Saint Cwyllog (or Cywyllog) [1] was a Christian holy woman who was active in Anglesey, Wales, in the early 6th century. The daughter, sister and niece of saints, she is said to have founded St Cwyllog's Church, Llangwyllog, in the middle of Anglesey, where a church is still dedicated to her.
Little is known for certain about Cwyllog (sometimes written as Cywyllog); her dates of birth and death are not given in the sources. She is said to have been one of the daughters of St Caw. He was a king in northern Britain who lost his lands and sought safety with his family in Anglesey, where the ruler Maelgwn Gwynedd gave him land in the north-east of the island, the district known as Twrcelyn. [2] Other saintly relatives of Cwyllog included St Iestyn and St Cyngar (brothers of Caw) and her sisters Cain, Peithian and Gwenafwy as well as various brothers including St Gildas (although the number of Caw's children varies from 10 to 21 between different manuscripts). [2] [3] Cwyllog is said to have been the wife of Mordred (or Medrod), the treacherous son and nephew of King Arthur and mother of his sons. According to the 19th-century Welsh antiquarian Angharad Llwyd, in her History of Anglesey, Cwyllog decided to follow a religious life after her husband's death in battle against Arthur at the Battle of Camlann in 537. [1]
She is said to have founded St Cwyllog's Church, Llangwyllog, towards the middle of Anglesey but within the area granted to her father, in the 6th century. [1] [4] The current church there (which is still dedicated to her) is of a later date, with the walls possibly dating from about 1200. [5] Her feast day there has been recorded as being 7 January, although this date does not appear in the Welsh calendars of saints. [1]
According to critics, Cwyllog may be a fictional creation. Her name could be a back-formation from the place-name Llangwyllog. The original saint of that location would be Gwrddelw, son of Caw, whose feast day is also 7 January. Cwyllog's connection to Mordred originated with readings of Hector Boece, who said Mordred's wife was a daughter of Gawolane. Some scholars identified "Gawolane" as Caw of Prydyn, which caused Welsh antiquary Lewis Morris to list Gildas as Medrawd's brother-in-law and, eventually, “Kwyllog” as Medrawd's wife. [6]
Other Anglesey saints commemorated in local churches include:
Gildas — also known as Gildas the Wise or Gildas Sapiens — was a 6th-century British monk best known for his scathing religious polemic De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, which recounts the history of the Britons before and during the coming of the Saxons. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during the sub-Roman period, and was renowned for his Biblical knowledge and literary style. In his later life, he emigrated to Brittany where he founded a monastery known as St Gildas de Rhuys.
Llangwyllog is a small village and ancient parish in the centre of Anglesey, Wales.
Saint Twrog - feast day 26 June - was a 6th-century Welsh saint who founded the church at Maentwrog, having come to Wales early in the Age of the Saints.
Nidan was a Welsh priest and, according to some sources, a bishop, in the 6th and 7th centuries. He is now commemorated as a saint. He was the confessor for the monastery headed by St Seiriol at Penmon, and established a church at what is now known as Llanidan, which are both places on the Welsh island of Anglesey. He is the patron saint of two churches in Anglesey: St Nidan's Church, Llanidan, built in the 19th century, and its medieval predecessor, the Old Church of St Nidan, Llanidan. Midmar Old Kirk in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, is also dedicated to him: Nidan is said to have helped to establish Christianity in that area as a companion of St Kentigern. St Nidan's, Llanidan, has a reliquary dating from the 14th or 16th century, which is said to house his relics.
St Peulan's Church, Llanbeulan is a redundant Anglican church in Llanbeulan, in Anglesey, north Wales. The nave, which is the oldest part of the building, dates from the 12th century, with a chancel and side chapel added in the 14th century. The church has a font of early date, possibly from the first half of the 11th century: one historian has said that it would initially have been used as an altar and that "as an altar of the pre-Norman period it is a unique survivor in Wales and, indeed, in Britain".
St Iestyn's Church, Llaniestyn is a medieval church in Llaniestyn, Anglesey, in Wales. A church is said to have been founded here by St Iestyn in the 7th century, with the earliest parts of the present building dating from the 12th century. The church was extended in the 14th century, with further changes over the coming years. It contains a 12th-century font and a 14th-century memorial stone to Iestyn, from the same workshop as the stone to St Pabo at St Pabo's Church, Llanbabo.
Iestyn 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 Wales.
Saint Peulan was a Welsh holy man in the early part of the 6th century, the son of Paulinus, a saint from south Wales who taught Saint David. A follower of Cybi, a saint associated with the island of Anglesey in north Wales, Peulan is commemorated in the dedication of the church he reportedly founded, St Peulan's Church, Llanbeulan, on Anglesey.
