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The Arroasian Order in Medieval Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2016

P. J Dunning
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Extract

The Arroasian order was one of the most important of the twelfth-century congregations of canons regular of St Augustine. The development of the institute of the canons regular may be said to have had two phases. From early christian times it was comparatively common for communities of priests, forming the staff of cathedral or large city churches, to imitate the monastic rule of life. In the general disorder which followed upon the barbarian invasions this practice disappeared. It was revived again under Charlemagne, only to suffer a similar fate on the break-up of his empire. At this stage we find secular priests performing collegiate and parochial work while living a regular life under a rule usually given them by a bishop.

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 4 , Issue 16 , September 1945 , pp. 297 - 315
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 1945

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References

page 297 note 1 Knowles, David, The religious houses of medieval England (London, 1940), pp. 29–31.Google Scholar

page 298 note 1 Gosse, P, Histoire de l'abbaye et de l'ancienne congrégation des chanoines réguliers d'Arrouaise (Lille, 1786)Google Scholar; Pennotus, G, Generalis totius sacri ordinis clericorum canonicorum historia tripartita, ii. 62 ff.Google Scholar; Gallic Christiana (Paris, 1725), iii. 433 ff.; Acta SS Bolland. (Venice, 1734), i. 834 ff.; Miraeus, , Canonicorum regularium ordinis S Augustini origines, pp. 42 ff.Google Scholar Graham, Rose, English ecclesiastical studies (London, 1929), p. 18 Google Scholar; Helyot, P, Histoire des ordres monastiques, religieux et militaires (Paris, 1714–19), ii. 138.Google Scholar

page 298 note 2 Acta SS, 13 Jan., i. 831-2.

page 299 note 1 Ibid., pp. 832-4.

page 299 note 2 Gallia Christiana, iii. 434.

page 299 note 3 Archdall, Ware, and Allemande are too much inclined to attribute all the Irish monastic foundations from ancient times to the canons regular.

page 299 note 4 Entries are missing in the Annals of Ulster for the years 1132-55 ; the Annals of Inisfalien break off at the year 1130 and are not resumed till 1159 ; the Annals of Loch Cé are defective for the years 1138-70 ; the Chrohicum Scotorum ends at the year 1135, though there is a fragmentary continuation for the years 1141-50.

page 299 note 5 The MS (no. 1077) which is the main source for the early history of Arrouaise is described : ‘ Cartulaire de l'abbaye d'Arrouaise rédigé sous l'administration de 1'abbé Gaultier de Cambrai (1180-93) avec additions. Actes de 1097 à 1287,

’ For this information I am indebted to Mr John C. Dickenson of Leeds University. The preface to this manuscript is especially valuable for the historia fundationis of Arrouaise. Mr Dickenson hopes to include this preface in a work on the Augustinian canons to be published in the near future.

page 300 note 1 ‘ Sanctae memoriae Malachias, Hiberniensium archiepiscopus, per nos iter faciens, inspectis consuetudinibus nostris et approbatis, libros nostros et usus ecclesiae transcriptos suam in Hiberniam detulit, et fere omnes clericos in episcopalibus sedibus et in multis aliis locis per Hiberniam constitutes, ordinem nostrum et habitum et maxime divinum in ecclesia officium suscipere et observare praecepit.’ (Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus patrum Latinorum, ccxvii. col. 67 In subsequent references this work is referred to as P.L.).

page 300 note 2 This passage occurs in fol. 5V of the MS.

page 300 note 3 Gallia Christiana, iii. 434. J. H. Round, Calendar of documents preserved in France (918-1206), no. 1319.

page 300 note 4 Arras, from which Arrouaise was but a short distance, was one of the standard places of call. ( Lawlor, H. J., ‘ Notes on St Bernard's life of St Malachy’, in R.I.A. Proc, xxxv, sect, c, pp. 230–64 (1919)).Google Scholar

page 300 note 5 Lawlor, , St Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St Malachy of Armagh (London, 1920), p. 113.Google Scholar

page 301 note 1 Salter, H. E., Chapters of the Augustiniah canons (London, 1922), pp. xliv–xlv.Google Scholar Dr Salter is quoting from the ancient records of the Arroasian order as given by Gosse. It would appear that Carlisle did not long remain under Arroasian rule.

