Saint Henwg of Caerlleon upon Usk was a 5th-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 ...

and church builder.

Family

Henwg was a

pre-congregation In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pass ...

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 ...

, born about 487. His father was reputed to have been

Umbrafel Umbrafel (born in 466 AD) was a 6th-century saint of Wales and nobleman of Brittany. Umbrafel, born in 476 AD was a son of Budic I of Brittany. He was the brother of Miliau, , , the father of Maglorius. His wife Afrelia, was, in the fiction of ...

son of

Budoc Saint Budoc of Dol (also Budeaux or Beuzec) was a Bishop of Dol, venerated after his death as a saint in both Brittany (now in France) and Devon (now in England). Saint Budoc is the patron of Plourin Ploudalmezeau in Finistère where his relics ar ...

and his mother, Afrelia the daughter of Vortimer Fendigaid, a son of

Vortigen Vortigern (; owl, Guorthigirn, ; cy, Gwrtheyrn; ang, Wyrtgeorn; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; gle, Foirtchern; la, Vortigernus, , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in ...

and Severa Verch Macsen. His brother is said to be Maglor Ap Umbraphel (485-575), and another Unknown sibling.

Life

He was reputed to be from

Caerleon Caerleon (; cy, Caerllion) is a town and community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman ...

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 legend associates him with

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

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

. Very little is factually known of his life: most of what is known come from the songs of

Taliesin Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the '' Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to have sung at the courts ...

the bard, his son who built a

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

in his memory at Llanbenwg.C. Schreiber, The Mabinogion (Google eBook) (Рипол Классик, In the library of Jesus College, Oxford
page 471
He is recorded as having gone on a mission to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

to ask the Roman Emperor to send Saint Germanus and Saint Lupus to assist in the Christianisation of Britain.

References

Medieval Welsh saints Year of birth unknown {{Saint-stub