Tewdwr Mawr ( Breton for "Theodore the Great"; kw, Teudar Maur or '; cy, Tewdr; la, Theodorus; french: Thierry; mid-6th century) was an early medieval king in

Armorica Armorica or Aremorica (Gaulish: ; br, Arvorig, ) is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire that includes the Brittany Peninsula, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic Coast ...

(now

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 ...

, France) and

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

Life

Tewdwr was a member of the royal family of Cornouaille in

. His father was

Hoel King Hoel ( br, Hoel I Mawr, "Hoel the Great"; la, Hoelus, Hovelus, Hœlus), also known as Sir Howel, Saint Hywel and Hywel the Great, was a late 5th- and early 6th-centuryFord, David Nashat ''Early British Kingdoms''. 2001. Retrieved 1 D ...

, who figured in

Welsh mythology Welsh mythology (Welsh: ''Mytholeg Cymru'') consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral societies Celti ...

about the

Matter of Britain The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Weste ...

and

Tristan and Iseult Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Based on a Celtic legend and possibly other sources, the tale is a tragedy about the illic ...

. While Tewdwr was still young, his grandfather Budic II was overthrown and forced into exile at the court of

Aergol Lawhir Aergol Longhand (Modern Welsh: ''Aergol Lawhir''; c. 437 c. 515) was a legendary king of Dyfed and son and heir of King Triffyn Farfog. His name is the Welsh form of the Latin Agricola, just as his father's 'name' is the Cambrian form of "tribun ...

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 ...

. Budic successfully restored himself in the 540s but Hoel seems to have predeceased him. The king attempted to protect his succession by negotiating with a neighbouring ruler, Macliau of the Veneti, so that whichever lived longer would protect the young heir of the other. Upon Budic's death, however, Macliau invaded and annexed Cornouaille ( –577). Tewdwr fled to Cornwall and ruled over

Penwith Penwith (; kw, Pennwydh) is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, located on the peninsula of the same name. It is also the name of a former local government district, whose council was based in Penzance. The area is named after ...

from

Carnsew Hayle ( kw, Heyl, "estuary") is a port town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 ...

near the mouth of the

Hayle River Hayle ( kw, Heyl, "estuary") is a port town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 km) northeast of Penzanc ...

. He became infamous for his hostile reaction to

Irish missionaries The Hiberno-Scottish mission was a series of expeditions in the 6th and 7th centuries by Gaelic missionaries originating from Ireland that spread Celtic Christianity in Scotland, Wales, England and Merovingian France. Celtic Christianity sprea ...

. He opposed

Breage Breage or Breaca (with many variant spellings) is a saint venerated in Cornwall and South West England. According to her late hagiography, she was an Irish nun of the 5th or 6th century who founded a church in Cornwall. The village and civil pari ...

's mission (although

Sabine Baring-Gould Sabine Baring-Gould ( ; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,240 ...

placed its arrival around 500), first compelling them to land at Reyvier instead of CarnsewBaring-Gould, Sabine. ''Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain'': "Saint Breaca". Chas. Clark (London), 1908. and then later martyring several of its members, including

Ia of Cornwall Saint Ia of Cornwall (also known as ''Eia'', ''Hia'' or ''Hya'') was an evangelist and martyr of the 5th or 6th centuries in Cornwall. She is said to have been an Irish princess, the sister of Erc of Slane and a student of Saint Baricus. Legen ...

;

Saint Gwinear Saint Gwinear was a Celtic martyr, one of only two early Cornish saints whose biographies survived the Reformation. The ''Life of Gwinear'' was written in the early 14th century by a priest named Anselm, and has sometimes been printed among Sa ...

met with a similar fate, being thrown with his followers into a pit of reptiles. After decades of exile, Tewdwr returned to Brittany and defeated Macliau and his oldest son Jacob in 577. He permitted Macliau's younger son Waroc to rule around

Vannes Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic Era The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who live ...

Legacy

Having made martyrs of the Irish missionaries he opposed, Tewdwr became so infamous for his oppression that he began to appear in the

hagiographies A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

of saints he could not possibly have known, such as the 4th-century

Meriasek Saint Meriasek ( br, Meriadeg) was a 6th-century Cornish and Breton saint. The legends of his life are known through ''Beunans Meriasek'', a Cornish language play known from a single surviving manuscript copy dated 1504, and a few other sources. ...

. The early 6th-century

Saint Kea Saint Kea ( Breton and Cornish: ''Ke''; french: Ké) was a late 5th-century British saint from the ''Hen Ogledd'' ("Old North")—the Brythonic-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and northern England. According to tradition he was ...

supposedly protected a deer Tewdwr was hunting; losing his oxen in retaliation, the saint simply yoked the wild animal to plow his fields.

Koch Koch may refer to: People * Koch (surname), people with this surname * Koch dynasty, a dynasty in Assam and Bengal, north east India * Koch family * Koch people (or Koche), an ethnic group originally from the ancient Koch kingdom in north east I ...

suggests that Tewdwr's appearances in

Cornish literature Cornish literature refers to written works in the Cornish language. The earliest surviving texts are in verse and date from the 14th century. There are virtually none from the 18th and 19th centuries but writing in revived forms of Cornish bega ...

—particularly the Tudor dramas ''

Beunans Meriasek (English: ''The Life of Saint Meriasek'') is a Cornish play completed in 1504. Its subject is the legends of the life of Saint Meriasek or Meriadoc, patron saint of Camborne, whose veneration was popular in Cornwall, Brittany, and elsewhere. ...

'' and '' Bewnans Ke''—were satirical treatments of

Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beauf ...

following his suppression of the Cornish rebellion of 1497.Koch, John. ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'', pp. 204 f. ABC-CLIO, 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tewdwr Mawr 6th-century Breton people 6th-century monarchs in Europe Kings of Armorica Kings of Brittany History of Wales Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Medieval Cornish people