.
Textual Preservation in the Early Church
From the time of the reign of emperor Hadrian (117—138 AD) Greek literature experienced a rapid decline from its former glory days. The decline Greek civilization meant a decreased interest in the wisdom of the ancients, which of course resulted in many works of the ancient Greek world being lost.1 This loss of interest in classical Greek literature would continue up until the eighth century, although the greater part of this corpus was probably already lost by the fifth when papyri replaced parchment as writing material. From the eighth century onwards, with the rise of the Byzantine civilization, much greater care was taken to recover ancient Greek wisdom.2
For the most part the ancient Latin texts from the Roman world escaped this fate. During pre-Christian times, the textual transmissions of Latin texts in the Roman empire was very much uncoordinated and unprofessional. In the case of some of the more technical works, such as Cicero’s De Agricultura, later annotations and corrections from scribes even came to be transmitted as part of the text itself. Even texts that were in common use, such as satirical epochs used for plays, did not escape these revisions.3
When Christendom was established in the Roman Empire during the fourth century, antagonism towards pagan literature was initially quite common. The church father Jerome (342—420 AD) felt the need to repent when he claimed to have heard a voice in a dream telling him: “Ciceronianus es, non Christianus: ubi thesaurus tuus ibi et cor tuum,” i.e. “You are a follower of Cicero, not of Christ. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be.”4 Jerome warned teaching elders in the church not to spend too much time studying pagan literature. Decades later, when Augustine (354—430) came to faith, this attitude changed. His high appreciation for the earlier Greco-Roman works on rhetoric in particular led to a revival of interest in classical thought among Christians.5 This set the tone for the reappraisal of Latin literature by the Christian West characteristic throughout the Middle Ages.
The Rise of Christian Monasteries
The monastic life formed an integral part of Christendom since the time of the early church. The Italian monk Benedict of Nursia (480—547) was the first to establish a monastic order when he invited other hermits to join him in living in a monastic community wherein daily life was dedicated to fasting, prayer and cultivating self-discipline. During his lifetime 14 monasteries were established throughout Italy, the most famous of which would be the Monte Casino monastery near Naples. Many other monasteries following his rules would also be established throughout Europe, and the monks living by his rules became known as the Benedictines.6 From the very beginning the copying and preservation of biblical and classical texts played a major role in the monastic movement—one in which monks engaged with the greatest care.7
The Role of Irish Monasteries in preserving Biblical Manuscripts and Classical Learning
Prior to St. Patrick’s missionary work on the island, which started in 432 AD, the Irish people had been completely pagan. This was significant in the sense that Irish Christianity was established completely free of any Arian influences, and developed as a purer form of Augustinianism. Monasticism speedily developed in Ireland so that by 600 AD there was already 20 000 Irish monks, half of whom resided in the four largest monasteries: Clonard, Clonfert, Clonmacnoise and Bangor.8
Children from the ages of 6 received instruction from monks and most Irish children received some education from the monastery schools, wherein they were not only taught to learn all 150 Psalms by heart, but were also taught classical poetry, philosophy, biology, Latin, and Greek. Interestingly classes were in conducted in the native Irish language of the people, which also made Irish the first vernacular written language in all of Europe. Monastries successfully managed to integrate only the best elements of pre-Christian philosophy into their Christian curriculum, which was tailor-made for the Irish people.9
Augustine’s work on monasticism, De Opera Monachorum, served as the rule for Irish monasteries, and the revival of interest in classical literature throughout Europe from the seventh century was largely driven by the Irish monasteries. During this time, Irish Christianity also increasingly came into conflict with Roman Christianity regarding the role and position of the pope and the date of Easter. As Irish culture and religion became increasingly distinct from that of continental Europe and an early form of Irish Christian nationalism manifested, Irish monks were even sent as missionaries to re-evangelize the continental Europeans of the time. Irish monks even established Irish monasteries on the European continent. The intellectual revival throughout Europe during the reign of Charlemagne (748—814) can largely be attributed to the work of the Irish monks. Two of the four largest libraries in Europe at the time were located in monasteries established by Irish monks, who also re-introduced the works of Plato to a Europe which had largely forgotten him.10 When a young Thomas Aquinas (1225—1274) later studied logic and philosophy at the University of Naples during his late teens, his professor was the influential Irish monk Peter de Ibernia, also known as Peter of Ireland.11
From the sixth century deep into the late middle ages, copying and preserving the Bible and other texts formed part of the daily tasks of Irish monks. Every monastery was not only a school, but also a centre for transcription, with copies of the Holy Scriptures, Church fathers and Greco-Roman philosophers produced and spread throughout Europe. The Irish monastery movement would, however, suffer a tremendous setback when the Vikings invaded Ireland towards the end of the ninth century. This invasion led to the destruction of many libraries at Irish monasteries as the Vikings would continue to cause havoc on the island until they were finally expelled by the Irish king Brian Boru in 1014.12
Thankfully the Irish had already spread much of their literature and manuscripts throughout the rest of Europe. French and Germans consequently took over the mantle from the Irish during the tenth century. The Germans did a great job of preserving classical texts such as the works of Tacitus and Lucretius, and scholasticism developed in the French monasteries in Chartres, Paris and Orleans. The Aristotelian revival of the time was also largely driven by these French monastery-schools.13
Conclusion
It was Irish monks who first established monastery schools in Europe and instructed Irish and later other European children in the Bible and in classical literature. Notably, the instruction of Irish children took place in the national Irish language of the people and not in Latin, which shows how the manifestation of nationalism itself among a distinct people can serve to benefit all other nations around the world as well. This would of course set the stage not only for the Carolingian intellectual revival but also for the later development of the first European universities. The Bible and other classical learning were preserved for us largely thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit among the Irish people. Biblical Christianity and Christendom would not have survived until the late Middle Ages had it not been for the Irish.
1. Hall, F.W. 1913. A Companion to Classical Texts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 40.
2. Ibid., 42—43.
3. Ibid., 53.
4. Jerome, Letter 22.30.4.
5. Hermanson, A.K. 2008. “Saint Augustine and the Creation of a distinctly Christian Rhetoric,” in The Rhetoric of Saint Augustine of Hippo: De Doctrina Christiana & the Search for a distinctly Christian Rhetoric. Edited by L.E. Richard. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, p. 5.
6. Unstead, R.J. 1970. Monasteries. London: Black.
7. Ibid., 17.
8. Allies, T.W. 1896. The Monastic Fathers of the desert to Charlemgne. University of Michigan Press, p. 183.
9. Cahill, T. 1995. How the Irish saved Civilization. New York: Aanchor Books, p. 160.
10. Hall, 73—75.
11. Selman, F. 2005. Aspects of Aquinas. Dublin, Veritas, p. 14.
12. Hjardar, K. 2018. Warfare through the Ages: Vikings. New York: Rosen, p. 120.
13. Hall, 80—81.