Saint Donatus of Fiesole

Donatus of Fiesole (died 876) was an Irish teacher and poet, and Bishop of Fiesole. Donatus was born in Ireland to noble parents towards the end of the eighth century. Despite there being little biographical detail in the tenth/eleventh-century Vita sancti Donati episcopi, Donatus is one of the better documented of the Irish peregrini. There is reason to believe that he was educated in the monastic school of Inishcaltra, a little island in Lough Derg, near the Galway shore, now better known as Holy Island: so he was probably a native of that part of the country. He became a priest and, in the course of time, a bishop: he was greatly distinguished as a professor. According to William Turner, writing in the Catholic Encyclopedia, in an ancient collection of the Vitae Patrum, of which an eleventh-century copy exists in the Laurentian Library of Florence, there is an account of the life of Donatus, which states that about 816 Donatus visited the tombs of the Apostles in Rome with his friend, Andrew Scotus. They remained in Rome for a considerable time and then set out once more, directing their steps now towards Tuscany, till at length they reached Fiesole, where they entered the hospice of the monastery, intending to rest there for a week or two, and then to resume their journey. In 829, Donatus was elected bishop of Fiesole. The traditional account relates that the people were praying to be sent a bishop to replace one drowned by the feudal lords. When Donatus entered the Cathedral of Saint Romulus, the bells spontaneously began ringing and the candles lit. The people took that for a sign their prayers had been heard. It is also possible that no locals wanted the position, given the fate of its previous incumbent. Raised by popular acclaim to the See of Fiesole, Donatus made Andrew his archdeacon. He encouraged Andrew to restore the church of San Martino di Mensola and to found a monastery there.