The Song of Roland

In 778, Basques ambushed the rearguard of Charlemagne's army as it was going northward through the Ronceveaux Pass in the Pyrenees. They had good reason, and they destroyed the rearguard and the baggage train. In the process, according to Charlemagne's biographer Einhard, they killed the "prefect of the borders of Brittany," Hruodlandus. Hruodlandus is translated as the name "Roland."

In the 11th century, a poet writing in Old French produced a 4000-word epic poem, La Chanson de Roland ("The Song of Roland") that turned the incident mentioned briefly by Einhard into the foundation of a literary cycle called the Matter of France. It tells a very different story from Einhard's brief description.

Instead of being pursued by Basques whose chief city of Pamplona had its walls torn down by Charlemagne's army on his way home, the poem has Charlemagne's army fighting Muslims in Spain for seven years. The last holdout is the city of Saragossa, ruled by Marsile. Marsile promises treasures to Charlemagne and that he will become a Christian if Charlemagne will leave and go home.

Charlemagne is satisfied with this. His nephew, Roland, selects Roland's stepfather Ganelon to carry the message of acceptance to Marsile. Ganelon, afraid that Roland wishes him ill by sending him to where Muslims might kill him, betrays them all by telling the Muslims how to ambush Charlemagne's army as they pass through Roncesvalles. The rearguard, led by Roland with comrades Oliver and Archbishop Turpin, finds themselves overwhelmed.

Oliver tells Roland to blow his horn and summon reinforcements. Roland believes that would be an act of cowardice. Roland, however, loves Oliver's sister, so Oliver tells him that Roland will not be allowed to see his sister again if he does not summon help. It is Turpin who ultimately convinced Roland to blow his horn (in the illustration above). Emperor Charlemagne hears the horn and starts back, but takes too long because Ganelon delays him. With Roland's men dead or dying, he blows the horn one more time so powerfully that his temples burst. He is taken to Heaven by angels.

Charlemagne finally arrives, finds Roland and all his men dead, and pursues the Muslims into the River Ebro where they drown. While burying their dead, the Franks are attacked by Baligant, emir of Babylon, who has come to support Marsile. The armies fight, Charlemagne kills Baligant, the Muslims flee, and Charlemagne now conquers Saragossa, returning home with Marsile's queen.

Ganelon's betrayal is discovered, and he is imprisoned; he argues that he acted out of legitimate revenge against his stepson, not treason against the emperor. Although Ganelon's friend, Pinabel, will fight anyone who claims Ganelon is guilty of treason, Thierry convinces the council of Barons that it was treason, since Roland was serving Charlemagne at the time of the betrayal. Pinabel challenges Thierry to trial by combat, Thierry kills Pinabel, Ganelon is executed by having four horses tied to him, one to each limb, and set to gallop.

There are many improbabilities and impossibilities here, not least of which Charlemagne did not become an emperor until many years later, and an "emir of Babylon" is unlikely to appear in northern Spain, thousands of miles west of Babylon. The poem became an important literary and cultural touchstone for medieval France, however. I referred above to the "Matter of France." There were three great "Matters" in the Middle Ages, and I'll tell you more about them tomorrow.

Battle of Ronceveaux

Charlemagne thought trying to retake parts of the Iberian Peninsula back from the Moors was a good idea, so he accepted an invitation from Sulayman al-Arabi to join him in opposing the Umayyad Caliphate (Suleyman was a supporter of the Abbasid family tree, which eventually did succeed the Umayyads). The affair did not go smoothly, and before too long Charlemagne headed home. Along the way, however, he decided to harass the Basques of Pamplona and surrounding lands.

This was not entirely arbitrary on Charlemagne's part. His father, Pepin the Short, had trouble with Basques, who were a significant part of the Aquitainian army that Pepin fought and defeated. The Basques had submitted to him in the late 760s. Charlemagne perhaps wanted to express his frustration at accomplishing nothing from the agreement with al-Arabi, and used his army to "blow off some steam" by tearing down the city walls of Pamplona.

What Charlemagne should have realized was that the Basques would not just sit back and lick their wounds. As he headed north, the Basque army followed him. To get through the Pyrenees, the Christian army chose the Ronceveaux Pass. The rearguard was led by Roland, warden of the Breton March.

