A medieval Irish chronicler, date of birth unknown; d. 1139. Early in the twelfth century there was at Würzburg an ecclesiastic and teacher known as David. His surname Scotus shows that he very probably came from Ireland ; perhaps from Wales, if he is identical with the homonymous Bishop of Bangor (see below). According to Ekkehard (Chronicon, ed., Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script., VI, 243), Emperor Henry V received him, was charmed with his virtue and knowledge, and made him one of the imperial chaplains. With other scholars David accompanied the king on his expedition to Italy in 1100, and was appointed royal historiographer for the occasion. His work in three books is now known only from excerpts of it in later historians, especially in Ekkehard (op. cit. above) and William of Malmesbury. The latter (Gesta regum Anglorum, in P. L., CLXXIX, 1375) says that David described the expedition with partiality for the king. A certain David was consecrated Bishop of Bangor in Wales, 4 April, 1120; according to Malmesbury (loc. cit.) he was none other than the chaplain, David Scotus. As bishop he took part in several English synods, and probably died in 1139, since his successor was then consecrated. But it is not easy to reconcile with the foregoing, the statement of a later historian ( Trithemius, Annales Hirsaugienses, I, 349), that David became a monk under St. Macharius in the monastery of St. James in Würzburg, as this abbey was not founded until 1140.

The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed in fifteen hardcopy volumes.

Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.

No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.

Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912

Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online