A HISTORY OF THE WELSH CHURCH.
A HISTORY
THE WELSH CHURCH
TO THE
DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES.
BY THE
REV. E. J. NEWELL, M.A.,
AUTHOR OF
A POPULAR HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH CHURCH,
'ST. PATRICK: HIS LIFE AND TEACHING.'
Gwell Duvv na dim.'
LONDON :
ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.G.
1895.
RICHARD,
LORD BISHOP OF LLANDAFF,
THIS VOLUME
rs (BY PERMISSION) DEDICATED
BY
HIS OBEDIENT SERVANT AND SON,
THE AUTHOR.
EXPLANATION OF SOME ABBREVIATIONS EM
PLOYED IN THE NOTES.
' C. B. S.' ' Lives of the Cambro-British Saints,' with English trans
lations and explanatory notes by the Rev. W. J. Rees,
M.A., F.S.A. Published for the Welsh MSS. Society,
Llandovery, 1853.
This volume contains lives of Brynach, Beuno, Cadoc,
Carannog, David, Gwynllyw, Illtyd, Cybi, Padarn,
Winefred, etc., the original Latin and Welsh texts, with
translations.
H. and S. ' Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great
Britain and Ireland,' edited by Arthur West Haddan, B. D.,
and William Stubbs, M.A. [now Bishop of Oxford].
Oxford, 1869.
J. and F. 'The History and Antiquities of St. David's,' by William
Basil Jones, M.A. [now Bishop of St. David's] and
Edward Augustus Freeman, M.A. London, 1856.
'M. H. B.' 'Monumenta Historica Britannica,' 1848.
W. S. * The Tripartite Life of Patrick,' with other documents
relating to that saint, edited with translations and indexes
by Whitley Stokes, D.C.L., LL.D. Rolls Series, 1887.
PREFACE.
AMONG the prizes offered for competition at the National
Eisteddfod, held at Rhyl, in 1892, was one of £25
for the best ' History of the Christian Church in Wales,
from the Earliest Times to the death of Elizabeth.' The
prize was awarded to the essay bearing the motto,
' Gwell Duw na dim.'1
A portion of this essay has been incorporated in
this volume ; but since the competition I have devoted
further time and attention to the subject, with the result
that I have added very considerably to the size of the
history, and have practically re-written the whole, with
the exception of the first three chapters.
One result of my additional labours has been to deepen
my impression of the nationality of the Welsh Church,
which neither oppression, fraud, nor friendship availed to
destroy in the period under consideration. As a matter
of historical accuracy, therefore, I have not unfrequently
used the expression of Archbishop Peckham, and written
of the Church of the four dioceses as the ' Church of
Wales ' (Ecclesia W allies) t a title which in no way invali-
1 The adjudicators were the Venerable Archdeacon Pryce and
Mr. Owen M. Edwards, M.A., Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford.
x Preface
dates its claim to be also regarded as an integral part of
the great Church of England.
I have to thank Mrs. Gordon, of Nottage Court, Porth-
cawl, for her kindness in lending me Rymer's ' Fcedera ;'
' Monumenta Historica Britannica ;' Leland's ' Itinerary '
(the third edition) ; 'Athense Oxonienses ;' Browne Willis's
' Survey of Landaff;' ' Rotuli Parliamentorum ;' Francis's
' Charters of Neath and its Abbey,' and many other
valuable works. My thanks are also due to the Very
Reverend the Dean of Llandaff, for relaxing in my favour,
for the final revision of this History, the rule which
confines to the Cathedral Library some of the most
important of its volumes.
E. J. NEWELL.
PORTHCAWL, January i, 1895.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE CHURCH DURING THE ROMAN PERIOD I
II. GERMAN AND THE AGE OF THE SAINTS - 33
III. EARLY WELSH MONASTERIES - 66
IV. THE AGE OF CONFLICT - - 98
V. THE AGE OF CONFLICT AND THE SUBMISSION OF THE
WELSH CHURCH - - 115
VI. THE AGE OF FUSION TO THE CONSECRATION OF BISHOP
BERNARD - - 1 5 I
VII. FROM THE CONSECRATION OF BISHOP BERNARD TO THE
VISITATION OF ARCHBISHOP BALDWIN- 175
VIII. GERALD DE BARRI AND THE CONTEST FOR ST. DAVID'S 198
IX. THE CONDITION OF THE CHURCH IN THE AGE OF
GERALD DE BARRI - 238
X. THE NEW MONASTERIES 275
XI. THE AGE OF THE TWO LLYWELYNS - 307
XII. FROM THE CONQUEST OF WALES TO THE DEATH OF
OWAIN GLYNDWR - 338
I'AGE
xii Contents
CHAPTER
XIII. FROM THE DEATH OF OWAIN GLYNDWR TO THE DIS
SOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES . . 363
APPENDIX. TRANSLATION OF AN ODE BY LEWIS.
