Saint Columba of Cornwall | |
---|---|
Virgin & Martyr | |
Born | unknown Lothian, Scotland probably |
Died | 6th century Ruthvoes, Cornwall |
Venerated in | Roman Catholicism Anglican Communion Eastern Orthodox Church |
Major shrine | St Columba's Church, St Columb Major |
Feast | 11 November/15 November |
Attributes | Female carrying a palm branch and a sword, a dove hovering above |
Columba of Cornwall (Welsh, and in Latin, translated to modern English as dove), also called Columb (English), [1] was a saint from Cornwall who lived in the 6th century. She was born to pagan royalty, but became a Christian after the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, appeared to her in a vision. Her parents arranged a marriage to a pagan prince, but she refused the marriage and they imprisoned her. She escaped to Cornwall, where she was again captured and martyred. She is the patron of two churches in Cornwall, in St Columb Major and St Columb Minor, where well-developed traditions arose about her. The traditions include a tale about a spring gushing forth along the path of her blood at the site of her execution and another about a well at the site containing water that would not boil. Various dates in November have been cited as her feast day.
Columba was born in the 6th century, to pagan royals King Lodan and Queen Manigild, probably in Lothian, Scotland. According to hagiographer David Nash Ford, her parents' name may be corrupt forms of names of King Lot and Queen Morgause in the Arthurian legends. [1] She might have had nine sisters, one of whom was named Wendon (or Wedern). [2] Most of what is known of Columba is due to two parishes in Cornwall that name her as their patron saint and a manuscript in the collection of the University Library of Cambridge, written by Cornish Roman Catholic activist and scholar Nicholas Roscarrock during the reign of Elizabeth I and based on local tradition. [3]
Columba became a Christian when the Holy Spirit appeared to her in a vision, in the form of a dove, promising her love and blessings. [1] [3] Her parents arranged a marriage for her to a pagan prince, even though she had taken a vow of virginity and had refused to attend the pagan temple with them; she rejected the marriage, and her parents, who "dissuaded her first with kindness, then with cruelty", [4] imprisoned her. An angel helped her escape and led her into the desert, where she was captured again by a local king, who admired her beauty and grace, and offered to marry her to his son if she renounced her faith. [1] [2] She refused, so she was tortured on the breaking wheel and gallows, but she did not die, and was again imprisoned. An angel again helped her escape, and she fled to the coast and boarded a ship that took her to Cornwall at what is now Trevelgue Head (which is translated to English as "red dirt"; Cornish historian Nicholas Orme speculates that this refers to the color of the soil at the site of the martyrdom and the manner in which it took place). [2] The king found her at Ruthvoes in central Cornwall, three km south of St Columb Major and 10.5km east of Newquay, and beheaded her. [1] [3] [2] She was buried at St Columb Major. [1]
Hagiographer and historian Sabine Baring-Gold has suggested that Columba might have been a man, but there is no evidence of it and it is commonly accepted that she was a woman. [1] [5] She is the patron of the churches of St Columba Major and St Columba Minor in Cornwall, documented in c.1240 and 1284 respectively. [2] St Columba Church Major was one of the wealthiest churches in Cornwall, so it was staffed by parish priests and seven chantry priests during the 15th and early 16th centuries, which may explain why there are well-developed traditions surrounding Columba. They were written down in Cornish by the late 16th century by a physician who worked in St Columb Minor or a nearby town and were addressed to Roscarrock. In 1607, Roscarrock described the text as a poem to his friend, historian William Camden. [4] [6] Local tradition states that at the site of Columba's execution, "a spring gushed forth along the path of her fallen blood", [3] and was marked in Roscarrock's day by a well; as of 2000 traces of the well and a cemetery remained there. Roscarrock reports the legend that the water from the well would not boil. [2]
Orme states the feast day of Columba has "a complex history". [2] There are differences in the date it was celebrated; at St Columba Major, the dates cited are the Thursday after 1 November, the nearest Sunday to 17 November and the Sunday after the second Thursday before 13 November. At St Columb Major, her feast day was held on about 15 November, "depending upon the full moon". [2] Her feast day was then moveable, like at other Cornish parishes, but at some point apparently changed from Thursday to Sunday at St Columb Major. Fairs were held at St Columb Major on 25 April and on 24 June. [2]
Columba or Colmcille was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey on Iona, which became a dominant religious and political institution in the region for centuries. He is the patron saint of Derry. He was highly regarded by both the Gaels of Dál Riata and the Picts, and is remembered today as a Catholic saint and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.
