No More Learning

Therearemanyproofsadvanced,regardingtheprobabilityofSt. Patrickhaving beenanativeoftheEuropeanContinent. H—isFrenchextractionissupposedtobe asserted, in one of the oldest of his Lives that ascribed to St. Eleran. How-
The City of Boulogne, France.
ever, a succeeding part of the narrative shows, that the author of this biography
^^^
refers the foct of his birth to another, and to a more distant, country. The Aremoric Gauls, notwithstanding, are said to have claimed him, as their countryman. '^7 Don Philip O'SuUevan Beare has attempted to reconcile the fact of his being a Briton, with the circumstance of his birth occurring in
*^^
France, by supposing the Irish Apostle to have been a Briton, of Brittany. Other Irish writers have adopted the same opinion. Thus, Bishop David
Roth,'S9 j^gy^ Geoffi-y Keating, D. D. ,^9° and Roderick O'Flaherty,'? ' are among
I '^'i Mbst frequently, they adopt a Latin
"
mortality here, born, were, to eternal life. See Lynch's "Life of
St. Patrick," chap. vii.
'^f'lt is recorded, 'by Baronius, that in
A. I). 431, lived St. Patrick, a Scotchman. The same writer afterwards explains, that by such expression, "an Irishman" is m^ant. Thus he writes, under a. d. 491, for tl]^ death of St. Patrick he has referred to thatyear.
'^3 Yet, Dempster states this, in his " His-
toria Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotonim," tomus
ii. , lib. XV. , num. looi, pp. 520, 521.
'^^ See " Vita S. i. Quarta Patricii," cap.
|Avord, which denotes
day," that is, the day, on which a saint is releasee'! from and as it
nativity," or "natal
'^7"Galli Aremorici civem suum fa-
ciunt. "—Dempster's "Apparatus ad Histo-
riam Scotise," p. 520. '^^ "
See Patriciana Decas," p. 4.
'89 " Quamquam non desint, qui eum —in Britannia Armorica genitum dicant. "
" Ilibernia Resurgens," p. 199.
"
General History of Ireland," booki. ,p. 156. DublinEdition,A. D. 1723.
'9° See
2F
450 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
thenumber. Oneoftheablesthistorians,whocontendsforthistheory,is
the Rev. Dr. Lanigan, while his high authority and acute arguments have determinedmanyattentivereaders,toadopthisconclusions. However,be- fore the publication of his Irish Ecclesiastical History, few modern writers seem to have attempted an identification of those localities, named in various original documents, and concerning the saint's personal biography, in the same detailedandlabouredmanner. AneloquentandamodernFrenchhistorical writer'9^ claims our saint, as the Gallo-Roman Patrick. '93 Later still, an accomplished writer and a learned investigatorj'S'^ adopting similar views, has examined with great care the general state of this question, and in an admi- rable Essay,'95 he endeavours to prove, that St. Patrick's birth took place, near Boulogne/9^ on the northern coast of France, By the present writer, this Essay has been freely used, in the course of this special enquiry.
The saint himself tells in his " us,'97
that his
of birth was called Enon—if we are to trust some readings—a sup- posed villa, near the town of Bonava,'98 q^ Benava Taburnia. '99 To these localities, the Hymn of St. Fiech-°° adds, that Patrick was born, at a plape, called Nem-tur. ^"' The ancient Lives of our Apostle cite these localities, and with little substantial variation. The Second Life, given in Colgan's collection, declares, likewise, his nativity to have been at Nemp- thur ; and, in the plain of Tabuma. ^°^ The Third Life is nearly word for word with the First, on this point. ^°3 The Fourth suggests, that he was of Jewish descent, through a colony allowed by the Romans, to settle in Armo- to the of Strato
rica ^°* that his were driven
j but,
parents
thence, 5enAH\ pAC^Aic
—"
region 11emchu]^,
'5' See " lib. Ogygia,"
and, the '' NatusestPatricius
Ixxxv. ''*LeVicomteDeMontalembert.
1
writers. Edited by H. E. Manning, Arch-
;
euplionius and belongs to the preceding preposition, precisely as we find ir the old MSS. in ne]\enn for in Erin; in t'AlbAnn for in Albania ; in tIemAin for in Imania, etc. " A very ancient Irish Maniscript, states, that " in a village, the name of which
is Hurnia, in Britain, near the city of Emp- ter. " The text is, a mbAibe •oa]\ lAinm
1ni]\iiiA \&x\ mb|\eACAin Laiii yve ciCAii\ ompcep, St. Patrick's birth took place. See
vol. iv. March, 1868, pp. 282, 283, anun.