MORGANWG -
XIV. THE DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES - . 40^
APPENDIX A.— ANNUAL VALUE OF THE WELSH
MONASTERIES AT THE DISSOLUTION _ 4J9
APPENDIX B.— A LETTER OF BISHOP BARLOW - 423
INDEX - .
CHAPTER I.
THE CHURCH DURING THE ROMAN PERIOD.
To trace a mighty force, still active in our midst, to its
first small beginnings in far-distant centuries, is a task
that appeals strongly to the interest of the student. The
same attraction which leads men to ascend Plinlimmon to
view the sources of the Severn, Wye, and Rheidiol, operates
also in the field of history, and causes speculation and
research as to the origin of national movements and insti
tutions. But research is toilsome and speculation easy,
and men often describe the source without climbing the
hill. In the case of Celtic Christianity the conscientious
student is embarrassed by the multitude of sources which
the fertile imagination of theorists has invented.
The date of the introduction of Christianity into Wales
is not recorded, and cannot be determined with precision.
Yet there is a certain amount of evidence from which we
can draw a probable inference respecting it. Our earliest
and best authority on Welsh Christianity is Gildas, who
lived in the sixth century, and who supplies us with a
picture of the state of society in his time, overdrawn
perhaps, but instructive, and corresponding in its main
features to the indications found in other sources of
information. He states as his belief that the light of the
Gospel began to shine upon Britain in the days of Tiberius
• Caesar,1 and although his testimony as to the exact date is
1 Gildas, ' Historia,' vi. ; 'Monumenta Historica Britannica,' p. 8.
I
2 A History of the Welsh Church
weakened by his admission that he gained no information
from the records of his own country, which were lost, and
by the evident fact that he borrowed his statement from
a passage of Eusebius which he misinterpreted, he could
not have ventured upon such an assertion if, indeed,
Wales had only recently received Christianity. Through
out his writings he speaks of Welsh Christianity as no
new thing, but a creed commonly embraced and long
established. Paganism as an acknowledged religion was
a thing of the past ; the diabolical idols of his country,
which almost surpassed in number those of Egypt, were
still to be seen here and there, within or without the
deserted walls, with ugly features and their wonted stiff
and savage glare, but they lacked their former worship ;
the Divine honour that had been paid to mountains, hills
and rivers by the nation in the time of its blindness was
paid no longer, but these powers of nature, once destruc
tive, were now useful for the service of man.1 Bitter and
incisive as are the increpations of Gildas, he nowhere lays
paganism to the charge of those whom he rebukes, and in
like manner the successors of Augustine in a subsequent
age treated Welsh Christians as an ancient, though
schismatical, body, quite free from taint of paganism. If
we credit the authority of Gildas, and disregard, as we
may safely do, both the scoff of Gibbon2 and the obstinate
incredulity of Mr. Thomas Wright, we are led to infer
that Christianity existed and flourished in Britain cen
turies before the coming of the English people, and that
the Christian Church in Wales was at least not much
posterior in date to that of the more easterly parts of
the island.
It is not improbable that occasional Christian visitors
came over to Britain among the soldiers of the Roman
armies, or in their wake, at an early period after the
1 ' Historia,' ii. ; ' M. H. B.,J p. 7.
2 ' Decline and Fall,' chap, xxxviii.
The Church (hiring the Roman Period 3
outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, but
these scattered individuals or families can have had but
little influence upon the mass of the people. Various
baseless statements have been made as to the visits of
Apostles to Britain, and it is even to this day almost
an article of faith with some that St. Paul preached the
Gospel in this country, to which others add a local and
patriotic opinion that Glamorganshire was especially
honoured by his presence. A little inquiry soon shows
the absence of anything that can be called evidence in
favour of these suppositions. Clement of Alexandria has
indeed left his testimony that St. Paul taught ' the whole
world, even to the boundary of the West,' but, as we know
that the Apostle intended to visit Spain, it is more natural
to suppose that Clement was referring to that country
than to Britain. Chrysostom also, in rhetorical language,
has stated that the Apostle went from Illyricum ' to the
very ends of the earth.' Theodoret specifies, besides Italy
and Spain, ' the islands that lie in the sea ' as recipients
of the Apostle's aid, but apparently with reference to
Crete ; and in another passage mentions how ' our fisher
men and publicans and the leather-cutter ' (viz., St. Paul)
' carried the laws of the Gospel to all mankind, not only
to Romans, but to Scythians, Sarmatians, and Britons.'
This last passage really approaches nearest of any to
being evidence in favour of a visit to Britain ; but if it
refer to personal visits at all, it may be interpreted of
St. Peter or other Apostles quite as properly as of St.
