Wenna | |
|---|---|
 St Wenna's Church, Morval, Cornwall | |
| Died | c. 492 AD Talgarth |
| Feast | 18 October |
| Patronage | St Wenna's Church, Morval, Cornwall St Wenn |
Wenna (Welsh : Gwen) was a medieval princess and Christian martyr who flourished in Wales and Cornwall. Later venerated as a saint, she is honoured at multiple churches in Cornwall and Devon.
According to the 12th-century Life of Nectan, Wenna was one of the twelve daughters of Brychan, a legendary king of Brycheiniog (modern-day Wales). [1] Her siblings included Nectan, Mabyn, Ninnoc, and numerous other Brythonic saints. [2] According to tradition, she was martyred by Saxons at Talgarth in 492. [3] [4]
Two churches and two chapels have been dedicated to a saint by the name of Wenna: a 12th-century chapel at Cheristow in Hartland parish in Devon, the 13th-century parish church of St Wenn, a 14th-century chapel at St Kew, and the 15th-century parish church of Morval, Cornwall. [1] The dedication of the parish church of Morval, however, is sometimes attributed to another Saint Wenna, a 5th-century queen of Cornwall and sister of Saint Non. [5] Wenna may have also had a holy well dedicated to her at St Wenn, but no specific records corroborate this. [1]
Her feast day is 18 October, which is shared with the other Saint Wenna. [3]
Brychan Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog in Mid Wales.
Brycheiniog was an independent kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It allied with the Mercian kingdom in the post Roman era, to stabilise and control a central (Marches) area key to dominance over central Proto-England to the east and the south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Armorican Normans between 1088 and 1095, though it remained Welsh in character. It was transformed into the Lordship of Brecknock and later formed the southern and larger part of the historic county of Brecknockshire. To its south was the Kingdom of Morgannwg.
Saint Nectan, sometimes styled Saint Nectan of Hartland, was a 5th-century holy man who lived in Stoke, Hartland, in the nowadays English, and at the time Brythonic-speaking, county of Devon, where the prominent St Nectan's Church, Hartland is dedicated to him.
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.
Morwenna is the eponymous patron saint of Morwenstow, a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, UK. Her name is thought to be cognate with Welsh morwyn "maiden", although the first name is also used in Wales and Brittany and said to be composed of "Mor" and "Gwenn", meaning "White sea" in both Welsh and Breton.
Non was, according to Christian tradition, the mother of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales.
Endelient was a Cornish saint of the 5th and 6th century. She is believed to be a daughter of the Welsh King Brychan, and a native of South Wales who travelled to North Cornwall to join her siblings in converting the locals to Christianity. Legend says that she was a goddaughter of King Arthur, and that she lived as a hermit at Trentinney where she subsisted on the milk of a cow. The saint is commemorated in the church and village of St Endellion which bear her name; Endellion being an Anglicised version of her name. Her feast day is 29 April.
St Mabyn Church is a Grade I listed late 15th-century Church of England parish church in St Mabyn, Cornwall, United Kingdom. The church is dedicated to Saint Mabyn or Mabena, who was regarded in local tradition as one of the many children of Brychan, a Welsh saint and King of Brycheiniog in the 5th century.
Morval is a rural civil parish, hamlet and historic manor in southeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The hamlet is approximately two miles (3 km) north of Looe and five miles (8 km) south of Liskeard.
Saint Enodoc, originally Wenedoc, was a sub-Roman Pre-congregational saint of Cornwall.
Saint Enoder, was a 5th-century Cornish saint from Brecknockshire in South Wales. He is venerated in the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches.
Adwen or Adwenna is 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.
Saint Dyfan is a highly obscure figure who was presumably the namesake of Merthyr Dyfan and therefore an early Christian saint and martyr in southeastern Wales in Roman or Sub-Roman Britain. He is sometimes styled the protomartyr of Wales. The erection of his martyrium was credited to the 6th-century St Teilo. In the 19th century, Edward Williams conflated him with St Deruvian, a figure in the legendary accounts of the baptism of King Lucius of Britain. The discovery of Williams's alterations and forgeries have since discredited this connection. Partially based on this connection, however, the church of Merthyr Dyfan dates his martyrdom to c. 180.
Clydog was a sixth-century Welsh king of Ergyng who became a saint. His feast day is traditionally held on 3 November but is also celebrated on 19 August.
Cynyr Ceinfarfog was a ruler of the Kingdom of Dyfed in Wales. He was known as Cunoricus in Latin and in English as Kendrick or as Cynyr the Red.
St Nicholas’ Church, West Looe is a Church of England parish church in Looe, Cornwall.
Saint Meleri was a late 5th century Welsh saint and Queen of Ceredigion.
Another St. Gwen, of the family of the great chieftain Brychan of Brecknock, suffered death at the hands of the heathen Saxons about A.D. 492.
| Unitary authorities | |
|---|---|
| Major settlements (cities in italics) |
|
| Rivers | |
| Topics | |