=°'
Apparently
ledge, Ur. Lanigan thought, that Nemthur ii not the tnie spelling of the place, where St. Patrick was born, according to Fiech.
*" It states: "Natus est igitur \n ilh ****'* oppido, Nempthor nomine, —
Patricius natus est in campo Talmrtu" "Secunda Vita S. Patricii," cap. i. , p. 11.
iii. , cap.
'93 See "Les Moines d'Occident," tome
ii. , livre ix. , chap, i. , p. 454.
'9* Mr. John Cashel Hoey.
'9S«'On the Birthplace of St. Patrick. "
It was published among the Essays on nemchu^ Religion, and Literature. " By various
runs,
Hymnus seu Prima
Yvxvt
that the name of Patrick's birthplace was Nemthur, from the Irish phrase in nem- chup ; however, Eugene Curry well re- '9* The accompanying view of the city of marked, that the initial 11 in thi'^ case is
bishop of Westminster, and published in
London,A. D. 1865. Itembraces,frompp. 106 to 137 of this volume.
Boulogne, taken from a French photograph, was drawn on the v/ood, by William F.
Wakeman, and engraved by Mrs. Millard. The foreground represents the church of St. Nicholas, and the Market Place, in the Grande Rue ; the Cathedral appears, in the distance.
'97 His words are, according to one render- "
ing, Patrem habui Calphumium (or Cal- pornium) Diaconum (or Diacurionem) qui fuit e vico Bonaven (or Benaven) Tabernias ;
villam Enon prope habuit, ubi ego in captu-
ram decidi. " Short as is the
foregoing
sen-
without sufHcicnt know
tence, there are various readings of it, in
different Manuscript and printed copies.
'98 The Bollandists, in their edition of the Confession, read Banaucn. See "Acta Sanctonmi," tomus ii. , Martii xvii. , cap. i. , sect, i. , p. 533.
"
'99 See Dr. Joachim Lorenzo Villanueva's
'°^ It reads : "Natus est igitur Patri:ius nodi, Canones, Opuscula," &c. Confessio in illo oppido Nemthor nomine ;**•*—•
S. Patricii, cap. i. , p. 184. Patricius natus est in Campo Taburnia:. " *" The first line of this Hymn reads, "Tenia Vita S. Patricii," cap. i. , p. 2I.
Sancti Patricii, Ibernorum Apostoli, Sy-
Confessions,"
place
Latintranslation
Vita Patricii," stanza I, p. i. The version of this Hymn, contained in the "Irish Eccle-
Nemturri. "
S.
siastical Record," has 5enAi]\ Pac]\aicc in ""
it is translated, Patrick wasbornatEmptur. " Tothelatterword,
"
a note is appended :
and,
Many
imagined
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 451
Clude—now understood to be Strath Clyde—and that he was born, in Nempthur, which town was on the Taburnian plain. ^°5 This Life is of very ancient date, and it seems to indicate some old Irish tradition, concerning the saint's birth taking place in France. ^°^ The Fifth Life is thought to have
the merit of even more being
^°7 explicit ; for,
it he was born at Ban- states,
nave Tiburnife, in the Nentria—interpreted the Neustria—province. ^°^ Here, it is asserted,^°9 we may observe the same confused tradition, regarding the saint's French origin ; since, Neustria^'° is said to have been a name, during
the Merovingian period,^" for that whole district, comprised between the Meuse and the Loire. The Sixth and best-known Life, by Jocelyn,^'^ has
Nempthor,andthevillageofTaburnia,neartheIrishSea; and,apparently set down in a manner, to correct a mistake of previous authorities, on this subject. In fine, the Seventh Life^'3 declares, that St. Patrick belonged to the Alcluid Britons,^^'-^ and that his birthplace was Nempthur. ^'s The Irish TripartiteLifecallsitNemtur. ^'^ 'TheBreviariesrepeatmanyofthefore- going names, very vaguely, and with little attempt to fix the actual localities, wheretheyarenowtobefound. ^'7 Wehavealreadyseen,tha—toneIrishManu- script Life^'^ of St. —Patrick states, he was born at Eptor probably a mis-
^^9
spelling of Emptor placed in Provence, France. Thus, it will be
observed, that in the principal authorities presented, there is a concurrence,
in the accepting locality,
The — called
so— and variously denominated, Nempthur Emptor.
