Gwynllyw Filwr or Gwynllyw Farfog (), known in English in a corrupted form as Woolos the Warrior or Woolos the Bearded ( la, Gundleus, Gundleius or Gwenleue; 450 – 500 AD) was a Welsh king and religious figure.
He was King of
Gwynllwg
Gwynllŵg was a kingdom of mediaeval Wales and later a Norman lordship and then a cantref.
Location
It was named after Gwynllyw, its 5th century or 6th century ruler and consisted of the coastal plain stretching between the Rhymney and Usk ...
in
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
and is the legendary founder and patron saint of the City of
Newport living around the 5th century. According to
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
tradition he was a feared warlord and raider who knew
King Arthur
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
, but later found religion and became a
hermit
A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Description
In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...
founding
St Woolos Cathedral in Newport. He was the father of one of the most revered Welsh saints,
Saint Cadoc the Wise.
Traditional history
The medieval lives of
Saint Cadoc
Saint Cadoc or Cadog ( lat-med, Cadocus; also Modern Welsh: Cattwg; born or before) was a 5th–6th-century Abbot of Llancarfan, near Cowbridge in Glamorgan, Wales, a monastery famous from the era of the British church as a centre of learnin ...
(c. 1100) by
Lifris and of Saint Gwynllyw (c. 1120)
['Vita sancti Gundleii', Vitae sanctorum Britanniae et genealogiae, ed. A. W. Wade-Evans (1944), 172–93] preserve legendary details of Gwynllyw, though details frequently differ. He is also noted in Welsh king lists. The saint's lives note that his deeds were celebrated by Welsh
bards, indicating he had a widespread popular following. Although saints' lives frequently exaggerate it does seem likely that a monarch of this name existed and a core element in the lives may contain some true details.
Gwynllyw was the son of King
Glywys
Glywys is a legendary early 5th century Welsh king, an important character in early Welsh genealogies as the eponymous founder king of Glywysing, a southeast Welsh kingdom whose heartland lay between the Tawe and the Usk.
In one genealogy Glywys ...
, whose powerful kingdom of
Glywysing
Glywysing was, from the sub-Roman period to the Early Middle Ages, a petty kingdom in south-east Wales. Its people were descended from the Iron Age tribe of the Silures, and frequently in union with Gwent, merging to form Morgannwg.
Name and ...
was centred on
Glamorgan
, HQ = Cardiff
, Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974)
, Origin=
, Code = GLA
, CodeName = Chapman code
, Replace =
* West Glamorgan
* Mid Glamorgan
* South Glamorgan
, Motto ...
, and it’s debatable as where the end borders were, some accounts say it reached as far
east
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
as the
River Towy
The River Towy ( cy, Afon Tywi, ) is one of the longest rivers flowing entirely within Wales. Its total length is . It is noted for its sea trout and salmon fishing.
Route
The Towy rises within of the source of the River Teifi on the lower s ...
but some historians claim because the
Ystrad Tywi
Ystrad Tywi (, ''Valley of the Tywi'') is a region of southwest Wales situated on the banks of the River Tywi and possibly the River Loughor. Although Ystrad Tywi was never a kingdom itself, it was historically a valuable territory and was foug ...
was a separate cantref altogether it may have been the
River Loughor. He was a descendant of
Macsen Wledig
Magnus Maximus (; cy, Macsen Wledig ; died 8 August 388) was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian in 383 through negotiation with emperor Theodosius I.
He was made emperor in B ...
according to some accounts, while his mother Guaul was equally distinguished, being the granddaughter of
Cunedda
Cunedda ap Edern, also called Cunedda ''Wledig'' ( 5th century), was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the Royal dynasty of Gwynedd, one of the very oldest of western Europe.
Name
The name ''Cunedda'' (spelled ''Cuned ...
. The kingdom was split on Glywys' death amongst his sons, of whom Gwynllyw was the eldest and most powerful, and he was overlord over the others. The central area of his rule consisted of the
cantref
A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law.
Description
Land in medieval Wales was divided into ''cantrefi'', which were ...
of
Gwynllwg
Gwynllŵg was a kingdom of mediaeval Wales and later a Norman lordship and then a cantref.
