GALL
347
GALL
therefore before 590. Having reached Bregenz with
Columbanus, he laboured in the country as a mission-
ary, and actively combated the pagan superstitions.
Prevented b}- illness from following Columbanus to
Italy, he was placed under interdict by the displeased
Columbanus, and in consequence could not celebrate
Mass until several years later, after the death of his
old master. Gall delivered from the demon by which
she was possessed Fridiburga, the daughter of Cunzo
and the betrothed of Sigebert, King of the Franks;
the latter, through gratitude, granted to the saint an
estate near .Arbon, which belonged to the royal treas-
urj', that he might found a monastery there. Natur-
ally the monastery was exempt from all dependence
on the Bishop of Constance: moreover, Gall twice
refused the episcopal see of that city, which was offered
to him, and having been instrumental in securing the
election of a secular cleric, the deacon John, the latter
and his successors placed themselves in every way
at the service of the abbey. Gall also declined the
abbatial dignity of Luxeuil, which was offered him by
the monks of the monastery after the death of St.
Eustace. Shortly afterwards he died, at the age of
ninety-five, at Arbon, during a visit; but his body was
brought back to the monaster^', and God revealed the
sanctity of his servant by numerous miracles. His
feast is celebrated on 16 October, the day ascribed to
him in some very ancient martyrologies, while Adon,
it is not known for what reason, makes it occur on 20
February. The saint is ordinarily represented mth a
bear; for a legend, recorded in the Lives, relates that
one night, at the command of the saint, one of these
animals brought wood to feed the fire which Gall and
his companions had kindled in the desert.
The most ancient Life, of which only fragments have been discovered till the present date, but other- wise very important, has been remodelled and put in the better style of the ninth centur\' by two monks of Reichenau: in SU5-24 by the celebrated Wettinus, and about S33-34 by Walafrid Strabo, who also re- vised a book of the miracles of the saint, written some- what earlier by Gozbert the Yoimger, monk of St. Gall. In 8.50 an anonymous monk of the same abbey wrote, in verse, a Life which he published under the name of Walafrid ; and others after him further cele- lirated the holv patron in prose and verse.
Vila S. Columhani. I, xx; Vila; S. Galli Ires aniiquissima: ed. Khuscm. in Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script, rer. Merov., IV, 251-337; Vila metrica, ed. DOmmler, in Man. Germ. Hist.: Poet, lal., II, 42S-73— for other ancient writings see Bihl. hag. tat., 3245-32.58. See also Rettberg. Observationes ad vilam sancli Gatii spectanles (Marburg, 1S42); Sickel, St. Gotten unter den erslen Karolin- gem in Mitttieilungen zur vatertiindische Geschichte (St. Gall, 1S65). 1-21; Mei-er von Khon.iu in MUtheilungen. etc.. XIII (1872). 239-43; XVI (1S771, 470-71; Egi.i, Kirchengeschichte der Schweiz (1893), 56-S: H.\uck, Kirchengeschiehte Deutsch- lands. 4th ed., I, 338-39; Wattenbach, Deutschlands Geschichts- quellen. 7lh e<l.. I. 133-34; Krlsch. loc. HI.. 229-51. For earlier literature see Chev.^lier, Bio-Bibl., 2d ed., 1641-1642. Albert Poncelot.
Gall, .^BBEY OF Saint, in Switzerland, Canton St. Gall, .30 miles S. E. of Constance; for many centuries one of the chief Benedictine abbeys in Europe; founded about 613, and named after Gallus, an Irish- man, the disciple and companion of St. Columbanus in his exile from LuxcuU. When his master went on to Italy, Gallus remained in ."Switzerland, where he died about 646. .-V chapel was erected on the .spot occupied by his cell, and a priest named Othraar was placed there by Charles Martel as custodian of the saint's relics. Under his direction a monastery was built, many privileges and benefactions being bestowed upon it by Charles llartel antl his son Pepin, who with Othmar as first abbot, are reckoned its principal founders. By Pepin's persuasion Clthmar sulistituted the Benedictine rule for that of St. Columl)anus. He also founded the famous schools of St. Gall, and under him and his successors the arts, letters, and sciences were assiduously cultivated. The work of copying
manuscripts was undertaken at a very early date, and
the nucleus of the famous library gathered together.
The abbey gave hospitality to niunerous Anglo-.Sa.xon
and Irish monks who came to copy manuscripts for
their own monasteries. Two distinguished guests of
the abbey were Peter and Romanus, chanters from
Rome, sent by Pope Adrian I at Charlemagne's re-
quest to propagate the use of the Gregorian chant.
Peter went on to Metz, where he established an im-
portant chant-school, but Romanus, having fallen
sick at St. Gall, stayed there with Charlemagne's con-
sent. To the copies of the Roman chant that he
brought with him, he added the "Romanian signs",
the interpretation of which has since become a mat^
ter of controversy, and the school he started at St.
G:ill, rivalling that of Metz, became one of the most
frequented in Europe.
The chief MSS. produced by it, still extant, are the ".\ntiphonale Missarum" (no. 339), the " .\ntiphonar- ium Sti. Gregorii" (no. 359), and Ilartker's ".\nti- phonarium" (nos. 390-391), the first and third of which have been reproduced in facsimile by the Solesmes fathers in their " Paleographie Musicale". The other schools of the abbey — for the younger monks and for lay scholars attracted thither by the fame of the monastic professors — were foimded as early as the ninth centurj-, for the well-known, but unrealized plan of 820 provides separate accommoda- tion for both schools. The domestic history of the community during these centuries of consolidation was not altogether free from troubles. Even during the lifetime of Othmar, the monks had to defend them- selves against the bishops of Constance, who, having already secured jurisdiction over the neighbouring -Abbey of Reichenau, refused to recognise the exemp- tion and other privileges of St. Gall. For many years the monks had to fight for their independence, but it was not until the time of Louis the Pious that their efforts were crowned with success and their rights confirmed. From that time up to the end of the tenth century was the golden age of the abbey, during which flourished many celebrated scholars — the three Notkers, Eckhard, Hartker and others. The decrees of the Council of Aachen (817) for the furtherance of discipline and the religious spirit were loyally carried into effect by .\bbot Gotzbert (815-837), under whom the monks built a new and magnificent church and by whom also the librarj' was greatly enlarged. He pur- chased many fresh il.SS. and set his monks to multi- ply copies of them. His succes.sor Grimald (841-872) carried on the w"ork, and a catalogue drawn up in his time, still extant, shows the wide range of subjects represented. Over four himdred of the M.S.S. men- tioned in that catalogue are still at St. Gall.
During the abbacy of Engelbert II (924-933) an incursion of the Huns threatened the abbey, and most of the valuable books and MSS. were removed to Reichenau for safety, some never being returned. In 937 a disastrous fire almost entirely destroyed the monasterj', but the library fortunately escaped. The abbey and town were rebuilt and fortified, and throughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries St. Gall maintained its place in the front rank of monastic establishments. With the thirteenth century, how- ever, came a period of decline. Various causes con- tributed to this, one of them being the fact that the neighbouring feudal lords took to quartering them- selves and their retinues upon the abbey more often than was good for monastic discipline. The abbots also were frequently called upon to settle their quar- rels, and a spirit of worldliness thus crept into the cloister. .■Vbout the same time the abbey and town became an independent principality, over which the abbots ruled as territorial sovereigns, taking rank as Princes of the Empire. I'lrich Yl (1204-1220) was the first to hold that dignity. Records as to the library during this period are scanty. In the four-
