Tyfei (early 6th century) was a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

and

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 ...

of the medieval Welsh church.

Life

Tyfei ap Budic was the second son of

Budic II of Brittany Budic II ( lat-med, Budicius; cy, Budig or '; ), formerly known as Budick, was a king of Cornouaille in Brittany in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. He was father of Hoel as well as several Celtic saints. Life Budic II was born in Cornouail ...

and his second wife, Anowed or Arianwedd, the daughter of

Saint Issel Saint Issel or Issell ( cy, Eussyllt or ''Usyllt'') was a 6th-century Welsh saint from Dyfed principally notable as being the father of Saint Teilo. His name appears in many forms in surviving texts, but seems to have been derived from the Latin ...

and sister of

Saint Teilo Saint Teilo ( la, Teliarus or '; br, TeliauWainewright, John. in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', Vol. XIV. Robert Appleton Co. (New York), 1912. Accessed 20 July 2013. or '; french: Télo or '; – 9 February ), also known by his ...

. The young Tyfei attempted to intervene in a heated argument between a swineherd and the owner of a field the animals had trespassed. In the course of the confrontation, Tyfei sustained an accidental, 'though lethal wound from a javelin. Tyfei was buried at Penalun (Penally) in Dyfed.

Veneration

Although his death was apparently accidental, veneration of Tyfei was likely due to his family connections, and he is sometimes called a martyr. At the time, Budic was in exile, a cousin having usurped his throne in

Cornouaille Cornouaille (; br, Kernev, Kerne) is a historical region on the west coast of Brittany in West France. The name is cognate with Cornwall in neighbouring Great Britain. This can be explained by the settlement of Cornouaille by migrant princ ...

. Patricia Healy Wasyliw suggests "...that the legend may mask a political assassination". Churches were dedicated to St. Tyfei at Llandyfeisant, and

Lamphey Lamphey ( cy, Llandyfái ) is both a village, a parish and a community near the south coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales, approximately east of the historic town of Pembroke, and north of the seaside village of Freshwater East. The 2011 census repo ...

References

Sources

* Medieval Welsh saints {{saint-stub