Cumianus (d. c.735×744) of Bobbio, Irish pilgrim bishop, is known from copies of an inscription on the richly carved cover-slab of a now dismembered sarcophagus, which began: ‘Hic sacra beati membra Cumiani solvuntur’ (here are laid the holy remains of blessed Cumianus). It commemorated his departure from Ireland in his old age and his seventeen years in Bobbio, where he died aged 94 years and four months. The year of his death is not known, but he died on 17 August; his tomb, in the crypt of S. Columbano in Bobbio, was constructed by a certain ‘Joannes magister’ on the orders of King Liudprand (712–44). From the iconographic style and the letter-forms of the inscription it has been concluded that its date of execution must be put near the end of Liudprand's reign. In the text Cumianus is described as a mild pastor of his flock, noted for his piety and asceticism. It seems possible that he was held in high esteem by Liudprand because of his part in converting the Arian Lombards to orthodox Christianity.
It has been suggested that Cumianus is the dedicatee of the interesting and learned anonymous grammatical treatise known as ‘Anonymus ad Cuimnanum’, composed 740 × 744, but this remains only a surmise. The name ‘Cummian’ in its various forms is quite common, and he cannot be identified with any of the known persons of that name in native historical sources.