In the crypt: a twelfth century floor mosaic ; Saint Columbanus ' marble sarcophagus made by Giovanni de Patriarchi ( 1480 ); two marble pluteos used as tombstones of Saint Attala and Saint Bertulf ; and a beautiful twelfth century wrought iron gate.

From its curious and irregular shape it is commonly called the ‘ Hunchback Bridge ’; also the ‘ Devil ’ s Bridge ’ after many legends: the famous legend tells that it was built by the Devil in one night after he made a pact with Saint Columbanus who promised him the soul of the first passerby ; but when the bridge was finished the Irish Saint sent a dog.

He was abbot of the monastery for forty years, during which the school of Luxeuil trained the Frankish aristocrats who became bishops in the Frankish kingdoms ; Waldebert oversaw the move of the monastery from the Rule of St. Columban to the Benedictine Rule, though in the rule he drew up for the convent of Faremoutiers he drew upon the rules of Columbanus as well as Benedict, but made no mention whatsoever of a ritual of either profession or oblation.

Columbanus accordingly obtained from King Gontram the Gallo-Roman castle named " Luxovium " ( Luxeuil ), some eight miles distant from Annegray.

Columbanus left Neustria in 611 for the court of King Theodebert of Austrasia.

On his arrival at Milan in 612, Columbanus met with a kindly welcome from Lombard King Agilulf and Queen Theodelinda.

According to medieval legend, Constantine, a 7th-century King of Strathclyde, founded a monastery under the rule of Columbanus in Govan.

There King Agilulf and his wife Theodolinda granted Columbanus land in the mountains between Genoa and Milan, where he established the monastery of Bobbio.

The landing site of Columbanus is marked by a shrine at Carnac in Brittany.

As we hear no further accusation on the Easter question — not even in those brought against his successor at Luxeuil Abbey, Eustasius of Luxeuil in 624 — it would appear that after Columbanus had moved to Italy, he gave up the Celtic Easter ( cf.

Saint Columbanus was credited with introducing the medicamenta paentitentiae, the “ medicines of penance ”, to Gaul at a time when they had come to be neglected.

The monasteries of the Irish missions, and many at home, adopted the Rule of Saint Columbanus, which was stricter than the Rule of Saint Benedict, the main alternative in the West.

These palimpsests had originally belonged to the famous convent of St Columbanus at Bobbio, and had been written over by the monks with the acts of the First Council of Chalcedon.

Gall and his companions established themselves with Columbanus at first at Luxeuil in Gaul.

In 610, he accompanied Columbanus on his voyage up the Rhine River to Bregenz but when in 612 Columbanus traveled on to Italy from Bregenz, Gall had to remain behind due to illness and was nursed at Arbon.

Eligius was a source of edification at court, where he and his friend Dado lived according to the strict Irish monastic rule that had been introduced into Gaul by Saint Columbanus.

Columbanus and his companions first settled in cells at Annegray, in the commune of Voivre, Haute-Saône.

Most of the earliest rule that was observed at Luxeuil derived from Celtic monastic traditions, whether or not written down by Columbanus, supplemented increasingly by the more formalized Benedictine Rule that was followed throughout the West, which provided for the abbot's orderly election, his relations with his monks, and the appointment of monastic officials and their delegated powers.

Luxeuil sent out monks to found houses at Bobbio, between Milan and Genoa, where Columbanus himself became abbot, and monasteries at Saint-Valéry and Remiremont.

A mural in the church is of Christ ascending to heaven with Saints Comgall, Gall and Columbanus at his feet.

The Council of Tours orders six psalms at Sext and twelve Ad Duodecimam, with Alleluia ( presumably as Antiphon ) For Matins there is a curious arrangement which reminds one of that in the Rule of St. Columbanus ( see CELTIC RITE, III ).

The first monks came from Luxeuil Abbey, which had been founded by Saint Columbanus in 590, and the Irish respect for classical learning fostered there was carried forward at Corbie.

Jonas of Bobbio records that Columbanus was active in Bregenz, where he disrupted a beer sacrifice to Wodan.

* Columbanus arrives in Gaul where he founds Luxeuil Abbey.

After Childebert's death Columbanus traveled east to Metz, where Theudebert II allowed him to establish a new monastery among the semi-pagan Alemanni in what is now Switzerland.

This brought her into conflict with Columbanus, abbot of Luxeuil, whom she eventually exiled to Italy, where he founded Bobbio.

The establishment of the bishopric of Konstanz cannot be dated exactly and was possibly undertaken by Columbanus himself ( before 612 ).

Columbanus ( 540 – 23 November 615 ;, meaning " the white dove ") was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries on the European continent from around 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil ( in present-day France ) and Bobbio ( Italy ), and stands as an exemplar of Irish missionary activity in early medieval Europe.

Columbanus ( the Latinised form of Columbán ) was born in Nobber, County Meath, Ireland, in the year Saint Benedict died, and from childhood was well instructed.

Before Pope Boniface's answer ( which has been lost ) was given, Columbanus was outside the jurisdiction of the Frankish bishops.

Columbanus refused, whereupon he was taken prisoner to Besançon to await further orders.

They told Columbanus it was intended as a sacrifice to their god Wodan ( Illi aiunt se Deo suo Vodano nomine ), whom they identified with Roman Mercury.

It was necessary that, in Italy, Columbanus should have a settled abode, so the king gave him a tract of land called Bobbio, between Milan and Genoa, near the River Trebbia, situated in a defile of the Apennines.

The Rule of St. Columbanus was approved of by the Council of Mâcon in 627, but it was destined before the close of the century to be superseded by that of St. Benedict.

Like other men, Columbanus was not faultless.

Archbishop Healy eulogises him thus: " A man more holy, more chaste, more self-denying, a man with loftier aims and purer heart than Columbanus was never born in the Island of Saints " ( Ireland's Ancient Schools, 378 ).

It was Christianized through the influence of St. Columbanus, who founded several monasteries there.

Again, however, the Rule of Columbanus was used exclusively in monasteries in the Irish sphere of influence ; it was not followed in British monasteries.

Again the justification for de Valera nominating one of his senior ministers for the Presidency, were rumours that someone in cabinet was, either deliberately or accidentally, letting information slip to the Catholic Church through the Knights of Columbanus.

At key times he was criticised by de Valera of being the " Church's man " in the cabinet, either deliberately or accidentally leaking information to the Knights of Saint Columbanus.

The party was socially conservative, compared to similar European parties, and its leaders from 1932 to 1977 ( William Norton and Brendan Corish ) were members of the Knights of Saint Columbanus.

He also denied allegations that he was a member of Opus Dei or the Knights of Saint Columbanus after the group Survivors of Child Abuse alleged he was a member of the former.