Clement Scotus II (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

820) was an Irish grammarian.

Life

Clement Scotus II arrived, according to tradition, from Ireland on the coast of

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only durin ...

, with another Irish scholar, around the time when

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Em ...

began his sole rule (i.e. after the death of Carloman in 771). The two men were received at the Frankish court, and Clement was entrusted with the education of a number of pupils. The account of Clement's appearance in the Frankish realm rests solely upon the authority of the monk of

St. Gall Gall ( la, Gallus; 550 646) according to hagiographic tradition was a disciple and one of the traditional twelve companions of Columbanus on his mission from Ireland to the continent. Deicolus was the elder brother of Gall. Biography The ...

, who wrote towards the end of the ninth century, and whose narrative contains an element of fable. Clement is mentioned in a catalogue of the abbots of

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

Ratgar Ratgar was a controversial abbot at the famous Benedictine monastery of Fulda during the early ninth century. Life Ratgar was abbot of the monastery of Fulda from 802 until 817. He was from a noble family in Germania, and was sent by his parent ...

, who was abbot from 802 to 817, sent a certain Modestus and other monks to Clement the Scot to learn grammar. Clement was, then or later, resident at the Frankish court; there is a poem by him addressed to Lothar as emperor (i.e. after 817), from which it appears that Lothar was his pupil; and another poem, by Ermoldus Nigellus, describes Clement as active in the festivities at Ingelheim on the occasion of the baptism of the Danish king Harald in 826. The year of Clement's death is not known, but the day is given as 29 March in a necrology preserved in a

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the '' Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzbur ...

manuscript of the ninth century. His character is celebrated in a poem by Prudens, otherwise unknown, who ranks him first among the teachers in the palace school.

Works

Two grammatical works exist in manuscript bearing Clement's name; one is an 'Ars Grammatica' (also described as 'De Partibus Orationis'), the other, which is possibly only a part of the same, 'De Barbarismo.'

Confusion of names

This Clement Scotus has been misidentified, firstly with

Clement Scotus I Clement Scotus I ( fl. 745) was a bishop. Biography Doubtless a native of Ireland, Clement Scotus lived in the Frankish realm in the time of St. Boniface, who was then archbishop of Mentz. He contended against Boniface's attempts to introduce th ...

, the opponent of

St. Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

, and secondly with Claudius, bishop of Turin, who died about 839, and was Spanish. In consequence of this confusion the two Clements and Claudius have been called 'Clemens Claudius' or 'Claudius Clemens'. The distinction between the three men was examined by

Nicolaus Antonius Nicolaus is a masculine given name. It is a Latin, Greek and German form of Nicholas. Nicolaus may refer to: In science: * Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer who provided the first modern formulation of a heliocentric theory of the solar syste ...

, 'Bibliotheca Hispana vetus,' i. 469-61 (Madrid, 1788).

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Clement Scotus Ii Year of birth missing Year of death missing Linguists from Ireland 9th-century Irish people 9th-century Irish writers Medieval linguists 9th-century Latin writers Writers from the Carolingian Empire