- [Mary McAleese] We Europeans are three quarters of a billion people spread across more than 50 states. Our shared continent has
a dreadful recent history of hate-filled conflict
in which millions died, of political borders, drawn and redrawn, of clashes between old and new ideologies. It's a continent in rapid
transition, but to where? And while there are many signs of hope, there are also many
worrying signs of division. This is the story of a
man who, 1,400 years ago, brought fresh, radical thinking to a Europe that was in crisis. His ideas saved Europe then. They are needed again today. That man was an outsider who came from what was seen as a
primitive and backward land. His name was Columbanus. Columbanus arrived in a Europe
that was bitterly divided by religious differences. It was also violently divided
by tribal allegiances. People's lives were
made considerably worse by very poor leadership
in both church and state. In the midst of this chaos,
Columbanus offered hope. He and his disciples built monasteries that became beacons of Western
learning and civilization throughout the Dark Ages. Columbanus also risked his life when he demanded much higher
standards of leadership from very powerful kings, from
bishops and even from popes. And he brought a big idea of unity that offered a solution to division. It's an idea of pulling
together in partnership, still capable of inspiring
today's secular continent as it struggles to accommodate
the diversity of its people. And so, I'm following in
the footsteps of Columbanus, tracing a journey into a world in crisis nearly 1,400 years ago, seeking answers for the often
fractured Europe of today. The Roman Empire. From the first to the fifth century, that empire brought an
advanced civilization to a massive landmass that stretched from the
sands of north Africa to the ramparts of Hadrian's Wall. The territories of this powerful empire benefited from its
engineering, its law and order, and the sophisticated learning of Greek and Roman civilization. Columbanus brought a lot to Europe, yet interestingly, he was a rank outsider. He came from the only
country in Western Europe to stay outside of the Roman Empire. Yet his achievements took place against the backdrop of its rise and fall. Ireland lay on the edge of
Europe, beyond the Roman Empire, an island without books, roads and towns. An island so remote and so apart that Columbanus and his fellow Irish were viewed as mere barbarians. But by the time Columbanus
was born in the sixth century, Europe was in a state of flux. Columbanus' life played out in a Europe plunged into violent chaos by the collapse of the Roman Empire, following attacks by barbarian tribes. In this Europe of the Dark Ages, his vision, talents and
faith had a unique impact. While Roman civilization collapsed, so-called uncivilized Ireland was undergoing a radical
social and cultural revolution. It was the fruits of this Irish revolution that Columbanus would bring to Europe. We're told that Columbanus was a popular and attractive young man, born in the center of Ireland in Leinster, probably to a wealthy land-owning family around the year 550. Columbanus was the first Irishman to leave a body of written work. He was also the first to have
a biography written about him, shortly after his death. However, we should read
that book with care because it conveys Columbanus
as a very saintly hero. You know, I really am tired of these old-fashioned,
traditional lives of the saints. They're so syrupy and full
of gross exaggerations. There was a real Columbanus and we need to find the real Columbanus. He was born into an iron-age world. Ancient traditions practiced for centuries were part of daily life, some primitive and brutal. Recent archeological evidence reveals that children
were ritually sacrificed. But the old ways were changing. This ancient well in County Tyrone was once sacred to the Druids. They saw their religion in
the landscape around them, their gods in the trees, fire and water. Around the time of Columbanus, such old pagan traditions were
being adopted by Christians and places like this well
also became sacred to them. Archeologist Edel Bhreathnach believes this adoption of Christianity illustrates that the
remote island of Hibernia wasn't nearly as isolated
as some people might think. - When we think of Columbanus
and of his background, in Ireland, is a period of
huge explosion of change. We are in touch with the
Roman Empire. We're trading. And especially, I go back to Leinster and where he's coming from, down the east coast of Ireland. More and more, we, for example, are finding Mediterranean
and Gaulish pottery. We also are finding how
Christianity may have trickled in with things like the shrines
or the relics of saints, are obviously being brought in by many people who are Christian. Ireland is getting all sorts of new ideas. And, of course, the great
idea was Christianity. - [Mary] These finds show
that Ireland was not isolated, but was trading with the rest of Europe. And with that contact, came ideas. Columbanus was born into an Ireland that was absorbing a variety
of new outside influences. Tell me about Columbanus' people's faith. What was their faith? - [Edel] The likelihood
is that his parents would have been Christian.
