THE BERKELEY LIBRARY, TCD – MALAIRT AINM/RENAMING
Moladh é seo go dtabharfaí
Leabharlann Eriugena/The Eriugena Library’
ar ‘The Berkeley Library’ i gColáiste na Tríonóide, BÁC

[Ní léargas ar shaothar Eriugena é an ráiteas a leanann, ach cuntas imlíneach ar chinniúint a shaothair ó cumadh é, ar mhaithe le lucht léite a bheadh ar bheagán eolais. Tá teacht ar bhunshaothair Eriugena in iliomad foilseachán ilteangach. English version below]
Fealsúnaí Éireannach ab ea Johannes Scottus Eriugena ar tháinig saothair éagsúla fealsúnachta agus diagachta óna pheann ar mhór-roinn na hEorpa sa 9ú céad – ina measc a phríomhshaothar, Periphyseon, agus mórán aistriúchán ón nGréigis. B’é an t-aon duine é in iarthar na hEorpa lena linn a raibh an Ghréigis ar a thoil aige, agus ba faoi thionchar a aistriúcháin ar shaothar Dionysius Araeopagiticus (a clóbhuaileadh don gcéad uair i Strasbourg I 1503) a tháinig traidisiún miostachais na hEorpa chun coinlíochta níos déanaí i bpearsain Meister Eckhart, Tauler, 7arl. Níor tháinig saothar cruthaitheach Eriugena le meon na meánaoise, agus damnaíodh é i gcomhairlí eaglasta éagsúla lena linn féin, arís san 11ú céad, agus arís eile i 1225, nuair a bhagair an Pápa, Onóir III, coinnealbhá ar éinne nár sheol an Periphyseon chun na Róimhe lena loscadh, laistigh de chúig lá dhéag!
Cé go bhfuil taighde as cuimse ar siúl ar fud an domhain ar shaothar Eriugena ó bunaíodh ‘The Society for the Promotion of Eriugenian Studies’ (SPES) i mBaile Átha Cliath i 1970 is beag aitheantas atá fachta aige in Éirinn. Bhí ‘íomhá’ dó ar nóta £5 faoin ainm lom ‘Scotus’ sna blianta 1976-93, ar thuig mórán daoine uaidh gurb é an fealsúnaí Albanach John Duns Scotus (1265-1308) a bhí i gceist. Is beag tionchar atá ag Éirinn ar shaíocht na hEorpa ó ghlac sí ballraíocht san Aontas Eorpach 50 bliain ó shin. Tír bheag fhorimeallach san Eoraip í Éire, ar mó a héifeacht i mbuntáistí ábhardha a mhealladh ón Aontas ná i bhforbairt na saíochta a chruthaigh na luachanna atá mar bhonn lenár sochaí choiteann. Is é Columbán a chéadthagair don gcríoch a bhí ag teacht i gcomharbacht ar Impireacht Iartharach na Róimhe ón 6ú céad amach, mar ‘Europa’, agus is in Impireacht Chairilinseach an 8ú céad, inar shaothraigh Eriugena a smaointe uileghabhálacha, a cuireadh dlús leis an gcoincheap sin.
Is é Erasmus a roghnaigh polaiteoirí na hEorpa mar eiseamláir spreagúil d’aos léinn óg na hEorpa, agus b’é an Coimisinéir Éireannach, Peter Sutherland, a sheol Clár Erasmus i 1987. Le blianta beaga anuas athchóiríodh dhá choláiste Gael stairiúil, i bPáras agus i Lováin, mar áis thomoideachais Eorpaigh do mhic léinn Éireannacha, is ar léir óna dtost go raibh a n-urraithe dall ar thráthúlacht Eriugena mar eiseamláir spreagúil. Is maite sin dóibh, mar ná fuil ann ach samhail de dhaille a gcine.