Location
It was named after Gwynllyw, its 5th century or 6th century ruler and consisted of the coastal plain stretching between the Rhymney and Usk ...
that was named after him and later known in English as
Wentloog
Wentlooge ( cy, Gwynllŵg), sometimes known as Wentloog, is a community in the southwest of the city of Newport, South Wales, in the Marshfield ward. The community includes Peterstone Wentloodge and St. Brides Wentloodge and in 2011 had a pop ...
hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
. One of Gwynllyw's brothers was
Saint Petroc
Saint Petroc or Petrock ( lat-med, Petrocus; cy, Pedrog; french: link=no, Perreux; ) was a British prince and Christian saint.
Probably born in South Wales, he primarily ministered to the Britons of Devon (Dewnans) and Cornwall (Kernow) then ...
, an important
Cornish, and
Breton
Breton most often refers to:
*anything associated with Brittany, and generally
** Breton people
** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany
** Breton (horse), a breed
**Ga ...
saint and
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
.
The saints' lives portray King Gwynllyw as an active and merciless warrior who attacked and raided nearby kingdoms. The ''Life of Saint Cadoc'' describes him as "very partial to thieves, and used to instigate them somewhat often to robberies" but the ''Life of Saint Gwynllyw'' insists he was a just and fair ruler. These raids included attacking his northern neighbour
Brycheiniog
Brycheiniog was an independent kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Norman ...
. In one such raid described in ''Life of Saint Cadoc'' Gwynllyw accompanied by 300 men abducted
Gwladys
Saint Gwladys ferch Brychan () or St Gladys ( la, Gladusa), daughter of King Brychan of Brycheiniog,
was the queen of the saint-king Gwynllyw Milwr and the mother of Cadoc "the Wise", whose ''Vita'' may be the earliest saint's life to mention ...
(Gladys) the beautiful daughter of King
Brychan
Brychan Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire, alternatively Breconshire) in Mid Wales.
Life
According to Celtic hagiography Brychan was born in Ireland, the son of a Prince Anlach, son of Coronac, and ...
of
Brycheiniog
Brycheiniog was an independent kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Norman ...
, as Brychan had refused to let him marry her. She was one of Brychan's famous twenty-four children. A pitched battle occurred which was only stopped by the intervention of
King Arthur
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
and
Cai and
Bedwyr
Bedivere ( or ; cy, Bedwyr; la, Beduerus; french: link=no, Bédoier, also Bedevere and other spellings) is one of the earliest characters to be featured in the legend of King Arthur, originally described in several Welsh texts as the one-hande ...
who supported Gwynllyw and his war band in the battle. This tale of abduction seems similar to elements in the tale ''
Culhwch and Olwen
''Culhwch and Olwen'' ( cy, Culhwch ac Olwen) is a Welsh tale that survives in only two manuscripts about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, c. 1400, and a fragmented version in the Whit ...
'' and other Arthurian stories indicating it originated in bardic stories. This is the earliest reference to Arthur in a Saint's life. According to the ''Life of Saint Gwynllyw'' this battle never occurred and the marriage was actually accomplished peacefully.
Gwaldys soon had a son, the famous saint
Cadoc
Saint Cadoc or Cadog ( lat-med, Cadocus; also Modern Welsh: Cattwg; born or before) was a 5th–6th-century Abbot of Llancarfan, near Cowbridge in Glamorgan, Wales, a monastery famous from the era of the British church as a centre of learni ...
. To celebrate his son's birth Gwynllyw went on another raid stealing cattle from
Caerwent
Caerwent ( cy, Caer-went) is a village and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located about five miles west of Chepstow and 11 miles east of Newport. It was founded by the Romans as the market town of ''Venta Silurum'', an important sett ...
