Texts

De locis sanctis ‘Concerning sacred places’

Adomnán
  • Latin
  • prose
  • Hiberno-Latin texts
An early medieval Latin account of the holy places of the Near East, such as Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Alexandria and Constantinople. It is written by Adomnán, abbot of Iona, and said by him to be based on a travel account by Gaulish monk Arculf. It was presented to King Aldfrith, king of Northumbria, in 698.
Author
Adomnán
Adomnán
(fl. c.628–704)
Adomnán mac Rónáin was abbot of Iona (r. 679–704) and author of the Latin Life of St Columba and an account of the holy places of the Near East (De locis sanctis). He is credited with the proclamation of the Lex innocentium or Cáin Adomnáin at the Synod of Birr.

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Ascribed to: Adomnán
Adomnán
(fl. c.628–704)
Adomnán mac Rónáin was abbot of Iona (r. 679–704) and author of the Latin Life of St Columba and an account of the holy places of the Near East (De locis sanctis). He is credited with the proclamation of the Lex innocentium or Cáin Adomnáin at the Synod of Birr.

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Manuscripts

The following overview is based on O'Loughlin.(1)n. 1 Thomas O'Loughlin, Adomnán and the Holy Places: the perceptions of an Insular monk on the locations of the biblical drama (2007): Appendix 8; Thomas O'Loughlin, ‘The diffusion of Adomnán’s De locis sanctis in the medieval period’, Ériu 51 (2000). Manuscripts designated with the sigla Y, P, Z and B are the sources used by Geyer and Bieler for their editions.

Y =
ff. 1r–26v
Origin: Salzburg.
P =
ff. 1–28
Incomplete. The outer bifolium of the first quire and most of the fourth quire, except for leaves 2 and 7, are lost. These remaining leaves are currently mumbered ff. 7 and 8.
Z =
ff. 2r–28r
Origin: Reichenau.
(Unidentified)
An unknown exemplar used by Gretser for his edition but now lost.
Salzburg, Stiftsbibliothek St. Peter, MS a XII 25, Fragment 6
Fragment. Origin: Salzburg. Bieler's remark that the variants from Vienna 458 are insignificant is contested by O'Loughlin.
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, MS Clm 13002
10th century:
Bern, Burgerbibliothek, MS 582
Extract.
Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, MS 609
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, MS Clm 19150
11th century:
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 12943
Fragment.
12th century:
Kynžvart, Knihovna Státní Zámecka, MS 69
ff. 1–23
Olim 20 H 39.
St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 320
Périgueux, Bibliothèque municipale, MS Cadouin 37
13th century:
Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Vat. lat. 636A
14th century:
London, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius D v 2
Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, MS lat. 861
Copy first noticed by Mario Esposito.
15th century:
Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Reg. lat. 618
Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, MS lat. oct. 32
(Unidentified)
O'Loughlin also makes references to copies listed in medieval library catalogues, such as those of Würzburg, Bobbio, Murbach, Lorsch, Corbie (uncertain), Cluny, Canterbury and Salisbury.
Language
  • Latin
Form
prose (primary)
Textual relationships
Related: Glossa in PsalmosGlossa in Psalmos

Classification

Hiberno-Latin textsHiberno-Latin texts
...

Subjects

JerusalemJerusalem
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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BethlehemBethlehem
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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PalestinePalestine
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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AlexandriaAlexandria
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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ConstantinopleConstantinople
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Sources

Notes

Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.

[ed.] Geyer, P., O. Cuntz, A. Francheschini, and Robert Weber [et al., eds.], Itineraria et alia geographica: Itineraria Hierosolymitana. Itineraria Romana. Geographica, 2 vols, vol. 1, Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina, 175, Turnhout: Brepols, 1965.
175–234 [‘Adamnani De locis sanctis’] Reprint, with only slight modifications, of Bieler's text published in 1958.
[ed.] Bieler, Ludwig [ed.], and Denis Meehan [tr.], “Adamnani de locis sanctis libri tres”, in: Denis Meehan [ed.], Adamnan’s De locis sanctis, 3, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1958. 36–120.
CELT – Latin text (pp. 35–120): <link> CELT – English translation: <link>
Edition based on four MSS, Y, P, Z and B, and still reliant on Geyer.
[ed.] Geyer, Paul, Itinera hierosolymitana saeculi IIII-VIII, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, 39, Prague, Vienna, Leipzig: F. Tempsky, G. Freytag, 1898.
Internet Archive: <link>
219–297 Edition based on four MSS, Y, P, Z and B.
[ed.] Migne, Jacques-Paul (ed.), Venantii Fortunati, Pictaviensis episcopi, opera omnia ... Defensori monachii [etc.], Patrologia Latina, 88, Paris, 1864.
Internet Archive: <link> Wikisource – De locis sanctis: <link>
779–814 Edition by Mabillon (1672), “Ex mss. codd. Vat. [lat. 636A] et Corb. [BNF MS 13048] et edit. Gretseri, apud Mabill. Act. SS. Ben. saec. III.” Includes preface by Mabillon (Act. SS. Ben. saec. III) on pp. 775-780.
[ed.] Gretser, Jacob, Adamanni Scotohiberni de situ Terrae Sanctae, Ingolstadt: apud Elisabetham Angermaria, for I. Hertsroy, 1619.
Google Books: <link>
Editio princeps based on an unknown exemplar.
[tr.] Guagnano, Maria, Adomnano di Iona, I luoghi santi: introduzione, traduzione e commento, Quaderni di Invigilata lucernis, 34, Bari: Edipuglia, 2008.
Bieler's text (with some corrections), a new translation into Italian and a commentary.

Secondary sources (select)

Maddox, Melanie C., “Finding the City of God in the Lives of St Kevin: Glendalough and the history of the Irish celestial civitas”, in: Charles Doherty, Linda Doran, and Mary Kelly (eds), Glendalough: City of God, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2011. 1–21.
OʼLoughlin, Thomas, Adomnán and the Holy Places: the perceptions of an Insular monk on the locations of the biblical drama, London, New York: Clark, 2007. xx + 348 pp.
OʼLoughlin, Thomas, “Adomnán and mira rotunditas”, Ériu 47 (1996): 95–99.
OʼLoughlin, Thomas, “The exegetical purpose of Adomnán’s De locis sanctis”, Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies 24 (Winter, 1992): 37–53.
Lapidge, Michael, and Richard Sharpe, A bibliography of Celtic-Latin literature, 400-1200, Royal Irish Academy Dictionary of Medieval Latin from Celtic Sources, Ancillary Publications, 1, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1985.
[id. 304.]
Meehan, Denis [ed.], Adamnan’s De locis sanctis, Scriptores Latini Hiberniae, 3, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1958. viii + 154 pp.
Contributors
C. A., Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
March 2016, last updated: January 2024