Dála Eriugena sé a chumas sa Ghréigis a bhain cáil amach d’Erasmus, ach ba thromchúisí go mór an Periphyseon ná aon cháipéis ó pheann Erasmus sna conspóidí teasaí inar bhain sé an bonn ó chóras seanchaite na meánaoise le neart fonóide. Mar a tharlaíonn, chuir Erasmus téacs amháin de chuid Eriugena i gcló i Basel i 1536, Vox Spiritualis Aquilae, seanmóin ar Réamhrá Shoiscéal Eoin, a áiríodh mar shaothar de chuid an diagaire chlúitigh Origenus (185-253). D’aithin Erasmus nár bhain an téacs le luath-thréimhse Origenus ach bhí sé dall ar an údar ceart. Bhí cóip den eagrán seo (Cambridge Trin. Coll. N.Q. 17.19-20) i seilbh Isaac Newton tráth! Incunabulum is ea an t-eagrán den dtéacs (faoi ainm Origenus) a clóbhuaileadh i Koeln i 1475 – ba le Seoirse III, Rí Shasana, an chóip de seo atá i Leabharlann na Breataine (London, BL. C.10. c.6). Bhí oiread san measa ar théacs seo Eriugena ó lár an 12ú céad ar aghaidh gur chuid d’Iarmhéirí Oíche Nollag é ar fud na hEorpa – fiú sa Róimh agus Onóir III i mbun ceiliúrtha i 1225!). Is sa Chatalóin amháin a tugadh aitheantas d’Eriugena seachas d’Origenus mar údar air.
Sar a bhfágfaimíd stádas Eriugena san Eoraip, ní miste a lua gur áirigh Vincent de Beauvais ina Speculum Historiale i dtús an 13ú céad, agus Thomas Hibernicus “Palmeranus” ina De Tribus Sensibus Sacrae Scripturae i dtús an 14ú céad, Eriugena mar dhuine de cheathrar bunaitheoir Ollscoil Phárais, ar an dtuiscint gur shíolraigh seo ó Scoil an Pháláis Chairilinsigh. Más díol iontais é seo is amhlaidh is mó an t-iontas é áiteamh John Bale ina shaothar Illustrium Majoris Britanniae Scriptorum Summarium (1548) gurb é John Scottus a bhunaigh Ollscoil Oxford – níl bonn ach oiread leis an dtuairim gurb é Rí Ailfrid Mór (9ú céad) a bhunaigh. I bhfianaise ar seo, b‘fhéidir go soláthraíonn Coláiste Brasenose in Oxford leid dúinn ar chomhthéacs na baoth-thuairime seo. I Seanchearnóg an choláiste a bunaíodh i 1509, tá dealbha de bhunaitheoirí an choláiste ar uchtfhallaí an Halla, maraon le dhá dhealbh os cionn príomhdhoras an Halla, ar de Rí Ailfrid Mór agus de John Scottus Eriugena iad de réir thraidisiúin an choláiste inniu féin. Is sa 17ú céad a cruthaíodh na dealbha seo ach ní miste a chur san áireamh gur macalla iad de thraidisiún a lean sean-Brasenose Hall (lóistín do mhic léinn) a bhí ar an láthair seo ó 1279 ar a laghad. Tá foinse an traidisiúin seo le fail i scríbhinní éagsúla an Angla-Normanaigh Uilliam Malmesbury go luath sa 12ú céad gur aistrigh Eriugena go Malmesbury i Wiltshire ar cuireadh ón Rí Ailfrid, ar a raibh cáil na foghlama. Ní mór a choimeád in aigne gur dhein impire de Charl Maol in 875, ach gur cailleadh é in 877, rud a d’fhág Eriugena in éagmais a cheap dídine. Toisc gur deineadh forbairt fhinscéalach ar bheatha Eriugena i Malmesbury, mainistir a bhunaigh an tÉireannach, Maoldubh, i dtús an 7ú céad, ní ghlacann mórán scoláirí le tuairisc Uilliam. Is áirithe, áfach, go bhfuil bonn leis, ar chúiseanna a raghadh a ríomh i bhfaid anso.
