Changing the Rule? A re-reading of conflict on Iona in 1204

What is it about?

A papal bull in 1203 described the monks of Iona as living 'under God and the Rule of Benedict'. But the monks of Iona had known the Rule for centuries before that, and treated it as an authority. There is no reason to believe that the papal bull instituted a change in the Rule of Iona. A raid on the monastery by Irishmen in 1204 was not a defence of 'Celtic' monasticism, but an attempt to prevent the Kings of the Isles from making Iona their royal monastery, independent of Derry.

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