born с 543, Leinster, Ireland
died Nov. 23, 615, Bobbio, Italy; feast day November 23
Irish abbot and missionary.
One of the greatest missionaries of the Celtic church, he initiated a revival of spirituality on the European continent. He left Ireland с 590 with 12 monks, and the Merovingian king Guntram granted him land in the Vosges Mountains in Gaul, where he established several monasteries, including the great intellectual and religious house at Luxeuil. He was disciplined for keeping Easter according to the Celtic usage, and he ran afoul with the Frankish clergy for his indictment of their moral laxity. He was forced into exile for his criticism of the sins of the powerful queen Brunhild and her court and then moved into what is now Switzerland, where he preached to the Alemanni. He later settled in Italy and founded the monastery of Bobbio (с 612), a centre of medieval culture known for its great library.