Chuir an traidisiún seo casadh cinniúnach ar thodhchaí Eriugena sa mhéid gur spreag sé Uilliam chun ‘eagrán’ cumaisc den Periphyseon a chruthú le cabhair manach dá ord Beinidicteach féin ar an mhór-roinn. D’fhág Eriugena ceithre leagan, leasaithe i ndiaidh a chéile go forchéimnitheach, den Periphyseon, roinnte faoi seach in dhá imleabhar. I ngan fhios dó féin bhain Uilliam leas as dhá imleabhar de leaganacha éagsúla, ar seanda leagan an dara himleabhair . Is é an ‘t-eagrán’ cumaisc sin a bhí ar fáil i Sasana (Cambridge Trinity College MS. O.5.20) nuair a thug an tEaglaiseach Anglacánach, Thomas Gale, faoi phríomhshaothar Eriugena a fhoilsiú in Oxford i 1681 faoin dteideal ‘De Divisione Naturae’: Joannis Scoti Erigenae de divisione naturae libri quinque, diu desiderati. Is air seo atá na heagráin éagsúla a foilsíodh ó shin bunaithe nó gur foilsíodh eagráin I.P. Sheldon-Williams agus É. Jeauneau sa dara leath den 20ú céad. Cuireadh leagan Gale ar Index Librorum Prohibitorum na Róimhe i 1684, mar ar fhan sé, i gcomhluadar scríbhinní Erasmus, nó gur cuireadh an Index ar ceal i 1966. Tagraíonn Gale do chóip den Periphyseon i seilbh James Ussher, Ardeaspag Ard Macha, ach ní cosúil gur bhain sé leas aisti le haghaidh a eagráin. Is sa lámhscríbhinn BÁC, Coláiste na Tríonóide Ls. 197 atá an chóip seo, lena bhfuil an nóta ‘Transcriptum e MS. Bibl(iothec)ae Thuani No. 43 in f(oli)o, a(nn)o 1637.’ Cóipeáladh í as lámhscríbhinn Páras BNF MS. 1764 an lae inniu (9ú/10ú céad), a bhí tráth i seilbh duine den ainm J-A de Thou (1553-1617) (atá mar bhonn le ‘Thuani’ i nóta Ussher). Níl sa chóip ach imleabhar a haon den Periphyseon. Is ar leagan athchóirithe de théacs Gale a d’fhoilsigh J. H. Floss sa tsraith ‘Patrologia Latina’ in 1853, a bhunaigh William Larminie (1849-1900), céimí de chuid Choláiste na Tríonóide, BÁC, an t-aistriúchán easnamhach den Periphyseon a dhein sé. Tá san á cumhdach i Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann, LSS. 290-291. Bhí Larminie, cnuasaitheoir/foilsitheoir béaloideasa de bhunadh Mhaigh Eo, fostaithe san ‘India Office’ i Londain, rud a thug air, b’fhéidir, trácht ar chosúlachtaí idir dhearcadh Eriugena agus meon an Domhain Toir in altanna dá chuid. Ní hionadh go bhfoilseodh Larminie roinnt alt ar Eriugena, ach ní bheadh súil ag duine go dtráchtfadh James Joyce air i léacht a thug sé i Trieste i 1907, agus a foilsíodh in Il Piccolo della Sera (Aibreán 27) faoin dteideal ‘Irlanda, Isola dei Santi e dei Savi’. Is lú ná san a bheadh duine ag súil le tagairt d’uaigh Eriugena i Malmesbury ag an bhfile, Ezra Pound (Pisan Cantos, Canto LXXIV): “ ‘Sunt lumina’ said Erigena Scotus // as of Shun on Mt Taishan // and in the hall of the forebears // ..…. // ‘Sunt lumina’ said the Oirishman, to King Carolus, ‘OMNIA, // all things that are are lights’ // and they dug him up out of sepulture // soi distantly looking for Manichaeans.”