His grandparents, perhaps not. They could have been far more attached to the earlier belief system. So, Columbanus is not awakening as a child into just, I suspect,
one particular religion. He is in a society that is really in flux. - [Mary] I find it just intriguing to think that Columbanus' Ireland
is such an exciting place, open to the world, trading
goods, services, ideas. And the biggest idea is Christianity. New ideas did not only come from Rome. Fresh finds reveal that
Ireland was also trading with, and therefore open to ideas, from Africa. Christians had gone off into
the wilderness of the desert and forsaken all material comforts to get closer to their new Christian god. These African desert fathers led lives of extreme self-sacrifice, aiming to purify not only themselves, but their religion and their society. And their example inspired
young Irish men and women. Ireland did not have deserts,
but it did have wilderness. Early Irish Christians
sought out remote islands, cliffs and mountainsides,
where they lived simple lives of personal sacrifice and prayer. These Christians came together
in monastic communities. More and more of these communities were appearing throughout Ireland. One of the most famous was Bangor Abbey. And it was to here in Bangor that the young Columbanus decided to come to join this new life
of sacrifice and faith and become a monk. You know, I'm wondering why a handsome, attractive, young nobleman who could have had an easy life would turn his back on his family and make his future in a monastery. I've come to the church, built on the site of Bangor Abbey to discover what exactly
Columbanus would have experienced when he first came here. The abbey was only a few years
old when Columbanus arrived, but it had already gained a reputation for a tough daily regime. - It's a harsh regime
that they're coming from, a military background, except instead of fighting other people, what they're doing is they're
fighting their own bodies and their own temptations. You live separately in individual huts, but you gather together in
the church every three hours. You don't sleep at night. You're standing guard
and your job is to pray. They'd fast a lot. They pushed themselves to
offer themselves up for gods. One of the ways in which
they pushed themselves is they would go into the lake and they could be standing in the lake, maybe in cross vigil with their arms up. And they could be reciting a hundred "Our Fathers" like that. The rules are very strict about total obedience to the abbot. You don't back backchat, you don't gossip, you don't ever question what he says. He is the guy in charge. So they created a tight-knit community, partly by the harshness and
the rigor of the regime. - That regime which he
aspired to be part of, that seems to be very,
very harsh and difficult, why would anybody undertake
such a life voluntarily? - I mean, we say "harshness"
in the negative sense, but people admired that and there are people who
want to be the very best and who will push themselves
to the ultimate extreme in order to be the best. - I really do have to admire the fact that Columbanus chose to come
to Bangor, to this monastery, because it had the reputation of offering the harshest
form of monastic life. That tells us a lot about
the character of the man. Columbanus' Bangor Abbey was a place where young men
sought to purify the world through purifying themselves.
But it also became one of the first urban centers in Ireland. The surviving ruins of Glendalough give us a better understanding of what foundations like Bangor
Abbey must have been like. As well as the church,
the monks had a refectory where they gathered to eat food produced in the surrounding
fields or fished in the loch. More importantly, perhaps, for Columbanus, there was also a scriptorium
where books were made, as well as a library and a school. In these places, a depth
of scholarship developed which, through Columbanus, would
come to have a major impact on so-called Dark-Age Europe. - Before his time, we mustn't imagine that Irish culture was ignorant, but what arrived with Christianity wasn't just the knowledge of
the three sacred languages, Latin, Greek and Hebrew, but the whole array of Mediterranean Christian culture that came with it. - So, Ireland has
absorbed and is absorbing this wave of ideas. What
does it do with them? Does it do much with them? - Oh, it does. It does
everything with them. The first thing the Irish
made themselves masters of was grammar. They created a whole library
of new Latin grammars. And the second thing they did was to make themselves the
best mathematicians in Europe. And the Irish very quickly
become the masters of this in the whole of Western Europe. - You've described to us
how Ireland absorbed so much that was rich from Europe. What did they do with that?
