(c.521-597) Also Colmcille, Columcille. Born into noble Irish family. Established monasteryMonastery The house of a religious community on Iona (c.563), from which he evangelised parts of Scotland and Northern England. What is known of him derives almost entirely from Adomnan’s VitaVita (Latin Vita 'Life' or Vitae (plural) 'Lives') A biography of a saint, often written to promote canonisation or a pilgrimage cult. The fourth-century Life of St Antony, by Athanasius, provided a hagiographical model which many later medieval vitae followed and indeed partly copied. Columbae which, although based on solid traditions within his monastery and earlier written accounts, was written almost a century after his death and portrays him in idealised terms as the perfect discipleDisciple New Testament term meaning learner or follower and used of the Twelve Apostles as well as of the followers of Jesus in general. See Apostle., specially chosen by God. By the time of his death, Iona was an important monastic centre linking Ireland, Strathclyde, and NorthumbriaNorthumbria Northumbria was an early medieval Anglian kingdom in what is now Northern England and South Scotland.; and this importance grew for the following two centuries