and independent within his own sphere. And even if a bishop lived in a monastery, as sometimes he did for the purposes of ordination and other purely episcopal functions, he was, no less than others, subordinate to the abbot while living under his rule. Such was the practice of the monastic Celtic Church. It was not so, as Bede tells us, with the Roman mission in the east of England. He regarded the Celtic custom of the bishop being subject to a presbyter-abbot within the monastery as "an unusual arrangement — more inusitato. Unusual among the missions of the Roman obedience it may have been, though the case must have been familiar to Bede of a bishop being subject even to an abbess within the monastery. The custom was not by any means unusual in the Celtic Church of this age, either in Britain or in Ireland.

The Celtic Church discriminated between the powers of ordination and of jurisdiction. The former, so far as history shows, was regarded by them as the distinct prerogative of the episcopal office. It was of the essence of that office; and there is not a solitary instance on record of ordination by a presbyter or presbyters. Jurisdiction among the Celts belonged to a separate sphere, and might or might not be conjoined with the office of bishop. It is, on the other hand, perfectly certain that there was nothing in the Celtic episcopate resembling the autocratic powers and lordly authority of the later mediæval bishops. The first bishops with whom Scotland was familiar were simple-minded, earnest men, sometimes devout recluses, more often ardent missionaries, spending and being spent

bishop are defined to be, "for ordaining ecclesiastics and for consecrating churches; for spiritual direction to princes, superiors, and advanced persons; for hallowing and blessing

their children after baptism, for directing the labours of every church, and boys and girls to reading and piety.'

1 E. H., iii. 4.

V

POSITION OF BISHOP AND ABBOT

89

in the conversion of heathen people. Columba's bishops were all men of this stamp, and he had been intimate with many of them, from the first bishop, whose instructions he received as a Donegal boy, to the Irish bishops of a later day who visited him at Iona and Hinba. Dr. Reeves has summarised the evidence under this head from the pages of Adamnan: "The great founder set the example of veneration for the episcopate, and, as the ninth presbyterabbot relates, in the service of his own mother Church (Iona) and from the altar, disclaimed all pretensions to equality with one of episcopal rank. This was no more than was to be expected from a presbyter who had served as a deacon in a monastery where presbyters, called from their chief function ministri altaris, lived under the presidency of a bishop, one who received the hospitality of another bishop, one who instituted a feast in memory of a bishop who was his carus amicus, and whose own institution was frequented by bishops from Ireland for communion and edification." 1 Dr. Skene, whose moderation was as well known as his knowledge of Celtic literature was undoubted, remarks that "the distinction in order between the bishop and the presbyter seems to have been preserved throughout, though their relation to each other, in respect to numbers and jurisdiction, varied at different periods." And, again, of the Scotic Church he says: "Like the Irish Church it was essentially a monastic church, and also like it we find neither a territorial episcopacy nor anything like presbyterian parity, but the same anomalous position of the episcopal order. The bishops were under the monastic rule, and as such were, in respect of jurisdiction, subject to the abbot, even though a presbyter, as the head of the monastery; but the episcopal orders were

1 References are given for each of in Adamnan. See Reeves, Introthese statements to the several chapters

duction, p. cv.

fully recognised as constituting a grade superior to that of presbyters, and the functions which, by the general law of the Church, were the exclusive privilege of the episcopate, were not interfered with." 1 Modern instances are not awanting which afford an illustration of this Celtic usage. As has been often pointed out, a bishop holding a canonry in our cathedrals would, as a member of the chapter, be subject to the dean, and so far, as canon, he would hold a subordinate place. Or, if he accepted a professorship in a university, he would in the same manner be subject to its provost or chancellor, even though he were a layman.