Did they return the compliment? Did they do anything with it? - They invented new forms
of script in ancient Hebrew and Greek and Latin. The writing was continuous,
scriptor continuum. But the Irish broke these up by putting spaces between words. Most that you and I take for granted on a modern printed page,
is an invention of the Irish in the sixth and seventh centuries. - Tell me then, when
Columbanus, in his forties, decides to head to Europe on a missionary endeavor, what's in his thinking? - Well, he knows things that they don't. He's got the zeal that the Irish have. The Western Empire is running
down and has run down. There are no more Roman
emperors in the west. It's only barbarian kings. And the Irish come with no army, with no economic power, only intellectual acumen. The only thing they
have is persuasiveness. They are the masters of argument and they are the exhibitors of a peculiarly rigorous religious life. - [Mary] The Ireland
Columbanus was leaving behind had, through a mixture of trade, travel and the religious culture
of the monasteries, been transformed. No longer a remote windswept backwater, it was, by the end of the sixth century, a rich culture, buzzing with ideas, the biggest of which was Christianity. The image I have is of an
Ireland alive with learning. And Columbanus, armed
with great scholarship, intense spirituality, wanting
to spread this big idea through the power of persuasion and his own personal holiness. Columbanus traveled to
Europe with a spiritual and a political vision that would challenge the
most powerful leaders of the continent. A vision still relevant in today's pluralist and secular Europe. Columbanus, now in his
forties, set sale from Bangor, leaving behind, once
again, everything familiar, everything he's ever known, heads towards a chaotic
Europe to a life, well, who knows what it's going to hold for him. Columbanus and the small group
of disciples who traveled with him, may well have
landed at Cornwall first, where a church dedicated
to him still exists. They continued on to France and a Europe which he would enrich by bringing scholarship and
spirituality from Ireland where he would risk his life,
challenging those in power. I have come to France to follow in the footsteps of Columbanus. When he arrived here
in the seventh century, the continent was controlled
by warring tribes. Columbanus is a complete
stranger in a foreign land. No-one here has ever heard of Columbanus, but he has a mission and he has a vision. And the big question is,
where is he going to start? From Brittany, Columbanus
made his way to Annegray in eastern France, where he
built his first monastery. Today, French and Irish archeologists are undertaking a major
survey of the site. As they dig, clues are
emerging that answer questions about Columbanus. Why did
he choose to build here? And how did this so-called barbarian manage to get this site
in the first place? - We know that he met the king, the king, Sigeberht. And Sigeberht give him this, give him, give him this area, this space. It was probably a holy area. - [Mary] A holy place, a sacred place? - [Sebastien] Yeah, absolutely. Because we found, you can see on this map, we found the plan of a
temple, a Roman temple, just 20 meters from here. - So, a king gives a complete stranger from Ireland called Columbanus, what
you are telling me, is a very important Roman site? - It was an important Roman site, but Columbanus was an important person. And Columbanus was like, how to say it, the representant. - The representative. - The representative of the king. - [Mary] Columbanus clearly
impressed the King of Gaul. Evidence from the dig
suggests that Columbanus shrewdly convinced the
king to build a monastery as a way of defining his territory. This stranger from Ireland was obviously an astute reader of men. He negotiated fearlessly
at the highest level. He navigated a complex political landscape and he took an ancient pagan site and made it a new, sacred Christian place. We know that Columbanus
was a spiritual genius, but now, we're finding out that he was also something
of a political genius. So great was the demand
to join the way of life that Columbanus had brought from Ireland, that within a few years,
he returned to the king and negotiated a second monastery site in nearby Luxeuil. Today, it's a thriving town
built on a remarkable history. (church bells ring) Sebastian and his team are
slowly uncovering that history, digging deep into the past of the site of Columbanus'
second monastery. They believe there was already a small, though weakened,
community of Christians here who had survived the Barbarian Invasions. - The city of Luxeuil was an antique city. And in the middle of the fourth century, there was some barbarian invasion, and we imagine until now, the city was totally destroyed.
