Aggravatingly little is known about the life of Arculf. There are no historical references to when and where he was born or how he died. Arculf's activities in the meantime are almost equally undocumented. Aside from his trip to the Holy Places in 680, his status as the Bishop of Perigueux is all that is known about him.

The Jerusalem Arculf traveled to in the year 680 was a city much closer to being at peace with itself than its counterpart of today. At the time, Jerusalem was part of the Islamic Empire, although this obviously did not entail the exclusion of Jews and Christians from the city's limits. Both faiths were deemed dhimmis or protected minorities by the ruling authorities. Although tolerated, these groups did not have some of the rights held by their Muslim counterparts. Neither group could bear arms or protect themselves. The responsibility of self-defense was usurped by the government, who charged Jews and Christians a jizyah or poll tax for this protection. The jizyah while Arculf made his way through the Holy Land was one dinar. This tax was paid by Jewish and Christian residents of Jerusalem. The fee was also paid by any member of these faiths who entered the city, this meant that their protection was also financed appropriately.

Although dhimmis were not looked at as equals by their Muslim peers, their lot in Jerusalem was exponentially better than what it was in places like Byzantium. In such places, Christians and Jews were being persecuted much more readily and frequently than usual by the time of Arculf's exodus. This policy toward dhimmis allowed for the

presence of a predominate Christian population within certain sections of the holy city.

The itinerary of Arculf's 680 trip is a rather extensive one. Adomnan’s transcription of Arculf’s words begins with what the latter saw in Jerusalem. The entire first book written by Saint Adomnan is dedicated to Arculf’s visit to this city. The narrative begins with the church built over the Lord’s Sepulchre and moves to the church at Golgotha. The itinerary continues as Arculf mentions a church called the Anastasis and the basilica of Constantine, which contained the lance that pierced Jesus as he was hanging on the cross.

A chapel is then mentioned that is located between the church at Golgotha and the Martyrium. Inside of this chapel was said to be the cup blessed by the Lord during the Last Supper as well as the sponge that fed our Lord vinegar while he lay on the cross. Jerusalem also held a tall column that served as a marker for the location where a young man was said to have been brought back to life by the touch of the cross on which Jesus expired.

Arculf then traveled to the Church of Saint Mary in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Within this church is the rock Jesus prayed on before being seized. Arculf conveyed to Adomnan that one could see the impression left by the knees of Christ as he knelt on the rock, as it was said to be like wax in the time of Jesus. The reader then hears about the Tower of Jehoshaphat and the tombs of Simeon, who prophesized about the Lord as the baby Jesus was in his arms, and Joseph.

The Gate of David, on the West End of Jerusalem, is mentioned, as is the fig tree where Judas Iscariot hanged himself, just west of the Gate of David. The church on Mount Sion was next referred to, then Aceldama, a small plot on the southern side of Mount Sion were strangers were either buried or laying in rot. Arculf next reported on the Mount of Olives and the church that was built in the place of the Lord’s ascension.

Next, Arculf went to Bethany and saw the church built over the tomb of Lazarus before Jesus raised him from the dead. This first book concludes with Arculf’s observances at the place where Jesus preached to the disciples on the Wednesday prior to the crucifixion.

The second book begins with Arculf’s trip to Bethlehem and his observation of the place of the Lord’s birth and the church dedicated to Saint Mary that was built in the immediate proximity. The narrative carries on with mention of the church containing the tomb of King David as well as churches containing the tombs of Saint Jerome and those of the shepherds.

The tomb of Rachel, six miles west of Jerusalem, is mentioned next. Brief mention is then made of the town of Hebron. The tombs of the Four Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Adam) are next recounted as they are east of Hebron. The Hill of Mamre is given brief mention, as is the town of Jericho. Arculf next refers to Gilgal and the church therein containing the Twelve Stones retrieved by men selected by Joshua at the command of God.

