Editing Columbanus (section)

===Frankish Gaul (c. 590 – 610)===
{{Location map+ | France |relief=1
| places =
  {{Location map~ | France
    | label = Saint-Malo
    | lat_deg = 48.6481
    | lon_deg = -2.0075 }}
  {{Location map~ | France
    | label = Luxeuil
    | lat_deg = 47.4859
    | lon_deg = 6.2253 }}
  {{Location map~ | France
    | label = Soissons
    | lat_deg = 49.3817
    | lon_deg = 3.3236 }}
  {{Location map~ | France
    | label = Nantes
    | lat_deg = 47.2181
    | lon_deg = -1.5528 }}
| caption = Columbanus in Frankish Gaul
}}
Columbanus set sail with twelve companions: [[Saint Attala|Attala]], Columbanus the Younger, [[Saint Gall|Gallus]],<ref name=":2" /> [[Deicolus|Domgal]],<ref name=":1" /> Cummain, Eogain, Eunan, Gurgano,<ref name=":0" /> Libran, Lua, Sigisbert and Waldoleno.<ref name="edmonds"/> They crossed the [[English Channel|channel]] via [[Cornwall]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbanus |url=http://www.monasticireland.com/storiesofsaints/columbanus.htm |access-date=2022-08-08 |website=Monastic Ireland}}</ref> and landed in [[Saint-Malo]], Brittany.<ref name=":1" />

Columbanus then entered Burgundian France. Jonas writes that:<blockquote>At that time, either because of the numerous enemies from without, or on account of the carelessness of the bishops, the Christian faith had almost departed from that country. The creed alone remained. But the saving grace of penance and the longing to root out the lusts of the flesh were to be found only in a few. Everywhere that he went the noble man [Columbanus] preached the Gospel. And it pleased the people because his teaching was adorned by eloquence and enforced by examples of virtue.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>Columbanus and his companions were welcomed by [[Guntram|King Guntram of Burgundy]],<ref name=":1" /> who granted them land at [[La Voivre, Haute-Saône|Anegray]], where they converted a ruined Roman fortress into a school.<ref name=":0" /> Despite its remote location in the [[Vosges Mountains]], the school rapidly attracted so many students that they moved to a new site at [[Luxeuil Abbey|Luxeuil]] and then established a second school at [[Fontaine-lès-Luxeuil|Fontaines]].<ref name=":0" /> These schools remained under Columbanus' authority, and their rules of life reflected the [[Celtic Christianity|Celtic]] tradition in which he had been educated.

As these communities expanded and drew more pilgrims, Columbanus sought greater solitude. Often he would withdraw to a cave seven miles away, with a single companion who acted as messenger between himself and his companions.<ref name=":0" />

==== Conflict with Frankish Bishops ====
Tensions arose in 603 CE when St. Columbanus and his followers argued with Frankish bishops over the exact date of Easter. (St. Columbanus celebrated Easter according to Celtic rites and the Celtic Christian calendar.)<ref name=":1" />

The Frankish bishops may have feared his growing influence. During the first half of the sixth century, the councils of Gaul had given to bishops absolute authority over religious communities. Celtic Christians, Columbanus and his monks used the Irish Easter calculation, a version of [[Bishop Augustalis]]'s 84-year {{lang|la|[[computus]]}} for determining the date of Easter ([[quartodecimanism]]), whereas the [[Franks]] had adopted the [[Victorius of Aquitaine|Victorian]] cycle of 532 years. The bishops objected to the newcomers' continued observance of their own dating, which – among other issues – caused the end of [[Lent]] to differ. They also complained about the distinct [[Celtic Christianity#Monastic tonsure|Irish tonsure]].