But in fact, it wasn't. And when Columbanus arrived in this city, he discovered a Christian community. Because in this place, we are in a, in a Christian Church of the five century. - Before Columbanus?
- Before Columbanus. There was a Christian people,
one century and a half before Columbanus, yes. - When Columbanus arrived,
Luxeuil was a city in decline and Christianity in the
region was also in decline. So what did he bring? What did Columbanus
bring to that situation? - Columbanus input a new spiritual energy. He invented a new form of a monastic way of life, some monastic way of life
who came from Ireland. - [Mary] It was a way life that quickly captured hearts and minds. Soon, Columbanus opened a
third monastery at Fontaine. This place is such an impressive site. It's a very special place where you feel deeply in
the presence of Columbanus and in his world as it was at that time. Here among these ruins, I really am getting a sense of the sheer scale of the
challenge facing Columbanus to revitalize this people, this church in decline. The monastery that
Columbanus founded at Luxeuil would grow into one of the
most important monastic centers of the early Middle Ages. Over time, Luxeuil became
the hub of a network of over 50 monasteries
throughout the continent. Well, here we are at the
Abbaye Saint-Colomban. (Sebastian speaks in French) Sebastian has brought me
to the monastic buildings. The popularity and success
of Columbanus' way of life was due to more than his
enthusiastic spirituality of sacrifice. There was something else which
he also brought from Ireland. - Luxeuil became a very famous abbey because when Columbanus
and the first monks came, they bring with them-
- A scholarship? - A scholarship from Ireland. So, in Luxeuil, it was like
in the monastery in Ireland with a very important artistic
and intellectual life. As soon as they founded the monastery, the elite was sent in this
monastery for the education. - Why was that? What
attracted wealthy parents to send their children here? - Because the monks was very, have a very good education. - [Mary] The sons of the European elite became the monk students. And these students became
the abbot's bishops and kings of Europe. In an age before the printing press, when the only way to preserve
books was to copy them, the monastery's scriptorium created lavishly illuminated manuscripts that became celebrated far beyond Gaul. I can see why Columbanus stood out, a wild-haired Irish scholar,
passionate about faith, learning and a new spiritual life. But crucially, he also
offered sinners new hope. One tradition that Columbanus
brought from Ireland had a revolutionary impact. He taught that people could
receive forgiveness from sin time and time again. They need only confess
to a spiritual advisor, their Anam Cara. This was radically different
from the Roman tradition of public penance, the sinner
clad in sackcloth and ashes, and the belief that sins could
only be washed away once. - Merci.
