The Selective Memory of Jonas of Bobbio

Writing Merovingian history has traditionally been a little like crossing a river using stepping stones (Trittsteine): one moves from one source to the next in as straight a line as one can manage. Rarely is one offered the luxury of an alternative route. The sixth-century stone is Gregory of Tours. For the first half of the seventh we have Fredegar, although even in his own independent composition, the so-called Book IV, he incorporates earlier material, including a Life of Desiderius of Vienne and Jonas’s Vita Columbani.Of course,we all know that this is not a very safe way of proceeding. Gregory’s narrative, in particular, has been challenged in recent years.1 Careful scrutiny of the bishop of Tours’s own modus operandi, alongside other sources, not least the poems of Venantius Fortunatus, as well as the lawcodes, Church canons, and some hagiography, to which on occasion we can add archaeological evidence, has allowed us to come to a greater awareness of what Gregory did with his material. We know that his view of the past was selective, and his carefully structured presentation of events was intended to provide a particular interpretation – one that has dominated all subsequent readings.We have advanced far less in our understanding of Fredegar’s aims, and he still seems to be used predominantly as a repository of information.2 The intentions of Jonas of Bobbio, who supplies Fredegar with one particularly well-known chapter,3 are potentially more accessible. Yet because there is little that can be used as a control when we read Jonas, there is still a tendency to take his narrative at face value – even though there are at least two occasions where we can be sure that he is misleading. In what follows I want to problematise Jonas, and to suggest that his representation of the past has very deliberate aims, which need to be linked to specific circumstances. Others, of course, have also raised questions about Jonas’ hagiography, especially in recent years,4 but their main focus has been on the problem of Columbanian spirituality, rather than on issues of representation and misrepresentation. In order to do so I will take not just the Vita Columbani, but also the Lives of Vedast and