ARULFO. – Bishop in Gaul (unknown see). Pilgrim in the Holy Land in 670 and recounted his journey to St Adamnan (q.v.), abbot of Hy or Iona (Hebrides, Scotland).
He had stayed nine months in Jerusalem, visiting Bethany, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Hebron, the Jordan, the Dead Sea; then, passing through Damascus, Tyre, Alexandria and Crete, he reached Constantinople, remaining there from Easter to Christmas. After a stop in Sicily, Arculfo, according to Bede, instead of returning to Gaul, would have ended up at Hy, driven there by unfavourable winds (*Hist. eccl. gentis Anglorum*, 5, 15: PL 95, 256). Others, however, doubting the accuracy of this account, think that Arculfo went to Hy from France at a later date, drawn by the fame of the holiness of that monastery.
The account of Arculfo was written in clear form by Adamnan, who used notes taken by Arculfo, adorned with sketches. It was widely circulated through the efforts of King Alfred. It is of the greatest utility, both because it is preserved in its entirety and because it makes known to us the holy places at the beginning of Arab rule in Palestine.
Gaetano M. Perrella