Tá séadchomhartha a bhfuil cáil domhanda air i dtaisce i gColáiste na Tríonóide, BÁC, a thugann éachtaint dúinn ar bharr feabhais na healaíne a cleachtadh i ré órga na hÉireann, Leabhar Cheanannais. Is i limistéir chuallacht Cholm Cille, ina raibh Éire agus Albain áirithe, a deineadh an leabhar a tháirgeadh, rud a fhágann gur dócha gur thug an chuallacht leo ó Albain go Ceanannas é nuair a d’aistrigh sí ó Í go Ceanannas i dtús an 9ú céad. Tá fianaise áirithe ann, ar gá breis taighde a dhéanamh uirthi, gur de bhunadh oirthuaisceart Laighean é Eriugena, a bhfuil iarsma dá shaothar sa lámhscríbhinn i leabharlann Choláiste na Tríonóide. Macalla é seo de bharr feabhais intleachtúil na sochaí a bhí i réim ina thimpeallacht dúchais, a dheineann iomlánú ar an léargas ealaíne a thugann Leabhar Cheanannais dúinn. Cá bhfios nár bhain údar an Periphyseon lán a shúl as Leabhar Cheanannais sarar ardaigh sé a sheolta go mór-roinn na hEorpa roimh 851, nuair a déantar tagairt dó ansan don gcéad uair? Tá macallaí a thimpeallachta Éireannaigh le braith i dtáirgí Eorpacha Eriugena. Tá 79 focal Gaeilge i measc na ngluaiseanna a chuir sé le téacs den SeanTiomna. Tá macalla de mhiotaseolaíocht na hÉireann ina thagairt don ‘morrigain’, bandia an chatha, a bhfuil dlúthbhaint aici le hOirthuaisceart Laighean. Tharlódh gur faoi thionchar Dlithe na mBreithiún a bhaineann sé leas as an bhfocal ‘eric’ (cúiteamh, ‘wer-gild’).
Ar na lámhscríbhinní ina bhfuil na gluaiseanna seo ar marthain tá Páras, BNF, MS. Lat. 3088, ff. 108-121 (9ú céad), a bhí tráth i seilbh J-A de Thou, an fear céanna ar leis an lámhscríbhinn ónar cóipeáileadh leagan Ussher den Periphyseon i TCD MS. 197. Is léir ó na gluaiseanna seo gur bhain Eriugena leas as an nGaeilge i dteagasc a chuid mac léinn – cáineadh duine acu, Hincmar, easpag Laon (mar a raibh cara Eriugena, Máirtín, i bhfeidhil leabharlann na hArdeaglaise), mar go raibh a chuid Laidne truaillithe faoi thionchar na Gaeilge!
Díol suime é gur sa cheantar seo, i gCuailnge, Co. Lú, a bhí an t-aon chóip den Periphyseon a bhain Éire amach, go bhfios, sna meánaoiseanna – i dtús an 12ú céad. Leagan an-easnamhach den dtéacs is ea é – breacaithe ar phailmseist (buntéacs liotúirgeach ornáideach ó c. 800) – lena bhfuil gluaiseanna i nGaeilge a thugann le fios gur ‘i gCuailnge’ atá údar na ngluais lonnaithe, i gcuideachta a ‘oide, … Tuileagna’ atá ag filleadh ó ‘chuairt praicepta’.Tá an téacs ar marthain in Oxford Bodleian Library MS. Auct. F.3.15, ff. 1-68, agus tá sé in eager in I.P. Sheldon-Williams,’An Epitome of Irish Origin of Eriugena’s De Divisione Naturae, PRIA 58C1 (1956), 1-20.