Curious point about Roland: in all recorded history, he is mentioned only once. Einhard in his "Life of Charlemagne" tells the story of what happened when the Basques caught up with the tail end of the army at Ronceveaux on the evening of 15 August 778:

That place is so thoroughly covered with thick forest that it is the perfect spot for an ambush. [Charles's] army was forced by the narrow terrain to proceed in a long line and [it was at that spot], high on the mountain, that the Basques set their ambush. [...] The Basques had the advantage in this skirmish because of the lightness of their weapons and the nature of the terrain, whereas the Franks were disadvantaged by the heaviness of their arms and the unevenness of the land. Eggihard, the overseer of the king's table, Anselm, the count of the palace, and Roland, the lord of the Breton March, along with many others died in that skirmish. But this deed could not be avenged at that time, because the enemy had so dispersed after the attack that there was no indication as to where they could be found. [source]

The attack was completely unexpected, and the Frankish forces were in disarray. The lightly armored Basques had the high ground, and were successful at cutting off the rear guard from the main part of the army. The Franks fought as well as they could, and arguably succeeded in keeping the Basques focused on them, allowing the main part of the army to survive, but Roland and his part of the army was slaughtered by the Basques. In the 8th century, that was the end of the story.

In the 11th century, however, a French poet would compose an epic poem that would turn this once-mentioned Roland into a national hero in a highly fictionalized re-telling of the Battle of Ronceveaux. Tomorrow we will have "story time." See you then.

The Reconquista—Abbasid Alliance

I have mentioned before the disagreements, after the death of Muhammad, over which direction the faith should go. The Rashidun Caliphate was the successor to the Prophet, followed by the Umayyads. Not everyone approved of the Umayyads, however, and there was a third caliphate ready to be "born": the Abbasid, descended from Muhammad's uncle. As it happens, in the second half of the 9th century, there were Abbasid-leaning Muslims in the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula who were willing to ally themselves with Christian kingdoms if it meant getting rid of Umayyad rule.

Sulayman al-Arabi, the Abbasid-preferring governor of Barcelona, sent a message to Charlemagne in 777, offering his submission to Charlemagne's rule if he could get military aid against the Umayyad emir of Córdoba, Abd ar-Rahman I. Sulayman had allies: Husayn of Zaragoza and Abu Taur of Huesca. Charlemagne was all too happy to bring an army south to reconquer territory from Muslims.

Reaching Barcelona, Sulayman welcomed him, and their two armies marched next to Zaragoza to add Hosayn's military forces. Reaching Zaragoza, however, they found that Husayn would not allow them into the walled city. He had just recently defeated Abd ar-Rahman's general and taken him prisoner. Husayn was willing to rely on his own power to deal with further Umayyad threats, and no longer was willing to risk his autonomy being usurped by a Christian ruler.

Charlemagne settled into a siege of Zaragoza. After more than a month, however, an agreement was made: Husayn would pay Charlemagne some gold to go away. This he did, but on his way back north Charlemagne decided to make an example of the Basques, whom he suspected of being allied with the Moors. He spent some time destroying villages, tearing down the walls of Pamplona, and setting up his own garrisons. Satisfied, he set off for home through the Pyrenees.

Unknown to him, the angry Basque forces organized and pursued. Not only had this attempt at Reconquista come to naught, but Charlemagne was about to be handed a terrible defeat that would be immortalized in literature. Details tomorrow.

The Reconquista—Covadonga

Long before the Crusades in the late 11th century decided to take control of the Holy Land, Christians and Muslims were clashing in the western end of the Mediterranean, in the Iberian Peninsula. The Umayyad Caliphate in Iberia had largely been a positive force in uniting the territories under organized rule, but the attempt in 721 to expand northward across the Pyrenees into Gaul led to the 721CE Battle of Toulouse, considered by many to be the first major clash between Muslims and Christians. A decade later, the Battle of Tours, fought by Charles Martel (see parts one and two), stopped the Muslim northward advance. Further attempts were thwarted by Charlemagne's establishing of the Marca Hispanica, the "Spanish March" ("march" in its political/military meaning of a "border").

The Reconquista—Spanish for "reconquest" and the term given by historians in the 19th century to the Christian attempts to reclaim lands from Muslim rulers—actually started a few years before the better-known Toulouse, with the Battle of Covadonga in 718. Covadonga is in northwestern Spain, and it is the site where the Umayyad Caliphate encountered the Visigothic prince Pelagius. Pelagius incited a rebellion against the Umayyads.

