ARCULFO. - Bishop in the Gauls (see unknown). He made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 670 and recounted his journey to s. ADAMANNO (v.), abbot of Hy or Jona (Hebrides, Scotland).
He had stayed nine months in Jerusalem, visited Bethany, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Hebron, the Jordan, and the Dead Sea; then, passing through Damascus, Tyre, Alexandria, and Crete, he reached Constantinople, where he remained from Easter to Christmas. After a stop in Sicily, A., according to Beda, instead of returning to Gaul, would have arrived at Hy, driven there by adverse winds (Hist. eccl. gentis Anglorum, 5, 15; PL 95, 256). Others, however, doubting the accuracy of this account, believe that A. went later to Hy from France, drawn there by the reputation for holiness of that monastery.
A.’s account was written in clear form by Adamnano, who made use of A.’s notes embellished with sketches. It was widely disseminated through the work of King Alfred. It is of the greatest usefulness, both because it has been preserved in its entirety and because it acquaints us with the holy places at the beginning of Arab rule in Palestine.
Gastano M. Perrella