Individual Page

Person Info

• Name: Palladius
• Sex: M


Parents:

• Father:
  
• Eparchius Bishop Of Clermont

Family:
Bibliography

Sources for birth and parent Information

father:

[Ref: Mommaerts chart-Ansbertus-Main]

Research Notes:
F. J. Byrne (Irish Kings and High-Kings) accepted Patrick as a real person but cautioned that "we may suspect that some of the seventh-century traditions originally referred to Palladius and have been transferred, whether deliberately or as a result on genuine confusion, to the figure of Patrick". He was right, and it is quite easy to demonstrate this:
Prosper of Aquitaine wrote his Epitoma Chronicon in 433 and for the year corresponding to 430 he recorded:
"Palladius was sent by Pope Celestine to the Scots who believed in Christ, and was ordained as their first bishop".
That is an unimpeachable contemporary authority for Palladius as first bishop in Ireland.
This story was known to Bede and was repeated by him:
"In the year 430 Palladius was sent by Pope Celestine to the Scots that believed in Christ to be their first bishop".
Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum was finished in 731, and, besides Palladius, he mentioned other Irish churchmen such as Columba, but he made no mention of Patrick, even though he was fascinated by the deviant customs of the Irish church, especially concerning the date of Easter and the mode of tonsure. Bede may even have met Columba's hagiographer Adamnan when he visited Northumbria and was converted to the Catholic customs (Bede would have been 14).
This annal was then copied from Bede into the earliest version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (version A, compiled before 891):
"430. In this year bishop Palladius was sent by Pope Celestine to the Scots to strengthen their faith".
But during the twelfth century the manuscript was altered to read: "Palladius (vel Patricius)". In another version of the chronicle (version E, written in 1121) Palladius disappears and is replaced by Patrick:
"430. In this year Patrick was sent by pope Celestine to preach baptism to the Scots".
Notice how with each scribe the story changes a little, so starting from Palladius being sent to the Irish who were already Christian, it eventually becomes a tale about Patrick being sent to convert the Irish.
In the Annals of the Four Masters the two versions are combined:
430 "In this year Pope Celestinus the First sent Palladius to Ireland, to propagate the faith among the Irish, and he landed in the country of Leinster with a company of twelve men. Nathi, son of Garchu, refused to admit him; but, however, he baptized a few persons in Ireland, and three wooden churches were erected by him, namely, Cell Fhine, Teach Na Romhan, and Domhnach Arta. At Cell Fhine he left his books, and a shrine with the relics of Paul and Peter, and many martyrs besides. He left these four in these churches: Augustinus, Benedictus, Silvester, and Solinus. Palladius, on his returning back to Rome (as he did not receive respect in Ireland), contracted a disease in the country of the Cruithnigh, and died thereof."
431 "Saint Patrick was ordained bishop by the holy Pope, Celestine the First, who ordered him to go to Ireland, to preach and teach faith and piety to the Gaeidhil, and also to baptize them."
This alleged second mission was unknown to Prosper or Bede.
It seems to me more than probable that there never was a "Patricius" and that he was accidentally invented by some monk who was struggling to read an ancient and dirty or faded manuscript that originally said "Palladius". In some sources Palladius is written Paladius, and it would only take a speck of dirt to convert the l into a t. The d could easily become c if the upright had faded away. Then the letter a could have been read as ri (the dot is a recent invention to prevent this sort of error). So the unfamiliar name of the bishop was replaced by a more familiar Latin word with the same number of letters, also beginning Pa- and ending -ius. As Patricius is not a name but a title, it would automatically suggest a story about how the man came to be known by this unusual appellation. [Ref: Paul Heath 6/1/2006]



Pedigree of Palladius
 /-----Eparchius Bishop Of Clermont
|        |         /-----Decime Rustique Prefect Of The Gaules
|         \-----(Unk Dau)
|                 |                                    /-----Sopater I Of Apamaea
|                 |                           /-----Himerius III Of Apamaea
|                 |                          |        |         /-----Iamblichus Of Chalchis
|                 |                          |         \-----(Unk Dau) Of Apamaea
|                 |                  /-----Iamblichus II Of Apamaea
|                 |         /-----Tetradius Of Apamaea, Proconsul Of Treves
|                  \-----Artemia
|                           \-----Artemia
Palladius



Descendants of Palladius