His army was filled with Visigothic and Hispano-Roman "refugees" migrating northward to get away from Umayyad rule. Finding themselves of common mind, they began their rebellion by refusing to pay the jizya, the tax on dhimmi (non-Muslims), required by Sharia Law. They also began harassing the smaller Muslim garrisons, eventually ousting a provincial governor, Munuza. Pelagius founded the Kingdom of Asturias, on the northwest coast. Occasional inroads made by Muslim forces were either repelled, or their control was thrown off again once they left the area to go back south. The capital in Cordoba was more focused on forcing its way into Gaul; Asturias was not at first a significant point of trouble.

Eventually, however, Asturias had to be dealt with. Munuza and a General Alqama took an army to Asturias. Pelagius' army retreated to a narrow mountain pass, where they were able to throw stones and rain arrows down on the Muslim army. The narrow pass and poor tactics led to great loss of life among the Muslims. Munuza retreated, and tried again with a larger army, but was once again defeated.

This was the first time a Muslim-controlled territory had been reclaimed by Christians. The Umayyads had a presence in southern Gaul, however, and leaders in Europe decided that had to change, leading to a large battle and the oldest surviving work of French literature. I'll explain tomorrow.

The Family of Saints: Fulgentius

Severianus and Theodora were members of well-to-do Hispano-Roman families in the 6th century who bore four children, all of whom became saints. The family lived in Cartagena, or Carthago Nova ("New Carthage"), on the southeast coast of Spain. The family moved to Seville about 554 CE, but their parents died before the children were all grown up.

The second-born was Fulgentius; the few personal details we know about him come from the writing on religious life that his brother Leander wrote for their sister, Florentina. Leander mentions that he (probably in his role as Bishop of Seville) sent Fulgentius to Cartagena, and asks Florentina to pray for his safety.

It was probably through Leander's support that Fulgentius (sometime between 590, when we have records of a Bishop Pegasius presiding there, and 600, when Leander died) became Bishop of Astigi (now Ecija), in the province of Seville.

The Second Council of Seville in 619, presided over by Fulgentius' brother Isidore, by then Archbishop of Seville, dealt with diocesan rights, non-canonical ordinations, and territorial disputes. Fulgentius, as Bishop of Astigi, claimed a certain church was in his territory, but it was also claimed to be in a parish belonging to the diocese of the Bishop of Córdoba. Roman common law was applied. It turned out that the church had been following the dictates of the diocese of Astigi for 30 years, and this was considered sufficient to declare it part of the Astigi diocese.

Because we know there was a Bishop Marcianus of Astigi in 633, Fulgentius must have died by then. In the 14th century, his remains were found (along with those of his sister) in the village of Berzocana in the Sierra de Guadalupe, where they had been carried for some reason (perhaps out of concerns about the non-Christian occupation of Iberia?). Some of the remains are still in Berzocana, but the majority of bones are interred in the Cathedral of Murcia in Cartagena. Fulgentius is venerated as a patron saint of that diocese.

Was there concern about Muslim-Christian relations? Here I mentioned their tolerant co-existence, but obviously the Crusades at the far end of the Mediterranean were creating a very different relationship. There is a phenomenon historians call the Reconquista that refers to attempts by Christian rulers to retake Iberian territories. We'll start down that road tomorrow.

The Family of Saints: Florentina

Severianus and Theodora were members of well-to-do Hispano-Roman families in the 6th century who bore four children, all of whom became saints. The family lived in Cartagena, or Carthago Nova ("New Carthage"), on the southeast coast of Spain. The family moved to Seville about 554 CE, but their parents died before the children were all grown up.

Younger than Leander but older than Isidore, Florentina was being raised by Leander. His embracing of the monastic life probably influenced her to do the same, so she and a number of virgins banded together to form a religious community. Leander wrote for her a guide to living an ascetic life away from the world; since he died in 600 or 601, she must have chosen the cloistered life prior to that year.

Among his "rules" were to avoid interactions with men, especially young men; and to avoid interactions with women who were still living in the world. The women should be temperate in their eating and drinking. They should read Holy Scripture and meditate on it. Those living in the community should hold each other in equal love and friendship.

