Joseph or Josephus Scottus (died between 791 and 804), called the Deacon, was an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
scholar, diplomat, poet, and ecclesiastic, a figure in the
Carolingian Renaissance. He has been cited as an early example of "the scholar in public life".
[Garrison, citing D. A. Bullough, "Aula renovata: the Carolingian court before the Aachen palace," ''Carolingian Renewal: Sources and Heritage'' (1991), 141.]
Life
His early life is obscure, but he studied first under
Colcu, probably at
Clonmacnoise
Clonmacnoise ( Irish: ''Cluain Mhic Nóis'') is a ruined monastery situated in County Offaly in Ireland on the River Shannon south of Athlone, founded in 544 by Saint Ciarán, a young man from Rathcroghan, County Roscommon. Until the 9th cen ...
, and then under
Alcuin
Alcuin of York (; la, Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus; 735 – 19 May 804) – also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin – was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student o ...
at
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, probably in the 770s. At York he met and befriended
Liudger
Ludger ( la, Ludgerus; also Lüdiger or Liudger) (born at Zuilen near Utrecht 742; died 26 March 809 at Billerbeck) was a missionary among the Frisians and Saxons, founder of Werden Abbey and the first Bishop of Münster in Westphalia. He ...
, a
Frisian and future
Bishop of Münster, whom he mentions in a poem requesting a "polished staff". Joseph eventually wound up at the court of the
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
king
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
, probably after accompanying Alcuin to the continent in the 780s.
Joseph was at the Frankish court during a period (790s) of rising
anti-Irish sentiment (often expressed in verse), but he seems nonetheless to have established a bond of trust with both Alcuin and Charlemagne. In 787 or 788 Charlemagne sent Joseph and several others on a diplomatic mission to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
to deal with the
Papacy
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
and to
Spoleto
Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome.
History
Spolet ...
and
Benevento, the capitals of two
Lombard duchies opposed to Frankish overlordship. While in southern Italy Joseph and his companions were separated by agents of the Lombard dukes and almost killed.
In 790 Joseph took over Alcuin's position at court while the
Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
n master was on unexpectedly extended business in his homeland. Thereafter his career is obscure. He eventually rose to become an
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...
, but when and where are unknown. It has been suggested, on the basis of his experience in south Italian politics, that he was briefly abbot of
Montecassino, but the evidence for this is slim.
Writings
Joseph participated in a revival of
acrostic poetry fostered by Alcuin at Charlemagne's court. Four such poems of his are preserved in a collection of religious acrostics, including some by Alcuin and others by
Theodulf of Orléans
Theodulf of Orléans (Saragossa, Spain, 750(/60) – 18 December 821) was a writer, poet and the Bishop of Orléans (c. 798 to 818) during the reign of Charlemagne and Louis the Pious. He was a key member of the Carolingian Renaissance and an im ...
, in a manuscript (MS 212) now in the Burgerbibliothek in
Bern. Addressed to Charlemagne, the acrostic ''
carmina figurata
''Carmen figuratum'' (plural: ''carmina figurata'') is a poem that has a certain shape or pattern formed either by all the words it contains or just by certain ones therein. An example is France Prešeren's "Zdravljica", where the shape of each s ...
''—on the similarity of
Eve
Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
and the
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
,
princely virtues, the
Cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
, and the
names of Christ
Two names and a variety of titles are used to refer to Jesus in the New Testament. In Christianity, the two names Jesus and Emmanuel that refer to Jesus in the New Testament have salvific attributes.''Bible explorer's guide'' by John Phillips 20 ...
—imitate the late antique panegyrics
Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius
Publilius Optatianus PorfyriusT.D. Barnes, "Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius", ''AJP'', 96 (1975), 173-186, (fl. 4th century) was a Latin poet, possibly a native of Africa. Porfyrius has been identified with Publilius Optatianus, who was praefectus ...
addressed to
Constantine the Great
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...
. The poems, though never popular as literature, still demonstrate "technical virtuosity".
The only other work which certainly belongs to Joseph is an abridgement of a commentary on
Isaiah
Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
by
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...
(''Abbreuiatio'' or ''Epitome commentarii (Sancti) Hieronymi in Isaiam''), which was apparently ordered by Alcuin. Two other works have been attributed to him, including a lost suite of riddles mentioned in a
Passau manuscript before 903. These are more probably the work of
Joseph, Bishop of Freising. He may also have written a ''
voces animantium'' ("voices of animals") listing the sounds of animals in alphabetical order with glosses, now in the
Biblioteca Nacional de España
The Biblioteca Nacional de España (''National Library of Spain'') is a major public library, the largest in Spain, and one of the largest in the world. It is located in Madrid, on the Paseo de Recoletos.
History
The library was founded by K ...
(MS 19, folio 189v). This genre was common, but the alphabetisation is unusual. If it is indeed to be ascribed to Joseph, it was probably lifted from his personal notebook.
Sources
*Garrison, Mary (2004)
"Joseph Scottus (d. 791x804)."''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', vol. 30. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
.
*
*Silvers, Margaret. (2016) ''Josephus Scottus's Abbreviation of Jerome's Commentariorum in Esaiam: A Partial Edition with Apparatus''. University of York: Doctoral dissertation.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scottus, Joseph
Irish Latinists
8th-century Frankish writers
Hiberno-Latin poets
Italian abbots
Irish scholars and academics
Irish diplomats
8th-century Irish poets
9th-century Irish poets
Irish expatriates in Germany
Irish expatriates in England
Irish expatriates in France
Irish expatriates in Italy
Irish male poets
8th-century Latin writers
Gaels