Who2 Editorial Blog

Notes and Commentary from the Editors

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Where in the World is Bannavem Taburniae?

We don't know. But Saint Patrick says he was born there.

Here he is, kicking off his famous Confession:

I am Patrick, a sinner, most unlearned, the least of all the faithful, and utterly despised by many. My father was Calpornius, a deacon, son of Potitus, a priest, of the village Bannavem Taburniae he had a country seat nearby, and there I was taken captive.

The bad news is, there's no place called Bannavem Taburniae in the modern world -- and no record of it, either.

In the era when St. Patrick was born (about 385 A.D.), what is now Great Britain was largely still controlled by the Roman Empire. Julius Caesar himself led the invasion in 55 B.C. The Romans ran the show until they pulled out around the end of the fourth century -- just after Patrick was born.

It's generally guessed that Patrick must have been born on the western coast of the "big island" of Great Britain. Here's a helpful analysis of the possibilities:

Patrick tells us that he grew up in Bannavem Taberniae, but efforts to locate this place precisely have so far failed. He tells us elsewhere that he was a Briton, and a Roman citizen (Lett. 2). One place suggested for this has been south-west Scotland, which would be close to Ireland for raiders, and would also explain how Patrick knew Coroticus, who is named as king of Dumbarton in the fifth century in Welsh annals... Hanson acknowledges this evidence, but favors a location on the south west coast of Britain due to the higher density of Roman villas known to have existed in that area.

An alternative location is that of modern Boulogne-sur-mer, in north-east France, whose medieval name was Tarvenna or Tarabanna.

So it sounds like they've got it narrowed down to Scotland, England, Wales... or maybe France.

Labels: Julius Caesar, St. Patrick