She died about 612, and her feast day is 20 June. She is considered the patroness of the diocese of Plasencia. The statue above is from the Cathedral in Seville. Her bones are interred in two places in Spain: a few are in the cathedral of Murcia, but most of her remains are in Berzocana, along with those of her brother Fulgentius, of whom I will have more to say next time.

The Family of Saints: Leander

Severianus and Theodora were members of well-to-do Hispano-Roman families in the 6th century who bore four children, all of whom became saints. The family lived in Cartagena, or Carthago Nova ("New Carthage"), on the southeast coast of Spain. The family moved to Seville about 554 CE, but their parents died before the children were all grown up.

Leander (shown), the eldest, became a Benedictine monk about 576, and a few years later was appointed Bishop of Seville. The co-ruler of the Visigoths in Spain, Liuvigild, had arranged for his son Hermenegild to marry the 12-year-old Ingund, sister of the Merovingian Childebert II, who became King of Austrasia. While Ingund traveled through Gaul to Iberia, she met a Catholic bishop who warned her not to accept Arianism, the heresy still practiced by many Visigoths, such as her new husband and his family. Hermenegild's mother, Queen Goiswintha, tried to baptize Ingund into Arianism, but the girl refused. Gregory of Tours tells us what Goiswintha did next:

the Queen lost her temper completely ... seized the girl by her hair and threw her to the ground: then she kicked her until she was covered with blood, had her stripped naked and ordered her to be thrown into the baptismal pool.

Liuvigild sent the two to rule in Seville and get them away from his wife. In Seville, however, Ingund encountered Leander. Leander, like his parents and his siblings, was a powerful voice against Arianism. Seville had a strong catholic population. No doubt from the influence of his wife (no doubt "transitively" from Leander, although from 580-582 Leander was traveling to Constantinople and back), Hermenegild converted to Catholicism in 582.

Hermenegild's father was not pleased: he saw Catholicism as "Roman" and Arianism as part of the Visigothic identity. Liuvigild besieged Seville, capturing it in 584, along with his rebellious and (to Liuvigild) heretical son. Leander fled eastward to Constantinople. Hermenegild was imprisoned and urged to renounce Catholicism, which he steadfastly would not do, refusing the Eucharist from an Arian bishop at Easter. His father had him beheaded on 13 April, 585, making Hermenegild a martyr in the Catholic Church.

Depending on the chronicle, Ingund had one of two different fates. One story from Gregory of Tours is that she fled to Constantinople with their son, Athanagild. She did not survive—at this time, plague was going around the Mediterranean—and was buried in Carthage, but Athanagild was delivered to Constantinople where he was raised by Emperor Maurice II. The other version is that she returned to her family in Gaul where Athanagild was raised by her and her mother, Brunhilda.

Leander remained in the East, preaching and writing against Arianism. After the death of Liuvigild in 589, Leander returned to Seville, where he remained bishop until his death in 600 or 601. In 589 he held the Third Council of Toledo, in which Visigothic Spain (or at least its representatives at the Council) renounced Arianism for good.

His younger brother Isidore said of him "This man of suave eloquence and eminent talent shone as brightly by his virtues as by his doctrine. By his faith and zeal the Gothic people have been converted from Arianism to the Catholic faith."

Two of his writings survive: one is an essay about his triumph of the church on the conversion of the Goths. The other is a monastic rule composed for his sister, Florentina, whom I shall talk about next.

The Etymologies of Isidore

The Etymologiae of Saint and Bishop Isidore of Seville (c.560 - 636) is an early encyclopedia that summarizes in 20 volumes all the knowledge that he considered important. It is most remembered and mentioned for the section on etymologies, but he also wrote about (or quoted from Greek and Roman sources) the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, logic) and quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy), law and medicine, the Church and various heresies, buildings and roads, materials and tools, war, foods, clothing, languages, pagan philosophers, architecture, and more. (Pope John Paul II named Isidore the patron saint of the Internet.)

His etymologies were worthy of the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding who linked every concept to a Greek word. (The evidence suggests that Isidore was not well-versed in the Greek language.) Examples are that dominus (master) begins with "D" because so does domus (house), and a dominus is the master of a domus. Also, the Latin verb "to teach" is docere, which is related to docile (compliant) because compliant people can learn easily. He finds the origin of mendicus, the Latin word for beggar, in the Latin phrase manu dicere, "to speak with the hand," because (he says) there was an ancient custom for beggars to close their mouths and hold out their hand for food. Prostitutes (fornicatrix and fornicarius) are named from fornix, "arch," because they would hang about under an arch waiting for a client.