The journey then picks up along the Jordan where Arculf saw the place where John baptized Christ as well as the small church located where Christ's clothes were during the baptism. Nearby was a monastery for monks and a church built in honor of John the Baptist. Arculf then observed the Dead Sea as well as the sources of the Jordan, two adjacent springs named Jor and Dan. These springs are "fed" by a spring in Trachonitis. Next on the trip was the Sea of Galilee and the Well of Samaria, where the Lord met a Samaritan who came to draw water.

Arculf next refers to the place on the near side of the Sea of Galilee where the Lord blessed five loaves and two fishes to feed the masses present. Nazareth is then referred to. The town held churches constructed where Jesus was raised and where the angel Gabriel came to the Virgin Mother. Mount Tabor in Galilee is next in the narrative. As Adomnan records Arculf’s memories of the place, the author decides to inform the reader that the accounts from earlier in the book are rather short because Arculf’s guide, Peter of Burgundy, would allow him to stay in a place no longer than necessary "…for a rapid inspection."

The trip continues with the cities of Damascus and Tyre. Arculf then traveled forty days to get to Alexandria. Within the Egyptian capital was the church containing the tomb of the Evangelist Mark. It is at this point that the second book concludes.

The third book is rather brief but makes quick mention of Arculf’s passage by the island of Crete. From there the reader learns about Mount Vulganus and its island, located twelve miles east of Sicily. Although the book ends there the reader knows that Arculf’s journey continued into a storm that steered the boat off course and into present day Scotland. Washed ashore, Arculf met Saint Adomnan, the abbot of Iona, who recorded the journeys of his new friend at the monastery of Iona near todays Argyll, Scotland.

Little did Arculf know that his journeys would later be recorded by Adomnan to try and bandage the wounds caused by the main controversy present throughout the seventh century in current day Scotland, the conflict over the dating of Easter. Scotland was then largely comprised of the kingdoms of Northumbria and Pictland. There were two methods for computing the date of Easter at that time. The first, employed by the English and the bulk of the Roman Empire, is the system we currently use. The second system was Celtic in nature and was employed by all of the island of Ireland as well as many of the kingdoms in today’s United Kingdom. This dating method was clung to only by the aforementioned regions of the United Kingdom, making the Celtic method virtually obsolete by the mid-600s. These Celtic worshippers were seen as being "conservative" and the last stronghold they held was within Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Rumblings climaxed at the Synod of Whitby, which was held in 664. Whitby was a monastery for both nuns and monks located on the east cliff of a tributary near the Esk River. The monastery was a reasonably new one as it was still ran at the time by its founder, Abbess Hilda. Her tremendous respect for the "humble and Christ-like lives" of the Irish bishops who stood for the Celtic dating methods made this a place that would appear to serve the purposes of the Irish. Hilda’s ties to the royal family also made this the ideal setting for a domestic dispute of national proportions. Hilda had been given the responsibility of raising the Northumbrian King Oswy and Queen Enfleda’s baby daughter, Elfleda, in 654. Ten years later, the abbess still cared for the princess while the child’s parents squawked over matters of religion.

At the time the Oswy maintained the validity of the Celtic dating method but saw absolutely no reason for either he or his wife to alter their theological predilections. Oswy had spent approximately sixteen years of his youth in Ireland and had been served for over two decades by Irish monks. These ties were further strengthened by the education he received from the Irish as well as by the Irish lady he laid with to produce a half-Irish son, Aldfrid. All of this led to deep ties between the king and the Irish community. Bishop Colman, the head of the Northumbrian Church, would represent the beliefs of Oswy at the synod. Strangely, Bishop Colman was the only individual on hand that could and would defend Celtic observances.

