The Penitential of Cummean is an Irish penitential

Penitential

A penitential is a book or set of church rules concerning the Christian sacrament of penance, a "new manner of reconciliation with God" that was first developed by Celtic monks in Ireland in the sixth century AD.-Origin:...

, presumably composed c. 650 by an Irish monk named Cummean (or Cominianus). Of the remaining manuscript versions, notable are Codex Vat. Pal. Lat. 485, written in the ninth century in Irish-influenced Lorsch Abbey

Lorsch Abbey

The Abbey of Lorsch is a former Imperial Abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about 10 km east of Worms, one of the most renowned monasteries of the Carolingian Empire. Even in its ruined state, its remains are among the most important pre-Romanesque–Carolingian style buildings in Germany...

, and Codex Vat. 1349. The precise identification of Cummean is fraught with difficulties; one possible identification is with a bishop Cummean who retired at Bobbio Abbey

Bobbio Abbey

Bobbio Abbey is a monastery founded by Irish Saint Columbanus in 614, around which later grew up the town of Bobbio, in the province of Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is dedicated to Saint Columbanus...

 between 711 and 744. The later Excarpsus cummeani

Excarpsus cummeani

The Excarpsus cummeani, also called the Pseudo-Cummeani, is an eighth-century penitential, probably written in the north of the Frankish Empire in Corbie Abbey. Twenty-six copies of the manuscript survive; six of those were copied before 800 CE...

, or Pseudo-Cummeani, is named such in reference to the penitential of Cummean.

Content

The penitential follows the scheme of vices set up by John Cassian (c. 360 – 435) in his De institutis coenobiorum.