Caffo was a sixth-century Christian in
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
, north
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
, who is venerated as a saint and martyr. The son of a king from northern Britain who took shelter in Anglesey, Caffo was a companion of
St Cybi, and is mentioned as carrying a red-hot coal in his clothes to Cybi without his clothes getting burnt. After leaving Cybi, Caffo was killed by shepherds in the south of Anglesey, possibly acting in retaliation for insults Caffo's brother had paid to the local ruler. The area where he died has a village, Llangaffo, named after him, as well as the parish church of
St Caffo, Llangaffo.
Life and martyrdom
Little is known for certain about Caffo; his dates of birth and death are not given in the sources. He is said to have been one of the sons of
St Caw
King Caw or Cawn ( fl. 495–501 AD) was a semi-legendary king of Strathclyde in Scotland.
Very little hard fact is known of him. He flourished in the ''Hen Ogledd'' Period of Sub-Roman Britain and ruled from a castle at ''Alt Clut''. Legend ho ...
, a king in northern Britain who lost his lands and sought safety with his family in
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
; the ruler
Maelgwn Gwynedd
Maelgwn Gwynedd ( la, Maglocunus; died c. 547Based on Phillimore's (1888) reconstruction of the dating of the ''Annales Cambriae'' (A Text).) was king of Gwynedd during the early 6th century. Surviving records suggest he held a pre-eminent position ...
gave him land in the north-east of the island, in the district known as
Twrcelyn
Twrcelyn is an electoral ward in the north of Anglesey, Wales. It includes the communities of Amlwch, Llanbadrig, Llaneilian, and Rhosybol. Twrcelyn elects three county councillors to the Isle of Anglesey County Council.
Twrcelyn was cre ...
.
[ Other relatives of Caffo included his uncles St Iestyn and St Cyngar (brothers of Caw), his sister St Cwyllog and various brothers including ]St Gildas
Gildas ( Breton: ''Gweltaz''; c. 450/500 – c. 570) — also known as Gildas the Wise or ''Gildas Sapiens'' — was a 6th-century British monk best known for his scathing religious polemic ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', which recounts ...
(although the number of his siblings varies from 10 to 21 in different manuscripts).[Baring-Gould, pp. 92–94.][Baring-Gould, pp. 49–51.]
Caffo was a companion and cousin of St Cybi, a Christian from Cornwall who was active in the mid-6th century. Cybi established himself in Anglesey within a disused Roman fort in what is now called Holyhead
Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...
: the town's Welsh name is ', or "Cybi's fort"). Caffo is mentioned in connection with Cybi in a manuscript written in about 1200, which contains two accounts of Cybi's life.[ Caffo is not mentioned in the accounts of Cybi's life until an incident when he was sent to fetch fire from a blacksmith. He returned to Cybi carrying a red-hot coal in his clothes, which were not burnt.][
At some point, Cybi and Caffo parted company, possibly because of a disagreement between them, but possibly because his brother Gildas had insulted Maelgwn, who then forced Cybi to dismiss Caffo – both versions appear in the manuscript accounts. Thereafter, Caffo moved towards the south of Anglesey, where he was killed by shepherds from the area now called Newborough, perhaps avenging the insult on their king.][
]
Commemoration
The area of Caffo's death became known at some point as Llangaffo
Llangaffo is a village in Anglesey, in north-west Wales. It lies along the B4419 and B4421 roads, north of Dwyran, south of Gaerwen and northwest of Llanidan. It is named after Caffo, a 6th-century saint. A church, St Caffo's Church, is name ...
, and a church was established there: the Welsh word "'" originally meant "enclosure" and then "church", and "-gaffo" is a modified form of the saint's name.[ It is thought that there may have at one point been a monastery in this location, known as "Merthyr Caffo" (''Merthyr'' being the Welsh word for "martyr").] Caffo is venerated as a saint, although he was never canonized by a pope: as the historian Jane Cartwright notes, "In Wales sanctity was locally conferred and none of the medieval Welsh saints appears to have been canonized by the Roman Catholic Church".
It is uncertain when the name "Llangaffo" was first used or when the first church was established here, but it was before 1254, when the church and community were recorded in the Norwich Taxation
Annates ( or ; la, annatae, from ', "year") were a payment from the recipient of an ecclesiastical benefice to the ordaining authorities. Eventually, they consisted of half or the whole of the first year's profits of a benefice; after the appropr ...
(a national survey of church names and property).[ There is still a church dedicated to Caffo in the village, used for worship by the ]Church in Wales
The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.
The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishop ...
.
Caffo is reported to have had a bubbling "holy well" in the area, called ''Crochan Caffo'' ("Caffo's cauldron") or ''Ffynnon Caffo'' ("Caffo's well"). Parents would offer fowls to be eaten by the attendant priest, in order to stop their children from peevishness. A nearby farm is still named after the well, although the well itself has been lost.[The farm can be seen on maps at ]
See also
Other Anglesey saints commemorated in local churches include:
* St Cwyllog at St Cwyllog's Church, Llangwyllog
St Cwyllog's Church, Llangwyllog, is a medieval church near Llangwyllog, in Anglesey, north Wales. Cwyllog, St Cwyllog founded a church here in the 6th century, although the exact date is unknown. The existence of a church here was recorded in 12 ...
* St Eleth at St Eleth's Church, Amlwch
* St Iestyn at St Iestyn's Church, Llaniestyn
* St Peulan at St Peulan's Church, Llanbeulan
St Peulan's Church, Llanbeulan is a redundant Anglican church in Llanbeulan, in Anglesey, north Wales. The nave, which is the oldest part of the building, dates from the 12th century, with a chancel and side chapel added in the 14th century. Th ...
* St Tyfrydog at St Tyfrydog's Church, Llandyfrydog
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caffo
Medieval Welsh saints
6th-century Christian martyrs
Year of birth unknown
6th-century Welsh people
6th-century births
Welsh Roman Catholic saints