HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Saint Tysilio (also known as/confused with Saint Suliac; la, Tysilius, Suliacus; died 640 AD) was 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 ...
bishop, prince and scholar, son of the reigning King of
Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...
, Brochwel Ysgithrog, maternal nephew of the great Abbot Dunod of Bangor Iscoed and an ecclesiastic who took a prominent part in the affairs of
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
during the distressful period at the opening of the 7th century.


Life

Prince Tysilio (or Sulio) was the second son of
Brochfael Ysgythrog Brochwel son of Cyngen ( cy, Brochwel ap Cyngen, died c. 560), better known as Brochwel Ysgrithrog, was a king of Powys in eastern Wales. The unusual epithet ''Ysgithrog'' has been translated as "of the canine teeth", "the fanged" or "of the tusk" ...
(of the Tusks). He fled his father's court at an early age to throw himself on the mercy of Abbot Gwyddfarch of Caer-Meguaidd (
Meifod Meifod, formerly also written Meivod (), is a small village, community and electoral ward 7 miles north-west of Welshpool in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales, on the A495 road and located in the valley of the River Vyrnwy. The River Banwy has a ...
) and beg to become a monk. A Powysian warband was sent to retrieve him, but King Brochfael was eventually persuaded that his son should be allowed to stay. Tysilio probably started his career in Trallwng Llywelyn (
Welshpool Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...
) and afterwards took up residence in
Meifod Meifod, formerly also written Meivod (), is a small village, community and electoral ward 7 miles north-west of Welshpool in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales, on the A495 road and located in the valley of the River Vyrnwy. The River Banwy has a ...
where he was associated with Gwyddvarch and St
Beuno Saint Beuno ( la, Bonus;Baring-Gould & Fisher, "Lives of the British Saints" (1907), quoted a Early British Kingdoms website by David Nash Ford, accessed 6 February 2012  640), sometimes anglicized as Bono, was a 7th-century Welsh abbot, ...
. Fearful of further trouble from his family, Tysilio set up his base at a hermitage on Ynys Tysilio (Church Island) in the Menai Strait and became a great evangeliser on Ynys Môn (Anglesey). He spent seven years there before returning to Caer-Meguaidd (Meifod) and succeeding as Abbot. Tyslio rebuilt the Abbey Church and things were peaceful for a while. He founded the second church in
Meifod Meifod, formerly also written Meivod (), is a small village, community and electoral ward 7 miles north-west of Welshpool in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales, on the A495 road and located in the valley of the River Vyrnwy. The River Banwy has a ...
- the ''Eglwys Tysilio''. His feast day, or ''gwyl-mabsant'', was 8 November which was also the date of the patronal festival and "wakes" in the nearby parish of Guilsfield, where a holy well was dedicated to him - the ''Fons Tysilio''. After the death of Tysilio's brother
Cynan Garwyn Cynan Garwyn was king of Powys in the north-east and east of Wales, who flourished in the second half of the 6th century. Little reliable information exists which can be used to reconstruct the background and career of the historical figure. Availa ...
, his sister-in-law, Queen Gwenwynwyn, desired to marry Tysilio and place him on the throne of Powys. Objecting to both proposals, Tysilio refused and found his monastery persecuted by the state. He resolved to leave for
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 ...
with a handful of followers. Tysilio travelled through
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 across the Channel to
Saint-Suliac Saint-Suliac (; ; Gallo: ''Saent-Suliau'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Saint-Suliac are called ''Suliaçais'' in French. See also *Communes of the Ille-et-Vi ...
where he established a second monastery. Tysilio is traditionally said to be the original author of the ''Brut Tysilio'', a variant of the Welsh chronicle ''
Brut y Brenhinedd ''Brut y Brenhinedd'' ("Chronicle of the Kings") is a collection of variant Middle Welsh versions of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. About 60 versions survive, with the earliest dating to the mid-13th century. Adaptat ...
'', Brynley F. Roberts, ''Brut y Brenhinedd'', Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1971, pp. xxiv-xxxi although Brynley F. Roberts has demonstrated that the ''Brut Tysilio'' originated around 1500 as an "amalgam" of earlier versions of the ''Brut y Brenhinedd'', which itself derives from
Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography ...
's 12th-century Latin ''
Historia Regum Britanniae ''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. ...
.'' Tysilio died and was buried at the Abbey of Saint Suliac in 640.


Identity

St. Tysilio has been confused, historically, with
Saint Sulien 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 saints with the same (or similar) name, and a variant ...
, with some scholars suggesting that they were the same historical character. The facts that they lived in different Celtic states, and had different feast days from antiquity, make this suggestion unlikely.


Place names

Today Tysilio's name is remembered in several church and place names in Wales, including
Llandysilio Llandysilio is a small village and community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. Its population at the 2001 Census was 962, increasing to 1,122 at the 2011 census. The present parish church, dedicated to Saint Tysilio, dates from 1867 but tra ...
in
Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...
,
Llandissilio Llandissilio is a village and parish in the community of Llandissilio West in east Pembrokeshire, Wales on the A478 road between Efailwen to the north and Clunderwen to the south. A largely ribbon development along the main road, the village ...
in
Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a county in the south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The county is home to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The Park oc ...
, Llandysiliogogo in
Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cer ...
and
Llantysilio Llantysilio ( cy, Llandysilio-yn-Iâl) is a community in Denbighshire, Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Se ...
in
Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...
. Most famously it appears in the longest place name in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, '' Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch'', part of which (shown bold here) means the Church of St. Tysilio.''Llan-'' is normally followed by a
soft mutation In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them more sonorous. The word ''lenition'' itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin 'weak'). Lenition can happen both synchronically (within a language at ...
in Welsh place names, as in ''Llandysilio''. Use of the unmutated form is anomalous.
The name, however, is a late 19th-century invention for the burgeoning tourist industry in the area.


References

*Roberts, Brynley F. (ed.). ''Brut y Brenhinedd'' (Llanstephan MS 1), ''Brut y Brenhinedd. Llanstephan MS. 1 version. Selections''. Mediaeval and Modern Welsh series 5. Dublin, 1971. Extracts and discussion. *Simpson Jones, T. and Owen, R. (1901), "A History of the Parish of Guilsfield (Cedigva)", ''Montgomery Collections''; 31, 129–200.


Further reading

* {{Authority control People from Powys Welsh royalty Medieval Welsh saints 640 deaths Year of birth unknown