Gall ( la, Gallus; 550 646) according to hagiographic tradition was a disciple and one of the traditional twelve companions of
Columbanus
Columbanus ( ga, Columbán; 543 – 21 November 615) was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries after 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil Abbey in present-day France and Bobbio Abbey in pr ...
on his
mission from Ireland to the continent.
Deicolus was the elder brother of Gall.
Biography
![Columban und Gallus auf dem Bodensee](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Columban_und_Gallus_auf_dem_Bodensee.jpg)
The fragmentary oldest ''Life'' was recast in the 9th century by two monks of
Reichenau, enlarged in 816–824 by
Wettinus
Wetti of Reichenau ( la, Wettinus Augiensis, links=no; c 775–824) was a Benedictine monk, scholar and educator at the monastery at Reichenau in modern-day Germany. He was one of the leading educators of his time, and an influential scholar amon ...
, and about 833–884 by
Walafrid Strabo, who also revised a book of the miracles of the saint. Other works ascribed to Walafrid tell of Saint Gall in prose and verse.
Gall's origin is a matter of dispute. According to his 9th-century biographers in Reichenau, he was from Ireland and entered Europe as a companion of
Columbanus
Columbanus ( ga, Columbán; 543 – 21 November 615) was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries after 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil Abbey in present-day France and Bobbio Abbey in pr ...
. The Irish origin of the historical Gallus was called into question by Hilty (2001), who proposed it as more likely that he was from the
Vosges
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
or
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
region. Schär (2010) proposed that Gall may have been of Irish descent but born and raised in the Alsace.
According to the 9th-century hagiographies, Gall as a young man went to study under
Comgall of
Bangor Abbey. The monastery at Bangor had become renowned throughout Europe as a great centre of Christian learning. Studying in Bangor at the same time as Gall was Columbanus, who with twelve companions, set out about the year 589.
["Who was St. Gall", St. Gall's Church, Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland]
/ref>
Gall and his companions established themselves with Columbanus at first at Luxeuil in Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
. In 610, Columbanus was exiled by leaders opposed to Christianity and fled with Gall to Alemannia.["Who was St. Gall?", St. Gall School, Chicago, Illinois]
/ref> He accompanied Columbanus on his voyage up the Rhine River
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, sourc ...
to Bregenz but when in 612 Columbanus travelled on to Italy from Bregenz, Gall had to remain behind due to illness and was nursed at Arbon. He remained in Alemannia, where, with several companions, he led the life of a hermit in the forests southwest of Lake Constance
Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...
, near the source of the river Steinach.[Poncelot, Albert. "St. Gall." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 17 Apr. 2013]
/ref> Cells were soon added for twelve monks whom Gall carefully instructed. Gall was soon known in Switzerland as a powerful preacher.
When the See of Constance became vacant, the clergy who assembled to elect a new bishop were unanimously in favour of Gall. He, however, refused, pleading that the election of a stranger would be contrary to church law. Some time later, in the year 625, on the death of Eustasius, abbott of Luxeuil, a monastery founded by Columbanus, members of that community were sent by the monks to request Gall to undertake the government of the monastery. He refused to quit his life of solitude, and undertake any office of rank which might involve him in the cares of the world. He was then an old man.[
He died at the age of ninety-five around 646–650 in Arbon.][
]
Legends
From as early as the 9th century a series of fantastically embroidered ''Lives'' of Saint Gall were circulated. Prominent was the story in which Gall delivered Fridiburga from the demon
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...
by which she was possessed. Fridiburga was the betrothed of Sigebert II :''See Sigeberht II of Essex for the Saxon ruler by that name.''
Sigebert II (601–613) or Sigisbert II, was the illegitimate son of Theuderic II, from whom he inherited the kingdoms of Burgundy and Austrasia in 613. However, he fell under the ...
, King of the Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
, who had granted an estate at Arbon (which belonged to the royal treasury) to Gall so that he might found a monastery there.[
Another popular story has it that as Gall was travelling in the woods of what is now Switzerland he was sitting one evening warming his hands at a fire. A bear emerged from the woods and charged. The holy man rebuked the bear, so awed by his presence it stopped its attack and slunk off to the trees. There it gathered firewood before returning to share the heat of the fire with Gall. The legend says that for the rest of his days Gall was followed around by his companion the bear.][
]
Veneration
His feast is celebrated on 16 October.[Butler, Alban. ''The Lives of the Saints'', Vol. X, 1866]
/ref>
Iconography
Images of Saint Gall typically represent him standing with a bear.[
]
Legacy
When Columbanus, Gall and their companions left Ireland for mainland Europe, they took with them learning and the written word.