page 301 note 2 Lawlor, ‘ Notes ‘on St Bernard's Life of St Malachy’, loc. cit., pp. 238-43. Cf. Codrington, T, Roman roads in Britain (London, 1905), map appendix.Google Scholar

page 302 note 1 Lawlor, , St Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of Si Ma lac Ay of Armagh, p. 113 Google Scholar; Reeves, , Antiquities, pp. 220 ff.Google Scholar

page 302 note 2 Lawlor, op. cit., pp. 27-30, 113, 80.

page 302 note 3 Letter of Innocent III to Cardinal John of Monte Coelio in connection with the disputed election in Armagh. P.L., ccxiv. col. 1066. For some unaccountable reason this letter is not catalogued in Cat. papal letters, 1198-13O4.

page 302 note 4 Lawlor, op. cit., pp. 63-4.

page 302 note 5 Ibid., n. 6.

page 303 note 1 'Aedh H Ceallaighi, espuc Airgiall, ocus cend canánach, quievit’ (A.L.C., A.D. 1182).

page 303 note 2 A.F.M., A.D. 1148; Lawlor, op. cit., p. 67; Rev.Gogarty, Thomas, ‘ St Mary's abbey, Louth ‘, in Louth Arch. Soc. Jn., iv. 170–89 (Dec. 1917)Google Scholar; Lawlor, H. J., ‘ Fragments of a lost register of the diocese of Clogher ‘, in Louth Arch. Soc. Jn., iv. 226–57 (Dec. 1918).Google Scholar

page 303 note 3 Scribal entry in a medieval an tiphonary of Armagh (T.C.D., MS B.I.I.), quoted by Lawlor, op. cit., p. 170.

page 303 note 4 Lawlor, H. J.,’ The genesis of the diocese of Clogher ‘, in Louth Arch. Soc. Jn., iv. 129–59 (Dec. 1917).Google Scholar

page 303 note 5 Rev. A. Gwynn gives 1139-40 as the probable date of its foundation. (Studies, xxxiii. 551 (Dec. 1944)).

page 303 note 6 Lynch, John, De praesulibus Hibemiae, ed. O'Doherty, J. F, ii. 218.Google Scholar

page 303 note 7 Lawlor, , St Bernard of Clairvaux’ s Life of St Malachy of Armagh, p. 93.Google Scholar

page 304 note 1 Ann. Tig., A.D. 1173.

page 304 note 2 The text reads : ‘ Ocus fear ro athnuigh manchine ocus canonach riagulla hecailsi nErren.’ Hennessy translates as: ‘ the man who restored the monastic and canonical rules of the Church of Erinn’ The MS reads: ‘ ocus fear ro athnuigh manchine ocus canonach riagulla hin Erinn ‘ (’ and [the] man who restored monasticism and [the congregation?] of canons regular in Ireland’). Presumably ’ coimtinól’ or some similar word has been omitted by the scribe ; cf. A. U., A.D. 1170 : ‘ coimtinol canonach riagulla ‘

page 305 note 1 Contributions to Irish lexicography, i.

page 305 note 2 Lanigan, , Ecc. hist. Ire., iv. 106.Google Scholar

page 305 note 3 Ch. of Ire., ii. 81.

page 305 note 4 ’ Damhliac reiglesa Poil ocus Pedair ‘ (A.U., A.D. 1126) is translated as ‘ the stone church of the monastery of Paul and Peter ‘; but ‘ Echmarcach Ua Cathan do éc i Reicles Phoil’ is translated as : ‘ Echmarcach Ua Cathain died in the Regular Canons’ house of St Paul’ (A. U., A.D. 1 195).