" Quarta
denotat,
et nativitatis locus fuit. "—"
Septima
most a version for the word localities, Enon, probably corrupt
"
himself. Furthermore, there is no appearance of certainty, in the minds of the different writers, as to the exact sites of those places mentioned. No one
enim," andBenavenTabernise,arethoughttobenamed,bySt. Patrick
*°^ It adds, "juxta Thyrrenum posside- ret. "
" De Brittanis Alcluidensi-
'°^ It
says,
' ' Sanctus
ergo
Patricius in
:
^'^ See Rev. William G. Todd's "
History
oppido Nempthor nomine * * * * of the Ancient Church in Ireland," 6. j p.
Quod oppidum
campo
qui —
it is
Campus
est, &c.
turrem
cselestem * * * *
in tabernaculorum
Vita S.
Taburnise dicitur,"
"^
etymo
patria
exvocis
Patricii," cap. i. , p. 35. Such is the opinion advanced, by Mr. John Cashel Hoey ; yet, we consider it
hardly sustained by the statements, con- tained in the Fourth Life.
=^"7 According to Mr. John Cashel Hoey. =^°^It states, "Brito fuit natione : * * * * de vico Bannaue Tiburnice regionis, haud procul a mare occidentali : quern vicum indubitanter comperimus esse Nentriae provinci^e, —in qua olim gigantes
Vita S.
Cashel
It is thought, the name Neustria or
New-land" may have originated from its
'"^
Vita S. Patricii," pars, i. , cap. i. , p. 117.
^'^
See Sister Mary Francis Clare Cusack's "Life of St. Patrick," p. 372.
"^ The Breviary of Paris, printed A. D. 1622, says: "in IBritannia natus * * »
pie educatus in oppido Empthori," noct. ii. ,
lect. iv. The still older Breviary of Ar-
magh states, "in illo Brittanioe oppido no-
mine Emptor," lect. i. The old Roman
Breviary, printed at Venice, A. D. 1522, says
"
habitasse dicuntur. " "
S. lect. i. Patricius, genere Brito,"
Quinta Patricii," lib. i , cap. i. , p. 51.
simply
The Breviary of Rheims, printed A. D. 1612,
"
='°9 Mr.
' ' in maritimo Brittanije
states, territorio,
quod Hiberniam respicit," lect. iv. A still more ancient Rheims Breviary has "in maritimo Britannise territorio natus," lect. iv. The Breviary of Rouen is said to read "InBrittaniaGalhcana. " TheBreviaryof the Canons of St. John of Lateran, printed in 1635, states, that the Irish Apostle was "ex Brittaniamagnainsula;" whileastillmore ancient at A. D.
"" By
John
Hoey.
having been a newly-conquered country. See Baxter, at Neustria. This name is said to have began with the Franks, and to date only from the death of Clovis.
=" "
See Hadrian Valesius, at Neustria, in Notitia Galliarum. "
-•^ He " Brito natione states,
in pago Ta- burnia vocabulo, hoc est, tabernaculorum campo, eo quod Romanus exercitus taberna- cula fixerit ibidem, secus oppidum Nemp-
" one, printed Bruxelles,
has Patricius ex Britannia magna insula. "
thor degens, niari Hibernico collimitans "
*'** Transcribed by Michael Mahony of
Ardee, in the county of Kerry, a. d. 1821, "9 See Chapter i. , n. 227, of this Life.
habitatione. "— Sexta Vita S. Patricii," cap. i. , p. 65.
='3 It states
bus originem duxit Sanctus Patricius. "
" Thus, interpreted, quod
See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " pendix i. , pp. 189 to 196.
Ap-
1622,
452 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
of them venture—s to name that exact district, or diocese, Avhere Enon—a doubtfullocaUty orevenEmptor,BonavenandTaberniaaretobefound.
It is probable enough, that a perusal of the Jesuit Father Malbrancq's historical work,^^" and some fancied topographical coherences, guided Dr. Lanigan to his conclusion, that St. Patrick must have been a Continental or Gallic Briton, by birth.
and when with his living
^^' it is
St. Patrick could
^^^
''^ See "De Morinis et Moiinomm Re-
letter does so not, by any means,
into the changes of dialect.
easily glide
bus," Tornaci Nerviorum, A. D. 1639, 1654.