Paul. Other quotations adduced from ancient writers
are quite beside the mark ; the poet Venantius Fortunatus
speaks of St. Paul's pen as crossing the ocean ' to the
land which the Briton inhabits and furthermost Thule,'
but as elsewhere he limits St. Paul's personal travels to
Illyricum, he cannot be held to assert that the Apostle
and his pen crossed the ocean in company. The only
testimony which states in so many words that St. Paul
4 A History of the Welsh Church
came to Britain is ascribed to Sophronius, Patriarch of
Jerusalem in the seventh century, but that is late and not
improbably spurious. There is no ancient native tradition
in favour of the theory, and the existence of certain
Triads called ' Paul's Triads a proves nothing. It may be
suspected that Protestant zeal, which has at times set up
St. Paul as a rival champion to St. Peter, has availed
more than force of argument in gaining acceptance for
the supposition that the Apostle of the Gentiles preached
in Britain. It must not be forgotten, too, that some
Romish writers, as Serenus de Cressy (who is well known
as figuring in an interesting passage of ' John Inglesant '),
state that St. Peter also came to Britain and there built
many churches. The chief authority for this is ' St.
Peter's own testimony in a Vision hapning in the dayes of
S. Edward the Confessour, wherein himself professed that
he had preached the Gospell in Brittany."2
Although there may have been individual Christians in
Britain, and even in Wales, before A.D. 176, it may be
concluded with a fair degree of certainty that there was
no British Church at that date, for Irenseus, enumerating
then all the Churches, and more particularly those of the
West, makes no mention of Britain. It is, therefore,
necessary to dismiss not only the theories of a Pauline and
a Petrine origin of the Church, but also the various
stories about visits of St. Simon Zelotes, St. Philip, St.
James the Great, Aristobulus, and Joseph of Arimathaea.
Much ingenuity has been bestowed upon the identification
of Claudia mentioned with Pudens by St. Paul, with
Claudia, the foreigner from Britain, spoken of by Martial
as the wife of Pudens, his friend. But though it has been
said that ' no lovelier character than that of the high-born
British matron,' in her care of Paul the aged, * is presented
1 See 'Poems,' by Edward Williams (lolo Morganwg), A.D. 1794,
vol. ii., pp. 251-253, where these Trioedd Pawl are preserved.
2 Serenus de Cressy, ' Church History of Brittany/ A.D. 1668, p. 15.
The Church during the Roman Period 5
<i> *J
to our admiration in the pages of history,' it must be con
fessed that the arguments for the identification are not
very strong, and that the pretty pictures which have been
drawn of the family party assembled in the ' Titulus ' at
Rome seem more romantic than real. For with an identi
fication which is not quite impossible, have been united
hints, traditions, legends, guesses, and inventions which
together make up an imposing story of the introduction
of Christianity into Wales. Bran, we are told, was taken
to Rome with his celebrated son Caratacus, or Caradog.1
There Caratacus's daughter, Gladys or Claudia, was
married to Pudens, and Bran and his son were converted
and baptized by St. Paul. The children of Claudia, St.
Timotheus, St. Novatus, St. Pudentiana and St. Praxedes,
were brought up ' literally ' on the knees of the Apostles,
and ' in A.D. 59 Aristobulus, brother of St. Barnabas and
father-in-law of St. Peter, was ordained by St. Paul first
Bishop of the Britons, and left Rome with Bran, Caradoc,
and the royal family for Siluria.'2 A farmhouse in
Glamorganshire, called Trevran, has been pointed out as
the place where Bran used to live,3 and St. Donat's
Castle, which stands picturesquely on a cliff on the coast
of the same county, has been selected as the site of the
palace of Caratacus and of the temporary resting-place of
the Apostle of the Gentiles.4
A genuine local tradition is always respectable, and
should not be dismissed without due consideration, for if
it be not history, it may contain matter that is historical.
But tales which are either the invention of local vanity or
have been sophisticated thereby and changed beyond all
chance of recognition, fall within a very different category.
1 Dion Cassius, however, says that the father of Caratacus (or
Caractacus) was Cunobelinus. No author of repute knows anything
of Bran.
2 'The British Kymry,' by Rev. R. W. Morgan, p. 101.
3 'Ecclesiastical History of the Cymry,' p. 56.
4 The spot where St. Paul preached at Llantwit Major is pointed
out by sincere believers.
6 A History of the Welsh Church
The 'Triads of the Third Series,' which are the chief
authority for the story, cannot be accepted as history, and
it is doubtful whether they are even genuine traditions.
