Saint Grwst ''the Confessor''Llanrwst.net
History of Llanrwst.
Retrieved on 2008-12-14. (also known as ''Gwrwst'', ''Gwrst'', ''Gorwst'' or ''Gorst'' ''ap Gwaith Hengaer'') was a 6th and 7th century

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

operating in the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

Kingdom of Gwynedd The Kingdom of Gwynedd (Medieval Latin: ; Middle Welsh: ) was a Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. Based in northwest Wales, th ...

Family

Grwst was the son of Gwaith Hengaer ap Elffin, a Prince of

Rheged Rheged () was one of the kingdoms of the ''Hen Ogledd'' ("Old North"), the Brittonic-speaking region of what is now Northern England and southern Scotland, during the post-Roman era and Early Middle Ages. It is recorded in several poetic and ba ...

, thought to be centred on modern day

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, and Euronwy ferch

Clydno Eiddin Clydno Eidyn was a ruler of Eidyn, the district around modern Edinburgh, in the 6th century. Eidyn was a district of the Gododdin kingdom in the Hen Ogledd, or "Old North", the Brittonic-speaking parts of Northern England and southern Scotland in t ...

, a Princess of ''Din Eiddin'' (

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

) in

Lothian Lothian (; sco, Lowden, Loudan, -en, -o(u)n; gd, Lodainn ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Sco ...

, making him the great-grandson of King

Urien Rheged Urien (; ), often referred to as Urien Rheged or Uriens, was a late 6th-century king of Rheged, an early British kingdom of the Hen Ogledd (today's northern England and southern Scotland) of the House of Rheged. His power and his victories, i ...

Rice Rees Rice Rees (31 March 1804 – 20 May 1839) was a Welsh cleric and historian. Life Rees was born at Ton, near Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, Wales, son of David- of a distinguished Llandovery family- and Sarah Rees, and christened in the local In ...

. ''An Essay on the Welsh Saints Or the Primitive Christians'' Longman 1836

Hagiographic life

He may have arrived in Wales in the ''c.''540s at the instigation of King

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 ...

, who granted charters for Christian missionaries, like Grwst,

Kentigern Kentigern ( cy, Cyndeyrn Garthwys; la, Kentigernus), known as Mungo, was a missionary in the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in the late sixth century, and the founder and patron saint of the city of Glasgow. Name In Wales and England, this s ...

and Trillo to set up their individual cells across his kingdom, where he earned the honoured title of ''Grwst yr Cyfaddefiadwr'' (Grwst ''the Confessor''). He is said to have witnessed a grant by Maelgwn Gwynedd to St Kentigern, where his signature ''"Sanctus Gwrwst"'' lies alongside those of Saints

Deiniol Saint Deiniol (died 572) was traditionally the first Bishop of Bangor in the Kingdom of Gwynedd, Wales. The present Bangor Cathedral, dedicated to Deiniol, is said to be on the site where his monastery stood. He is venerated in Brittany as Sain ...

and Trillo. However, these dates and events are a little at odds with the genealogies (''Iolo Morganwg'' Welsh MSS. 529),Robert Williams. ''Enwogion Cymru: A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Welshmen'' W. Rees 1852 which would put Grwst's generation in the early 7th century, in the ''c.''600s to 630s.

Veneration

He was the reputed founder of

Llanrwst Llanrwst ('church or parish of Saint Grwst'; ) is a market town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy, in Conwy County Borough, Wales, and the historic county of Denbighshire. It developed round the wool trade and became known als ...

and his festival, known as ''Gwyl Rwst'', is held on 1 December. The site of Grwst's original cell or ''Llan'' is now occupied by the Seion

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

in Llanrwst, with the nearby Cae Llan housing estate the location of the first church dedicated to him by the 11th century. An annual fair was held on these grounds during the 16th century to celebrate the saint's feast day, with the area known as ''Gwgrwstw'' after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grwst 6th-century births 6th-century Christian saints Northern Brythonic saints Year of death missing