Fintan of Rheinau (Findan, Findanus) (803/4 in Leinster, Ireland – 15 November 878 in Rheinau, Switzerland) was an Irish Catholic hermit who settled in Rheinau. [1] In the Catholic Church he is venerated as a saint.
Fintan was born in Leinster, Ireland into a noble family. [2] He lost his parents and siblings in internal wars in Ireland and through abductions by the Vikings. [1] He himself was enslaved by the Vikings (possibly handed over by his Irish enemies [3]) and taken to the Orkney Islands, but was able to escape to Scotland. [1] There he stayed with a bishop for two years, [1] and became a clergyman. [4] In 845 he made a pilgrimage through the Frankish Empire to Rome. [1] From there he went to the monastery of Farfa where he lived as a monk for some time, then via Rhaetia to Swabia, or to the landgraviate of Klettgau, where he entered the service of the Alemannic nobleman Wolvene. [1] Wolvene persuaded him after a few years to join his monastery in Rheinau as a monk, which he did in 851. [1] From the year 856 he lived there walled in as an recluse until his death. [1] His bones are kept in the Rheinau monastery church in the reliquary in the Fintan altar. [1] Shortly after his death, the Vita Findani was written by a confrere of the monastery; it is considered reliable. His attributes in church art are a dove, a ducal hat, and the monks' habit. [1]
His biography, the Vita Findani, is considered to be a relatively accurate description of the Viking Age slave trade. Interwoven with the story of Melkorka from the Icelandic Laxdaela-Saga, it has been the basis of the Austrian-German-French documentary "Victims of the Vikings" (ORF/ZDF/Arte 2021). [5]
Fintan of Rheinau (Findan, Findanus) (803/4 in Leinster, Ireland – 15 November 878 in Rheinau, Switzerland) was an Irish Catholic hermit who settled in Rheinau. [1] In the Catholic Church he is venerated as a saint.
Fintan was born in Leinster, Ireland into a noble family. [2] He lost his parents and siblings in internal wars in Ireland and through abductions by the Vikings. [1] He himself was enslaved by the Vikings (possibly handed over by his Irish enemies [3]) and taken to the Orkney Islands, but was able to escape to Scotland. [1] There he stayed with a bishop for two years, [1] and became a clergyman. [4] In 845 he made a pilgrimage through the Frankish Empire to Rome. [1] From there he went to the monastery of Farfa where he lived as a monk for some time, then via Rhaetia to Swabia, or to the landgraviate of Klettgau, where he entered the service of the Alemannic nobleman Wolvene. [1] Wolvene persuaded him after a few years to join his monastery in Rheinau as a monk, which he did in 851. [1] From the year 856 he lived there walled in as an recluse until his death. [1] His bones are kept in the Rheinau monastery church in the reliquary in the Fintan altar. [1] Shortly after his death, the Vita Findani was written by a confrere of the monastery; it is considered reliable. His attributes in church art are a dove, a ducal hat, and the monks' habit. [1]
His biography, the Vita Findani, is considered to be a relatively accurate description of the Viking Age slave trade. Interwoven with the story of Melkorka from the Icelandic Laxdaela-Saga, it has been the basis of the Austrian-German-French documentary "Victims of the Vikings" (ORF/ZDF/Arte 2021). [5]