Their effect on the historical record was significant as the books were painstakingly reproduced on vellum by monks across Europe. Many of the Irish texts destroyed
Destroyed may refer to:
* ''Destroyed'' (Sloppy Seconds album), a 1989 album by Sloppy Seconds
* ''Destroyed'' (Moby album), a 2011 album by Moby
See also
* Destruction (disambiguation)
Destruction may refer to:
Concepts
* Destruktion, a ...
in Ireland during Viking raids were preserved in Abbeys across the channel.["St. Gall's Bear", St. Gall's Church, Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland]
/ref>
Abbey of St. Gall
After his death, a small church was erected which developed into the Abbey of St. Gall, the nucleus of the Canton of St. Gallen in eastern Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
the first abbot of which was Othmar
Othmar, also spelled Otmar or Ottmar, is a masculine German given name, derived from the Germanic name ''Audamar'', from the elements ''aud'' "wealth, prosperity" and ''mar'' "fame".
Notable people with the name include:
*Saint Othmar
*Othmar Am ...
. The monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
was freed from its dependence of the bishop of Constance and Emperor Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...
made it an imperial institution. The "Abbey of St. Gall", (not from the name of its founder and first 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 fem ...
, but of the saint who had lived in this place and whose relic
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
s were honoured there) the monastery and especially its celebrated scriptorium played an illustrious part in Catholic and intellectual history until it was secularised in 1798.[
]
In popular culture
''St Gall'' is the name of a wheel shaped hard cheese made from the milk of Friesian cows, which won a Gold Medal at the World Cheese Awards held in Dublin 2008.The Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers Association
Robertson Davies
William Robertson Davies (28 August 1913 – 2 December 1995) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best known and most popular authors and one of its most distinguished " men of letters" ...
, in his book, '' The Manticore'', interprets the legend in Jungian psychological terms. In the final scene of the novel where David Staunton is celebrating Christmas with Lizelloti Fitziputli, Magnus Eisengrim, and Dunstan Ramsay he is given a gingerbread bear. Ramsay explains that Gall made a pact of peace with a bear who was terrorizing the citizens of the nearby village. They would feed him gingerbread and he would refrain from eating them. The parable is presented as a Jungian exhortation to make peace with one's dark side. This Jungian interpretation is however incompatible with Catholic Orthodoxy which Gall promoted.
See also
* List of Orthodox saints
* List of Roman Catholic saints
Notes
Bibliography
* Joynt, Maud, tr. and ed., ''The Life of St Gall'', Llanerch Press, Burnham-on-Sea, 1927.
* Schär, Max, ''Gallus. Der Heikiger in seiner Zeit'', Schwabe Verlag, Basle, 2011.
* Schmid, Christian, ''Gallusland. Auf den Spuren des heiligen Gallus'', Paulus Verlag, Fribourg, 2011.
* ''Music and musicians in medieval Irish society'', Ann Buckley
Ann Buckley is an Irish musicologist, born in Dublin.
Buckley studied at University College Cork (B.Mus., 1971; M.A. 1972), Doctoraal (University of Amsterdam, 1976) and a Ph.D. (University of Cambridge, 1991). She has held academic positions ...
, pp. 165–190, Early Music xxviii, no.2, May 2000
* ''Music in Prehistoric and Medieval Ireland'', Ann Buckley
Ann Buckley is an Irish musicologist, born in Dublin.
Buckley studied at University College Cork (B.Mus., 1971; M.A. 1972), Doctoraal (University of Amsterdam, 1976) and a Ph.D. (University of Cambridge, 1991). She has held academic positions ...
, pp. 744–813, in ''A New History of Ireland'', volume one, Oxford, 2005
External links
The Origins of Traditional Irish Music
at th
Christian Iconography
web site.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gall
550 births
646 deaths
7th-century Frankish saints
Abbey of Saint Gall
Medieval Irish musicians
6th-century Irish priests
Medieval Irish saints
Medieval Irish saints on the Continent
Irish expatriates in France
Irish expatriates in Germany
Irish expatriates in Italy
Colombanian saints
6th-century Irish writers
7th-century Irish writers
People from Arbon