Saint Patrick, AD 493-1993 [Paperback]

David N. Dumville (Author)

Book Description

Series: Studies in Celtic History | Publication Date: April 1, 1999

Anyone working on Britain and Ireland in the fifth century should pay close attention. MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY A fascinating work, which sheds light on a number of dark corners. EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE St Patrick's place in Irish history is celebrated, but is also the subject of intense controversy - even as to his death. Although the 1500th anniversary of that event was originally celebrated in 1961, there is every reason to think the death date of 461 unsustainable. This collection of essays commemorates a different date, 17 March 493, and takes stock of other difficult issues which require reassesment. These include Patrick's own account of his career, his impassioned apologia pro uita sua, and the later Irish sources which may not reveal much about Patrick but possibly contain material about Palladius, sent from Rome in AD 431 as first bishop for Irish Christians: the invention of two Patricks seems to belong, at the latest, to the 8th century, and may be a reflex of a 7th-century conflation of the careers of Palladius and Patrick. The continuing mediaeval development of the legend and cult of St Patrick and a wide variety of other associated historical and literary-historical issues are also explored.DAVID DUMVILLE is Professor of Palaeography and Cultural History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Girton College.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Dumville succeeds in his ambitious aim of bringing clarity into an area of great complexity and obscurity... (He) applies a very valuable multidisciplinary treatment to what is extremely difficult source material (and) by deploying historical and linguistic skills succeeds in stripping the evidence of ill-founded accretions and weighing up the issues with admirable objectivity. Clarity of treatment, careful balance, scrupulous attention to the sources, and a finely tuned insight are all plentifully in evidence. --Medieval Archaeology

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Boydell Press (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0851157335
• ISBN-13: 978-0851157337
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,483,177 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Full of useful stuff, but opinionated, May 10, 2003

By 

F. P. Barbieri "Fabio Paolo Barbieri" (London UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Saint Patrick, AD 493-1993 (Paperback)

This book suffers from three major problems, two of which depend directly on the author's basic personality and approach, and one on a rather incomprehensible decision to accept someone else's clearly flawed conclusions. The latter is Dumville's unfortunate acceptance of James Carney's late dating (493) for Patrick's death, which in turn depends on a mistaken view of the value as evidence of Irish monastic records. The other two major flaws are the bitty presentation of the evidence, with no attempt to present anything like an overall view; and the excessive concentration on the transmission of texts. Always and everywhere, Dumville speaks as though the first WRITTEN appearance of any item represents its origin; an idea that two minutes' thought ought to disprove. And his assumption that the first scholarly problem is to shed light on the origin and history of individual documents means that he never even tries to develop a clear vision of historical developments. To the best of my knowledge, Dumville has never written a book; all books published under his byline are collections of articles, and this, in spite of being conceived and designed from the beginning as a unit, is no exception. The result is that it is hugely difficult to find out what Dumville thinks of any one major problem - except the one on which he is thoroughly, unmistakably wrong, namely the date.
Worst of all is his relentlessly negative and destructive attitude. He finds it more important to shed negative light, disproving others' views. While this is understandable in view of the apparently irresistible appeal of the period he studies - the Insular dark ages - to cranks of every kind, it is in my view an unconstructive attitude. Nevertheless, this book is full of useful items and observations; indeed, Dumville seems to have gone out of his way to incorporate even items he regards as valueless and remote. It can be used with profit even by people who are very far intellectually from its pessimistic, if learned, author.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It'a a real treasure!, April 13, 2003

By 

Historian "malgos2" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saint Patrick, AD 493-1993 (Paperback)

Saint Patrick by Dumville et alumni is a great find for all who think seriosuly about history - history students and scholars. It requires some knowledge about the Saint as it discusses all the controversial matters referring to His life. The books is very detailed, scrupulous and multidisciplinary. It contains the most important sources, which is essencial in this kind of literature. It presents the most recent state of research on Saint Patrick - his life and background, so anyone who seeks for something really serious about the Saint should definitely have this book.