. When Saint
Tatheus
Saint Tathan (also known as Tatheus) is claimed to be a fifth or sixth century Celtic Christianity, Celtic saint, who travelled from Ireland to Wales where he founded a Christian church. He is reckoned an early abbot of CaerwentHando, F.J., (19 ...
came courageously to demand the return of a cow, the King was so impressed he decided in return to send his son to Tathyw at Caerwent to be educated. Gwynllyw supposedly had other children, also saints:
Cynidr
St Cynidr was a 6th-century Catholic pre-congregational saint of South Wales and first Bishop of Glasbury, Powys.
Veneration
Cynidr is buried in Glasbury, where he is venerated with a feast day of April 27.
The Parochial church of St Cynidr ( ...
,
Bugi
Bugi (german: Bogen) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Lidzbark Warmiński, within Lidzbark County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Lidzbark Warmiński and north of the re ...
and
Egwine
Egwine was a 6th-century Celtic princess and saint, who is a patron saint of the village of Llanigon, east of Hay-on-Wye, in the Wye Valley of Wales.
Very little is known of her life. She was the sister of saints Cadoc, Maches and Cyndr, who a ...
. Bugi was married to Peren, daughter of King Lleuddun Llyddog of Lothian. One, Maches (Latin: ''Machuta''), the sister of
Cadoc
Saint Cadoc or Cadog ( lat-med, Cadocus; also Modern Welsh: Cattwg; born or before) was a 5th–6th-century Abbot of Llancarfan, near Cowbridge in Glamorgan, Wales, a monastery famous from the era of the British church as a centre of learni ...
according to tradition, was killed by robbers who were stealing her finest ram.
Tathan
Saint Tathan (also known as Tatheus) is claimed to be a fifth or sixth century Celtic saint, who travelled from Ireland to Wales where he founded a Christian church. He is reckoned an early abbot of CaerwentHando, F.J., (1958) "Out and About i ...
, to whom the murderers confessed their crime, built a church on the spot.
[Hando, F.J., (1958) "Out and About in Monmouthshire", R. H. Johns, Newport.]
Once grown, Cadoc was deeply religious and, according to some sources, it was his example and preaching that persuaded Gwynllyw to abandon his life of violence and to seek forgiveness for his sins. King Gwynllyw then had a dream in which an angel spoke to him and he saw a vision of a white ox with a black spot on its high forehead. Gwynllyw went forth and when he saw the same ox as in his dream he founded a
hermitage there on what is now
Stow Hill in
Newport,
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
which he built out of wood. Gwynllyw said of the spot: "There is no retreat in the world such as in this space which I am destined now to inhabit. Happy therefore is the place, happier then is he who inhabits it."
Gwynllyw's decision to abandon his kingship and retire to a religious life seems to have been a common theme amongst Welsh saints and even his violent past was not unusual, being shared by Saint
Illtyd
Saint Illtud (also spelled Illtyd, Eltut, and, in Latin, Hildutus), also known as Illtud Farchog or Illtud the Knight, is venerated as the abbot teacher of the divinity school, Bangor Illtyd, located in Llanilltud Fawr (Llantwit Major) in G ...
amongst others.
Gwladys accompanied Gwynllyw into a
hermit
A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Description
In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...
's life, and for a while they lived together on Stow Hill, fasting, eating a vegetarian diet, and bathing in the cold waters of the
Usk
Usk ( cy, Brynbuga) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, northeast of Newport. It is located on the River Usk, which is spanned by an arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. Usk Castle, above the town, overlooks th ...
to prove their
piety. A miraculous fountain started on the hill when Gwynllyw prayed for water. Later they moved further apart, Saint Gwladys founding her own hermitage at
Pencarn.
When Gwynllyw was dying he was attended both by his son
Cadoc
Saint Cadoc or Cadog ( lat-med, Cadocus; also Modern Welsh: Cattwg; born or before) was a 5th–6th-century Abbot of Llancarfan, near Cowbridge in Glamorgan, Wales, a monastery famous from the era of the British church as a centre of learni ...
and by Saint
Dubricius
Dubricius or Dubric ( cy, Dyfrig; Norman-French: ''Devereux''; c. 465 – c. 550) was a 6th-century British ecclesiastic venerated as a saint. He was the evangelist of Ergyng ( cy, Erging) (later Archenfield, Herefordshire) and much ...
