Vergilius of Salzburg (also
Virgilius,
Feirgil or
Fergal) (born c. 700 in Ireland; died 27 November
784- Asia :* The Japanese capital moves away from Nara, ending the Nara period.* The Chinese engineer and prince Li Gao invents a successful model of a paddle-wheel ship.- Religion :* August 31—Paul IV abdicates as Patriarch of Constantinople....
in Salzburg) was an
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
churchman, an early
astronomerAn astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars, and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
and bishop of Salzburg. His obituary calls him the geometer.
He originated from a noble family of
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
, where his name was Feirgil, and was educated in the Iona monastery. It is controversial whether he is identical to Abbot Feirgil of Aghaboe Abbey in County Laois.
He is said to have been a descendant of
Niall of the Nine HostagesNiall Noígíallach , or in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaid Mugmedón, was an Irish king, the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill kindred who dominated Ireland from the 6th century to the 10th century...
.
Vergilius of Salzburg (also
Virgilius,
Feirgil or
Fergal) (born c. 700 in Ireland; died 27 November
784- Asia :* The Japanese capital moves away from Nara, ending the Nara period.* The Chinese engineer and prince Li Gao invents a successful model of a paddle-wheel ship.- Religion :* August 31—Paul IV abdicates as Patriarch of Constantinople....
in Salzburg) was an
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
churchman, an early
astronomerAn astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars, and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
and bishop of Salzburg. His obituary calls him the geometer.
Biography
He originated from a noble family of
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
, where his name was Feirgil, and was educated in the Iona monastery. It is controversial whether he is identical to Abbot Feirgil of Aghaboe Abbey in County Laois.
He is said to have been a descendant of
Niall of the Nine HostagesNiall Noígíallach , or in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaid Mugmedón, was an Irish king, the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill kindred who dominated Ireland from the 6th century to the 10th century...
. In the "
Annals of the Four MastersThe Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the deluge, dated as 2,242 years after creation to AD 1616.-Text:...
" and the "
Annals of UlsterThe Annals of Ulster are a chronicle of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 and AD 1540. The entries up to AD 1489 were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa on the island of Belle Isle on Lough Erne in...
" he is mentioned as Abbot of
AghaboeAghaboe is a village and parish in County Laois, Ireland. It is located on the R434 regional road in the rural hinterland west of the town of Abbeyleix....
, in
County LaoisCounty Laois is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Leinster. Its name was formerly spelt as Laoighis and Leix....
.
Around 745 he left Ireland, intending to visit the Holy land, but, like many of his countrymen, who seemed to have adopted this practice as a work of piety, he settled down in France, where he was received with great favour by
Pippin the YoungerPepin or Pippin , called the Short, and often known as Pepin the Younger or Pepin III, was the Mayor of the Palace and Duke of the Franks from 741 and King of the Franks from 751 to 768...
then
Mayor of the PalaceMayor of the Palace was an early medieval title and office, also called majordomo, from the Latin title maior domus , used most notably in the Frankish kingdoms in the 7th and 8th centuries....
under
Childeric IIIChilderic III was the last king of the Franks in the Merovingian dynasty from 743 to his deposition in 751.The throne had been vacant for seven years when the mayors of the palace, Carloman and Pepin the Short, decided in 743 to recognize Childeric as king. Neither his parentage nor his relation...
of
FranconiaFranconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a part of southern Thuringia, and a much smaller region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Heilbronn-Franken...
. After spending two years at
Cressy-Places:*Cressy, Tasmania, Australia*Cressy, Victoria, Australia*Cressy, Seine-Maritime, a commune in France*Cressy, Switzerland, a village in the municipality of Bernex*Cressy, California, former name of Cressey, California, United States-Ships:...
, near
CompiegneCompiègne is a commune in the Oise department in northern France.The city is located along the Oise River. Its inhabitants are called Compiégnois.-Administration:Compiègne is the seat of three cantons*Compiègne-Nord...
, he went to
BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, at the invitation of
Duke OdiloOdilo , a son of Gotfrid of the house of Agilolfing, ruled Bavaria from 736 until his death in 748, succeeding Duke Hugbert of Bavaria. Odilo presided over the establishment of bishoprics in Bavaria in 739, when the dioceses of Regensburg, Freising, Passau, and Salzburg were established by St...