The well-known story of the visit to Iona of Cronan, an Irish bishop from Munster, may here be told as a confirmation of Columba's regard for the episcopal office. Believing Cronan to be a presbyter, Columba invited him, according to custom, to assist in the consecration of the Eucharist, that "as two presbyters they might break the bread of the Lord together." But on discovering Cronan's office, Columba thus addressed him: "Christ bless thee, brother, do thou break the bread alone according to the episcopal rite, for I know now that thou art a bishop. Why hast thou disguised thyself so long, and prevented our giving thee the honour we owe to thee?" 3 An ordination on the island of Tiree is recorded by Adamnan which throws a sidelight on the same subject. Findchan presided over the monastery at Artchain. He had brought with him from Ireland a man named Aedh the Black, related to the kings of the Dalaradian Picts in Ulster. Aedh was an unpromising candidate for the priesthood, stained as he was “with the several of the later cathedral chapters in Scotland.

1 Celtic Scot., vol. ii. pp. 14 and 94. The question is very ably and fairly discussed by Dr. Grub at some length in his Eccles. Hist., chapters x. and xi.

2 This was actually the case in

3 Reeves, Adam., i. 35 and note p. 263; Grub, i. 157; Bright's Early Eng. Ch. Hist., p. 142; Skene's C. S., ii. 95; Todd's St. Patrick, p. 6.

V

POWERS OF THE ABBOT IN IONA

91

But after a

murder of the king of all Scotia " (Ireland). professed penitential residence for some time in Tiree, Findchan invited a bishop to ordain him.1 "He would not, however, venture to lay a hand upon his head unless Findchan, who was greatly attached to Aedh in a carnal way, should first place his right hand on his head as a mark of approval." The concurrence of the abbot was customary in ordinations within the monastery to signify his approval of and authority for the ordination. The action of the presbyter was no less in accordance with apostolic custom

-" with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." Columba denounced the ordination, and predicted a bad end to both Findchan and Aehd, which, Adamnan is careful to say, came true in both cases. The bishop alone escapes the abbot's censure, as there was nothing irregular in his action.2

The abbot's powers were supreme over all persons within the monastery, whether brethren or strangers, and similarly over all monastic institutions and missions that owned Iona as their metropolis. The government was a type of patriarchal despotism, necessary in that day, and blessed in its results, tempered as it was by brotherly kindness, and leavened with the spirit of the evangel. The abbot could institute a festival, appoint a holiday, enjoin a special celebration of the Eucharist.

On fitting

occasions he would dispense with a fast, relax penitential discipline, or regulate its severity. None of the brethren could leave the island without his permission, and no stranger was at liberty to land but with his pleasure. For monastic service of any kind, or for missions however distant, the brethren were always at his disposal wherever

1 This bishop was evidently brought to the monastery ("accito episcopo ") for the purpose of ordina

2 Reeves, Adam., i. 29; Skene's C. S., ii. 94; Todd's St. Patrick, p. 8.

tion.

www

"Be

he might send them. The principle of obedience, which was the essence of monasticism, made the brethren submissive to the rule of the one will. We read of monks preparing on the shortest notice for a long and wearisome journey, for a distant and perilous voyage, or for service that necessitated exposure in the most inclement weather. Poverty was also professed as a principle of the order, in Iona as elsewhere. The brotherhood had, in the evangelical sense, all things in common. Personal property was disclaimed in accordance with Columba's rule, always naked in imitation of Christ, and in obedience to the precepts of the Gospel." Celibacy was also strictly enjoined on the Columban community. This has been sometimes disputed, but on no sufficient grounds. The spirit of monasticism demanded this as one of its three essentials everywhere, and there is no evidence that a different custom obtained in the Celtic monasteries. The secular clergy were at liberty to marry; but to priests under monastic vows, known afterwards as Regulars, marriage was everywhere forbidden. It is even doubtful whether there was a woman in Iona in the time of Columba, or of his successors for many years. An island named "Eileannam-ban," the women's isle, opposite Iona, on the shore of Mull, is said to have been the abode of the wives of tradesmen who were from time to time employed on the monastery. There is a story, erroneously attributed to Columba, that he forbade cows to be imported on the island upon the plea that "where there was a cow there would be a woman, and where there was a woman there would be strife." But there were cows in Iona as well as the byre and dairy, and the milking was done by the monks, as Adamnan in one case relates. It was no more singular for monks to milk cows than to bake their own bread or cook their own meals, and we know they did both. The