Enfleda, on the other hand, was from Kent and observed the Roman Easter. A remarkably powerful woman, her brother was the King of Kent at the time. Her grandfather, Ethelbert, was one of the more powerful kings in the history of Kent. In order to defend her theological proclivities the queen enlisted Abbot Wilfrid from England and the Frankish Bishop Agilbert to remonstrate the virtues of the Roman system at this synod. Enfleda’s own praise of Wilfrid exhibits the blatant abhorrence she held for Celtic ways and manners as she applauds Wilfrid for being one "who pay(s) no heed to the memory of Aidan and of Columba before him." Wilfrid himself was a close acquaintance of both the queen and her son, one she hoped to dissuade from his Irish ways, Aldfrid. Also present to defend the Roman cause was the scholar Romanus, who had instructed Wilfrid. James the Deacon was also present at the synod. James resided in York and had built a Roman church of some note there, making him a guest whose

presence Enfleda desired. At the synod, the rather insufferable Wilfrid was more than

comfortable using personal assaults in order to validate his perspective such as the

following.

The only people who are stupid enough to

The insults and insufferable cheap shots continued throughout the synod with statements like the following.

This snobbery so enraged Bishop Colman of Lindisfarne that he left the synod before its conclusion. Colman's disgust did not end once he left the synod. His rage was so complete that he resigned as the head of the Northumbrian Church. After a brief stop at Iona, Bishop Colman left the troubled state for Ireland. There he established monasteries at Inishboffin and Mayo. Bishop Tuda, also of Lindisfarne, assumed the role left by Bishop Colman at Whitby. In the end Bishop Tuda was unsuccessful as King Oswy accepted the rationale of his wife and her insufferable cohorts. Saint Peter’s voice and the authority of the church were deemed far more consequential than the assertions of those who followed Saint Columba and, before him, Saint John. At the end of the synod, however, the aforementioned pomposity displayed by those of Roman predilections left conservatives so enraged that they refused to accept the conclusion made there. King Oswy would eventually pass on in 670, leaving the throne to his son Egfrith.

While Egfrith basked in the glory of his power, a gentleman by the name of Adomnan ascended to the abbacy of Iona in 679. Adomnan was born in Drumhome, County Donegal, Ireland in 627. Adomnan became a monk at Iona in 650 after being educated by monks of the Columban order. Adomnan, like all those who preceded him to the abbacy of Iona, was a member of the powerful Ui Neill family. The Ui Neills held numerous petty kingdoms throughout Northern Ireland and were the consummate entities of power in today’s Ulster.

Iona itself is a remarkably small island off the Western coast of Scotland. It was the monks of the monastery at this island that often served as a liasion between the Irish, Pictish, and those of Northumbrian descent. This role is one Adomnan would eventually embrace wholeheartedly. In June of 684 Egfrith had called for a raid of the territories claimed by the Irish King of Brega. As a result of these raids, the soldiers of King Egfrith carried off sixty Irishmen as prisoners.

While these events were going on King Egfrith's brother, Aldfrid, was in exile on the island of Iona. Aldfrid had been forced from Northumbria in the midst of the crisis over who would follow Oswy in 670. Historians of today site Aldfrid's half-Irish blood and keen interest in the actual politics of Northumbria as the reasons for his disapproval among the hierarchy of the land at the time. Queen Enfleda’s own words seem to capsulize Northumbrian sentiment best when she spoke of how "(Egfrith has grown) fast into a true prince of our race" (Emphasis added by writer). Enfleda went on to iterate that Aldfrid’s political interests filled her with fear.

Initially the excursion led to Aldfrid's return to his homeland of Ireland. Eventually Aldfrid travelled to Iona where he studied under Abbot Adomnan and became close friends with the clergyman. As if by divine coincidence, Egfrith died shortly after claiming the hostages on 20 May 685 while engaging in a similar invasion of Pictland. With Egfrith’s death, Aldfrid was able to lay claim to the throne of Northumbria upon his return to the land in 686. Within that same year, Adomnan journeyed to the royal headquarters in an attempt to retrieve the sixty Irish prisoners still held captive. The predictable result was freedom for all of the former hostages of this holy strife.