St Cwyllog's Church, Llangwyllog, is a medieval church near Llangwyllog, in Anglesey, north Wales. St Cwyllog founded a church here in the 6th century, although the exact date is unknown. The existence of a church here was recorded in 1254 and parts of the present building may date from around 1200. Other parts are from the 15th century, with an unusual annexe added in the 16th century. The church contains some 18th-century fittings, including a rare Georgian three-decker pulpit and reading desk.
Elaeth was a Christian king and poet in Britain in the 6th century who is venerated as a saint. After losing his territory in the north of Britain, he retreated to Anglesey, north Wales, where he lived at a monastery run by St Seiriol at Penmon. Some religious poetry is attributed to him, as is the foundation of St Eleth's Church, Amlwch, also in Anglesey.
St Tyfrydog's Church, Llandyfrydog is a small medieval church, in Llandyfrydog, Anglesey, north Wales. The date of establishment of a church on this site is unknown, but one 19th-century Anglesey historian says that it was about 450. The oldest parts of the present building are dated to about 1400, with the chancel dating from the late 15th or early 16th century. It is built from rough, small, squared stones, dressed with limestone. One of the windows on the south side is raised to illuminate the pulpit, a decision that in the eyes of one 19th-century commentator "disfigures the building."
Tyfrydog was a Christian from north-west Wales in the fifth or sixth century, who was later venerated as a saint. He is said to have established a church in Anglesey, and although no part of the original structure remains, the current church is still dedicated to him. A nearby standing stone is said to be the remains of a man who he punished for stealing a bible from the church.
Caffo was a sixth-century Christian in Anglesey, north Wales, who is venerated as a saint and martyr. The son of a king from northern Britain who took shelter in Anglesey, Caffo was a companion of St Cybi, and is mentioned as carrying a red-hot coal in his clothes to Cybi without his clothes getting burnt. After leaving Cybi, Caffo was killed by shepherds in the south of Anglesey, possibly acting in retaliation for insults Caffo's brother had paid to the local ruler. The area where he died has a village, Llangaffo, named after him, as well as the parish church of St Caffo, Llangaffo.
St Caian's Church, Tregaian, also known as St Caean's Church, Tregaean, is a small medieval church dating from the 14th century in Anglesey, north Wales. It is dedicated to St Caian, a Christian from the 5th or 6th century about whom little is known. The building contains a late 14th-century east window and a late 15th-century doorway. The churchyard contains the grave of William ap Howel, who died in 1581 at the age of 105, leaving over forty children between the ages of 8 and 89 and over three hundred living descendants.
Cynfarwy was a Christian in the 7th century about whom little is known. He was venerated by the early church in Wales as a saint, although he was never formally canonised. St Cynfarwy's Church in Anglesey is dedicated to him, and his name is also preserved in the name of the settlement around the church, Llechgynfarwy. His feast day is in November, although the date varies between sources.
St Ceinwen's Church, Cerrigceinwen, is a former parish church in the countryside of central Anglesey, north Wales. The present building dates from 1860, although the site has been used for worship since at least the 7th century. The doorway reuses some old carved gravestones, one from the 9th to 11th centuries, and another from the 12th century. The church grounds contain a well, once thought to have healing properties. The church and the well are both named after St Ceinwen, an early Celtic female saint.
Saint Eigen, Eurgen, Eurgain or Eurgan was the legendary, and possibly historical first female Christian saint. Her name has doubtfully been linked to two Welsh churches and is found in manuscripts from the collection of Iolo Morganwg making historical evidence of her existence dubious and limited.
Llanddyfnan is a village and community in the Welsh county of Anglesey, located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north east of Llangefni, 6.6 miles (10.6 km) north west of Menai Bridge and 7.1 miles (11.4 km) west of Beaumaris.
St Enghenedl's Church, Llanynghenedl, is a former parish church in Anglesey, north Wales, dedicated to the son of a 6th-century King of Powys. According to the 19th-century antiquarian Angharad Llwyd, the first church in Llanynghenedl was erected in about 620. A new church was erected in 1862, replacing a building that the 19th-century clergyman and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones noted as dating in part from the late 13th or early 14th century, based on the decorations on the south doorway. The church later fell into disuse as a result of the growth of the nearby village of Valley and the church there. In 1988, St Enghenedl's was dismantled and re-erected as an extension to St Mihangel's, Llanfihangel yn Nhowyn, so that St Mihangel's could serve as the church for RAF Valley. The former churchyard of St Enghenedl's is still visible but is now overgrown.(The churchyard is being cared for and no longer overgrown 2020 update)
Saint Eigrad was a sixth-century Welsh saint and the founder of the St Eugrad's Church in Llaneugrad, Anglesey.