Attala or Atala (died 622) was a disciple of

Columbanus Saint Columbanus (; 543 – 23 November 615) was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries after 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil Abbey in present-day France and Bobbio Abbey in presen ...

and his successor as abbot of

Bobbio Bobbio (Emilian language#Dialects, Bobbiese: ; ; ) is a small town and ''comune'' in the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It is located in the Trebbia River valley southwest of the town Piacenza. There is also an abbey and a ...

from 615. Attala was originally from

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

, and first became a monk at the

abbey of Lérins An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conc ...

. Displeased with the loose discipline prevailing there, he instead entered the

abbey of Luxeuil Luxeuil Abbey (), the ''Abbaye Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul'', was one of the oldest and best-known monasteries in Franche-Comté, located in what is now the département of Haute-Saône in Franche-Comté, France. History Columbanus The abbey was f ...

, which had just been founded by Columbanus. When the latter was expelled from Luxeuil by King

Theuderic II Theuderic II (also spelled Theuderich, Theoderic or Theodoric; in French, ''Thierry'') ( 587–613), king of Burgundy (595–613) and Austrasia (612–613), was the second son of Childebert II. At his father's death in 595, he received Guntram's ...

, Attala would have succeeded him as abbot, but preferred to follow him into exile. They settled on the banks of the river

Trebbia The Trebbia (stressed ''Trèbbia''; ) is a river predominantly of Liguria and Emilia Romagna in northern Italy. It is one of the four main right-bank tributaries of the river Po, the other three being the Tanaro, the Secchia and the Panaro. ...

, a little northeast of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, where they together founded Bobbio. After the Columbanus' death in 615, Attala succeeded him as abbot. He and his monks suffered many hardships at the hands of King

Arioald Arioald was the Lombard king of Italy from 626 to 636. Duke of Turin, he married the princess Gundeberga, daughter of King Agilulf and his queen Theodelinda. He was, unlike his father-in-law, an Arian who did not accept Catholicism. Arioald ...

, who was an

Arian Arianism (, ) is a Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is considered he ...

and not a Catholic. As abbot, Attala insisted on strict discipline and when a large number of his monks rebelled, declaring his discipline too rigorous, he permitted them to leave the monastery. According to Attala's biographer, Jonas, when some of these monks perished miserably, the others considered their deaths a punishment from God and returned to the monastery. Attala also restored the binding of the books in the monastic library. A surviving

palimpsest In textual studies, a palimpsest () is a manuscript page, either from a scroll or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off in preparation for reuse in the form of another document. Parchment was made of lamb, calf, or kid ski ...

copy of the works of

Ulfilas Ulfilas (; – 383), known also as Wulfila(s) or Urphilas, was a 4th-century Gothic preacher of Cappadocian Greek descent. He was the apostle to the Gothic people. Ulfila served as a bishop and missionary, participated in the Arian controv ...

bears the inscription "a book from the cupboard of lord Atala" (''l berde arca domno atalani'').Nicholas Everett, ''Literacy in Lombard Italy, c. 568–774'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 279. Attala was buried in Bobbio, where his liturgical feast is celebrated on March 10.

Notes

622 deaths 7th-century Frankish saints Italian abbots Burials at Bobbio Abbey Etichonid dynasty Frankish Christian monks Italian Roman Catholic saints Medieval Italian saints Colombanian saints Year of birth unknown People from Bobbio {{Saint-stub