- Merci beaucoup. For ordinary sinners like me,
it was a doctrine of hope. - Before Columbanus, it
was the first centuries of Christianity. The forgiveness of God was
given only once in his life. So, generally speaking, people were waiting till the end of life to ask forgiveness of God. And sometimes, they were waiting too long. It was not possible. But for the Irish monks,
and for Columbanus, the idea was every day, we have to ask forgiveness to God and this is a new idea that
the Irish monks introduced into the Catholic Church. - So, he's saying you don't have to wait until the end of your life. You can have forgiveness every day. - Exactly. Yes. It's a new idea. Such
forgiveness of God is possible if you are sincere. - This sounds to me like a
very different idea of God from the harsh, judgmental God to the gentle, loving, forgiving father. - Yes. This is the idea of a god of love. - [Mary] This new idea
of God's forgiveness became so popular in France that Columbanus wrote a
guidebook called a "penitential". It advised what penances an Anam Cara should assign for specific sins. This innovation became so
successful that it eventually was adopted by the wider Christian Church as the sacrament of confession. Columbanus brought other
Irish practices and customs that would have been
strange to the French, including a different date for celebrating the major Christian festival of Easter. (they speak in French) When Columbanus and his
monks arrived here in France to make their lives, they looked strange. They had very strange
ideas and strange customs. And yet remarkably, the local
people, the ordinary people really welcomed them
and were open to them. And because they were open,
they benefited hugely. Columbanus' monastic way of
life reinvigorated Christianity. His learning underpinned the
sophisticated scholarship that informed generations
of European leaders. The practice of the Anam Cara introduced a revolutionary
concept of forgiveness that transformed people's lives. Little wonder then, that
Columbanus is still honored in this area, particularly
here in these woods, where he spent time
alone in the wilderness, maintaining another Irish custom, that of making a retreat, of finding God in the natural world around him. Columbanus came to this very
beautiful spot twice a year to prepare for Easter,
to prepare for Christmas, to take himself away from the monastery and just to be on retreat. And it's interesting that so
many people, 1,400 years later, are still coming here to this
spot, writing in these books as if they could almost
encounter him here physically, as well as spiritually. There is no doubt that Columbanus
made a big impact in Gaul, but he also made enemies
by going against the grain of the established church hierarchy. Columbanus seems to have been
very well received generally, but then he had problems with the bishops. What was it about Columbanus
that these bishops didn't like? - Columbanus founded three
ministries in this area without any permission from bishops. He asked nothing to the
bishop of this area, only from the king. - [Mary] Columbanus annoyed the bishops, not only with his practice
of foreign customs. On the continent, bishops
expected abbots like Columbanus to obey them. But in Irish custom, an abbot
was of equal rank to a bishop. Not only did Columbanus
see himself as equal, his faith and life were built on a rejection of worldly values. So when he saw how well
some princes of the church were living, he was not impressed. - Some bishops were very honest. They were really bishops. Some of them were people
from the high society coming from families very wealthy. And they choose the way of the
church for political reasons. So they were living in towns,
sometimes with mistresses and they had nothing to do with Gospel. Columbanus could not
admit such a way of life for a Christian. - [Mary] The bishop summoned Columbanus to account for his foreign customs. He wrote to them criticizing
their comfortable lifestyles and asking them to tolerate
his different Irish ways. He advocated unity, writing, "We are all joint members of one body, whether Franks, Britons or Irish or whatever people we come from." In Columbanus' world, people squabble incessantly
over differences. But in these letters, Columbanus sets out a radical new vision in
which he challenges people to focus on what unites
them, what they share, rather than what divides them. The letter is fascinating. It may be one of the
first written expressions of an international
shared sense of identity, which crosses boundaries
of nationality and race. 13 centuries later in the
aftermath of World War II, Columbanus' call for unity
between peoples was heard again. With the devastation,
hatred and division of war still lingering in the air, European leaders gathered
in Luxeuil in July 1950 to mark the 1,400th anniversary
of the birth of Columbanus. And a new idea was born. On the fringes of that gathering, it is said a secret meeting
at this house in Luxeuil was attended by politicians
from across Europe, including members of the
then Irish government. Sean MacBride and
Taoiseach, John A Costello. The idea of a Europe united in diversity may very well have
started here in this house in the name of Columbanus. Because at that secret meeting, it is said that the seeds were sown for what became the European Union. During the anniversary celebrations, Robert Schuman, one of the
founders of the European Union, said "St Columbanus willed
and achieved a spiritual union between the principal European
countries of his time." And he referred to Columbanus
as the patron saint of all those who now seek
to build a united Europe. Back in the seventh century Luxeuil, things started to go badly
wrong for Columbanus. Although he worked with powerful leaders to achieve his aims,
Columbanus was not willing to compromise his principles for them. When asked to condone the
king's keeping of mistresses, he refused. It was a dangerous
and brave act by Columbanus. The king had already killed a bishop who criticized his private life. In response, the king seizes Columbanus and the other Irish monks
from their monastery and marches them 800 miles
to the port of Nantes to be shipped back to Ireland. From his cell in Nantes, Columbanus writes a moving farewell letter to his monks back in Luxeuil. Columbanus is at his lowest ebb. He feels a complete and abject failure, and yet, he's able to
write to his fellow monks and tell them to love and to forgive. His community of monks is now made up of many different nationalities. And in his letter to them, Columbanus again stresses
the power of unity and also forgiveness. He urges them to forgive
the king who seized him. That's a message, which it seems to me, is as relevant in today's
angry 21st century as it was in the time of Columbanus. Then Columbanus' luck improves.