^^' He " Iterum annos says : post paucos
=^7 Dr. has confounded Therou- Lanigan
in Britanniis eram cum parentibus meis. "
When speaking of Britain, in his own Confession,
only
writers of his Acts. Here, likewise, it has been asserted, the early topogra- phical names may be discovered. ^^3 In later times, the Gallic Britain of St. Patrick's birth, it is alleged, became confounded with Great Britain. ''24 Certain reasons have been adduced,^^^ for identifying Bonaven with Boulogne ; and for making Tabernise^^^ agree with a city,^^? very famous in those French wars, waged during the middle ages. This latter word has not only mystified Colgan, but certain authors of those Lives, whose authority he chose to follow. While they left out Bonavem, because it did not agree with Nem-
thought,
have meant Gaul,^^^^ ^nd such, too, was the presumed opinion of some early
parents there,
retained the word as Taberni^e, or,
choose to write " Cam- it,
thur, they
pus Taburnise. "
making it a district, that got its name, because they assumed it had been the site for a Roman camp, in which there were tents or tabernacles. ^^9 To sustain his identification, however. Dr. Lanigan supposes a mistake of spell- ing,andthatforTaburnise,weshouldratherreadTarvenna. ^30 St. Gregory
they
They endeavoured also to account for this etymon, by
anne, lying at some thirty miles from Bou- Confessio S. Patiicii," p. 9. Ware's logne, with another town, at least twenty edition. The BoUandist edition, and tliat of miles still farther removed. Most certainly, Father Joachim Lorenzo Villanueva, have Therouanne did not stand in the near rela- "in Britannia. " See Dr. O'Conor, in Pro- tion he has supposed to Boulogne. Yet,
"
" Rerum Hibernicarum tores," who lias Britanniis, tomus i.
who to have been Dr. Scrip- Malbrancq, appears
legomena
222 "
Pergere in Britannias, etsi libentis-
Lanigan's chief authority, does not omit to mention, that Tervanna and Taruanna are two entirely distinct places. Tervanna had
sime paratus irem, quasi ad patriam et pa-
rentes ; et non id solum, sed eram usque ad been the old Roman name, given to the Gallias visitarem fratres meos, ut viderem town, now known as Saint Pol : while
faciem sanctorum Domini mei. " See "Con-
fessio S. Patricii," cap. iv. , sect. 19, p. 203. Villaneuva's " Sancti Patricii Ibernorum
Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opuscula. " This seems to indicate a more distant situa- tion from Ireland, when St. Patrick wrote, than Great Britain presented.
"3 It may be observed, that Dr. Lanigan does not attempt to identify, the two locali- ties, called Enon and Nempthur. I'he former he has regarded as being too insig- nificant, while the latter, he did not believe, had any existence, as a town, but rather as a pro"vince.
To prevent such a misconception, in the lessons for St. Patrick's Office, the cor- rector of the Rouen Breviary inserts : "In Britannia Gallicana ortum. " Seethe Bollan- dists* Commentarius Prtevius, sect, v. , at S. Patrick's Acts, tomus ii. , Martii xvii. , p. 522.
"^3 By Rev. Dr. Lanigan.
326 While Dr. Lanigan accounts for a
change, in the verbal structure, by consider- ing the usual transmutation of b into v, he overlooks the letter ;-, and its force. This
Tamanna was that which formerly applied toTherouenne,asnowcalled. See"Comi- tum Ten'anensium Annales Historici," Col- lectore Th. Turpin Paulinate. Ord. Predicat.
"8 After telling us, that St. Patrick was born at Nemthor, the author of his Second Life piofesses to give us the reason, wliy it
"
campus autem Taber- naculorum, ob hoc dictus est, eo quod in eo Romani exercitus quodam tempore tabern—a-
cula sua ibi statuernnt hyemali frigore. "
bore such a name,
"
The Third Life has almost the same words.
See cap. i. , p. 21 ; and, in substance, the
Fourth Life quite accords. See cap. i. , p. 35. The Sixth Life agrees. See cap. i. , p. 65.
^'"^ So understand all the ancient writers of St. Patrick's Acts, and the old Commen- tators on them.
^•'° See more on this subject, in Hadrian
Secunda Vita S. Patricii," cap. i. , p. 11.
"
Notitia Galliarum," at Gessoria'
"
Valesius,
cum and Tai-Dcnna Morinoiian.
="3' It may be objected, that "Tabernia
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 453
of Tours has called the inhabitants, by the denomination, Tarabannenses. ^^i Under the name, Civitas Morinorum, it has been frequently alluded to, as
having been a principal city, belonging to the Morini. ^sz Boulogne was also situated in this region,233 and it was so connected with Tarvanna,234 that both
places anciently formed only one episcopal See. Thus Jonas,23s -writing nearly twelve hundred years ago, calls Audomarus,^36 Bishop of Boulogne,^^? andofTarvana. ^38 Wemustadopt,notwithstanding,themeaningoftheold
this special investigation.