The Triad of the Three Holy Families of Britain, which
is the eighteenth of this series, states that the first of the
three families was ' the family of Bran the Blessed, son of
Llyr Llediaith ; this Bran brought the faith in Christ first
into this island from Rome, where he had been in prison
through the treachery of Aregwedd Foeddawg, daughter
of Avarwy, the son of Lludd.' But this triad is merely a
corruption of an earlier triad, in which there is no mention
of Bran at all.1 Bran is mentioned as ' Blessed Bran ' in
the genuine Triads of Arthur and his Warriors, and also
in the Mabinogi of Branwen, both of which exist in
manuscripts of the fourteenth century. But it is quite
uncertain what may be the signification of this title. In
the Mabinogi Bran acts a strange part for a Christian
missionary, and shows more of the pagan than the
Christian in his composition. He is a giant, who wades
across the sea from Wales to Ireland, because there is no
ship that can carry him. The swineherds of the Irish
king Matholwch see him coming, and tell their lord that
they see a mountain moving upon the sea, and ' there was
a lofty ridge on the top of the mountain, and a lake on
each side of the ridge.' Says Branwen, ' It is Bran the
1 Teir gwelygordd Seynt Kymru. Plant Brychan ; a phlant Kunedda
Wledig ; a phlant Kaw o Brydyn. (The three stocks of Welsh Saints :
the children of Brychan, those of Cunedda, and those of Caw of
Pict-land.) Triad 18 of the Third Series reckons as the three holy
families : (i) the family of Bran Fendigaed, (2) the family of Cunedda
Wledig, and (3) the family of Brychan Brycheiniog. Triad 35 of the
Third Series amplifies the story a little. It begins thus : ' The three
sovereigns of the Isle of Britain who conferred blessings. Bran the
Blessed, son of Llyr Llediaith, who first brought the faith in Christ to
the nation of the Cymry from Rome, where he had been seven years
a hostage for his son Caradog, whom the Romans had taken captive
after he was betrayed by treachery and an ambush laid for him by
Aregwedd Foeddawg.; For these and other so-called authorities for
the Bran story see ' Ecclesiastical History of the Cymry,' pp. 53-56.
Compare also for their historical value ' Y Cymmrodor,' xi. 126.
The Church during the Roman Period 7
Blessed, my brother, coming to shoal water ; there is no
ship that can contain him in it.' ' What,' ask the
messengers, ' is the lofty ridge with the lake on each side
thereof?' 'On looking towards this island,' she replies,
' he is wroth, and his two eyes, one on each side of his
nose, are the two lakes beside the ridge.'1 Bran was on
his way to Ireland to avenge the wrongs done by
Matholwch to his sister, Branwen, and this object he
accomplished. When his army was unable to cross a
river, and asked his counsel, he replied, ' He who will be
chief, let him be a bridge,' and forthwith he lay down
across the river, and hurdles were placed upon him, and
the host passed over thereby. At last, being wounded by
a poisoned dart, he commanded that his head should be
cut off, and borne by the seven who remained of his army
to the White Mount in London, and there be buried with
the face towards France. On the way the seven tarried
for seven years in Harlech feasting, and all that time the
head was ' pleasant company,' and at Gwales in Penvro
they stayed further for fourscore years, and ' it was not
more irksome having the head with them than if Bran the
Blessed had been with them himself.' With all its
grotesqueness, this wild and wondrous tale is not devoid
of elements of beauty, but the deeds and attributes of its
hero savour more of heathen god than of Christian mis
sionary.2
In A.D. 176, we may conclude, there was no Christian
Church in Britain ; but a few years afterwards, about
A.D. 208, it is pretty clear that some such Church existed,
for Tertullian in his work, ' Against the Jews/ makes
1 ' Mabinogion ' (Lady Charlotte Guest's translation), second edition,
PP. 377, 378.
2 Elton ('Origins,' pp. 291, 292) thinks Bran to be a war-god,
brought to Rome with his fellow deity, Caradoc, through a confusion
of Bran with Brennus, and Caradoc with Caratacus. Professor Rhys
(' Hibbert Lectures,' pp. 94-97) thinks him to be a god of the nether
world, and the counterpart of the Gaulish Cernunnos.
8 A History of the Welsh Church
distinct mention of it. ' In whom else,' he says, ' have
all nations believed except in Christ, who now has
come? For to whom have also other nations trusted?'
Then he mentions in order the nations which heard the
Pentecostal message, and adds ' varieties of the Gaetuli,
many territories of the Moors, all the bounds of Spain,
and divers nations of Gaul, and districts of the Britons,
inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ
... in all which places the name of Christ, who now
has come, reigns . . . since in all these places the people
of Christ's name dwell. . . . What shall I say of the
Romans, who fortify their empire with the garrisons of
their legions, and are unable to extend the might of their
rule beyond those nations ? But the rule and name of
Christ are everywhere spread abroad, everywhere believed,
are worshipped by all the above-mentioned nations.'
This testimony is corroborated in A.D. 239 by Origen,
who says in his fourth homily on Ezekiel : ' For when
before the coming of Christ has the land of Britain
assented to the religion of the one God ? When the
land of the Moors ? When, in a word, the whole world ?