St Columb Major is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Often referred to locally as St Columb, it is approximately seven miles (11 km) southwest of Wadebridge and six miles (10 km) east of Newquay The designation Major distinguishes it from the nearby settlement and parish of St Columb Minor on the coast. An electoral ward simply named St Columb exists with a population at the 2011 census of 5,050. The town is named after the 6th-century AD Saint Columba of Cornwall, also known as Columb.
Breage or Breaca 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 parish of Breage in Cornwall are named after her, and the local Breage Parish Church is dedicated to her. She is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Church.
St Columb Minor is a village in the civil parish of Newquay, on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
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Ruthvoes is a village in mid Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is in the parish of St Columb Major, about two miles (3 km) south of St Columb Major town and 6+1⁄2 miles (10.5 km) east of Newquay.
Mabyn, also known as Mabena, Mabon, etc., was a medieval Cornish saint. According to local Cornish tradition she was one of the many children of Brychan, king of Brycheiniog in Wales in the 5th century. The village and civil parish of St Mabyn is named for her, and the local St Mabyn Parish Church is dedicated to her.
Ia of Cornwall was an evangelist and martyr of the 5th or 6th centuries, flourishing in the area of St Ives, Cornwall. She is said to have been an Irish princess, the sister of Erc of Slane.
Juthwara or Jutwara was a virgin and martyr from Dorset. According to her legend, she was an eighth-century Saxon, and sister to Sidwell, though some historians have theorised she was a Briton living in the sixth century. Her relics were translated to Sherborne during the reign of Ethelred the Unready. Nothing further is known with certainty about her life.
Wyllow was a Cornish hermit saint and martyr whose existence was reported by William Worcester.
Nickanan Night is a Cornish feast, traditionally held during Shrovetide, specifically on Shrove Monday.
Saint Piran's Day, or the Feast of Saint Piran, is the national day of Cornwall, held on 5 March every year. The day is named after one of the patron saints of Cornwall, Saint Piran, who is also the patron saint of tin miners.
St Columb Minor Church is a late 15th-century Church of England parish church Diocese of Truro in St Columb Minor, Cornwall, United Kingdom
Christianity in Cornwall began in the 4th or 5th century AD when Western Christianity was introduced as in the rest of Roman Britain. Over time it became the official religion, superseding previous Celtic and Roman practices. Early Christianity in Cornwall was spread largely by the saints, including Saint Piran, the patron of the county. Cornwall, like other parts of Britain, is sometimes associated with the distinct collection of practices known as Celtic Christianity but was always in communion with the wider Catholic Church. The Cornish saints are commemorated in legends, churches and placenames.
Saint Senara, also known as Asenora, Sinara, or Sennara, is a legendary Cornish saint with links to the village of Zennor on the north coast of Cornwall, UK. The Church of Saint Senara, Zennor is dedicated to her, and according to legend her name inspired the name of the village of Zennor along with local features like Zennor Head and Zennor Quoit.
Adwen or Adwenna i purported to have been a 5th-century Christian virgin and saint. According to historian Nicholas Orme, Adwen was identified in the original tradition as a brother of Nectan of Hartland, but subsequently misclassified by Charles Henderson in the 18th century as female.
Tetha, also known as Teath, Tecla, and by a variety of other names, was a 5th-century virgin and saint in Wales and Cornwall. She is associated with the parish church of St Teath in Cornwall. Baring-Gould gives her feast day as 27 October, but this has been called a mistaken conflation with Saint Ia. In 1878, it was held on the movable feast of Whit Tuesday. Other sources place it on 1 May, 6 September, and (mistakenly) 15 January. It is no longer observed by either the Anglican or Catholic church in Wales.
The following is a timeline of the history of St Columb Major, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
St Columba's Church is a 14th-century, Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England Diocese of Truro in St Columb Major, Cornwall. In 1860 plans were drawn up by William Butterfield, in hope of St Columb church becoming the cathedral of the future diocese of Cornwall, but the cathedral was built at Truro. A second church dedicated to the same saint is known as St Columba's Church, St Columb Minor.