Bleiddud was

Bishop of St David's The Bishop of St Davids is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids. The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the city of St Davids in Pembrokeshire, ...

(then known as

Menevia The Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Wales. It is one of two suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cardiff and is subject to the Archdiocese of Cardiff. History On 12 May 1898, the Apo ...

) in

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 ...

from 1061 to 1071. Little is known of him. His name is sometimes given as Bedwd. The name ''Bleiddud'' appears to be derived from the

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 peop ...

''blaidd'', wolf, and ''tud'', tribe or the territory of a tribe. A bishop of the diocese named Joseph died in 1061, and Bleiddud was his successor. He is reported to have been consecrated by Æthelnoth, archbishop of Canterbury,William Basil Jones, Edward Augustus Freeman, ''The history and antiquities of Saint David's'' (1856)
p. 267
/ref> who died in 1038, suggesting that he was translated to

St David's St Davids or St David's ( cy, Tyddewi, , "David's house”) is a city and a community (named St Davids and the Cathedral Close) with a cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Alun. It is the resting place of Saint David, W ...

having been a bishop elsewhere. The chapter of St David's, in an address to

Pope Eugenius III Pope Eugene III ( la, Eugenius III; c. 1080 – 8 July 1153), born Bernardo Pignatelli, or possibly Paganelli, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He w ...

of the year 1145, stated that a man named Melan of

Llanelwy St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a city and community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355, making it the second-smallest city in Britain in terms of population and urban ...

(''Melanus Llanelvensis'') was consecrated bishop of St Asaph by Bleiddud while he was bishop of St David's. This event has been dated to about the year 1070. A "Bishop Begard" is addressed in a

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

of Edward the Confessor of 1060, concerning the king's grant of judicial rights to Bromfield Minster in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, and it has been suggested that this is an error for Bleiddud. According to the ''

Annales Cambriae The (Latin for ''Annals of Wales'') is the title given to a complex of Latin chronicles compiled or derived from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales. The earliest is a 12th-century presumed copy of a mid-10th-century original; later ed ...

'', Bleiddud died in 1071 and was succeeded as Bishop of St David's by Sulien. According to the account of ''

Brut y Tywysogion ''Brut y Tywysogion'' ( en, Chronicle of the Princes) is one of the most important primary sources for Welsh history. It is an annalistic chronicle that serves as a continuation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. ''Brut ...

'' for the year 1071, By the ninth century, and later, the right of the

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

to marry was well established in

, and an entry in the Book of St Chad records the grant of freedom to Bleiddud, son of Sulien, this apparently being the Sulien who succeeded Bishop Bleiddud.

Gerald of Wales Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...

also notes that at the time it was usual for sons to follow fathers in church benefices. The ''

Book of Llandaff The Book of Llandaff ( la, Liber Landavensis; cy, Llyfr Llandaf, ', or '), is the chartulary of the cathedral of Llandaff, a 12th-century compilation of documents relating to the history of the diocese of Llandaff in Wales. It is written prima ...

'', dating from around 1125, also records a "decree of the liberty of Bleiddud and his offspring". W. J. Rees, ed., ''The Liber Landavensis, Llyfr Teilo, or the ancient register of the cathedral church of Llandaff'' (W. Rees for Welsh MSS. Society, 1840)
p. 618
"Whoever will keep this decree of the liberty of Bleiddud and his offspring, may he be blessed ; and whoever will not keep it, may he be cursed by God..."

Notes

{{authority control 1071 deaths Bishops of St Davids Welsh scholars and academics 11th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Year of birth unknown