Two years later the abbot of Iona decided to make a return appearance at Aldfrid's residence, carrying with him De Locis Sanctis (Concerning the Holy Places). This was

the text Adomnan recorded of a narrative given by Bishop Arculf to him in the year 680. By 688 there were numerous problems plaguing Adomnan and those who still held conservative viewpoints. The first involved a plague that dramatically dwindled the numbers of those who maintained the faith in Ireland from 684 to the year that Adomnan finally presented the text to Aldfrid. In that day and age it is easy for one to make the intellectual assumption that those in the United Kingdom saw this as an exhibition of God's wrath. The Synod of Whitby and the intolerant reign of Egfrith also left an incredibly bad taste in the mouth of many of the conservatives left in present-day Scotland. Many of these agitated souls took their secular shells west to the Emerald Isle. This sudden influx of people may have done a great deal to inflame the plague that spread throughout Ireland.

At the time Iona played a vital role in the politics of today's United Kingdom as the island's clerics were the only real bond between people in Ireland and Pictland. This furthered the responsibility of Adomnan. King Aldfrid was tolerant to both sides of the issue, facilitating the presence of a voice of moderation and rationale from Iona. The schisms at the time were threefold. The first was the obvious discrepancy between those using the Roman method of dating Easter versus those retaining the Celtic practices. Other disagreements involved the endorsers of Aldfrid's reign against those who had him exiled in the first place. The final disagreement also involved the Synod of Whitby, that being the strife between followers of Saint Peter and those who tried to follow Saint Columba. With all of these factors in play, Adomnan needed to present a document that would promote harmony among the warring factions. This need for conciliation played an enormous role in how De Locis Sanctis and Adomnan's later writing on Saint Columba would be constructed.

Few things unify people the way a common enemy or commonly held contempt does. Adomnan appears to have used this early on in his recording of Arculf's narrative.

In speaking of the Muslim mosque that now stood where the Temple Mount once was, Arculf is said to have commented that…

This marginal attack on the Muslim community in Jerusalem is all that Arculf has to say about the ruling people at the time. In his biography on Columba, Adomnan continues his free assault on those of conflicting faiths. One such story involves a Pictish family and their servants who accepted Christ as their savior at the behest of Columba. Soon thereafter one of the sons of the head of the household became afflicted with an illness that "brought him to the boundary of life and death." Those who were not Christian at the time mocked the family for accepting Jesus. These individuals of an unnamed faith are branded "heathen wizards" for deeming the father of Jesus a "feebler" God. Naturally this heartwarming narrative ends with Columba rising the boy from the dead in a fashion similar to the revival Christ bestowed upon Lazarus. These accounts are clearly meant to glorify the faith as a whole and not a particular faction.

There are a few ways that Adomnan's exclusion of the Muslims in his recorded recollection of Arculf’s words could be taken. The first falls in line with the need to avoid conflicts in faith within the document, in order to avoid ruffling any feathers. This practice was also employed in Adomnan's biography on Saint Columba. In it the author refuses to make reference to Columba's pagan birth and upbringing. Incontrovertibly the entire Ui Neill family was pagan in faith during the 520s, making the omission appear to be a conscious one. Adomnan's refusal to bring up pagan practices extends to his writings on Columba's first appearance on the shores of Northern Scotland. These exclusions are made in spite of the glory that would be brought upon Columba if his successor made reference to the conversions gained while on the populated mainland of Scotland. The only rational explanation for the compromise of Columba's gifts of persuasion would be to facilitate calm in the many eventual readers of the book as many Christians would probably be dismayed by the portrayal of the great Saint Columba as one that starts with him as a pagan.

Of course this argument is undermined by the inclusion of non-believers on occasion within the biography. In the first book Adomnan writes about a pious but pagan old man who is persuaded to accept Christ as his savior only to die on the exact spot he received salvation. In book two there is the already referred to story of the Pictish family who accepts Columba's arguments toward Christianity. Both of these stories are meant to glorify Columba as an equal of Peter, which will be discuss later, but also

undermine the idea that Adomnan was completely unwilling to record instances of

conversion.

