I miracoli alimentari di San Colombano: l’originalità, la tradizione e la simbologia.

ABSTRACT:The aim of this research was to analyse the literary topos of food miracles in the Vita Columbani, with the intention of using a hagiographic text for the study of food history. The early medieval Vitae draw deeply on the Bible, and as a consequence all the saints tend to repeat the wonders of Elias, Elisha, Moses and, of course, Jesus Christ; but the peculiarity of Jonas’ work lies in the massive presence of miracles concering food to such an extent that we end up wondering why: is it all about rethorical tricks, or are we to find some historical data in it? We compared the Vita Columbani with Gregory the Great’s Dialogi, with the Navigatio Sancti Brendani and with other similar works, but none of the protagonists seems to be concerned about food the way S. Columban is. Obviously, Jonas of Susa had a specific literary tradition on his mind while he was telling of wonders, but we have got something to note down anyway, because however a story might be stylized, nonetheless it is always influenced by the culture of its author. Furthermore, the Vita Columbani is not just a mere copy of ancient texts, since it is mainly focused on a tipology of miracles (food donation) which seems to be a particular skill of the saint, and that Christ, for example, didn’t ever work. Is there a reason why Jonas put stress on this aspect?