Saint Tathyw was a 5th-century saint of South Wales, and founder of a monastic school at

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 ...

where he instructed many of the leading figures of the early Welsh church.

Identity

There is considerable controversy over the identity of Saint Tathyw. * He may or may not have been the same person as Tatheus, who founded a monastery just 10 miles outside

. * However a legend from the village of

St Athan St Athan ( cy, Sain Tathan) is a village and community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. The village and its parish church are dedicated to Saint Tathan. The church dates to the 13th–14th century, though an earlier ch ...

holds that Tathyw was actually a different person called ''Tathan the Younger'' and that he is buried at St Athan Parish Church, although the exact location of the grave is unknown. This person was born Tathyw ap Ynyr about 490 AD the son Ynyr of Gwent, Grandson of Dynwal of

Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales. It is a mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed was also the name of the area's county council and the name remains in use f ...

and great-grandson of Ednyfed King of Dyfed. His mother was Derwela Ferch Budic, a princess of

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

. * Others link him to Saint Tathana, granddaughter of

Meuric ap Tewdric Meurig ap Tewdrig (Latin: ''Mauricius''; English: ''Maurice'') was the son of Tewdrig (St. Tewdric), and a King of the early Welsh Kingdoms of Gwent and Glywysing. He is thought to have lived between 400AD and 600AD, but some sources give more spec ...

of Trebeferad, who lived a humble life as a nun in a mud hut on the

River Thaw The River Thaw ( cy, Afon Ddawan) (also Ddaw) is a river in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. At 20 kilometres/12.4 miles, it is the longest river entirely in the Vale of Glamorgan. Course Its source is in the hills just south of th ...

, and was associated with the monastic school of nearby Llantwit Major.

Life

King Caradog ap Ynyr (possibly the same person as Caradoc Freichfras) of Gwent's main court was originally at Caer-Guent (

), but he gave the city to St. Tathyw, while the King let his horse lead him to a new home at Portskewett. Tathyw founded a monastery to the Holy Trinity at Caer-Guent. He lived there many years with his followers and when he died he was buried under the floor of his Abbey Church. St. Tathyw's relics at Tewkesbury indicate that he was reinterred in a reverential shrine some time prior to 1235. His monastery may actually have been at

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, eight miles east of Caerwent.

Legend

One story of Tathyw relates that King

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 ...

of South Wales stole the ''cow of St. Tathyw''. When the monk came to demand the cow's return, the King surrendered 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 ...

to the saint's care. As a young man, Cadoc received his habit from St. Tathyw and returned to his native country to build 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 ...

at Llancarvan and a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

and college. It is also conjectured that he may have known King Arthur while at Caerwent. Another story relates that as a child an angel appeared to Tathyw in a dream and suggested he might spread the Christian word in Wales.

References

External links

Saints.SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tathyw, Saint Welsh Roman Catholic saints 6th-century Christian saints 6th-century births Roman Catholic monks Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Welsh hermits 6th-century Welsh people 6th-century Christian monks