But now, on account of the churches, which occupy the
limits of the world, the whole earth shouts out with joy
to the Lord of Israel.' In his sixth homily on St. Luke,
the same Father mentions Britain and Mauritania as two
distant regions to which the Gospel had spread ; and
in yet another place, in A.D. 246, he speaks of the British
Church as though it were still comparatively small and
weak, for ' very many ' in Britain, he tells us, ' had not
yet heard the word of the Gospel.' There are many
other passages in the works of Christian writers of the
first few centuries attesting the existence of a British
Church.
' Little better than flourishes of rhetoric !' says the
sceptical archaeologist. ' When the zealous preacher
wished to impress upon his hearers or readers the
The Church during the Roman Period
widely-extended success of the Gospel, he would tell
them that it extended from India to Britain, without
considering much whether he was literally correct in
saying that there were Christians in either of these two
extremes.'1 The same author denies the 'authenticity2
of the work attributed to Gildas,'3 and, after rejecting
wholesale the testimony of legends, of Christian Fathers,
and of council records, concludes, from the absence of
Christian remains 'among the innumerable religious and
sepulchral monuments of the Roman period found in
Britain,' that Christianity was not established in Roman
Britain, and entered Cornwall and Wales from Spain or
Armorica after the period when the island was relinquished
by Rome.4
Such criticism savours rather of the ' incurable sus
picion,' upon which Gibbon prided himself, than of the
judicial mind of a sober critic. The scantiness (not
absence) of archaeological remains is a significant fact,
which is full of meaning, but to its real significance the
archaeologist himself was blind. Tertullian's testimony
may be couched in rhetorical language, but is, neverthe
less, pretty precise. A modern preacher in a missionary
sermon might speak of the Gospel as spread ' from pole
to pole,' but if he gave a list of countries which had
become Christian, it would be necessary for him to
observe accuracy in his enumeration, and probably it
was quite as incumbent upon Tertullian. Nothing but
* the stubborn mind of an infidel ' in the field of history
can refuse to accept his witness as conclusive, that in
1 ' The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon/ by Thomas Wright.
Second edition, p. 300.
2 Probably meaning 'genuineness.'
3 Dr. Guest sarcastically remarks (' Origines Celtics,' ii. 157) : 'I
am not aware that the genuineness of these works ' (' The Epistle ' and
'History') 'has been questioned by anyone whose scholarship or
whose judgment is likely to give weight to his opinion.'
4 'The Celt, the Roman and the Saxon,' p. 461.
io A History of the Welsh Church
A.D. 208 there was a Christian Church or a Christian
Mission in Britain. His knowledge, indeed, seems to
have been of a very precise kind, for he states that there
were districts which had submitted to Christ, though
they were then inaccessible to the Romans. This may
not imply the existence of Christianity outside the ordinary
boundaries of Roman rule, for the passage was probably
written at a time when Severus was occupied in quelling
an insurrection in Britain. But in any case it implies a
knowledge, even in detail, of the state of the British
Church at the time when Tertullian wrote.
From whence, then, was Christianity introduced into
Britain between the years 176 and 208 ? Various answers
have been given to this question : Rome, Gaul, and the
East having respectively its advocates as the source of
the British Church.
If tradition can be trusted, the mother of British
Christianity was the See of Rome. The theories about
the visits of Apostles and others fade into insignificance
when placed in contrast with the great Lucius story.
This is contained in the later form of the ' Roll of
Roman Pontiffs,' in Bede's ' Ecclesiastical History,' and
his ' Chronicle/ in the ' History of the Britons,' attributed
to Nennius, and in the ' Book of Llandaff,' as also in
the ' Triads of the Third Series.' In Geoffrey of Mon-
mouth's romance it attains extraordinary proportions as
the endowment of a Christian Church with the wealth
and privileges of the ancient Druidical priesthood. Later
writers give the letter which was written by the Pope in
answer to the petition of the British King, and, among
comparatively modern historians, Serenus de Cressy
devotes one long and elaborate book of his ' Church
History ' to the acts and death of King Lucius, respecting
whom he shows a detailed and minute knowledge, ex
tending even to his motives. On the Protestant side,
Usher, whose vast accumulations of learning on the
The Church during the Roman Period 1 1
subject were termed by Hallam 'a bushel of chaff,' has
pronounced decisively in favour of the legend, and many
other later writers have been led by his authority to
believe in Lucius and his petition.
