Saint Eigen, also spelled Eurgen, Eurgain or Eurgan, was the legendary, and possibly historical first female Christiansaint among the Britons. 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.[1]
The parish church of Saint Eigon in Llanigon, Wales
Eigen is noted as the daughter of Caratacus in the History of Dunraven Manuscript, a manuscript giving the genealogy of Taliesin from the collection of Thomas Hopkin of Coychurch, one from the Havod Uchtryd collection and in an extract he claimed to have copied from the Long Book of Thomas Truman.[2][3] This reference can also be found in the family records of Iestyn ab Gwrgant, where it is said of her; "She lived in the close of the first century, and was married to Sarllog, who was a lord of Caer Sarllog, or the present Old Sarum".[4] In this manuscript, Eigen is said to have returned from Rome with Caratacus with Saint Cyllin and Saint Ilid and formed a religious college of twelve named Cor Eurgain (the choir of Eurgain), suggesting the early entry of Christianity into Britain; "the Cymry embraced the faith in Christ through the teaching of the saints of Cor-Eurgain".[5] Attempts have also been made to identify Eigen with the Claudia mentioned by Saint Paul in the Second Epistle to Timothy, however evidence for this is largely coincidental. Some authors also claim she was called Gladys on the suggestion that this was a Welsh word for princess.[6]
In the annals of Tacitus, a daughter of Caratacus is mentioned appearing in front of the Roman Senate and Emperor Claudius in approximately 53 CE. Caratacus' daughter is never named in the record of Tacitus and she is not mentioned with her mother, father and uncles as having been given a pardon from the brutality of a Roman execution by the Emperor.[10][11]
Eigen features in a cantata by Edward Elgar in 1897-8 devoted to the defeat and capture of the king by the Romans. It was first performed at the Leeds choral festival in 1898. Her name in the Cantana has variously been claimed to be both historical and derived from a neighbour of Elgar's in Malvern called Eigen Stone.[12][13] Eigen, spelt as Eigon is also the subject of a modern, time-slip novel by Barbara Erskine called The Warrior's Princess, published in 2008.[14]
The parish church of Llanigon, Wales is dedicated to "Saint Eigon", but this almost certainly refers to Eigion, brother of St Cynidr, to whom the parish church in neighbouring Glasbury was dedicated.[15]
Another Welsh church in Northop (Welsh: Llaneurgain), Flintshire, is dedicated to "Saint Eurgain", said to have been the daughter of Prince Maelgwn Gwynedd and niece of St. Asaph. She is said to have lived in Flintshire in the 6th century CE and has a feast day on 30 June. There is evidence that the church of St Eurgain and St Peter has existed since the 6th century.[16][17]
Caratacus was a 1st-century AD British chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who resisted the Roman conquest of Britain.
Maelgwn Gwynedd was King of Gwynedd during the early 6th century. Surviving records suggest he held a pre-eminent position among the Brythonic kings in Wales and their allies in the "Old North" along the Scottish coast. Maelgwn was a generous supporter of Christianity, funding the foundation of churches throughout Wales and even far beyond the bounds of his own kingdom. Nonetheless, his principal legacy today is the scathing account of his behavior recorded in De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae by Gildas, who considered Maelgwn a usurper and reprobate. The son of Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion and great-grandson of Cunedda, Maelgwn was buried on Ynys Seiriol, off the eastern tip of Anglesey, having died of the "yellow plague"; quite probably the arrival of Plague of Justinian in Britain.
Roath is a district and community to the north-east of the city centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. The area is mostly covered by the Plasnewydd electoral ward, and stretches from Adamsdown in the south to Roath Park in the north.
Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg, was a Welsh antiquarian, poet and collector. He was seen as an expert collector of Medieval Welsh literature, but it emerged after his death that he had forged several manuscripts, notably some of the Third Series of Welsh Triads. Even so, he had a lasting impact on Welsh culture, notably in founding the secret society known as the Gorsedd, through which Iolo Morganwg successfully co-opted the 18th-century Eisteddfod revival. The philosophy he spread in his forgeries has had an enormous impact upon neo-Druidism. His bardic name is Welsh for "Iolo of Glamorgan".
Rhun ap Maelgwn Gwynedd, also known as Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn Gwynedd, sometimes spelt as 'Rhûn', was King of Gwynedd. He came to the throne on the death of his father, King Maelgwn Gwynedd. There are no historical records of his reign in this early age. A story preserved in both the Venedotian Code and an elegy by Taliesin says that he waged a war against Rhydderch Hael of Alt Clut and the kings of Gododdin or Manaw Gododdin. The small scattered settlement of Caerhun in the Conwy valley is said to be named for him, though without strong authority. Rhun also appears in several medieval literary stories, as well as in the Welsh Triads. His wife was Perwyr ferch Rhûn "Ryfeddfawr" and their son was Beli ap Rhun "Hîr".