Casann rothaí móra an tsaoil go mall. Thóg sé 400 bliain ar an Eaglais an leatrom a dhein sí ar Galileo a chur ina cheart. Thóg sé breis is 1000 bliain uirthi amhlaidh a dhéanamh i gcás Eriugena. Ar Meitheamh 6, 2009, in Aitheasc Ginearálta a thug an Pápa Beinidict XVI i gCearnóg Pheadair, sa Róimh mhol sé an Periphyseon go hard na spéire, agus d’áitigh gur díol suime do phobal an lae inniu iad doimhinsmaointe an údair a nasc Eaglaisí an Oirthir agus an Iarthair le chéile ina shaothar. Is dealraitheach nár bhain an tásc seo Éire amach fós – oilithrigh ó na Stáit Aontaithe agus ón Phacastáin an lucht éisteachta a bhí i láthair! Ní gearánta d‘Eriugena, áfach. D’imigh an chinniúint chéanna ar dheoraí Éireannach eile a bhain gradam amach san Eoraip – Columbán. D’fhógair Robert Schuman, Aire Gnóthaí Eachtracha na Fraince, ar ghairm Pairlimint na Eorpa ‘Athair na hEorpa’ de, Columbán mar phátrún ar an Eoraip i gcomhdháil idirnáisiúnta i Luxeuil na Fraince i 1950. I measc an tslua bhí Taoiseach agus Aire Gnóthaí Eachtracha na hÉireann, maraon le Nuncio an Phápa chun na Fraince, Angelo Roncalli (Eoin XXIII !). Tá comóradh á dhéanamh ar Eriugena in Oxford, agus tá ómós thar cuimse á thabhairt do Cholumbán i Bobbio na hIodáile agus i Luxeuil na Fraince. De bhreis air sin dhein Ollscoil Pavia na hIodáile comóradh i 1925 ar 1100 bliain a bunaithe ag an Éireannach, Dúnghal, in 825 ar fhoráileamh an Impire Chairilinsigh Lotar. Níl d’aitheantas fachta ag Eriugena in Éirinn ach gur ainmníodh bun/meánscoil ‘John Scottus’ uaidh i mBaile Átha Cliath i 1986, atá fós faoi bhláth. Is baolach go bhfuil fíoradh an ráitis ‘ní fáidh duine ina dhúiche féin’ le braith i réimsí an ardléinn nó i measc an mhaorlathais i gcoitinne. Más i mainistir an Ghaeil, Maoldubh (Malmesbury), atá fód aiséirí Eriugena b’fhéidir gur ansan a caifear cloch ar a leacht lá éigin!
Ní sholáthraíonn an chos ar bolg a deineadh ar chine Gael sna saolta déanacha bonn le díchuimhne nó fiú séanadh a dhéanamh ar bharr feabhais a shaíochta ársa. Tá an saíocht sin inaimsithe ar bheagán dua, in ainneoin na faillí a déantar uirthi. Is sa Ghaeilge is túisce a tháinig litríocht i mbéarlagar pobail chun coinlíochta san Eoraip. Faoi mar atá buaicsholaoid na graifcheirde le braith i Leabhar Cheanannais tá buaicsholaoid intleachtúlacht na hÉireann, i gcomhthéacs Eorpach, inaimsithe anois gan dua sna heagráin móide tráchtaireachtaí nuafhoilsithe d’ollshaothar Eriugena. Cé gur lasmuigh d’Éirinn atá timpeall 99% de lámhscríbhinní Éireannacha ón dtréimhse roimh 1000 AD tá méadú ag teacht ar líon na n-íomhá digiteach díobh atá ar fáil ag dul i méid in aghaidh an lae (feic m.sh. e.codices.unifri.ch le haghaidh leabharlann mhainistir Sankt Gallen na hEilvéise a bhunaigh an tÉireannach Gall c.612)

THE BERKELEY LIBRARY, TCD – MALAIRT AINM/RENAMING
This is a proposal that
‘The Berkeley Library’ in Trinity College, Dublin, be renamed
‘Leabharlann Eriugena/The Eriugena Library’.

