Saint Gwenfyl

Last updated

Saint Gwenfyl
Born6th century
ResidenceWales
Died6th century
Feast 1 November
Tradition or genre
Christian

Saint Gwenfyl was an early Welsh Christian saint from the Brychan family. Little is known of her life.

Contents

Life

Saint Gwenfyl was one of the children or descendants of Brychan. She founded a chapel named Capel Gwenvyl, which no longer exists, subordinate to Llanddewi Brefi in Ceredigion. [1] Other chapels at Llanddewi Brefi were Blaenpennal chapel (Saint David), Capel Bettws Lleicu (Saint Lucia) and Capel Gartheli (Saint Gartheli). [2] She shares a festival on 1 November with her sister, Saint Callwen. [3] As with Callwen, her name is only mentioned briefly in the Welsh calendars or genealogies. [4] Callwen and Gwenful were added to the number of children of Brychan in a short list of saints published in the Cambrian Register, but it would be wrong to assume they were more than descendants in some degree. [3]

Notes

    1. Smith & Wace 1880, p. 828.
    2. Rees 1836, p. 52.
    3. 1 2 Rees 1836, p. 153.
    4. Cartwright 2008, p. 93.

    Sources

    Related Research Articles

    Llanddewi Brefi Human settlement in Wales

    Llanddewi Brefi is a village, parish and community of approximately 500 people in Ceredigion, Wales.

    John Rhys British scholar and Celticist (1840-1915)

    Sir John Rhys, was a Welsh scholar, fellow of the British Academy, Celticist and the first professor of Celtic at Oxford University.

    Cybi English Roman Catholic saint

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

    Dubricius Sub-Roman Welsh bishop and saint

    Dubricius or Dubric was a 6th-century British ecclesiastic venerated as a saint. He was the evangelist of Ergyng and much of southeast Wales.

    D. Ben Rees

    David Benjamin Rees is a Welsh and English-language publisher, author, lecturer and minister in the Presbyterian Church of Wales since 1962. He is a leader of the Welsh community in Liverpool, and heads one of the city's five remaining Welsh chapels. His small publishing house, Modern Welsh Publications Ltd, was established in 1963 and from 1963 to 1968 it operated from Abercynon in the Cynon Valley of South Wales. Since 1968 it has operated from Allerton, Liverpool and is the only Welsh language publishing house still operating in the city of Liverpool.

    Gwladys Welsh queen and saint

    Saint Gwladys ferch Brychan or St Gladys, daughter of King Brychan of Brycheiniog, was the queen of the saint-king Gwynllyw Milwr and the mother of Cadoc "the Wise", whose Vita may be the earliest saint's life to mention Arthur. Gwladys's other children were Cynidr, Bugi, Cyfyw, Maches, Glywys II and Egwine. Today her main church and associated school is in Bargoed.

    Soar y mynydd

    Soar-y-mynydd or Soar y mynydd is a Calvinist Methodist chapel near the eastern extremity of the large parish of Llanddewi Brefi, Ceredigion. Its often-repeated claim to fame is that it is the remotest chapel in all Wales. Its name is Welsh for ‘Zoar of the mountain’. Zoar or its Welsh equivalent Soar is a not uncommon chapel name in Wales which derives from the mention in Genesis 19:20–30 of the place which served as a sanctuary for Lot and his daughters and which was spared by God when the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.

    Rice Rees was a Welsh cleric and historian.

    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.

    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.

    Bishop of St Davids Welsh bishop

    The Bishop of St Davids is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids.

    Defynnog Village in Wales

    Defynnog, also known as Devynock in some historical documents, is a small village in the community of Maescar in the historic county of Brecknockshire, Wales, now lying within the unitary authority area of Powys. It lies immediately south of Sennybridge and about ten miles west of Brecon within the Brecon Beacons National Park.

    Gwenafwy

    Saint Gwenafwy (Wenappa) was a pre-congregational saint of medieval South Wales. She was a daughter of Caw of Strathclyde, and sister of Peillan, Eigron and Peithein among others. She went to Cornwall with her brother Eigron where she is the patroness of Gwennap.

    Saint Gwrddlew or Gwrtheli, Gartheli, was a pre-congregational saint of the 5th century medieval, Wales.

    Saint Gwrfyw, was a pre-congregational saint of medieval Wales.

    Ystrad Marchell

    Ystrad Marchell sometimes Strad Marchell was a medieval commote (cwmwd) in the cantref of Ystlyg in the Kingdom of Powys. It roughly coincides with the parish of Welshpool.

    Saint Callwen was an early Welsh Christian saint from the Brychan family. There is some doubt about whether she existed. A church was dedicated to her in Defynnog, Brecknockshire.

    Glyntawe Human settlement in Wales

    Glyntawe is a hamlet and parish on the upper reaches of the River Tawe in Powys, Wales, in the community of Tawe-Uchaf. It has always been sparsely populated. Today it attracts tourists for outdoor activities in the Brecon Beacons National Park and for caving.

    St David's Church is a Grade II* listed medieval church in the Welsh village of Llanddewi Brefi, 3 miles south of Tregaron in the county of Ceredigion.

    St. Edwen was a 7th-century Saxon princess and saint. She is believed to have been the virgin daughter or niece of King Edwin of Northumbria, whose conversion to Christianity in 627 was contested by his lords. St. Edwen is thought to have grown up in the court of King Cadfan of North Wales, in Caerseiont or Carnarvon and is credited for founding a church in 640 on the site of the current St. Edwen's Church in Llanadwen, Anglesey, Wales. Her feast day is November 6.