Among his other offerings:

—A table that explains family relationships ("Who is your second cousin twice removed?") and the terms for each family member.

—The classic "T" map of the world, the mappa mundi.  (The illustration is from a 10th century copy, showing such a map.)

—How the four elements make up the body:

But flesh is composed of four elements: earth is in the fleshy parts, air in the breath, water in the blood, fire in the vital heat. The elements are mingled in us in their proper proportions, of which something is lacking when the conjunction is dissolved.

—Bodily functions:

The mouth is compared to the door of the belly which receives and passes on food to the intestines through the esophagus which is near the windpipe, and which is closed off by the epiglottis during deglutition. 

The intestines are arranged in long circular entwinings so that food can be gradually digested. The abdominal viscera are separated from the heart and lungs by the diaphragm and covered by the omentum. Food, when first passed into the small intestine, is called jantaculum. The large intestine, the “blind gut,” is identified and it is pointed out that the gastrointestinal tract is open at each end. The rectum and anus are turned away from our faces to spare us the indelicacy of witnessing their evacuation.

—Medicine:

The poppy is the sleep-bearing herb, of which Vergil says [Georgics 1. 78]: Lethaeo perfusa papavera somno, ‘Heavy sleep, pressed out of the poppy,’ since it stupefies the sleeper. Some poppies are common; others are stronger, namely those from which flows the juice called opion.

...and many other topics, as mentioned above.

His Etymologiae was studied and copied and illustrated through the Middle Ages, and many versions of the manuscript exist in various museums.

One of the other notable things about Isidore is his family. His parents died early in the life of Isidore and his siblings, but all four children became saints; three became bishops. His older brother Leander has been mentioned, but not the rest. A brief look at his family next time.

Isidore of Seville

Isidore of Seville was probably born about 560, in Cartagena, Spain. His devout parents were both members of influential families that were involved in the conversion of the Visigoths to Catholicism from Arianism. The upbringing provided by his parents inspired Isidore and his siblings to enter the religious life, all of whom became saints.

He was educated at the liberal arts Cathedral school at Seville, learning the trivium and quadrivium. He mastered classical Latin and learned some Hebrew and Greek. Records are scarce about his early life and whether he ever joined a monastery, but in 619 he declared anathema harassing a monastery or monks. When his brother Leander, bishop of Seville, died in 600 or 601, Isidore was named his successor. He set about to eradicate any remaining traces of Arianism among the Visigoths, and was largely successful. He presided over a couple synods and a Council of Toledo.

His influence on the following centuries came more from his writings than his efforts against heresy. One was the De fide catholica contra Iudaeos, ("On the Catholic Faith against the Jews"). Like Augustine of Hippo, Isidore recognized the importance of the Jews because of their role in the Second Coming of Christ. In the Fourth Council of Toledo, however, he advocated removing children from the parents of "Crypto-Jews": Jews who were hiding their Judaism by acting as Christians. His argument was that the parents had probably had the children baptized as part of their subterfuge, and so educating the children as proper Christians was appropriate. (The Summa Theologica of Aquinas in the 13th century would state "it was never the custom of the Church to baptize the children of Jews against the will of their parents.")

He also wrote Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum ("History of the Kings of the Goths, Vandals and Suevi"), covering from 265 to 624.

He was the earliest Christian writer to try to summarize the knowledge of the world. His encyclopedic work, the Etymologiae, compiled his own thoughts with pieces from numerous Roman handbooks and miscellanies. It was so extensive (20 volumes with 448 chapters total)—one bishop described it as "practically everything that it is necessary to know"—that some of the works he drew from were no longer thought to be necessary to be copied and preserved.

The Etymologiae deserves its own treatment, which I will give it tomorrow.

The Spanish Come to Ireland

The 9th century Historia Brittonum (History of the Britons) tells of three invasions of Ireland from the Iberian Peninsula. The Partholón die of plague, the Nemedians return to Iberia, but the Milesians stay and become the Irish people. The Milesians are called that because they descend from a miles Hispaniae, sometimes called Miled. The settlers came with 30 ships, each of which held 30 wives.