Another possibility also involves the inevitable audience for such a work as De Locis Sanctis. Prior to making rather scathing remarks about Adomnan's dearth of interest in "Palestinians and Egyptians…either singly or as cultural groups" one author acknowledges that his audience would be a "converted one, as literacy in his time was almost entirely limited to the religious orders". A parallel can be drawn by reflecting on a botanist doing a presentation among his or her scientific peers. The botanist would be hard pressed to comment on the children playing in a field rather than elaborate on the miscellaneous weeds, flowers, and grass that grows there. The audience and the presenter are there with a specific purpose in mind; thus ethnocentrism or religious intolerance probably had little to do with these exclusions.

Further proof of Adomnan's audience and the abbot's knowledge of who it consisted of comes from his dismissal of most of Columba's great accomplishments during his lifetime. Adomnan assumes that the reader will already know these things because he is writing specifically "for an established monastic community."

Defense for Adomnan's omission being an honest one is made by a third point-of-view. It is entirely possible that Adomnan did not write on the Muslims because they simply were not around places of relevance to Christianity. All of the holy places held dear by Christians were located on the Western Hill of Jerusalem. This area was entirely Christian in the late seventh century. Muslim avoidance of this region goes so far as to involve the outright banning of Muslim presence in the churches that remained on the Mount of Olives and in the Kidron Valley. This occurred in spite of Muslim control over Jerusalem at the time, and the reverence they held for the Ascension Church and the Tomb of the Virgin. The segregation of these two faiths went so far as to lead to the complete absence of Muslims on the Western Hill even though this part of Jerusalem was "cooler and healthier than their own quarters". Surely Adomnan would have found it difficult to make remarks on a group of people who were never around.

A fourth possibility involves the amount of time that Arculf spent in Jerusalem. According to what Adomnan recorded, the account given of the holy places in Jerusalem was minimal due to the sheer lack of time the pilgrim spent in the holy city. This alleged "power-walk" through Jerusalem is blamed on the tourist who guided Arculf through the city. As Arculf apparently rushed through each section of Jerusalem, just long enough to see the holy places he requested to see, he was unable to get a feel for any part of the culture of Jerusalem. The references made to Jews and Christians in the area are also virtually nil, and he certainly spent time speaking with these groups as they provided many of the spectacular stories that compose the first book of Adomnan's text. Early in the text Arculf elaborates on a trade fair that takes place in Jerusalem on every 12 September of the year. Per Arculf, the "camels, horses, asses, and oxen, all carriers of diverse merchandise, (create) filth from their discharges (that) spreads everywhere throughout the city streets". This complicated walking through the streets considerably while creating a vomit-inducing stench. The filth is resolved we are told, annually, by a "great flood of rain…that…flows like torrents from the higher regions to the low-lying." However, no reference is made to the individual or people who recounted this wonderful event to Arculf. In light of the speed at which Arculf was led through the city it is highly unlikely that he was witness to this event himself. Surely the pilgrim and his transcriptionist did not hold hatred in their hearts for those of the Christian faith.

In order to appease those who follow either Saint Peter or Saint Columba or those on either side of the dating issue, Adomnan goes out of his way to focus on the glory of Jerusalem itself and the Christian remnants present in the city. One such story involves the contention that Jerusalem had to be at the city of the world.

Miracles and the glory of God are the central theme of the first book of De Locis Sanctis. It is without coincidence that miracles also comprise a large portion of the second book of Adomnan's biography on Columba. Adomnan's predecessor at Iona, Abbot Cummene wrote a simple biography on Columba in 664 in order to show that the saint and his true followers were not champions of Roman or Celtic means of worship but of sincere integrity and submission to God. Adomnan planned to use the book in the same way while defending Columba from those who had mocked him at Whitby.

There are those, however, who do not see reconciliation as an issue to any of Adomnan's writings at all. Some, mistakenly, contend that the work had no greater purpose than to provide those Christian, who could not or would not travel abroad with a written description of what they would see in the Holy Places.

