Saint Sulien, Sulian, or Silin was the reputed 6th-century founder-abbot of a monastery at Luxulyan in Cornwall. His feast day is 29 July. There have probably been other Christian

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

saints with the same (or similar) name, and a variant of it is also used as an alias of Saint Tysilio (see below).

Etymology

Sulien is a

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 peopl ...

variant of the given name "Julian," but has also been interpreted as being derived from the Welsh ''sul'', meaning "sun" + ''geni'', meaning "born," Sulien being the name of a

solar deity A solar deity or sun deity is a deity who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it. Such deities are usually associated with power and strength. Solar deities and Sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. The ...

Doble, G. H. Gilbert Hunter Doble (26 November 1880 – 15 April 1945) was an Anglican priest and Cornish historian and hagiographer. Early life G. H. Doble was born in Penzance, Cornwall, on 26 November 1880. His father, John Medley Doble, shared his enth ...

(1970) ''The Saints of Cornwall: part 5''. Truro: Dean and Chapter; pp. 104–126

Other Saint Suliens

Confusion has arisen between different legends of Celtic saints with the name Sulien (in a variety of spellings). The three most commonly encountered are: * Saint Sulien (of Cornwall), founder-abbot of Luxulyan monastery, Cornwall – feast day 29 July. * Saint Sulien (of Brittany) or Saint Sulinus, of Cornouaille and Domnonée, East Brittany – feast day 1 October. * Saint Sulien (of Wales) or Saint Tysilio or Saint Suliau, a Welsh prince – feast day 8 November. The first two, who originate from the Celtic states in broadly similar historical context, may be the same person. However, the fact that separate feast days have been assigned to them from antiquity is strong evidence that they are different people, and that there were in fact three different Celtic saints with the same (or similar) name.

References

Sources

*"Saint Sulian: founder of Luxulyan church (?)" in:

G. H. Doble Gilbert Hunter Doble (26 November 1880 – 15 April 1945) was an Anglican priest and Cornish historian and hagiographer. Early life G. H. Doble was born in Penzance, Cornwall, on 26 November 1880. His father, John Medley Doble, shared his enthu ...

, ''The Saints of Cornwall; part 5: Saints of Mid-Cornwall''. Truro: Dean and Chapter, 1970, pp. 104–26 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sulien People from Luxulyan Medieval Cornish saints 6th-century Christian saints