Salomon (also known as Selyf, Selevan) was a late 5th century Cornish 'warrior prince', possibly a King of Cornwall. His feast day takes place on the 18 October. He was the father of the Cornish bishop

Saint Cybi Saint Cybi ( Welsh), or Cuby ( Cornish), was a 6th-century Cornish bishop, saint, and, briefly, king, who worked largely in Cornwall and North Wales: his biography is recorded in two slightly variant medieval 'lives'. Life in Cornwall The ''vi ...

Narrative

According to

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 pu ...

, Salomon was the son of

Geraint ab Erbin Geraint ( ) is a character from Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a valiant warrior possibly related to the historical Geraint, an early 8th-century king of Dumnonia. It is also the name of a 6th-century Dumnonian saint king from Briton h ...

, Prince of

Dumnonia Dumnonia is the Latinised name for a Brythonic kingdom that existed in Sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries CE in the more westerly parts of present-day South West England. It was centred in the area of modern Devon, ...

. This agrees with the ''

Bonedd y Saint The ''Bonedd y Saint'' or ''Seint'' ( Welsh for "Descent of the Saints") is a Welsh genealogical tract detailing the lineages of the early British saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degr ...

'', a Welsh genealogical tract detailing the lineages of the early British saints. Salomon married Gwen ferch Cynyr, the daughter of Cynyr Ceinfarfog who had settled at Caer-Goch near

St David's St Davids or St David's (, , "Saint David, David's Welsh toponymy, house”) is a St David's Cathedral, cathedral City status in the United Kingdom, city in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies on the River Alun, Pembrokeshire, River Alun and is ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

. Gwen ferch Cynyr was the sister of

Saint Non Non (also Nonna or Nonnita) was, according to Christian tradition, the mother of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales. Legend The ''Life of St David'' was written around 1095 by Rhigyfarch, and is our main source of knowledge for the lives ...

.Baring-Gould, Sabine. ''The Lives of the British Saints'', vol. IV. London. The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1913, p. 180
According to the ''Life of St Cybi'', Selevan, (a Brythonic form of Solomon) was a Cornishman and the father of Cybi. Salomon is described as a ''princeps militiae'' at a court between the

River Tamar The Tamar (; ) is a river in south west England that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A large part of the valley of the Tamar is protected as the Tamar Valley National Landscape (an Area of Outsta ...

and the

River Lynher The River Lynher () (or St Germans River downstream from its confluence with the Tiddy) flows through east Cornwall, England, and enters the River Tamar at the Hamoaze, which in turn flows into Plymouth Sound. Navigation The normal tidal l ...

, possibly Gelliwig. Welsh historian

Arthur Wade-Evans Arthur Wade Wade-Evans (born Arthur Wade Evans) (31 August 1875 – 4 January 1964) was a Welsh clergyman and historian. Biography Evans was born in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, in south Wales on 31 August 1875 and did not include his mother's ...

interpreted this title as 'captain of the guard', while others believe he was a sub-king of

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. David Nash Ford suggests that he succeeded to the realm of his cousin,

King Mark Mark of Cornwall (, , , ) was a sixth-century King of Kernow (Cornwall), possibly identical with King Conomor. As Mark or Marc (''Marc'h''), he is best known for his appearance in Arthurian legend as the uncle of Tristan and the husband of Ise ...

Lansallos Lansallos (; , meaning ''St Salwys' church'') is a village in the civil parish of Polperro in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated between Polruan and Polperro about 5 miles (8 km) east of Fowey in Liskeard Registration D ...

is a foundation of Salomon. Baring-Gould mentions a holy well of his sister-in-law, Non, and a church of his son, Cybi, in the area between Roseland and

Grampound Grampound () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Grampound with Creed, in the Cornwall (district), Cornwall district, in the ceremonial county of Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and ...

. Salomon is identified with Selevan, of

St Levan St Levan () is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish is rural with a number of hamlets of varying size with Porthcurno probably being the best known. Hewn out of the cliff at Minack Point and ...

in Cornwall and

Penmon Penmon is a promontory, village and ecclesiastical parish on the eastern tip of the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, about east of the town of Beaumaris. It is in the community of Llangoed. The name comes from (which can mean "head", "end" or "pro ...

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

. On the cliff at

is St Levan's Well and below it the probable remains of his chapel, which were described by

William Borlase William Borlase (2 February 169631 August 1772), Cornish antiquary, geologist and naturalist. From 1722, he was Rector of Ludgvan, Cornwall, where he died. He is remembered for his works ''The Antiquities of Cornwall'' (1754; 2nd ed., 1769) a ...

in his ''Antiquities''. The "Selus stone" at St Just in Penwith Parish Church is thought to refer to Salomon. The identity of Saint Just is not known. Among the possibilities mentioned is the Welsh hermit,

Saint Iestyn Iestyn (sometimes recorded as Iestin or the Latin form Justinus) was a Welsh hermit and confessor in the 6th or 7th century who is venerated as a saint. He was the founder of two churches, one in Gwynedd and another in Anglesey, both in north Wa ...

, said to be a son of Geraint ab Erbin. In the department of

Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...

in Brittany are four places connected to a Saint Saloman. Baring-Gould suggests this is a second, separate individual.

References

Sources

* Doble, G. H. (1964). ''The Saints of Cornwall'', part 3. Truro: Dean and Chapter; pp. 105–132 *Wade-Evans, A. W. (ed.) (1944). ''Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae et Genealogiae''. Cardiff: University of Wales Press Board {{authority control Monarchs of Cornwall 5th-century Christian saints Selevan