, where he founded the monastery of
ChiemseeChiemsee is a freshwater lake in Bavaria, Germany, between Rosenheim, Germany, and Salzburg, Austria. It is often called the Bavarian Sea. The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien flow into the lake; the river Alz, out of it...
, and within a year or two was made Abbot of St. Peter's at
Salzburg' is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburg's "Old Town" with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city is noted for its...
. Out of humility, he "concealed his orders", and had a bishop named Dobdagrecus, a fellow countryman, appointed to perform his episcopal functions for him.
It was while Abbot of St. Peter's that he came into collision with
Saint BonifaceSaint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid or Wynfrith at Crediton in the kingdom of Wessex , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz.He was killed in Frisia in 754...
. A priest having, through ignorance, conferred the
SacramentA sacrament, as defined in Hexam's Concise Dictionary of Religion is what Roman Catholics believe to be "a rite in which God is uniquely active." Augustine of Hippo defined a Christian sacrament as "a visible sign of an invisible reality." The Anglican Book of Common Prayer speaks of them as "an...
of
BaptismIn Christianity, baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which one is admitted to membership of the Christian Church and, in the view of some, as a member of the particular Church in which the baptism is administered.The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the...
using, in place of the correct formula, the words "Baptizo te in nomine patria et filia et spiritu sancta", Vergilius held that the sacrament had been validly conferred, but Boniface complained to
Pope ZacharySaint Zachary , pope , the last pope of the Byzantine Papacy. He came from a Greek family of Calabria. Most probably he was a deacon of the Roman Church and as such signed the decrees of the Roman council of 732; and was on intimate terms with Gregory III, whom he succeeded in December 10...
. The latter, however, decided in favour of Vergilius. Later on, Boniface accused Vergilius of spreading discord between himself and Duke Odilo of Bavaria and of teaching a doctrine in regard to the
rotundity of the earthThe concept of a spherical Earth dates back to around the 6th century BCE in ancient Greek philosophy. It remained a matter of philosophical speculation until the 3rd century BCE when Hellenistic astronomy established the spherical shape of the earth as a physical given.The concept of a spherical...
, which was "contrary to the Scriptures". Pope Zachary's decision in this case was that "if it shall be clearly established that he professes belief in another world and other people existing beneath the earth, or in [another] sun and moon there, thou art to hold a council, and deprive him of his sacerdotal rank, and expel him from the church." Unfortunately we no longer possess the treatise in which Vergilius expounded his doctrine. Two things, however, are certain: first, that there was involved the problem of
original sinOriginal sin is, according to a doctrine proposed in Christian theology, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt,...
and the universality of redemption; secondly, that Vergilius succeeded in freeing himself from the charge of teaching a doctrine contrary to Scripture. It is likely that Boniface, already biased against Vergilius because of the preceding case, misunderstood him, taking it for granted, perhaps, that if there are
antipodesIn geography, the antipodes of any place on Earth is the point on the Earth's surface which is diametrically opposite to it...
, the "other race of men" are not descendants of Adam and were not redeemed by Christ.
After the martyrdom of Boniface, Vergilius was made Bishop of Salzburg in 766 or 767 and laboured successfully for the upbuilding of his diocese as well as for the
spread of ChristianityThe Germanic peoples underwent gradual Christianization in the course of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. By the 8th century, most of England and the Frankish Empire was, in principle, Christian, and by AD 1100, Germanic paganism had also ceased to have political influence in...
in neighbouring
heathenGermanic paganism, or Germanic mythology includes the theology and religious practices of the Germanic peoples preceding their Christianization. The best documented version of the Germanic pagan religions is 10th and 11th century Odinism, though other information can be found from Anglo-Saxon and...
countries, especially in
CarinthiaCarantania, also known as Carentania was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern Slovenia. Having lasted more than 300 years, it is considered one of the first Slavic states...
. He died at Salzburg, 27 November, probably in 784, leaving a reputation for learning and holiness. In 1233 he was canonized by Gregory IX. His doctrine that the earth is a sphere was derived from the teaching of ancient geographers, and his belief in the existence of the antipodes was probably influenced by the accounts which the ancient Irish voyagers gave of their journeys. This, at least, is the opinion of Rettberg (
Kirchengesch. Deutschlands, II, 236).
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