![Saint Maches](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Saint_Maches.png)
St. Maches was a 6th-century
princess
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subs ...
and
Pre-congregational saint of
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
and
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. Devo ...
. Maches was the
sister
A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...
of St.
Cadog.
Born a daughter of Saint
Gwynllyw
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 in Sout ...
and his wife
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 ...
, Maches lived as 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 ...
, and was murdered by thieves, at
Merthyr Maches (
Llanfaches in the
Kingdom of Gwent
Gwent ( owl, Guent) was a medieval Welsh kingdom, lying between the Rivers Wye and Usk. It existed from the end of Roman rule in Britain in about the 5th century until the Norman invasion of Wales in the 11th century. Along with its neighb ...
). She was buried in the monastery at Caerwent, now the parish church of St. Stephen at Caerwent,
Saints of Newport-Children of Gwynlliw-St Maches of LLANVACHES St Cynydir, St Bugi
by Saint 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 bandits had confessed the crime.
References
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Southwestern Brythonic saints
English Roman Catholic saints
6th-century Christian saints
6th-century Christians
Year of birth unknown
6th-century English monarchs