According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Taking of Ireland), written by Christians and incorporating Irish mythology, Noah's son Japheth had a descendant who was a Scythian king named Fénius Fairad, who was one of 72 chieftains who built the Tower of Babel. His son wed the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh. Their son, Goidel Glas, invents the Gaelic language after the confusion in languages caused by Babel.

Goidel's descendants leave Egypt for Scythia, then leave Scythia and wander for 440 years, eventually reaching Iberia/Hispania. One of the settlers, Íth, builds a tower there so tall that he spots the island of Ireland. Íth sails there, meeting three kings/gods of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Íth is killed, his people return to Iberia; then the sons of Íth's brother, Mil, lead an invasion force for revenge.

Landing in Ireland, they meet three queens/goddesses of the Tuatha, one of whom, Ériu, prophecies good fortune for them if they name the Ireland after her (this is where we get the name Eire). The Milesians and the Tuatha meet and agree to a three-day truce, during which the Milesians must take to their ships and wait off shore. The Tuatha create a storm that prevents the ships from landing again, but a Milesian, Amergin, knows a magical verse that calms the storm. The ships return, and the agreement is made with the Tuatha that the Gaels will live above ground, and the Tuatha must live below ground.

Why the link to Iberia/Hispania, Spain? One reason might be the coincidental similarity between the names Iberia/Hiberia and Hibernia, as well as the names Galicia and Gael. Isidore of Seville made many erroneous (but widely believed) concordances based on words and his take on history. Isidore also described Iberia as the "mother[land] of the races" (we don't know why). Historians Orosius and Tacitus thought Ireland was situated between Iberia and Britain, and one modern scholar (read his essay "Did the Irish Come from Spain?" here) sees this as a reason to think that Irish arrivals would have started from Spain. 

In truth, DNA analysis shows close relations between modern Irish and northern Iberians. Hmm.

Regarding Isidore of Seville, whose works were considered the encyclopediae of his time and generations after: he has been mentioned, but has never been the subject of a post. I'll fix that tomorrow.

The Tuatha Dé Danann

The Tuatha Dé Danann, or "the folk of the goddess Danu," are a cornerstone of early Irish literature and mythology. Arriving from the north on dark clouds, they demand half of Ireland from the current inhabitants, the Fir Bolg, who refuse and are slaughtered. The Tuatha, in turn, are defeated years later when the Milesians arrive in Ireland. The result is that Ireland is shared 50-50: the Milesians (ancestors of the Gaels) get the aboveground Ireland, and the Tuatha have to live below the surface, eventually become the sidhe of Irish folklore. They are described as gods and goddesses, kings and queens, druids and bards, warriors and healers, all with supernatural powers. They are also the possessors of the Four Treasures of Ireland.

They are sometimes described as descendants of Nemed; the Nemedians were an earlier group of settlers who were driven out by the Fomorians. Some of the Nemedians fled to Greece, returning years later as the Fir Bolg. Some fled north, and somehow became the Tuatha. Therefore, many of the Irish "Invasions" are groups fighting other groups who were descendants of a common ancestor.

Attempts to determine their origin/meaning linguistically have led to many theories, none of them universally agreed upon. The phrase Tuath Dé meaning "tribe of god(s)" was used by Irish monks to refer to the Israelites. The word tuatha was commonly used for the various kingdoms/tribes under different chieftains. Adding Danann was done by Irish monks recording "history" to distinguish the Israelites from the Tuatha of legend. Tuatha Dé Danann, however, prompts the question "Who was Danu?"

Skipping over the initial consonant, scholars leap to Anu, called "mother of the Irish gods" by the 10th century king (and bishop) of Munster, Cormac Mac Cuilennáin. Others point to Danu, a goddess of Hindu mythology, and wonder if this shared name is "simply" an Indo-European parallel.

Danu may be a blend of the goddess Anann and the word dán, "skill" or "craft": maybe the magical powers attributed to the Tuatha in history come from their introductions of smithing, weaving, tanning, brewing, etc. After all, the Tuatha are sometimes referred to as Eladan, "children of art."

Some seeking to explain the name look to proto-Celtic don meaning "earth," which compares to the Old Irish doman, "earth." A 7th century bishop and biographer of St. Patrick, Tírechán, describes the sidhe as dei terreni, "earthly gods."

