Saint Cathróe (
circa 900–971) was a
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
and
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. Th ...
. His life is recorded in a
hagiography
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 migh ...
written soon after his death by a monk at the at
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Est ...
, where Cathróe was abbot.
Miracle
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...
s of healing were attributed to Cathróe during his life, and he was considered a saint after his death.
As well as the information it contains on events in
Lotharingia
Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durable ...
and
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
, and on attitudes of the time, Cathróe's life is of particular interest to historians for the light it sheds on southern
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
in the 10th century.
Origins
One clue to Cathróe's background, his name, has also proved to be a stumbling block. In his ''Life'', it is commonly spelt as ''Cathroe'', but other forms are given such as ''Cadroe'' (heading) and ''Kaddroe'' (3x), which come closer to those used later at Metz (''Cadroe'', ''Kadroe''). His biographer explains it as meaning "a soldier in the Lord's camp(s)" (''bellator in castris Dominis''). Some scholars have proposed that what the continental monks heard and transcribed was a
Brythonic
Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to:
*Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain
*Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic
*Britons (Celtic people)
The Br ...
, more specifically
Old Cumbric name, the first element of which represents Cumbric ''Cat'' "battle". However, following John Colgan's lead, David Dumville favours a
Goidelic
The Goidelic or Gaelic languages ( ga, teangacha Gaelacha; gd, cà nanan Goidhealach; gv, çhengaghyn Gaelgagh) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages.
Goidelic languages historically ...
etymology. He points out that the personal name Cathróe is attested in Old and Middle Irish and can be explained as a compound meaning "battle-field" (''Cath'', cognate with Welsh ''cat'', + ''róe'').
Cathróe was born
circa 900. Neil McGuigan suggests that he grew up in or near
Dunkeld
Dunkeld (, sco, Dunkell, from gd, Dùn Chailleann, "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to ...
in Scotland. His father's name is given as Fochereach, a nobleman, his mother was Bania, who came from a similar background. After the birth of a brother with the Goidelic name Mattadán, Cathróe was fostered with his paternal uncle Beanus (Saint Bean; there were several Gaelic saints of this name).
Pilgrimage
Bean sent his nephew to study in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, at
Armagh
Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , " Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the ...
, where he seems to have learned both
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
and
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
. He returned to Scotland, to teach in his uncle's monastery. Visions persuaded Cathróe to leave Scotland as a pilgrim. The hagiographer tells us that "the king that ruled the land,
Constantine
Constantine most often refers to:
* Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I
*Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria
Constantine may also refer to:
People
* Constantine (name), a masculine given nam ...
by name, hastened to hold back
athróe. Cathróe entered the "house of the blessed Brigit", presumed to be the monastery dedicated to Saint
Brigid of Kildare
Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland ( ga, Naomh BrÃd; la, Brigida; 525) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiogr ...
at
Abernethy. "A certain abbot, called Maelodair
áel Odran persuaded King Constantine to allow Catroe to leave, and to help him on his journey. "Then all emulously rendered assistance with gold and silver, with raiment and horses' and they sped
athróewith God's blessing; and conducted by the king himself he came to the
Cumbrians' land." The writer tells us that King
Dovenaldus ruled the Cumbrians, and that he was Cathróe's kinsman. The king escorted Catroe to ''Loidam Civitatem'' (read as
Leeds
Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...
or
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...
), "which is the boundary between the Cumbrians and the Northmen".
In
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...
, Cathróe was welcomed, the writer claims, by King
Eric
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''EirÃkr'' (or ''ErÃkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* a ...
, whose wife was a relative of Cathróe's. This is problematic as Eric Bloodaxe is not thought to have ruled York at the time of the journey, and Eric's wife
Gunnhild was said to be Norwegian.
Later career
Cathróe was abbot of
Waulsort for several years, until
Adelbero, Bishop of Metz, gave him the administration of
St Felix's Abbey in
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Est ...
.
[''Adomnán's Vite Columbae and the cult of Colum Cille in continental Europe.'' Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Section C, Volume 98, 1998]
Hagiography
One Ousmann (or Reimann or Erimann) wrote a
hagiography
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 migh ...
.
Notes
References
*Reimann or Ousmann, ''De S. Cadroe abbate'', ed.
John Colgan
John Colgan, OFM ( Irish ''Seán Mac Colgan''; c. 1592 – 15 January 1658), was an Irish Franciscan friar noted as a hagiographer and historian.
Life
Colgan was born c. 1592 at Priestown near Carndonagh. He joined the Franciscan Order an ...
, ''
Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae
''Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae'' is the abbreviated title of a celebrated work on the Irish saints by the Franciscan, John Colgan (Leuven, 1645).
Aided by Father Hugh Ward, O.F.M., Father Stephen White, S.J., and Brother MÃchél Ó Cléirigh, O.F. ...
'', Vol. 1. pp. 494 ff; in part reprinted by W.F. Skene, ''Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots''. pp. 106–116; ed. the
Bollandists
The Bollandist Society ( la, Societas Bollandistarum french: Société des Bollandistes) are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century ...
, ''
Acta Sanctorum
''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...
''. 1865. March 1, 473-80 (incomplete); ed. and tr. A.O. Anderson, ''Early Sources of Scottish History, A.D. 500 to 1286''. (from Colgan's edition, pp. 495–7). No full translation has appeared to this date.
*
Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500–1286'', volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990.
*Busse, Peter E. "Catroe/Cadroe." In ''Celtic Culture. A Historical Encyclopedia'', ed. John Koch. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, 2006. 356.
*Downham, Clare, "Erik Bloodaxe - axed? The Mystery of the Last Viking King of York", ''Medieval Scandinavia'' 14 (2004) 51–77.
*Dumville, D.N. "St Cathróe of Metz and the hagiography of exoticism." In ''Studies in Irish Hagiography. Saints and scholars'', ed. John Carey, Máire Herbert and Pádraig Ó Riain. Dublin, 2001. 172–88.
* MacQuarrie, Alan, ''The Saints of Scotland: Essays in Scottish Church History AD 450–1093.'' Edinburgh: John Donald, 1997.
* MacQuarrie, Alan. "Catroe (900/01–971)." ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Oxford University Press, 2004
Accessed 27 Jan 2009
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cathroe Of Metz
10th-century births
970s deaths
10th-century Christian saints
Medieval Scottish saints
Scottish Roman Catholic saints