Nuns of Saint Columbanus
Author: Schoonebeek, Adriaan, ca. 1660-1714
Image Title: Nuns of Saint Columbanus
Description: This etched print features a member of the Nuns of Saint Columbanus. Although Columbanus’ monastic legislation did not include a rule written specifically for nuns, the mixed rules of Waldebert of Luxeuil (d. c. 668) and Donatus of Besançon (d. 660), both students of Columbanus’ monastic center at Luxeuil, reveal the impression that Irish monasticism had on the expression of female monastic life in the 7th-century nunnery. Moreover, the rural environment of northern Gaul, and the religious ideals of Columbanus’ Irish upbringing influenced nuns’ rules in such a way that they revived an intimate and personal dimension of asceticism that 6th-century female monasticism, under the rule of Caesarius of Arles (468/470 – 542 CE), had neglected for the sake of safety and stability. This is perhaps the reason why the subject is shown outside the monastery walls.
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