, who administered the last sacrament to him. The traditional date of his death, 29 March, is the day dedicated to him. The year of his death is uncertain; suggestions include 500 and 523. Following his death his hermit cell became an important shrine and a church was built there. This is now
St Woolos Cathedral, the seat of the
Bishop of Monmouth
The Bishop of Monmouth is the diocesan bishop of the Church in Wales Diocese of Monmouth.
The episcopal see covers the historic county of Monmouthshire with the bishop's seat located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Woolos in Newport, whi ...
. In the 9th century Gwynllyw's church was rebuilt in stone, indicating his importance and the wealth of his shrine, as stone buildings were unusual in Wales at that time. Part of this building is now incorporated into St Woolos Cathedral as the Galilee chapel.
Veneration
The cult of the saint according to his life grew as a series of
miracles
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...
were attributed to him. His fountain healed those who drank from it and angels were seen near his tomb. Later miracles included the protection of a
bard from flood waters, and the destruction of a
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
fleet at sea after they plundered the church which was full of rich offerings made to the saint. The defeat of King
Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon English king. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the ...
at the
Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William the Conqueror, William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godw ...
was attributed to the vengeance of Saint Gwynllyw because he and his troops had plundered Gwynllyw's church recently while attacking the nearby kingdom of
Gwent. Gwynllyw also drove a man mad who stole from his church.
Descriptions of the attacks on the church do coincide correctly with periods of warfare in the area so they are probably based on fact, whatever the truth of the miracles might be. The saint's cult obviously became deeply revered, not only by the Welsh, but by
Saxons
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
and
Normans
The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...
who came to live in the Newport area and the Norman Lords of Newport continued to enlarge the church – a process that has continued up to the present day.
Post-medieval folklore
Stories of Gwynllyw's dark past later included tales of piracy and claims that his ships, based in the Uskside parish of
Pillgwenlly
Pillgwenlly ( cy, Pilgwenlli), usually known as Pill, is a community (civil parish) and coterminous electoral district (ward) in the city of Newport, South Wales.
Etymology
The name is an elision of " Pîl Gwynllyw" (or "Gwynllyw's Pîl" in ...
that bears his name, caused terror across the
Bristol Channel. One tradition asserts that this background meant Gwynllyw was the patron saint of choice for Welsh pirates and smugglers including
Sir Henry Morgan
Sir Henry Morgan ( cy, Harri Morgan; – 25 August 1688) was a privateer, plantation owner, and, later, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he raided settlements and shipping on the Spanish Main, becoming wea ...
. Certainly the many sailors based in Newport would have known of him. Another local story claims that Gwynllyw forcibly baptised the population of Gwynllwg by the sword.
In 1949 St Woolos Church became a full cathedral and, besides churches, the saint is remembered today through
St Woolos Hospital
Saint Woolos Hospital (Welsh: Ysbyty Sant Gwynllyw) is located in the Stow Hill area of Newport, Wales. It is managed by the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.
History
The site for the hospital was donated by Sir Charles Morgan, 2nd Barone ...
, St Woolos Primary School and in 1988 a
Welsh language
Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...
school,
Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw
is a Welsh language, Welsh-medium comprehensive school located in Trevethin, Pontypool in Torfaen, Wales and named for Saint Gwynllyw. The school had 926 pupils on roll in 2017.
History
The school was founded in 1988 as the first Welsh-mediu ...
, was set up in
Pontypool. The vision of an ox inspired the sculpture by Sebastien Boyesen called ''The Vision of Saint Gwynllyw'' or ''The Bell Carrier'', finished in 1996 and found in central Newport today.
Sebastien Boyesen", BBC Wales
/ref>
See also
* Saint Gwynllyw, patron saint archive
Notes
External links
St Woolos Cathedral
Gwynllyw
on National Library of Wales Dictionary of Welsh Biography
{{Authority control
450s births
6th-century deaths
Arthurian characters
Ascetics
Angelic visionaries
Monarchs of Morgannwg
People from Newport, Wales
Medieval Welsh saints
6th-century Christian saints
6th-century rulers in Europe
Monarchs of Glywysing
Christian royal saints