Whatever their origin, their stories are foundational to Irish mythology. It is one of their goddesses, Ériu, whose name is the origin of the modern name Éire. Eventually, however, medieval historians had to eliminate them from the scene to explain their absence, and the Milesians were the instrument of their elimination.

Who were the Milesians, the ancestors of the Gaels? They were a little more grounded in history—a little—and we'll look at their "Spanish" origin tomorrow.

The Four Treasures of Ireland

In early Irish literature, there are three texts that each refer to four special objects. These are the Four Treasures of Ireland, sometimes called the Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann because they were brought to Ireland when the Tuatha—according to the Lebor Gabála Érenn or the Book of the Taking of Ireland, also known as The Book of Invasions—came from the north to Ireland on dark clouds.

The legend says they came from four cities, and from each they brought a treasure.

From the city of Falias they brought the Stone of Fál, that would cry out when the rightful king of Ireland sat on it. It was on the Hill of Tara, and mentioned here.

From Gorias came the Spear of Lugh. The man who wielded it never lost, nor did the army of the wielder. Lugh was a mythological figure associated with war and the arts. The harvest festival Lughnasadh on 1 August is named for him.

The Sword of Light from the city Findias was another weapon. Once drawn from its sheath against a foe, that foe could not win. It belonged to Nuada (literally "champion"), the first king of the Tuatha, one of whose significant stories is the loss of an arm in battle that gets replaced with one of silver.

The final treasure was the Cauldron of Dagda from Murias. Dagda was a king, a druid, and a father-figure. The Cauldron never ran out of food. No one ever left unsatisfied after eating from the cauldron. It is also said that paired with it was a ladle that was so big it took two men to lift it. (He also owned a harp that could influence the listerner's emotions and change the seasons, but that's not enough to be a treasure, I guess.)

The Four Treasures (sometimes called the Four Jewels) appear in the stories of battles and adventures involving the Tuatha, who eventually disappear from the scene with the arrival of the Milesians, going underground and becoming the supernatural entities that provide much folklore.

Who were the Tuatha? Their presence in literature is so pervasive that they deserve some attention. It would be impossible to "tell their story" in the confines of a short post on a daily blog, but we can at least take a stab at their literary origin. See you next time.

The Six Invasions of Ireland

The Lebor Gabála Érenn or the Book of the Taking of Ireland, also known as The Book of Invasions, is a compilation of Christian and Irish myths in poetry and prose, telling the history of Ireland. Starting with the Biblical Flood and ending in the Middle Ages, it describes six invasions or colonizations of Ireland.

The first wave is led by Cessair, a daughter of Noah, who sails westward on a journey that ends in Ireland with 50 women and only three men. Each of the men takes 16 wives, but when two of the men perish leaving only Fintan Mac Bóchra, he flees from the "responsibility" and is turned into a hawk. This hawk lives 5,500 years, advising the kings of Ireland until the 5th century and the time of Finn Mac Cumhaill.

Three centuries after Cessair, another descendant of Noah named Partholón arrives in Ireland with followers. Ireland is wild, with only one open plain and three lakes. They clear more plains, and more lakes appear from the ground. They go about introducing cattle, farming, brewing, etc. They encounter the Fomorians (pictured above in a 1912 painting by John Duncan), monstrous and hostile supernatural beings, and defeat them. Partholón's people, however, numbering 5000 men and 4000 women, all die from a plague within a week. Ireland is left uninhabited, until...

A Scythian named Nemed leads a group of settlers to Ireland. They suffer from plague as well, and also encounter the Fomorians. Losing to the Fomorians, Nemed's people must give two-thirds of their children and wheat and milk to their enemies each Samhain. The Nemedians eventually rise up against the Fomorians, but only 30 survive and are scattered, some going east to become the ancestors of all Britons, some going to Greece, some going north.

The fourth "invasion" is 200 years later, when the descendants of the Nemedians who went to Greece return. This is around the time of the Israelite's Exodus from Egypt. They are called the Fir Bolg, the "men of bags," because while in Greece they were enslaved and made to haul bags of soil and clay. They divide Ireland into five areas ruled by five chieftains.

(An oddly-specific) 37 years later, the fifth wave arrives on dark clouds of fog. They are the Tuatha Dé Danann, bringing the Four Treasures of Ireland (one of which is the Stone of Destiny). They may be descended from the Nemedians who went north. They possess powerful magic, and they demand half of Ireland from the Fir Bolg, who refuse and are slaughtered.

