The background
The Irish saint, Saint Columba, was a student of Saint Finian. Columba came from an important Irish family, and was understandably ambitious.
The Latin Psalter
Saint Finian came back from a pilgrimage with a psalter written in Latin. A psalter contains the psalms, usually laid out in the order in which they are most useful to a priest.
At this time it was the only psalter in Latin in the whole of Ireland. It was extremely valuable, both as a work of art and for its intellectual content.
Latin was a language which any scholar could read. Before this, psalters were in Greek which very few people could read.
Columba started copying the psalter, and Finian told him to stop copying it.
Finian was proud of having the only Latin psalter and did not want Columba to produce another. Owning the only Latin psalter was important to Finian’s status among Irish churchmen. Columba was allowed to read it but promised not to copy it.
A Saint breaks his word
Columba secretly copied the book, and just as he was finishing Finian caught him copying and wanted to confiscate the copy.
The dispute went before King Diarmait. After a period in which to consider, he came back with the judgement “To the cow, the calf”. This was judgement in favour of Finian.
Columba was cross. Added to this, his cousin had just been murdered. Columba’s family rose against the king.
There was a battle at Cul Dreimhne in 561 where 3,000 of Columba’s family and supporters were killed, and virtually none of the King’s men.
What punishment?
The church was very unhappy that this dispute about a book had triggered a major battle. The disproportion in casualties was a clear indicator which side God favoured.
What was to be done with a 40 year old man who had broken his original promise, defied a court order, and encouraged his family to rise against the king? Excommunication was proposed.
The deal
A compromise was reached where Columba left Ireland and went off to bring Christianity to Scotland.Given that 3,000 of his family and supporters had been killed, he was unlikely to be popular in his family’s area or anywhere in Ireland. His target was to convert as many people to Christianity as had been killed in the battle.
He returned to Ireland only once, to found a monastry.He died on Iona, was buried there, and was later reburied in Ireland. He and his helpers converted Scotland to Christianity.
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