There is a storm in Nantes and the boat transporting
him and the other monks back to Ireland is unable to leave port. The captain, believing
this is a sign from God, releases the monks and so,
they are free men again. Free, but not free to return to Gaul. So Columbanus and his Irish monks set out on yet another journey, an epic trek across Europe and
along the banks of the Rhine to Brigantium. Now called Bregenz, it was here on the
shores of Lake Constance that Columbanus founded
his fourth monastery. Once again, after negotiations
with the local king. Statues mark his legacy today,
but in the seventh century, Columbanus, his disciples
and their Christianity were rejected by the people of Brigantium, a rejection that would end in violence. When two of his monks
were brutally murdered, Columbanus felt he had
no choice but to leave. Expelled from Gaul,
rejected by Brigantium, cast adrift from the monasteries he had trekked far across Europe to build, at this point, Columbanus
must have wondered if his life's mission had come to nothing. And yet, he did not give up. He was a man of great inner strength, a strength that is
revealed in his writing. You spent a lot of your career studying and translating Columbanus.
How does he, the person, come across to you in terms of character? - I think extremely driven, and what impresses me about
Columbanus is really his energy and the energy comes across
very strongly in his writings. - By this stage, Columbanus is a good age. - Yeah. He's probably in his early 60s. So, yeah. And he's trudged across
most of Western Europe by this stage. - Tell me about his spirituality. - Well, there's something mystical about some of his writings, the sense that reason alone
cannot comprehend God, but also the idea that we
are pilgrims on the Earth, that we don't really have
a home anywhere on Earth. And so our life is a journey. And we see this right throughout his kind of religious
odyssey on the continent, where he's continually
being compelled forward. And Rome and Italy had
a very big attraction. And so, he talks a lot
about Rome in his letters and not as the seat of empire, but as the Church of Saint Peter and Paul. And so, he's attracted to Italy. - [Mary] Behind me are the
Alps and beyond them, Italy. And this wall of mountains,
Columbanus has to climb to get to Italy if he's
to start all over again. While Columbanus headed for Italy, one of his disciples who had followed him all the way from Ireland, chose to stay on the
shores of Lake Constance and build a hermitage in the wilderness. That disciple's name was Gall, and his hermitage became the monastic town of St Gallen in Switzerland, which grew into another
major center of spirituality and scholarship in Europe. In this modern Swiss
town, you get a real sense of the impact of those
monastic foundations laid down by Columbanus and his disciples, perhaps better than
anywhere else in Europe. St Gallen is a special place because not only are the abbey
buildings still standing, but the library also survives. I think the only way to greet
this place for the first time is, anytime, perhaps, is just with complete awe. We've moved, literally,
through centuries here, centuries of thinking,
centuries of writing, that have influenced our world in Europe and right around the world. It's quite a wonderful
feeling to be in the place where a small group of Irish
monks with great intellect and a great scholarly discipline,
who leave their country, who come here with very little, except with what brain power they have, and out of that, they create
a tradition of learning, of scholarship, of questioning, a tradition of real formidable, intellectual endeavor that continues in this
library to this day. And is part of Europe's patrimony, is part of the world's
intellectual patrimony. This library remains a majestic monument to how the treasures of
European civilization were preserved by Columbanus
and other Irish monks. - Oh, they played a crucial
role throughout Europe, I could say, because
before Columbanus arrived on the continent, barbarian
tribes, like the Vandals, had gone through Europe and
they had pretty much destroyed all the civilization of the Roman Empire. (swords clash) But when the Irish monks arrived, they brought classical learning with them and they valued classical
scholarship very highly. And their standards of
Latin was very high as well. So you could say that the Irish helped save the Roman culture for us, and they brought back
