The ''Codex Salmanticensis'' (Brussels, Royal Library 7672–4) is a medieval Irish manuscript containing an extensive collection of Irish

saints' Lives A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

, now in the

Royal Library of Belgium The Royal Library of Belgium (french: Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history t ...

in Brussels. It was culled by the compilers from various sources, some of which can be identified as distinct, regionally focused groups in the text. One such group is that of the O'Donohue ''Lives'', so called after one of the manuscript's contributors, Diarmaid Ó Dúnchadha. These works are mostly eighth- and ninth-century ''Lives'' of saints whose monasteries lay in central Ireland (around

Slieve Bloom The Slieve Bloom Mountains ( ga, Sliabh Bladhma; la, Bladinae montes) is a mountain range in Ireland. They rise from the central plain of Ireland to a height of 527 metres. While not very high, they are extensive by local standards. The high ...

), in parts of Munster, Mide and Leinster. They include saints like Ciarán of Saighir, Ailbe of Emly, Ruadán of Lorrha and

Cainnech of Aghaboe Cainnech of Aghaboe (515/16–600), also known as Saint Canice in Ireland, Saint Kenneth in Scotland, Saint Kenny and in Latin Sanctus Canicus, was an Irish abbot, monastic founder, priest and missionary during the early medieval period. Cainne ...

. The collection also includes five short ''Lives'' of saints associated with northern churches (in Ulster or the

Airgíalla Airgíalla (Modern Irish: Oirialla, English: Oriel, Latin: ''Ergallia'') was a medieval Irish over-kingdom and the collective name for the confederation of tribes that formed it. The confederation consisted of nine minor kingdoms, all independe ...

): Mo Lua of Drumsnat, Daig of Inniskeen,

Mochta Saint Mochta (or Mochtae, Mahew, Mochteus, Maucteus, Mauchteus; died 20 August 535, or A.D. 537), was the last surviving disciple of Saint Patrick. Life Mochta was, like Patrick, a native of Britain. His name is British, and Adomnán's ''Life ...

of Louth,

Éogan of Ardstraw Saint Éogan, (pronounced "Owen") was the founder of the monastery of Ardstraw. Name The name is an early Irish male name, derived from the Primitive Irish ''*'', and equates to the Welsh and the Latin Eugene. In more modern forms of Irish i ...

and

Mac Nisse of Connor Saint Mac Nisse (died 514) was an early Irish saint known as the founder and first bishop-abbot of Connor (Irish: '' Condere'', in what is now Co. Antrim). In the ''Tripartite Life of St. Patrick'', he is said to have been a disciple of St. Olcán ...

. Their feast-days are given in August or the beginning of September. These texts are relatively late, but Charles-Edwards has suggested that they ultimately derive from an earlier, northern Irish work used for reading on the festivals, which he calls the Northern Lectionary.Charles-Edwards, "The Northern Lectionary," pp. 151-3.

References

Edition

*W.W. Heist (ed.). ''Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae ex codice olim Salmanticensi nunc Bruxellensi''. Brussels, 1965.

Secondary sources

*Charles-Edwards, T.M. "The Northern Lectionary: a source for the ''Codex Salmanticensis''?." In ''Celtic hagiography and saints' cults'', ed. Jane Cartwright. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2003. pp. 148–60. .

References

Edition

Secondary sources

Further reading