Finally, the Milesians arrive. Their battle with the Tuatha results in an agreement to share the island 50-50: the Milesians get the part above ground, and Tuatha live below the surface. The Milesians are the ancestors of the Gaels. The Tuatha become the Otherworld inhabitants who occasionally encounter humans and exhibit magical powers.

Although humans become the chief peoples of Ireland, the Tuatha part of the story explains the presence of supernatural elements, such as the Four Treasures. What exactly were the Four Treasures and their significance? For that you'll have to come back tomorrow.

The Book of Leinster

Between 1151 and 1224 CE a manuscript was compiled, probably in what is now Terryglass in County Tipperary, by the abbot of a Terryglass monastery and his followers. The abbot, Áed Ua Crimthainn, actually signed one of the pages, stating that he "wrote this book and collected it from many books." Originally called Lebar na Núachongbhála, the "Book of Oughaval," it is now referred to as the Book of Leinster. Oughaval, now called "Oak Vale," was a 6th century monastery founded by a student of St. Columba. The Book of Leinster was there for many years.

Its second name is because it is believed that it was commissioned by a king of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada (d. 1171), and then passed from him to a few others, getting "lost" until it surfaced at Oughaval in the 14th century. An Irish language scholar in the 19th century gave it its present name because of the associations of its contents with Leinster.

It contains 187 13" by 9" leaves. Internal evidence suggests that 45 leaves are missing. It is one of our most important sources of genealogy, mythology, and Irish literature. It contains the most complete version of of Táin Bó Cuailnge, "The Cattle Raid of Cooley."

The manuscript contains many different types of document. The illustration above is from one part called Dindshenchas, "place-name lore," and begins with the words Temuir, unde nominatur, "Tara, whence is it named." Speaking of Latin: Latin was moving into Ireland because of ecclesiastical involvement, and replacing Irish as a scholarly language. That may be the reason why the Book includes Lebor Gabála Érenn, literally the "Book of Invasions" (considered the Irish "Book of Genesis" and a history of the world),  in which we are told that Irish was created after the confusion of languages caused by the incident of the Tower of Babel. Because it was created later, it avoids the "shortcomings and confusion" of other languages and is therefore special.

The Lebor Gabála Érenn tells of six times that Ireland was invaded, which is a great topic for tomorrow.

The Culdees

The Culdees were Christian ascetics in Ireland (later spreading to Scotland, Wales, and England). The name comes from Irish Céilí Dé, "Spouses of God." Some lived in monastic communities, some lived as hermits.

Máel Ruain was an abbot-bishop in Dublin. His real name is unknown; Máel Ruain was his monastic name, from Old Irish máel meaning "one who is tonsured" and Ruain meaning "of Rúadán," so he likely started at the monastery of St. Rúadán. Some credit him with bringing to the Culdees the same kind of organization that Chrodegang of Metz brought to the continent with his Rule.

Máel Ruain founded the monastery of Tallaght, a few miles south-west of Dublin. The Book of Leinster (compiled about 1160) includes a reference to the land at Tallaght being given to Ruain from the king in 774. It had round towers designed as bell towers that doubled as sites for relics he brought from the continent of Saints Peter and Paul, along with hair from the Virgin Mary. It became an important center of learning and produced two early martyrologies, one about Máel Ruain himself.

The rule at Tallaght was similar to the Rule of Chrodegang. A 1911 book, The Monastery of Tallaght, published by the Royal Irish Academy, presents information from historical documents about Tallaght and describes their shared asceticism thusly:

Not a drop of beer was drunk in Tallaght in Maelruain’s [sic] lifetime. When his monks used to go anywhere else, they used not to drink a drop of beer in Tir Cualann, whomsoever they might happen to meet. However, when they went a long distance, in that case they were allowed to drink. Nor a morsel of meat was eaten in Tallaght in his lifetime [unless] it were a deer or a wild swine. What meat there was [at Tallaght was served to] the guests.

Máel Ruain died in 792. The monastery survived viking attacks, but not the Norman Invasion. In the 12th century it was attached to the Archdiocese of Dublin. It went through a few changes of hands, but only one tower remains of the original structure. Today it is the site of St. Máelruain’s Church of Ireland, built in 1829.

While we're in Ireland, we should look at other records, such as the Book of Leinster...next time.