Christianity to the continent. - [Mary] And in this library,
over 1,000 years later, you can still find evidence of the monks who came from Ireland with the artistry and
literacy skills to make books in a time before printing presses, when, without the
copying of books by hand, no knowledge would be passed on. - I think Gall has still
got the largest collection of Irish manuscripts on the continent. And sometimes, in these
manuscripts, you find notes in the margins written by
the scribes themselves, and they are complaining
about the arduous task of writing or composing little poems, as well as commenting on the text. - Isn't that just typically Irish, complaining and composing poetry? The exquisite artistry and delicate craft of the Irish scribes is alive on the pages of
the St Gallen manuscripts. Each one painstakingly
constructed from animal skin, the inks skillfully extracted
from minerals and plants. This beautiful, old ninth
century Latin grammar is written in Irish. It was probably written in Ireland and it was brought then here to St Gallen and, of course, is a jewel in the crown of the collection here. But it's very interesting. Besides the meticulously
written Latin grammar text, those who were writing the text took the opportunity to
add their own comments from time to time. On this page at the top, someone has written in Ogham script, "I had too much beer last
night. Now I have a headache." And at the bottom, someone
has written in Irish, a very beautiful poem
about his love of nature and how he would love to be outdoors. In the majesty of the
buildings here in St Gallen, we can see how people
on the European mainland benefited by being open to people they had previously seen as barbarian, as less than human. Columbanus and his disciples left a legacy of monastic foundations
that saved and transmitted the knowledge, not only of Christianity, but of Greek and Roman classics, which these monks copied and preserved. Before Columbanus, the Irish
were seen as uncivilized from the edge of the world. It is with him that the legend
of Ireland as a holy island, as the land of saints
and scholars, begins. While Gall was left behind in St Gallen, Columbanus, by then in his 60s, set off on an arduous
journey over the Alps into what is now Northern Italy. It was the kingdom of another
barbarian tribe, the Lombards. He went to the king of
Milan and negotiated land on the site of an
abandoned church in Bobbio. It would be his fifth
and final foundation. When Columbanus arrived here, he began laboring and chopping down trees to build a monastery. That monastery, like Luxeuil and Gallen, would become a major center,
not only of spirituality, but of culture. And as with his other foundations, contacts between Bobbio and Ireland continued for centuries after Columbanus, with Irish monks following
in his footsteps, bringing books and working
in the scriptorium. But Columbanus wasn't content
to build just a new monastery. He also wanted to build
a more united Europe. That required good leadership
and he wasn't afraid to take on the most
powerful leader of all, the Pope. Columbanus had noticed
that the European continent was split not only by tribal
and regional divisions, but also by religion. He felt that the situation was made worse by poor leadership of various popes. Columbanus wrote a
blistering letter to the pope in which he told him to
wake up, do his job properly and heal the divisions in Europe
caused by his predecessors. Columbanus made clear how he felt the pope could become a better and purer leader. Tell me about this letter that
Columbanus wrote from here to the Pope. What makes
Columbanus think he has the right to speak like this to the Pope? - Columbanus believes
that if you have a leader who is more concerned about
material things, about wealth, about status, about prestige,
either personal prestige or institutional wealth,
status and prestige, that leader is courting disaster because that leader will
take his eye off the ball. He won't lead his people. He will be more interested in
wealth and power and prestige. What Columbanus calls on
the Bishop of Rome to do is to keep his eye on what really matters, which is about unity,
about spiritual leadership, to turn away from earthly concerns. Then, and only then, can he
give heroic true leadership. - Columbanus had very clear views about what made for good leadership. A good leader was principled,