[The purpose of the following is not an exposition of the works of Eriugena. but rather an outline of their vicissitudes over the centuries, for readers unfamiliar with the subject. Eriugena’s works are accessible in publications in many languages. [Leagan Gaeilge ar fáil]

John Scottus Eriugena was an Irish thinker, who was author of a variety of philosophical and theological works on mainland Europe in the 9th century – including his master-work, Periphyseon, and a number of translations from Greek. He was the only one in Western Europe at the time who was competent in Greek, and it was under the influence of his translation of the works of Dionysius Araeopagiticus (first published in Strasbourg in 1503) that the European mystical tradition thrived in the persons of Meister Eckhart, Tauler, etc. Eriugena’s genius diverged from mainstream medieval thought, with the result that he was condemned in a variety of church councils in his own time, again in the 11th century, and most notably in 1225, when Pope Honorius III threatened with excommunication anyone who within 15 days did not forward the Periphyseon to Rome to be burned!
Eriugena remains largely unknown in Ireland in spite of a flowering of research on his works around the world since the founding of ‘The Society for the Promotion of Eriugenian Studies’ (SPES) in Dublin in 1970. His ‘image’ appears on £5 notes of the years 1976-93, accompanied by the name ‘Scotus’, which led many to believe that the person in question was the Scottish philosopher, John Duns Scotus (1265-1308). Ireland has had little influence on European culture since it joined the European Union fifty years ago. Ireland is a small peripheral European nation, hitherto more adept in attracting material advantage from the Union than in enhancing the culture on which the shared values of our society are based. Columbanus was the first person to refer to the entity taking shape from the 6th century on, within what had been the Western Roman Empire, as ‘Europa’, and this concept was given concrete form in the Carolingian Empire of the 8th century, where Eriugena was developing his expansive ideas.
European politicians of our time selected Erasmus as an exemplary figure to provide inspiration for young scholars in the Union, and the Erasmus Programme was launched by the Irish Commissioner, Peter Sutherland, in 1987. In recent years two of the historical Irish colleges on the European mainland, in Paris and in Louvain, surviving from the centuries of persecution, were renovated as centres for a European acculturation of Irish students. Their promoters may be forgiven for their failure to realise how their projects might have been enhanced by associating them with the exemplary figure of Eriugena. Their ignorance simply exemplifies a cultural phenomenon. As in the case of Eriugena, it was his competence in Greek which won renown for Erasmus. However, the Periphyseon far excels any of the polemical / satirical writings of Erasmus which made him a celebrity. It so happens that Erasmus had a text of Eriugena’s, Vox Spiritualis Aquilae, a homily on the Preface to the Gospel of John, published in Basel in 1536. While he realised that its attribution to the famous theologian, Origen (185-253), was baseless, he remained ignorant of the real author. A copy of this edition (Cambridge Trin. Coll. N.Q. 17.19-20) was at one time in the possession of Isaac Newton! The edition of the text published in Cologne (under the name of Origen) in 1475 is an incunabulum – a copy of this (London Brit. Lib. C.10. c.6) was once in the possession of George III of England. This text was held in such high esteem from the 12th century on that it formed part of the Matins of Christmas Night (even in Rome where Pope Honorius III would have presided in 1225!). However, it was only in Catalonia that Eriugena was correctly acknowledged as its author.
Before moving on from Eriugena’s status in Europe, one should mention that Vincent of Beauvais in his Speculum Historiale at the beginning of the 13th century and Thomas Hibernicus “Palmeranus” in his De Tribus Sensibus Sacrae Scripturae at the beginning of the 14th century, name Eriugena as one of the four founders of the University of Paris, on the understanding that this was a continuation of the Carolingian Palace School. If these assertions cause surprise, one must dismiss out of hand the statement of John Bale in his Majoris Britanniae Scriptorum Summarium (1548) that John Scottus founded the University of Oxford – indeed the belief that King Alfred the Great (9th century) founded it can also be ruled out. Brasenose College, Oxford, provides an indication of the environment in which this baseless claim might have been conjured up. In the old quadrangle of this college, founded in 1509, are busts of the founders of the college on the parapets of the Hall, with a further two above the main door of the Hall. The tradition that the latter two represent King Alfred and John Scottus Eriugena survives to the present day. These busts were made in the 17th century, but are likely to reflect a tradition deriving from the earlier Brasenose Hall (student accommodation) which stood on the site from 1279 at least. The basis for these traditions is to be found in the writings of the Anglo-Norman William of Malmesbury (early 12th century), who reports Eriugena to have been invited by Alfred (renowned for his support for, and personal involvement in the advancement of letters) to Malmesbury in Wiltshire. Many scholars treat William’s account of Eriugena’s career in Malmesbury, founded by the Irishman, Maoldubh, in the early 7th century, with scepticism, as it displays some obviously fabulous dimensions. However, there are sound reasons for accepting the basic truth of the tradition, which cannot be pursued here.
