The Life of Columba (Latin: Vita Columbae) is a hagiography recounting the life of Columba, the founder of Iona Abbey, written a century after Columba's death by Adomnán, one of his successors as Abbot of Iona.
Adomnán (also known as Eunan), served as the ninth Abbot of Iona until his death in 704.[1] James Earle Fraser asserts that Adomnán drew extensively from an existing body of accounts regarding the life of Columba, including a Latin collection entitled De uirtutibus sancti Columbae, composed c. 640 A.D. This earlier work is attributed to Cummene Find, who became the abbot of Iona and served as the leader of the monastic island community from 656 until his death in 668 or 669 A.D.[2]
While the Vita Columbae often conflicts with contemporaneous accounts of various battles, figures, and dates, it remains the most important surviving work from early medieval Scotland and provides a wealth of knowledge regarding the Picts and other ethnic and political groups from this time period. The Vita also offers a valuable insight into the monastic practices of Iona and the daily life of the early medieval Gaelic monks.
- ^
Gratton-Flood, W.H. (1913). "St. Adamnan". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ Fraser 2009, p. 98.