The earliest trace of the story is found in the later
version of the ' List of Roman Pontiffs,' which is brought
down to the year 530, and is, probably, of that date or
thereabouts. The earlier version contains no mention
of Lucius, but the second, after amplifying a little in
other respects the notice of Eleutherius, continues thus :
' He received a letter from Lucius, King of Britain, that
he might be made a Christian by his mandate.'1 Bede,
about 731, repeats the story almost exactly in the same
words, but with the addition of an erroneous date, and
also with a slight change of phraseology, which has been
thought to show that Bede did not copy from the ' List '
itself, but from some source common to himself, and to
the continuator of the ' List.'2 Nennius, in the ninth
century, gives a somewhat various account, stating the
Pope to be Evaristus, and mentioning that Lucius was
called Lleuer Maur, or the Great Light, on account of
the faith which came in his time.3 The 'Book of
1 The first version is: 'Eleutherius annis .... fuit temporibus
Antonini et Commodi, a consulatu Veri et Erenniani, usque Paterno
et Bradua.' The second is : ' Eleuther natione Graecus ex patre
Abundantio de oppido Nicopoli, sedit annos quindecim, menses tres,
dies duos. Fuit temporibus Antonini et Commodi usque Paterno et
Bradua. Hie accepit epistolam a Lucio Britanniae rege, ut Christianus
efficeretur per ejus mandatum.3
2 Bede's version is : ' Anno ab incarnatione domini centesimo
quinquagesimo sexto Marcus Amonius Verus, decimus quartus ab
Augusto, regnum cum Aurelio Commodo fratre suscepit : quorum
temporibus cum Eleutherus vir sanctus pontificatui Romanae ecclesiae
praeesset, misit ad eum Lucius Britanniarum rex epistolam, obsecrans,
ut per ejus mandatum Christianus efficeretur' (Bede, ' H. E.,' i. 4 ;
' M. H. B.,' pp. ill, 112). Dr. Guest remarks (' Origines Celticas,' ii. 139) :
1 Bede, I believe, never uses the plural " Britannias" except when he is
evidently copying some classical or some foreign ecclesiastical writer,
and as the catalogue did not furnish the phrase he must have found it
elsewhere.3
3 'Anno Dominicas Incarnationis clxiv., Lucius Britannicus Rex
cum universis regulis totius Britanniae baptismum susceperunt, missa
1 2 A History of the Welsh Church
Llandaff,' which was compiled in the twelfth century,
states that in the year 156, Lucius, King of the Britons,
sent his ambassadors, Elvanus and Medwinus, to Pope
Eleutherius. ' They beg that by his admonition he might
be made a Christian, which he obtained from him.'
Eleutherius accordingly baptized the envoys, and ordained
Elvanus a bishop, and Medwinus a doctor. Through
their preaching, Lucius himself and the chief men of all
Britain received baptism, and, ' according to the com
mand of the blessed Pope Eleutherius, he established
ecclesiastical order, he ordained bishops, and taught the
rule of right living.' The date in this version of the
story is probably borrowed from Bede, and cannot
possibly be correct, as Eleutherius did not become Bishop
of Rome until 171 A.D., at the earliest. But the ' Book
of Llandaff' contains also another reference to the story.
A somewhat later scribe than the original compiler, but
also probably writing in the same century, has inserted
a life of Eleutherius, evidently derived from the later
form of the Roman ' List,' arid containing the clause
respecting Lucius, with but one slight verbal variation.
In tracing the history of the evolution of the legend this
significant entry is worthy of no little consideration.1
William of Malmesbury adds fresh details to the
story, mentioning that Eleutherius sent Phaganus and
legatione ab imperatoribus Romanorum et a Papa Romano Evaristo :
Lucius agnomine Llever-Maur, id est " Magni-Splendoris," propter
fidem quae in ejus tempore venit ' (' Nennius,' 18 ; ' M. H. B.,' p. 60).
Dr. Guest ('Origines Celticse,' ii. 140) believes that Nennius had the
more perfect tradition, and preserved the name of the Roman bishop
who sent missionaries to Britain, though he considers the name Lucius
an invention, borrowed from one of the names of Commodns, the
Emperor under whom Eleutherius flourished.
' Eleutherius natione grecus ex patre habundio de oppido nicopoli
sedit annos xv. menses vi. dies quinque. Fuit autem temporibus antonie
et commodi usque ad paternum et braduam. Hie accepit epistolam a
Lucio britannio rege ut christianus efficeretur per eius mandatum,' etc.
' The Book of Llan Dav ' (Evans's edition), p. 26. Compare the notice
of Eleutherius above in the ' List of Roman Pontiffs.'
The Church during the Roman Period 13
Deruvianus as preachers to Britain ; and Geoffrey of
Monmouth calls these missionaries Faganus and Duvanus.
The untrustworthy ' Triads of the Third Series ' make
Lucius, or Lleurwg, as they call him, fourth in descent
from Caradog or Caratacus, the son of Bran, and so
connect him with the Bran legend or imposture. As a
Silurian chief, he is naturally brought into connection
with Llandaff as the founder of its first church.
It is to be noted that in the ' Book of Llandaff' no
connection is asserted between Lucius and Llandaff.
