Table of Contents

Introduction: Reading Jonas
1. Conflicting Visions of Community: The Legacy of Columbanus
2. New Rules: The Agrestius Affair and the Regula Benedicti
3. An Italian Monk in Merovingian Gaul
4. Stilo texere gesta: Jonas the Hagiographer
5. Jonas and Biblical Stylization
6. The Miracle Accounts
7. Sanctity and Community
Epilogue
Appendices
Distribution of Biblical quotations and allusions in Jonas's hagiography
The Use of the Bible in the Vita Vedastis
The Use of the Bible in the Vita Iohannis
The Use of the Bible in the Vita Columbani
Miracle Accounts in the Vita Columbani
Miracle Accounts in Adomnán's Vita Columbae
Miracle Accounts in Book II of Gregory the Great's Dialogues
Miracle Accounts in the Vita Vedastis
Miracle Accounts in Vita Iohannis
Miracles in Muirchú's Vita Patricii
The Manuscripts of the Vita Columbani
Graphs of Miracle Accounts in Vita Columbani
Bibliography

About the Author

Dr Alexander O'Hara is a Research Fellow of the Institut für Mittelalterforschung in the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna and an Honorary Research Fellow of the School of History in the University of St Andrews. He is editor of Columbanus and the Peoples of Post-Roman Europe.

Reviews

"O'Hara's thesis is a valuable contribution to what is a well-trodden, although ultimately unsolvable, debate. The main argument that Jonas intended the Life to critique the direction of the Columbanian movement in the Frankish kingdom is a plausible one, even if the particulars O'Hara leverages to convince us of this are not all sustainable or are open to alternative interpretations." -- Matthew Mattingly, Early Medieval Europe
"a significant piece of scholarship which should be of interest not only to monastic and church historians but to almost all those concerned with the early middle ages. Armed with this excellent book, his translation of Jonas's vitae ... Columbanus is now accessible to undergraduates and graduate students who might blanch at the sometimes difficult Latin: I can think of no higher praise." -- M. A. Claussen, Church History
"O'Hara has provided a substantial contribution to an understanding of Columbanus and especially to an appreciation of Jonas's methods and agenda. Jonas of Bobbio and the Legacy of Columbanus is highly recommended for those with an interest in seventh-century Gaul and Ireland's contribution to its development." -- Meredith Cutrer, History Ireland
"This is a welcome contribution to the history of monasticism, hagiography and culture in the early Middle Ages." -- Rob Meens, Journal of Ecclesiastical History
"this is a refreshingly up-to-date approach, both in theoretical terms and in its breadth of coverage, to considering seventh-century hagiography, and these chapters demonstrate clearly just how Jonas can be situated within a larger history of Christendom-wide developments." -- Sihong Lin, University College Dublin
"With this publication the author proves to be a well-founded expert for an author who has so far been little used in research. ...Particularly noteworthy is that O'Hara also includes the transmission and reception of Jonas' work in his study. In the appendix there is also an overview of the manuscripts of the Vita Columbani, including some that were unknown to the editor Krusch. The book is written throughout in a reader-friendly register." --
Historische Zeitschrift
"Without spending a single apologetic word on the debate of the end of Late Antiquity, O'Hara has clearly shown that the seventh century is both interesting and relevant for anyone who wants to understand the late antique world." -- Erik Hermans, Journal of Late Antiquity
"There is a great deal that is valuable in O'Hara's book. It portrays the continuity of a type of monasticism and set of beliefs that reflects those of the earliest phase of Irish Christianity. These include the preference for an effort-based spirituality as opposed to the reliance on grace advocated by Augustine; a limited acceptance of miracles and relics; and an historically-based biblical exegesis. But most importantly, it portrays the strategies of a
highly intelligent and resourceful hagiographer, who skillfully manages to preserve the legacy of a great spiritual figure despite attempts from within and without to destroy it." -- Michael Herren, Bryn
Mawr Classical Review
"Rich with examples and insights, the book is scholarship of the highest order by an author in complete command of his subject ... The book will be valuable for those specializing in church history and medieval thought ... Highly recommended." --CHOICE
"An engaging study of a little-known figure, shedding new light on monasteries associated with Columbanus. In O'Hara's hands, Jonas of Bobbio emerges as a perceptive commentator on religion, politics, and culture in seventh-century Frankia, with particular interests in royal patronage and in the qualities necessary for effective monastic leadership." --Sarah Foot, University of Oxford