page 305 note 5 Contributions to a dictionary of the Irish language, (Dublin, 1944), fasc. R, col. 32. I have not mentioned the monastery of St Peter and St Paul, Armagh, or the Dubhregles of Derry as foundations of canons regular contemporary with St Malachy, though we know from the Visitation of Archbishop Colton (pp. 20, 36) that both these houses were of the canons regular of St Augustine in the fourteenth century I hesitate to mention Derry for another reason : the abundant entries in the annals concerning the activities of Flaithbertach Ua Brolcháin of Derry imply that, contemporaneously with the attempt of St Malachy to introduce the canons regular, there was an effort made to revive the old rule of St Columcille.

page 306 note 1 1Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, ed. J. Caley, H. Ellis, and B. Bandinel (London, 1817-30), iii, pt. i, p. 141.

page 306 note 2 Cal. papal letters, 1296-1404, v. 335-7

page 306 note 3 Histoire de I'abbaye et de I'ancienne congrégation des chanoines d'Arrouaise, pp. 42-4, 386-7, 540.

page 307 note 1 Op. cit., pp. 42-4. My first acquaintance with the very important statement of Gaultier was made through a letter of Pope Innocent III to the Arroasian order in Ireland contained, together with this statement, in Migne. Before coming into contact with Gosse's history I had formed views concerning the Arroasian order in Ireland similar to those expressed in the above quotation. My contact with Gosse's work is still only an indirect one. His book is very rare. There is a copy in the British Museum, but I have not been able to consult it. However, through the courtesy of the authorities of the Museum, Miss Annie O'Donovan, an assistant-keeper, has very kindly copied parts of the work for me.

page 307 note 2 Acta SS, i. 834 ; Gallia Christiana, iii. 433 ; Miraeus, Canonicorum regularium ordinis S Augustini origines, pp. 43 ff.

page 307 note 3 Gosse, op. cit., pp. 39-41.

page 308 note 1 Bourne abbey (1138), Missenden abbey (1133), Warter priory (1132?), Carlisle (1133?), Dorchester abbey (1140), Lilleshall abbey (1144-8). Cf. Knowles, , The religious houses of medieval England, pp. 180 ff.Google Scholar The interrogation marks are mine.

page 308 note 2 ‘ Vie et miracles de S Laurent archévêque de Dublin ‘, in Anal. Bolland, xxxiii. (1914) ; Acta SS Bolland, i. 830.

page 308 note 3 Butler, R. (ed.), Registrum prioratus Omnium Sanctorum (Dublin, 1844), p. iii.Google Scholar

page 309 note 1 Miraeus, op. cit., p. 42

page 310 note 1 Lanigan, , Ecc. hist. Ire., iv. 35 Google Scholar ; Archdall, , Monasticon Hibernicum, pp. 435–6, 343, 315, 306Google Scholar ; Dugdale, , Monasticon Anglicanum, iii. I. 141.Google Scholar

page 310 note 2 Knowles, , The monastic order in England, pp. 313 ff.Google Scholar

page 310 note 3 The attempt of Baldwin and Hubert Walter to oust the Black Monks from the chapter of Canterbury The sentiments of Hugh of Nonant are expressed by Gervase of Canterbury : ‘ He assented in the king's presence that in two months there would be no monks in any cathedral in the land, and added an imprecation to his words’ Quoted by Knowles, ibid., pp. 332 ff.

page 311 note 1 P.L., ccxiv. col. 1067

page 311 note 2 Given at the Lateran 8 Dec. 1200. It is published by Migne together with the statement of Gaultier concerning Mael Maedog. P.L., ccxvii. 67

page 311 note 3 ‘ Innocentius episcopus servus servorum Dei, venerabilibus fratribus Ardmachanensi et Tuamensi archiepiscopis et universis episcopis et dilectis filiis abbatibus, prioribus et canonicis ordinem Arroasiensem in Hibernia professis, salutem et apostolicam benedictionem ’ Gosse, op. cit., pièces justificatives, no. xii, p. 430.