Aside from the obvious goal of conciliation, Adomnan also goes out of his way to elaborate on natural attractions that would catch the interest of the intellectual reader. Some of these sections were of no considerable relevance to the faith or the glorification of Christ. It is possible that these sections would seem odd if they were not so prevalent in the work itself. On the depth and nature of soil in the region Adomnan writes.

Aside from dynamics relevant to the faith, dialogue on the topographical and geological attributes of the Middle East is the prevalent theme of the work itself. This continues throughout the book and actually becomes a distraction from the religious artifacts seen by Arculf. Immediately after mentioning The Mount and Oak of Mamre and prior to an elaboration on the town of Jericho, Adomnan inserts this rather ill fitting passage on the pinewood of Jerusalem.

Other such sections in the pilgrim’s narrative include those on the color of the Jordan, the sources of the Jordan, and the concluding section on Mount Vulgan just to name a few.

On occasion Adomnan brings these two interests together to form a cohesive section. One such instance involves a spring in the middle of the desert that holds religious weight.

This section continues with a discourse on the size of the locusts in the desert and how they provide sustenance for those who capture them by being cooked in oil.

Adomnan's desire to bring together both sides of these issues did not conclude with the book presented to Aldfrid. His biography on Columba, which was finished in 692 went a long way in defending what would become known as the Law of the Innocents. This transnational treaty was designed to promote harmony and peace among the frequently warring nations of Ireland, Pictland, and Northumbria. In the second book of his biography on Columba, Adomnan writes about a "cruel man, a pitiless persecutor of innocent folk, (who) was pursuing a young girl who was running away from him over the open plain." The story winds down with this pile of bipedal defecation slaying the innocent girl with a spear. An old man is said to have turned to the then young Columba and ask, "How long, Columba, my holy son, will God the true judge let this crime and our dishonor go unpunished?" This story is followed up by another report of a slave girl who would not be released by a wizard named Broichan. Eventually Broichan is coerced into freeing the innocent slave girl as the Lord strikes him down with an ailment that forces him to struggle "to get his breath." It is easy for the reader to draw the conclusion that Adomnan's moral is that the Lord wishes for the safety and good keeping of innocent people.

By 697 matters had been complicated even further by the results of the trip to see Aldfrid in 688. While traveling, Adomnan visited with Ceolfrith of Wearmouth who appears to have been successful in persuading Adomnan himself to reject the Celtic dating of Easter. The next several years were spent persuading other conservatives to accept this modus operandi. The effort was a success in every part of the region with the exception of Adomnan's own Iona. With this complicated mess in his midst the abbot got to work on gathering signatories for the Cai'n Adomna'n, what would become known as the Law of the Innocents. The law itself was adopted in Ireland at the Synod of Birr which met in County Offaly in that same year. The official document was approved and

ratified by almost all of the chief kings of Eire as well as the King of the Scottish Dal Riada and the King of Pictland. The final document was eventually signed by no fewer than forty prominent "churchmen" and fifty-one kings and tribal rulers from both sides of the Irish Sea. This took place in spite of a lack of precedent for all sides in the frequently mentioned disputes of theology to get along on any matter. The treaty itself imposed fines on any soldier responsible for harming a child, woman, or clergyman. Each of the three aforementioned groups were to be exempt from warfare and considered innocent, neutral bystanders. Rulers who condoned or were unable to stop the violence their soldiers brought upon these groups also faced hefty fines. Rape, assault, and insult of kids, clerics, and ladies was also subject to fine. The penalties did not end there as soldiers also faced considerable fines if they rejected or denied any children that resulted from the rape and assault of women while in battle.

The schism between followers of Columba and those of Peter was even more difficult to bridge. Adomnan tried to avoid opening these wounds in De Locis Sanctis but made it abundantly clear through the text of Vita Saint Columbae that Columba was nobody to scoff at.

The entire opening book is devoted to Columba's gift of prophecy, a gift that is bestowed only upon those God smiles upon greatest. Twice, mention has been made of the story involving a Pictish boy who is brought back from the brink of death by Columba. At the conclusion of this section Adomnan states that Columba had the power of resurrection that is shared by the prophets Elijah and Elisha and the apostles John, Paul, and, surprise, Peter. Earlier in the book, Columba obliterates the trickery used by a sorcerer who turns a bull's blood into milk by invoking gifts given to him by God.