In St. Patrick's Confession, his father Calphurnius, or Calpornius, the Dea-
con, is said again to have been a priest of the town of Bonaven Taberniae. ^39
Near the town, it is thought, he had a small villa, called Enon,^*" where St.
Patrickbecameacaptive. ^^t Here,however,wefindneitheratown,norapro-
vince,calledNemthor,norAlcluit. Ithasbeensupposed,byDr. Lanigan,that
St. Patrick's probable reason for distinguishing Bonaven,^42 by the adjunct Tabernise, was, lest it might be confounded with the Italian Bononia, now
Bologna,orwithaBononia,inAquitain; as,inthesamemanner,toavoid
"
plainoftents;" and,itseemsthemostnaturalconclusion,tobedrawnfrom
biographical writers,
Campus Tabernise,"
*'
is a different name from Tarvenna. " Owing
to the usual commutation of b for v, how-
ever, and, vice versa, we might read " Ta- vernia. " Thus, Tarvenna was called by
"
some Tarabanna,"
°32 Malbrancq says, this capital of the Mo- rini got the name of Tarvanna, from a
prsetor Tarvannus, in the time of Augustus.
Hadrian Valesius, in the passage already cited.
^3** The old diocese of Terouanne con- tained 800 parishes, in the countries of Flanders, Artois, and the Boulannais.
^39 Piobus agrees with the Confession, ex-
cept that, according to Colgan's edition, for Bonavem Tabernia;, he has "devico Ban-
nave Tiburnia; regionis ;" and, he adds, that it was not far from the Western Sea, or Atlantic Ocean ' ' haud a mari
"
quod etiam ad circumjacens territorium sese
He writes, extendit. " He
^33 Bucherius maintains, that Boulogne was an ancient See, and that it had a bishop,
in the time of
at Belgium
Calpornium
his sons flourished. See "
num," lib. viii. , cap. 15.
Potiti Diaconem, quondam Presby-
Tarvannje nomen accepit,
quotes, cathedral,
from the frontis-
:
procul
of its old
Morinis Tarvana vocor praetore volente. " See " De Morinis," lib. ii. , cap. 4.
piece
this verse
:
occidental! ,
i. , cap.
i.
when Roma-
name, the transposition of a syllable, or of a letter, may have occurred. This has frequently
been admitted, in old words ; and, particu-
larly, in writing the names of places. The two first syllables, as often happens in old
-**' He
" :
Patrem habui
Constantine, or,
least,
says
"^3+ To account for a difference of
filium
teri ; qui fuit e vico Benaven Tabernia;
"
found, likewise, in other versions.
" Ex
" lib.
^•° The Armagh and Cotton MSS. have
simply eniin ; but, this is said to bear no correct meaning. Ware has it, Enon, and this is guessed to be the true reading.
^•^ We may easily suppose, that some errors of transcription might have crept into sius, at Gessoriacum. So we find, Linerensi Probus' text ; yet, as to Bannave, there is
records, are transposed. See Hadrian Vale-
for Lirhiensi, in an old tract on the Liturgy,
quoted by Ussher, p. 343. Nogesia, the name of a town, became Genosia ; Dun-
britton has been modified, into Uunbertane, Dunbarton, Dumbarton.
no material difference between it and Bona- vem. Ban might be used for Bon, (Baxter,
Glossar, &c. , at Bonium), and the final 7n, which has a sort of nasal termination, as it is still with the Portuguese, could be omitted, so as to write lor it Bonavem, or Bo-
^35 In his
"
Vita S. Eustacii. "
=3^ " —
He writes Bononi;^ et Tarvanensis nauen v and u being one and the same
letter Bonaue. Probus'
gionis," is thought worthy of notice, since it corresponds with what Dr. Lanigan has ad-
"
Travanensis regio. " See "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect, vii. , and nn. 70, 71, 72, pp. 94 to 96. — -•*3 According to Mr. John Cashel Hoey—
who adopts this opinion of Dr. Lanigan the See of Boulogne was restored. See Dr. Rock entirely mistakes St. Patrick s
oppidi prcesulem. "
-37 Some writers have said, that the See of
Boulogne was first established, a. d, 1566. This is a mistake, founded upon a practice, introduced in the middle ages, of denomina- ting the See from Tarvanna or Terouanne alone, on account of its greater local dignity. But, after the destruction of Terou-
vanced, concerning
anne, by the Emperor Charles V. , in 1553,
or " " the Taburnise," meaning
villam enim — ubi (Enon) prope habuit, ego
in Confessio S. Patricii," cap. i. , sect. i.