Editing Columbanus (section)

===Lombardy (612–615)===
{{Location map+ | Alps
| relief = Y
| default_width = 300
| places =
  {{Location map~ | Alps
    | label = Tuggen
    | lat_deg = 47.2011
    | lon_deg = 8.94103 }}
  {{Location map~ | Alps
    | label = Bregenz
    | lat_deg = 47.50343
    | lon_deg = 9.74732 }}
  {{Location map~ | Alps
    | label = Milan
    | lat_deg = 45.46427    
    | lon_deg = 9.18951 }}
  {{Location map~ | Alps
    | label = Bobbio
    | lat_deg = 44.7716    
    | lon_deg = 9.38641 }}
| caption = Columbanus in the Alps and Italy
}}
Columbanus arrived in [[Milan]] in 612 and was welcomed by King [[Agilulf]] and Queen [[Theodelinda]] of the [[Lombards]]. He immediately began refuting the teachings of [[Arianism]], which had enjoyed a degree of acceptance in Italy. He wrote a treatise against Arianism,<ref name=":0" /> which has since been lost. In 614, Agilulf granted Columbanus land for a school at the site of a ruined church at [[Bobbio Abbey|Bobbio]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

At the king's request, Columbanus wrote a letter to [[Pope Boniface IV]] on the controversy over the ''[[Three-Chapter Controversy|Three Chapters]]'' – writings by Syrian bishops suspected of [[Nestorianism]], which had been condemned in the fifth century as [[heresy]].<ref>[https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T201054/text005.html Letter 5] (English translation)</ref>{{full citation needed|date=October 2023}} [[Pope Gregory I]] had tolerated in Lombardy those persons who defended the ''Three Letters'', among them King Agilulf. Columbanus agreed to take up the issue on behalf of the king. The letter has a diplomatic tone and begins with an apology that a "foolish Scot" ({{lang|la|Scottus}}, Irishman) would be writing for a Lombard king. After acquainting the pope with the imputations brought against him, he entreats the pontiff to prove his orthodoxy and assemble a council. When critiquing Boniface, he writes that his freedom of speech is consistent with the custom of his country.<ref name="edmonds"/> Some of the language used in the letter might now be regarded as disrespectful, but in that time, faith and austerity could be more indulgent.<ref name="montalembert-440">Montalembert 1861, p. 440.</ref> Columbanus was tactful when making critiques, as he begins the letter he expresses with the most affectionate and impassioned devotion to the Holy See.

{{blockquote|We Irish, though dwelling at the far ends of the earth, are all disciples of Saint Peter and Saint Paul&nbsp;... we are bound to the Chair of Peter, and although Rome is great and renowned, through that Chair alone is she looked on as great and illustrious among us&nbsp;... On account of the two Apostles of Christ, you are almost celestial, and Rome is the head of the whole world, and of the Churches.}}

Later, he reveals charges against the Papacy so as to encourage Boniface to make concessions:

{{blockquote|For, as I hear, you are alleged to favour heretics—God forbid men should believe that this has been, is, or shall be true. For they say that Eutyches, Nestorius, and Dioscorus, old heretics as we know, were favoured at some Council, at the fifth, by Vigilius. Here, as they say, is the cause of the whole calumny; if, as is reported, you also favour thus, or if you know that even (Pope) Vigilius himself died under such a taint, why do you repeat his name against your conscience? Already it is your fault if you have erred from the true belief and made your first faith void; justly do your subordinates oppose you, and justly do they hold no communion with you.<ref>Letter 5, Chapter 9</ref>}}

Columbanus' deference towards Rome is sufficiently clear, calling the pope "his Lord and Father in Christ", the "Chosen Watchman", and the "First Pastor, set higher than all mortals",<ref name="allnatt">Allnatt 2007, p. 105.</ref> also asserting that "we Irish, inhabitants of the world’s edge, are disciples of Saints Peter and Paul and of all the disciples"<ref>Letter 5, Chapter 2</ref> and that "the unity of faith has produced in the whole world a unity of power and privilege."<ref>Ibid., Chap. 11</ref>

[[File:Bobbio-abbazia di san colombano-esterno6.jpg|thumb|left|Facade of the Abbey in Bobbio]]
King Agilulf gave Columbanus a tract of land called [[Bobbio]] between Milan and Genoa near the [[Trebbia]] river, situated in a [[defile (geography)|defile]] of the [[Apennine Mountains]], to be used as a base for the conversion of the Lombard people. The area contained a ruined church and wastelands known as ''Ebovium'', which had formed part of the lands of the papacy prior to the Lombard invasion. Columbanus wanted this secluded place, for while enthusiastic in the instruction of the Lombards he preferred solitude for his monks and himself. Next to the little church, which was dedicated to [[Saint Peter|Peter the Apostle]], Columbanus erected a monastery in 614. [[Bobbio Abbey]] at its foundation followed the Rule of Saint Columbanus, based on the monastic practices of [[Celtic Christianity]]. For centuries it remained the stronghold of orthodoxy in northern Italy.<ref name="edmonds"/>{{refn|Bobbio Abbey may have been the model for the monastery in northern Italy in [[Umberto Eco]]'s novel ''[[The Name of the Rose]]''.|group=Note}}