In the end, unfortunately, Adomnan's desire to unify the people of the region failed. Upon his passing on 23 September 704, Iona still held onto its conservative dating practices, surely to the dismay of their abbot.

The denigration of Adomnan did not end with his passing. When Bede wrote his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, his unwillingness to acknowledge the strife that involved the Easter controversy and his own abhorrence of the Celts becomes painfully obvious. Per Bede’s writings, Adomnan survived one Easter after his adoption of the Roman dating method and then died after persuading many in Ireland to convert to the new system. Adomnan then allegedly returned to Iona after his Easter celebration in Eire only to die within a year’s time. This is supposed to have been a merciful fate to avoid a clash between Adomnan and his own people. Certainly this would have been a kind and gentle demise if it were true. Bede’s assault on Adomnan and Iona do not end there unfortunately. Elsewhere in his work, Bede refers to the Iona monastery as one that "was very small and situated in a remote corner of the world." In light of the influence Iona and its abbot held at the time, this is a completely unfair depiction of the worth of Iona. Since Bede knew about De Locis Sanctis, the biography of Saint Columba, the Cai’n Adomna’n, and all the accomplishments of Adomnan this and other condescending remarks are probably not made by honest, academic error.

Shrines were built in Ireland almost immediately following Adomnan’s passing. His remains were brought to the north of Ireland early in the eighth century in order to facilitate peace between the clans of his mother and father. Unfortunately respect for Adomnan was not held by all Irishmen. Northmen opted to desecrate the shrines built to him in the years 830 and 1030.

This mockery of Adomnan falls in line with the strife that has plagued Scotland and Ulster in the millenium-plus since his passing. This is not the whole story, however. Eventually Adomnan was canonized as a saint and his day of expiration was made a feast day by the church. The road to hell may be paved with good intentions but those pure ambitions can make an individual a saint in the hearts and souls of the masses left behind.

De Locis Sanctis (‘Concerning the Sacred Places’) is Saint Adomnan’s writing of the journeys told to him by Bishop Arculf in the year 680. The work would be a major political piece for Adomnan in 688, as he presented the work to King Aldfrid of Northumbria to further facilitate relations between the two. This was Adomnan’s second visit to the king in as many years. The written narrative may have very well been a "thank you" gift to the king for the release of sixty Irish prisoners, taken by the former King of Northumbria, Aldfrid’s brother, Egfrith.

A brief summary of the work was included in the Venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written in 731. Mabillon (This is not Jean Mabillion, 1632-1707) copied De Locis Sanctis in 779. This text was consequently rewritten in 803. The book then wanders into places unknown until Father Gretser edited a new printing of De Locis Sanctis in 1619.

Thomas Wright included Adomnan’s work as part of his book Early Travels in Palestine. Henry G. Bohn of London published Wright’s compilation of pilgrim narratives in 1848. This specific book was republished several times in 1968. The publications relevant to that year include Ktav Publishing House’s printing of the books as well as those done by Gregg Publishing of Farnborough, England and another release by the original publishers, Henry G. Bohn.

Fifty-one years after Wright included the De Locis Sanctis in his compilation, The Palestine Pilgrims’ Text Society had De Locis Sanctis published in English in London. The Society re-published the work in the same language in 1895. This is the version used by AMS Press of New York City in 1971.

Another publication of ‘Concerning the Holy Places’ took place in 1958. In this translation of unknown origin, The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies published the narrative. This publication also had a second edition, this time in 1983.

There are also a couple of editions of De Locis Sanctis published outside of English. In 1870, Martial Delpit included the writing in his French work, allowing L. Techener to publish Essai sur les Anciens Pelerinages a Jerusalem Suivi du Texte du Pelerinage d’Arculphe. This Paris publication includes the narrative as just part of a lengthy book on pilgrimages of that era.