prepared to sacrifice, a person who gave service, was not interested in self-service. With that kind of leadership,
you could build trust, you could build hope, you could lead people to a better place. According to tradition, Columbanus' own journey through life ended at the cave he used
as a retreat here in Bobbio 1,400 years ago on the
23rd of November 615. This beautiful tomb is the final resting place of Columbanus. It's a very respectful and lovely memorial to a remarkable man, but it's not the legacy or the memorial that Columbanus would have wished. What he wished for is that
the seeds of his thinking would gather momentum
through the generations, transforming how we relate to each other. Columbanus was buried here in the crypt of the monastery he founded. Now, the Basilica in Bobbio. 1,400 years later, these buildings are no longer part of the monastery. They are, however, used as a school for the young people of Bobbio. Do you think Columbanus' ideas- (she continues in Italian language) - [All] Yes, yes. - You are all young Europeans. When you become a mother or a father, will you teach your
children about Columbanus? Will you tell them about Columbanus? - [All] Yes. - Let's take five words
that are about Columbanus. (they speak in Italian) - Respect, honesty- - Amore. - Love, peace- - Faith. - Faith. - Courage. - Courage. Courage. I suppose it's no surprise
that the children here are fascinated by the
history of Columbanus. But what I find striking is
how important he is to them, what an inspiration he is to them today. I can't imagine that Irish school children would be able to talk about
this remarkable Irish saint with the same level of
knowledge and passion. That's a great pity and a sign
that there is important work to be done to re-establish
Columbanus' legacy in his native land. 1,400 years after his death, the wild-haired Irish monk
with his radical ideas, spirituality, scholarship and fearlessness continues to inspire. But where did his inspiration come from? I think I'm still searching
for the key to Columbanus. What would you say that key is? - It's actually very simple. His principles are about
harmony and diversity and his ideas go back
way beyond Christianity. People in the ancient world
saw tremendous variety and tremendous diversity
in the world about them. And Columbanus takes over these ideas and he talks about the diversity
among human communities, among peoples, among nations. But if they work together
in peace and in harmony, it makes life possible for everybody. - He uses the image of
a choir, doesn't he? - Yeah, the image of the choir was popular in political rhetoric
of the ancient world. Different people singing
different notes in polyphony. People of different registers, people with different abilities. But the result is a harmonious sound. (choral singing) - [Mary] A choir is a very powerful image for conveying Columbanus' philosophy of harmony in diversity. In Columbanus' view, sameness and monotony
were boring and banal. And diversity was to be celebrated. The variety of different voices
makes the whole stronger. Columbanus never made it to Rome, but his ideas certainly did. And they still offer solutions
in today's fragile Europe. Although modern technology
and globalization are bringing us closer together, we remain fearful of difference, of religion, nationality,
culture, even of sexuality. Columbanus' story suggests
that we should embrace and learn from these differences and recognize the common
humanity that unites us. Being open to the other benefits us as individuals and as a society. What Columbanus is telling us is that the peoples of this
very, very diverse Europe have nothing to lose
and everything to gain by working well together. By learning from Columbanus,
our first European, through harnessing our national
and European identities and pulling together, it seems to me, the problems of Europe can be solved. There is a line in Micheal
O'Siadhail's poem "Wound", which speaks of "a fabric, stitched and toughened in its darn". That's Columbanus' Europe, a patchwork quilt of different
peoples and histories, painstakingly stitched together, and all the stronger for the stitching.
Mary does my head in these days.
If you think about it he was really the first EU federalist ... lol what an atrocious framing and narrative, just intrudes against the actual story at every point.
More like ex-Catholic Mary McAleese