The mission to Rome is merely related as the origin of
British Christianity, and neither the line of the descent
of Lucius nor his capital city is mentioned. The version of
the Triads would therefore meet with little consideration
were it not for the existence of dedications to Lleurwg,
Dyfan, Ffagan, and Medwy in the immediate neighbour
hood of Llandaff, and nowhere else. St. Pagan's is a charm
ing little village close to Llandaff, with a ' decent church,'
and with the antique mansion of Lord Windsor standing
upon a slight eminence amid a lovely country. Merthyr
Dyfan, the Church of Dyfan the martyr, is not far off,
and on the other side of the great town of Cardiff lie
Llanlleurwg, now better known as St. Mellon's, and
Michaelston-y-Fedw.1 These dedications are probably
old ; Llan Fagan is mentioned at least by the ' Book of
Aberpergwm,'2 under the date 1150, as one of the chief
churches of the diocese which had lost their sanctuary
since the time of lestin ap Gwrgan. Neither do they
seem to be due to Romanizing influence, seeing that two,
1 In 'Achau a Gwelygorddau Saint Ynys Prydain5 (lolo MSS.
114, 513) we read as follows : ' Saint Lleirwg, King of the Island of
Britain, the son of Coel, the son of Cyllin, the son of Caradoc, the son
of Bran, the son of Llyr Llediaith ; his church is Llanlleirwg ; and
also another in Llandaff. . . . Saint Ffagan was bishop in Llan-
Sanffagan, and there is his church. Saint Dyfan was bishop in
Merthyr Dyfan, where he was slain by the pagans, and there is his
church. Saint Medwy was bishop in Llanfedwy, where his church is.'
2 This, however, is by no means trustworthy evidence.
14 A History of the Welsh Church
those to Medwy and Lleurwg, gave place in later times
to other saints, one of whom, Mellon, was naturally dear
to Norman hearts from his association with Rouen,
The phraseology used respecting the petition of Lucius
in several versions of this story is evidently borrowed
from the Roman List, which was unquestionably well
known to Llandaff scribes in the twelfth century, and
from which Bede also, notwithstanding one slight verbal
difference, probably derived ultimately his 'notice of
Lucius. But this phraseology savours so much of Roman
arrogance as to lead to suspicion of the authority of the
Roman List in its later form. As has been well remarked,
it is ' manifestly written in the time and tone of Prosper.'1
The later versions do nothing to strengthen the story ;
but rather weaken it by their inconsistent statements,
and the idea of a ' King of Britain ' sending an embassy
to Rome towards the end of the second century, is in
itself rather extraordinary. The story may safely be
dismissed to the limbo of interested fictions ; but it is
possible that the dedications in the neighbourhood of
Llandaff indicate that it developed in its Welsh form by
association with genuine Welsh saints, and even perhaps
with a genuine tradition respecting early missionary
operations around Llandaff. It is along the Roman road,
which can still be traced between Cardiff and Newport,
that the missionary movement would come westward,
and Lleurwg, Ffagan, Dyfan, and Medwy, may have been
the pioneers of Christianity in the district.
If British Christianity did not come from Rome, there
can be little doubt that it was carried from the neighbour
ing country of Gaul. It is certainly quite unnecessary to
suppose that it was brought straight from the East.
There is no evidence of this, and the theory in itself is
not very probable. Yet it seems to be true that there
are traces in the Celtic Church of some Oriental connec-
1 'H. and S.,' i. 25.