This tradition had a providential influence on the destiny of Eriugena insofar as it prompted William to create a ‘composite’ edition of the Periphyseon with the assistance of his Benedectine brothers on mainland Europe. Eriugena left four versions of the Periphyseon, revised progressively in succession, divided respectively into two volumes. Unknown to himself, William combined two volumes of distinct versions, the second of which contained an earlier version. This was the composite ‘edition’, available in England (Cambridge Trinity College MS. O.5.20) when the Anglican clergyman, Thomas Gale, undertook the publication of Eriugena’s magnum opus in Oxford in 1681 under the title ‘De Divisione Naturae’: Joannis Scoti Erigena de divisione naturae libri quinque, diu desiderati. All subsequent editions, prior to the editions of I.P. Sheldon-Williams and É. Jeauneau in the second half of the 20th century, are based on this edition. Gale’s edition was placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in Rome in 1684, where it remained, in company with the publications of Erasmus, until the Index was abolished in 1966. Gale refers to a copy of the Periphyseon in the possession of James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, but he does not seem to have used it for his edition. This copy is now Dublin, Trinity College MS.197, in which is found the note ‘Transcriptum e MS. Bibl(iothec)ae Thuani No. 43 in f(oli)o, a(nn)o 1637.’ It is copied from present-day Paris BNF MS. 1764 (9/10th century), once in the possession of a person surnamed ‘Thou’ (from which ‘Thuani’ in Ussher’s note derives). Ussher’s copy, in fact, contains only volume one of the text. A provisional, selective translation of the Periphyseon, in National Library of Ireland MSS. 290-291, by William Larminie (1849-1900), is based on J. H. Floss’s revised edition of Gale’s text in the series ‘Patrologia Latina’ published in 1853. Larminie, Irish folklore collector/publisher and native of Mayo, was employed in the India Office, London – which may have motivated him to compare Eriugena’s thinking with that of the Orient in articles of his. While Larminie’s interests may explain his publications on Eriugena, one is less likely to expect a discussion of Eriugena by James Joyce in a lecture of his delivered in Trieste in 1907, and published in Il Piccolo della Sera (April 27) under the title ‘Irlanda, Isola dei Santi e dei Savi’. Even less would one expect to find a reference to Eriugena’s grave in Malmesbury in the works of Ezra Pound (Pisan Cantos, Canto LXXIV): ‘Sunt Lumina’ said Erigena Scotus // as of Shun on Mt Taishan // and in the hall of the forebears // …. // ‘Sunt lumina’ said the Oirishman, to King Carolus, ‘OMNIA, // all things that are are lights’ // and they dug him up out of sepulture // soi distantly looking for Manichaeans.’