page 312 note 1 If we take ‘ professis ’ as qualifying ‘ archiepiscopis'’ and ‘ episcopis ’

page 312 note 2 Abbatem canonicorum regularium de Benger in archiepiscopum elegerunt' Innocent III to Cardinal John of Monte Coelio, in P.L., ccxiv. col. 1067

page 312 note 3 ‘ De tuo consilio et mandato Felicem priorem de Saballo in pastorem unanimiter elegerunt’ (Innocent to Cardinal John of Monte Coelio with reference to the Tuam election). This letter was not included in the Conti copy of the Regesta from which Baluze and La Porte Du Theil made their collections of the letters of Innocent III. It is not catalogued in Cal. papal letters, 1198-1304. It was subsequently published by Delisle and Pitra : ‘ Lettres inédites d'Innocent III', in Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes, xxiv. 402-3 (July 1873) ; Analecta novissima, p. 494.

page 312 note 4 Gesta Hen. II., i. 28. Walter Harris (ed.), Works of Sir James Ware concerning Ireland, i. 314 ff.

page 312 note 5 Ibid., pp. 469-70 ; Chartul. St Mary's, Dublin, ii. 278-9.

page 312 note 6 P.L., ccxiv. col. 344 ; ccxv. col. 61.

page 312 note 7 Fr Theiner discovered among the leaves of the register of Pope Innocent VI the rubrics or summaries of some hundreds of letters from the lost books of the register of Innocent III for the iiird, ivth, xviith, and xixth years of the pontificate. These were published in his Vetera Monumenta Slavorum Meridionalium. The letters or headings of letters relating to Irish affairs were summarised in his Vetera Monumenta Hibernorum et Scotorum.

page 313 note 1 This list presents difficulties. Gosse does not mention the source whence he derived it. The inclusion of Galway indicates that it was of a much later date than the Gaultier MS. The form of spelling employed might indicate that an English exemplar was used. Excluding Galway, the list seems to include only houses which were, or had been, cathedral churches. ‘ Dondalck ’ possibly represents St Mary's, Louth, and ‘ Kéloom ‘ Kells ; Elphin and Roscommon were once separate sees ; and it is possible that’ Ofray ‘, obviously Ossory, refers to an ancient house of canons, perhaps in Aghaboe.

The only other Arroasian houses mentioned by Gosse are : St Patrick's Purgatory, Loch Derg, which he attributes to St Malachy in 1139; St Patrick's, Dublin (clearly a mistake) ; Rathkeale priory; Rathoy priory; and St Mary's, Cong. He gives an account of two monks from this abbey, brothers Hénégan and Linze, who took refuge with the Abbot Hatté in Arrouaise in 1700. His collection of documents includes a letter from Cardinal Carpineus to the Abbot Hatte recommending these Irishmen to him ; a request from Hénégan ; and the abbot's answer. Brother Linze may have been the archbishop of Tuam. According to the statement in the above list the archbishop of Tuam (at this period probably John Lynch, 1669-c. 1714) visited Arrouaise on 25 August 1703. Cf. Gosse, op. cit., p. 311.

page 314 note 1 Knowles, , The monastic order in England, pp. 629–30.Google Scholar

page 314 note 2 ’ Devotionem vestram rogamus et hortamur in Domino, per apostolica scripta mandantes, quatenus unus saltern, vel duo, in festo beati Matthaei ad capitulum apud Arroasiam accedere non postponant.'

page 314 note 3 Gallia Christiana, iii. 43 5-6. Dr Rose Graham says that the constitutions of the order were confirmed by Pope Innocent II in 1139. Cf. English ecclesiastical studies, p. 18.

page 315 note 1 Cap. xii.

page 315 note 2 The punishment is given by Gosse in a footnote : ‘ De penitentia abbatum Hyberniensium. Quadraginta dies in pane et aqua ; et tribus diebus correctionem duodenarum plagarum ab illo qui capitulum tenet suscipit coram omnibus, si de capitulo remanserit absque causa rationabili’ (op. cit., p. 44).

page 315 note 3 The first volume of Statuta capitulorum generalium ordinis Cisterciensis (Louvain, 1933) gives ample proof of the independent attitude of Mellifont and the other Irish houses of the order.