David Scotus
Encyclopedia

Biography

His date of birth is unknown. Early in the twelfth century there was at Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....

 an ecclesiastic and teacher known as David. His surname Scotus shows that he very probably came from Ireland or, if he is identical with the homonymous Bishop of Bangor
Bishop of Bangor
The Bishop of Bangor is the Ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Bangor.The diocese covers the counties of Anglesey, most of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire and a small part of Montgomeryshire...

, from Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 (see below).

According to Ekkehard
Ekkehard
Ekkehard was a Germanic given name. Eckard, Eckhard, Eckhart, and Eckart are modern forms. It was the name of five monks of the Abbey of Saint Gall from the tenth to the thirteenth century:*Ekkehard I*Ekkehard II*Ekkehard III*Ekkehard IV*Ekkehard V...

's Chronicon, Emperor Henry V received him, was charmed with his virtue and knowledge, and made him one of the imperial chaplains. With other scholars David accompanied the king on his expedition to Italy in 1100, and was appointed royal historiographer for the occasion.

He died in 1139.

Writings

His work in three books is now known only from excerpts of it in later historians, especially in Ekkehard and William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...

. The latter says that David described the expedition with partiality for the king.

Possibly identical homonym

A certain David was consecrated Bishop of Bangor in Wales, 4 April 1120; according to Malmesbury he was none other than the chaplain David Scotus. As bishop he took part in several English synods, and probably died in 1139, since his successor was then consecrated. But it is not easy to reconcile with the foregoing, the statement of the later historian TrithemiusAnnales Hirsaugienses, I, 349., that David became a monk under St. Macharius in the monastery of St. James in Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....

, as this abbey was not founded until 1140.

Source

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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