Trinity College possesses a treasure of international renown which allows us a glimpse of the excellence of the artistic products of Ireland’s Golden Age – The Book of Kells. The book was produced within the area over which the community of Colum Cille exercised control, comprising regions of Ireland and Scotland, which makes it likely that the community brought it with them on their transfer from Iona to Kells at the beginning of the 9th century. There are indications which need confirmation, that northeast Leinster was the native place of Eriugena, a tangible witness of whose work is preserved in Trinity College, beside The Book of Kells. The Periphyseon is evidence of the high level of intellectual competence, apparently achieved in this area, and complements the impression made in the artistic sphere by The Book of Kells. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that Eriugena admired the splendour of the codex before he set sail for mainland Europe some time before 851, when there is first mention of him there. When he arrived there his mind was not a tabula rasa as is sometimes implied. In all there are 79 words in Irish in the explanatory glosses he attached to an Old Testament text, one of them having mythological associations – ‘morrigain’ (goddess of battle), whose associations are predominantly with Northeast Leinster. Likewise, his use of the legal term ‘eric’ (compensation, wer-gild) might indicate acquaintance with Brehon Law. Among the manuscripts in which these glosses survive is Paris, BNF, lat. 3088, ff. 108-121 (9th century), once in the possession of J-A de Thou, owner also of the MS. from which was copied Ussher’s version of the Periphyseon in Dublin TCD MS. 197. It is clear from these glosses that Eriugena resorted to Irish in his lectures to students – one of whom, Hincmar, bishop of Laon (where Eriugena’s friend, Martin, was head of the Cathedral library), was censured for allowing his familiarity with Irish to contaminate his Latin.
It may not be a coincidence that it was in Northeast Leinster – in Cooley, Co. Louth – that the only evidence for the presence of the Periphyseon in Ireland is to be found in the Middle Ages — the beginning of the 12th century. The text is very lacunose – written on a palimpsest (the original an ornamented liturgical text of c.800) containing glosses which imply that the glossator is based in Cooley, ‘i gCuailnge’, in the company of ‘his tutor (oide)… Tuileagna’, who is returning from ‘a preaching circuit’ (cuairt praicepta). The text is preserved in Oxford Bodleian Library MS. Auct. F.3.15, ff. 1-68, and published in I.P. Sheldon-Williams, ‘An Epitome of Irish Origin of Eriugena’s De Divisione Naturae, PRIA, 58C1 (1956), 1-20.
The great wheels of the ages rotate slowly. It took the Church 400 years to put right the injustice done to Galileo. It took it more than 1000 years to do likewise in the case of Eriugena. In a General Address delivered in St Peter’s Square, Rome on June 6, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI was profuse in his praise of the Periphyseon, recommending to the consideration of modern man the profound thought of the author who linked the churches of East and West in his expansive embrace. News of this volte face does not seem to have reached the shores of the author’s native land yet – those present in St Peter’s Square were pilgrims from the United States and Pakistan! But Eriugena does not stand in isolation. A similar fate awaited a fellow Irish exile whose achievement was acknowledged in Europe – Columbanus. Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, on whom the title, ‘Father of Europe’ was bestowed by the European Parliament, designated Columbanus ‘patron of Europe’ at an international congress held in Luxeuil, France, in 1950. Among those present were the Irish Taoiseach and Minister for External Affairs and, among many other notables, Papal Nuncio to France, Angelo Roncalli (John XXIII !). It is worth recalling in this context that in 1925 the University of Pavia, Italy, commemorated the 11th centenary of its foundation in 825 by the Irishman, Dúnghal, at the behest of the Carolingian emperor, Lothar. Commemoration of Eriugena in his native country is confined to the foundation of a primary/secondary school in Dublin in 1986 named ‘John Scottus School’, still thriving. The adage ‘no one is a prophet in one’s own land’ seems to hold sway in the realms of higher learning and among the establishment in general. If Eriugena’s ‘sod of resurrection’ is in the monastery of the Irishman Maoldubh (Malmesbury), it may be that that is where some day ‘a stone is cast on his cairn’!
A history of repression in later centuries does not justify suppression of memory and denial of the reality of past achievements, when tangible evidence of past cultural achievement is accessible with minimal effort, though ignored! Not only does Ireland possess the oldest vernacular literature in Europe, its artistic excellence is tangible in the Book of Kells, and its intellectual achievement is now eminently accessible in the recently published works of Eriugena with adequate commentary. Though some 99% of Irish manuscripts from the pre-1000 AD period are preserved outside of Ireland the availability of digital images of them is constantly increasing (see, e.g. e.codices.unifri.ch for the library of the Swiss monastery of Sankt Gallen, founded by the Irishman Gall c. 612).