An edition was also published in German by K.B. Hof-u University-Buchdruckerei yon Fr. Junge. This edition, published in 1897, was part of a book credited to Paul Geyer entitled Die Handschrift liche Uberlieferung der Schrift De Locis Sanctis.

Hirschman, Jack. Adamnan. Santa Barbara, CA: Christopher Books, 1972.

This book recants an old story of Adomnan travelling throughout the cosmos and seeing the pleasures of Heaven and agonies of Hell. The original work preceded Dante's The Inferno and some argue that the story was a catalyst for Mr. Aligheri's work, although no proof has been provided to validate such contentions. The origin of the story is unknown but surely rests on the desire to glorify Adomnan.

Markus, Gilbert, et al. The Radical Tradition: Revolutionary Saints in the Battle for

Justice and Human Rights. New York City: Doubleday Books, 1993.

The overriding theme of this book is that each of the individuals mentioned were willing to buck the trends of their time in order to stand for what they thought was right. This pertain to all who are written about, Wulfstan of Worcester, Agnes, John Chrysostom, Canaire of Inis Cathaig, Maximillan, Magnus of Orkney, Catherine of Siena, Antonino of Florence, Thomas More, Augustine of Hippo, Vincent de Paul, Teresa of Avila, Hugh of Lincoln, Roque Gonzalez, Marguerite d'Youville, and, of course, Saint Adomnan.

The book mentions Adomnan's desire to maintain a focus on what could be accomplished and how this ambition manifested in his political activities. Among the activities emphasized is the Cain Adomnan or Law of the Innocents and his biography on Saint Columba and moral messages transmitted by the author through the fictitious words of the saint. A handy read that has provides a succinct but complete outline of the life of each individual mentioned.

Ross, Stewart. Ancient Scotland. Moffat, Scotland: Lochar Publishing, 1991.

Ross' book begins with the first appearance of humankind in Scotland in 8000BC and elaborates on the advances of people in matters of cultural and social consequence. This changes with the introduction of Roman conquest in the book when the writings take a drastic turn to emphasize politics and military conquests. This theme lasts through the rest of the book, which concludes with the death of Kenneth mac Alpin, king of Alba, which occurred in 858, and the initiation of Danish conquest of Northumrbia, which began eight years later.

Smyth, Alfred P. Warlords and Holy Men. Baltimore, MD: Edward Arnold, 1984.

This book places an emphasis on power and politics, looking at the times from 80 to 1000 CE in Scotland from a top-down point-of-view. Lineages are provided on the Kingdom of Northumbria, as well as a timeline, confirming what the reader would have deduced from common sense. The author carefully integrates the kingdoms of Northumbria and Pictland as well as relevant Irish and English involvement in the continuous timeline provided. Two dynamics of the human experience are particularly keyed on. The first involve matters of the church, who held power in the church at the time, and how these individuals utilized their might. The second matter involves the kingdoms themselves and who ascended to what thrones at what times and how they did so.

Warin, Anne. Wilfrid (AD 634 to 709): The Biography of an Outstanding Personality in

Church and State in Early Anglo-Saxon Times. York: William Sessions, 1992.

Ms. Warin lost her life in a car crash while in the midst of concluding her work on this book. The book follows Wilfrid's life and incorporates greater activities in the British Isles at the time only when they are of pertinence to Wilfrid. Oddly, Warin avoids using quotes from Wilfrid himself and uses a narrative style to convey the events of his life, right down to places at table he sat and the mannerisms Wilfrid used when entering rooms.

Wright, Thomas. Early Travels in Palestine. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1848.

This book includes an English version of De Locis Sanctis and provides the actual text itself. Wright's role is that of an editor and compiler. This book includes editions in English of the records of travels taken by Arculf as welll as by Willibald Bernard, Saewulf, Sigurd, Benjamin of Tudela, Sir John Maundeville, and De la Brocquiere. This primary text allows the reader to see for him or herself what was actually recorded on the travels of Arculf.