In 602,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saint Columbanus – Irish Biography |url=https://www.libraryireland.com/biography/SaintColumbanus.php#ftn119 |access-date=2022-08-08 |website=Library Ireland}}</ref> the bishops assembled to judge Columbanus, but he did not appear before them as requested. Instead, he sent a letter to the prelates – a strange mixture of freedom, reverence, and charity – admonishing them to hold synods more frequently, and advising them to pay more attention to matters of equal importance to that of the date of Easter. In defence of his following his traditional paschal cycle, he wrote:

{{blockquote|I am not the author of this divergence. I came as a poor stranger into these parts for the cause of Christ, Our Saviour. One thing alone I ask of you, holy Fathers, permit me to live in silence in these forests, near the bones of seventeen of my brethren now dead.<ref name="smith"/>}}

When the bishops refused to abandon the matter, Columbanus appealed directly to [[Pope Gregory I]]. In the third and only surviving letter, he asks "the holy Pope, his Father" to provide "the strong support of his authority" and to render a "verdict of his favour", apologising for "presuming to argue as it were, with him who sits in the chair of Peter, Apostle and Bearer of the Keys". None of the letters were answered, most likely due to the pope's death in 604.<ref name="edmonds"/>

Columbanus then sent a letter to Gregory's successor, [[Pope Boniface IV]], asking him to confirm the tradition of his elders – if it was not contrary to the Faith – so that he and his monks could follow the rites of their ancestors. Before Boniface responded, Columbanus moved outside the jurisdiction of the Frankish bishops. As the Easter issue appears to end around that time, Columbanus may have stopped celebrating the Irish date of Easter after moving to Italy.<ref name="edmonds"/>

==== Conflict with Brunhilda of Austrasia ====
Columbanus was also involved in a dispute with members of the Burgundian dynasty. Upon the death of King Guntram of Burgundy, the succession passed to his nephew, [[Childebert II]], the son of his brother [[Sigebert I|Sigebert]] and Sigebert's wife [[Brunhilda of Austrasia]]. When Childebert II died, his territories were divided between his two sons: [[Theuderic II]] inherited the Kingdom of [[Burgundy]] and [[Theudebert II]] inherited the Kingdom of [[Austrasia]]. Both were minors and Brunhilda, their grandmother, ruled as their regents.<ref name=":0" />

Theuderic II "very often visited" Columbanus, but when Columbanus rebuked him for having a concubine,<ref name=":0" /> Brunhilda became his bitterest foe because she feared the loss of her influence if Theuderic II married.<ref name="cusack">Cusack 2002, p. 173.</ref> Brunhilda incited the court and Catholic bishops against Columbanus and Theuderic II confronted Columbanus at Luxeuil, accusing him of violating the "common customs" and "not allowing all Christians" in the monastery. Columbanus asserted his independence to run the monastery without interference and was imprisoned at [[Free Imperial City of Besançon|Besançon]] for [[Capital punishment|execution]].<ref name=":0" />

Columbanus escaped and returned to Luxeuil. When the king and his grandmother found out, they sent soldiers to drive him back to Ireland by force,<ref name=":0" /> separating him from his monks by insisting that only those from Ireland could accompany him into exile.<ref name="edmonds" />

Columbanus was taken to [[Nevers]], then travelled by boat down the [[Loire]] river to the coast. At [[Tours]] he visited the tomb of [[Martin of Tours]], and sent a message to Theuderic II indicating that within three years he and his children would perish.<ref name=":0" /> When he arrived at [[Nantes]], he wrote a letter before embarkation to his fellow monks at Luxeuil monastery. The letter urged his brethren to obey [[Saint Attala|Attala]], who stayed behind as abbot of the monastic community.<ref name="edmonds" />

The letter concludes:

{{blockquote|They come to tell me the ship is ready. The end of my parchment compels me to finish my letter. Love is not orderly; it is this which has made it confused. Farewell, dear hearts of mine; pray for me that I may live in God.<ref name="edmonds"/>}}

Soon after the ship set sail from Nantes, a severe storm drove the vessel back ashore. Convinced that his holy passenger caused the tempest, the captain refused further attempts to transport the monk.<ref name="edmonds" /> Columbanus found sanctuary with [[Chlothar II]] of [[Neustria]] at [[Soissons]], who gave him an escort to the court of King [[Theudebert II]] of [[Austrasia]].<ref name=":0" />