Irish and Scottish missionaries (Iro-Scottish, Hiberno-Scottish) were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England and the Frankish Empire during the 6th and 7th centuries. The Latin term Scotti refers to the Scotti, a Gaelic cultural group who from the 5th century also had a presence in Western Scotland. Thus, the "Scots" missionaries who were so influential in the early Church history of Germany may indeed have included men from Scotland in the modern sense, but were predominantly Irish.

Columcille to Columban (563-615)

After Saint Ninian, Christianity first spread to Scotland again in 563 with the foundation of Iona by Columcille. Following the foundation of Lindisfarne in 635 by Saint Aidan, Hiberno-Scottish missionaries converted most of Anglo-Saxon England during the following decades, the last pagan Anglo-Saxons king, Penda of Mercia died in 655.

Columbanus from 590 was active in the Frankish Empire, establishing monasteries throughout what is now France and Switzerland until his death at Bobbio in 615. Other Hiberno-Scottish missionaries active at the time,

Examples of Hiberno-Scottish monasteries on the continent include the Scots monastery in Regensburg, Vienna, Erfurt and Würzburg.

Decline

Hiberno-Scottish activity in Europe declined after the death of Columban. Celtic Christianity was re-united with Roman Catholicism after the Synod of Whitby in 664, and from 698 until the reign of Charlemagne in the 770s, the Hiberno-Scottish efforts in the Frankish Empire were continued by the Anglo-Saxon mission.

High Middle Ages

Irish monks known as Papar are said to have been present in Iceland before its settlement by the Norse in the 9th century.

Among the Irish monks who were active in Central Europe were two particularly important theologians, Marianus Scotus and Johannes Scotus Eriugena.

Legends surrouning Iro-Scottish foundations are recorded in a Middle High German text known as Charlemagne and the Scottish Saints (BL Harley 3971).

See also

• Anglo-Saxon mission

Literature

• Frank Shaw (ed.), Karl der Große und die Schottischen Heiligen. Nach der Handschrift Harley 3971 der Britischen Bibliothek London, Deutsche Texte des Mittelalters LXXI, Berlin (DDR), 1981.