[1][3] According to one 12th-century source, he governed Elnone on two separate occasions, first before becoming abbot of Marchiennes and then holding both abbeys simultaneously while Amandus was on his third pilgrimage to Rome.
All of these sources were written after the raids of the Vikings in the late 9th century had resulted in the loss of Marchiennes's original documents.
While the Chronicle of Marchiennes describes him as "simple" (simplex), one 12th-century source from Elnone praises his "knowledge" (scientia).
[1] Some modern scholars, beginning with Jean Mabillon have proposed that Jonatus is the same person as Jonas of Bobbio, who was with Amandus between 638 and 641.
Alexander O'Hara has argued that the distinctiveness of the regional traditions only speaks to their authenticity and that it is highly unlike that there were two different people with such similar and unusual names active in the same circles at the same time.