Saint Dwynwen, sometimes known as Dwyn or Donwen, is the Welsh patron saint of lovers. She is celebrated throughout Wales on 25 January.
John Williams, was an antiquary and Anglican priest. Born in Llangynhafal, Denbighshire Wales in 1811, he graduated from Jesus College, Oxford in 1835 to become the Anglican curate of Llanfor, Merionethshire, where he married Elizabeth Lloyd Williams. In 1843 he became perpetual curate of Nercwys, Flintshire, and rector of Llanymawddwy, Merionethshire, in 1849.
Tewdrig ap Teithfallt, known simply as Tewdrig, was a king of the post-Roman Kingdom of Glywysing. He abdicated in favour of his son Meurig (Maurice) and retired to live a hermitical life, but was recalled to lead his son's army against an intruding Saxon force. He won the battle, but was mortally wounded.
Coychurch is a small village that sits between Pencoed and Bridgend in Wales, bordering with Bridgend Industrial Estate, where many residents are employed. It is part of the community of Coychurch Lower.
Canna was a sixth-century mother of saints and later a nun in south Wales, to whom two Welsh churches are dedicated.
Côr Tewdws or Bangor Tewdws is a fictional Romano-British ecclesiastical college that in the 18th and 19th centuries was understood to have been the predecessor of the historically attested 6th century College and Abbey of Saint Illtud at what is now Llantwit Major in Glamorgan in Wales. The supposed Roman college is believed to have been invented by the historian of ill-repute, Edward Williams, more generally known as Iolo Morganwg.
The Coraniaid are a race of beings from Welsh mythology. They appear in the Middle Welsh prose tale Lludd and Llefelys, which survives in the Mabinogion and inserted into several texts of the Brut y Brenhinedd, a Welsh adaptation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. The Coraniaid figure in the tale as one of three plagues that affect Britain during the reign of King Lludd. They are characterized by a sense of hearing so acute that they can hear any word the wind touches, making action against them impossible.
Saint Grwstthe Confessor was a 6th and 7th century saint operating in the Welsh Kingdom of Gwynedd.
The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales is a printed collection of medieval Welsh literature, published in three volumes by the Gwyneddigion Society between 1801 and 1807. Until John Gwenogvryn Evans produced diplomatic editions of the important medieval Welsh manuscripts, the Myvyrian Archaiology provided the source text for many translators of medieval Welsh material. It was founded, and funded, by Owen Jones, who engaged William Owen Pughe as editor, and Edward Williams, better known as Iolo Morganwg, to search Wales for manuscripts.
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.
Cyllin was a legendary, and possibly historical British king of the 1st century AD, early Christian saint and the last pendragon of Great Britain. His existence is based on very limited evidence. Richard Williams Morgan claimed that a reference to him as a son of Caratacus was found in the family records of Iestyn ab Gwrgant and used this as evidence of early entry of Christianity to Britain;
Cyllin ab Caradog, a wise and just king. In his days many of the Cymry embraced the faith in Christ through the teaching of the saints of Cor-Eurgain, and many godly men from the countries of Greece and Rome were in Cambria. He first of the Cymry gave infants names; for before, names were not given except to adults, and then from something characteristic in their bodies, minds, or manners.
Taliesin Williams was a Welsh poet and author, and son of the notable Iolo Morganwg.
Raglan Library was a library located in Raglan Castle in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales.
The Coelbren y Beirdd is a script created in the late eighteenth century by the Welsh antiquarian and literary forger Edward Williams, best known as Iolo Morganwg.
Saint Ilid is a semi-legendary saint of Wales. He has at times been identified as Joseph of Arimathea, perhaps because he is referred to as a "man of Israel" and to have been born Jewish. Moreover, he is said to have returned from Rome with Caratacus, Saint Cyllin and Eigen and formed a religious college of twelve named Cor Eurgain, suggesting the early entry of Christianity into Britain. He may be commemorated in the village Llanilid. According to Thomas Morgan, Llanilid follows the tradition of Welsh place names attached to a parish in taking its title from the saint to whom the local church is dedicated. In Llanilid the local church is St. Ilid & St Curig's church, and Morgan states that this relates to Ilid a person who introduced Christianity to Wales in the 1st century. This research may be connected to that of famed literary forger Iolo Morganwg, who produced elaborate tales of Ilid going as far as stating that it was the Welsh names of Joseph of Arimathea. Morgan relates that "Llan" – "Ilid", refers to the 'parish of St Ilid'. This has been challenged by R. W. D. Fenn, who, after studying the Book of Llandaff and Nennius's Historia Brittonum writes in 1962 that the Latin equivalent of Ilid represents the name of a district, similar to Llandovery, and not a person. Fenn then writes that in 1566 Llanilid was dedicated to Ilid and Curig, whom he connects to the saints more commonly known in Christian tradition as Julietta and Quiricus. He links this through the Appendix of the Book of Llandaff which states that the church at Llanilid is first given as the 'Church of St Julitta'.
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