The Church during the Roman Period 15
tion. This has been denied, and some exaggerated state
ments to the effect have been successfully refuted ; but
there nevertheless remains a considerable amount of
evidence leading to this conclusion. It must of course
be admitted that all early Christianity was Greek, that
the British Church from its isolated position was con
servative of primitive practices and ignorant of later
Latin usages, and that, furthermore, the British Easter
and other peculiar customs were primitive or old-fashioned,
not Eastern. But notwithstanding this, the Celts certainly
founded their opposition to Latin customs upon Eastern
authority. It is not without significance that at the
Council of Whitby, Colman, the spokesman for the Celtic
Easter, appealed to the authority of St. John against
Wilfrid, who claimed to follow St. Peter. ' Marvellous
is it,' said Colman to the Roman champion, ' that you
would call our toil foolish, wherein we follow the example
of so great an apostle, who was worthy to lean on the
bosom of the Lord ; since all the world knows that he
lived most wisely.'1 When Wilfrid had replied to this
contention, Colman next adduced the authority of another
Eastern saint, Anatolius, Bishop of Laodicea. The great
missionary Columbanus, when he encountered similar
difficulties to those of Colman, in like manner refused to
be bound by the authority of Rome, and appealed to the
judgment of the Council of Constantinople, and in another
eloquent passage plainly owned his greater reverence for
Jerusalem than for Rome. So, too, in the legends of the
Celtic saints, influenced though they are by the prejudices
of late writers of Roman proclivities, there are frequent
signs of an ancient tendency to regard Jerusalem as pre
eminent. David, the patron saint of Wales, Teilo, Padarn,
Cybi, Cadoc, and King Arthur, are all taken to Jerusalem by
their biographers ; and the legends tell how the first three
saints arrived at the Holy City together, and were con-'-
1 Bede, ' Historia Ecclesiastica,' iii. 25 ; ' M. H. B.,' p. 201.
1 6 A History of the Welsh Church
secrated by the Patriarch, and enriched with wonderful
gifts. Pilgrimages to the East from Celtic countries were
undoubtedly numerous, as is proved by the testimony of
Palladius and Theodoret.1 Some of the Celtic clergy
appear to have visited Constantinople in the middle of
the ninth century to make inquiries, as at the fountain-
head of knowledge, concerning the date of Easter and
other points of ecclesiastical order.2 Architectural and
palseographical evidence in favour of Eastern influence is
not quite clear, and pilgrimages may have introduced
Orientalisms at a date long subsequent to the original
planting of the British Church ; but it must not be for
gotten that the existing remains of early Celtic liturgies
belong rather to the ' Ephesine,' than to the ' Petrine '
family.3
All this, however, is quite harmonious with a Gallican
origin of the British Church, though it were less explic
able^ if the Britons had regarded Rome as the source of
their Christianity. It is probable that at the time when
the British Church was founded, between A.D. 176 and
A.D. 208, there was little Christianity in Gaul outside the
Churches of St. John in the Rhone valley. These were
' distinctively Greek Churches, being colonies from Asia
Minor. The first bishop of Lyons was Pothinus, who
came direct from Asia Minor. Irenaeus, who succeeded
him, was probably a native of Smyrna, and was instructed
by Polycarp, from whom he received the traditions of St.
John. In A.D. 177 occurred that terrible persecution of
the Churches of the Rhone valley, the details of which
are known from the pathetic letter sent by them to the
1 Palladius, writing in 420, of the years before 410, and Theodorer,
writing about 440, but probably concerning A.D. 423. Palladius is
treating of the hospitality of Melania the elder to pilgrims at Jeru
salem, and Theodoret of the visits of Spaniards, Britons, and Gauls to
Telanissus near Antioch, to see Symeon Stylites. See ' H. and S.,'
i. 14.
2 See ' Vita S. Chrysostom.,' quoted by ' H. and S.,' i. 204, note.
3 Warren, ' Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church,' 163, 167, etc.
The Church during the Roman Period 17
Greek Churches of Asia Minor. Possibly the mission to
Britain had started ere this ; or perhaps in this case, as so
often happened, the dispersion of Christians from one
city caused them to flee to another for refuge, and so the
Gallican Christians found safety in distant Britain, and
there planted a new Church. ' The chain of these Gallo-
Celtic Churches reached up to Langres on the northern
side of the watershed, near the springs of the Seine, and
through Langres ran one of the great northern roads from
Lyons to the British Channel. It was by a route through
Aries and Lyons, and then northwards, that Augustine
in the sixth century proceeded to Britain, after reaching
the Rhone basin from Italy by the easy connection of the
Provincial1 Here, then, was the natural road for the
approach of Christianity to Britain, and in default of a
genuine tradition respecting the origin of the British
Church, it appears most probable that Christian mis
sionaries came that way from the churches of the Rhone
valley to Britain, and brought with them memories of St.
John, which caused the Celts centuries afterwards to
appeal to him as the Apostle whose traditions they pro
fessed to follow.
There is very little doubt that Christianity entered Wales
by the Roman road which led by Glevum or Gloucester
through the stations of Venta Silurum (Caerwent), and
Isca Silurum (Caerleon) by Cardiff to Nidum (Neath),
and Maridunum (Carmarthen). Caerleon itself is
probably the City of Legions,2 mentioned by Gildas as
the city of Aaron and Julius, who were martyred in the
Diocletian persecution of A.D. 304. Such, at least, was
the current belief in the time of Giraldus Cambrensis,
who states that two churches at Caerleon had been
dedicated respectively to each of these martyrs ; and it
may be inferred from the Book of Llandaff that there was
1 Dr. Brewer in Quarterly Review, vol. cxlvii., p. 516.
2 Legionum urbs. Gildas, ' Hist.,3 8 ; * M. H. B.,' p. 8.
1 8 A History of the Welsh Chiirch
a ' territory ' of Julius and Aaron at Caerleon during the
ninth century.1 It is also probable, though not wholly
unquestioned, that Caerleon was the seat of a British
bishopric in the Roman period. Giraldus Cambrensis
used and distorted this tradition to suit his own purposes ;
but it is not for that reason of necessity worthless.
Bishop Adelfius, who was present from Britain at the
Council of Aries in 314, together with his brother bishops,
Eborius of York and Restitutus of London, may very
probably have been bishop of this see, but the corruption
of the manuscripts precludes absolute certainty. The
council was called to consider the case of the Donatists,
the followers of Donatus, an African bishop. Constantine
the Great had previously summoned a council of twenty
bishops at Rome, to settle the questions of discipline and
doctrine which this sect had raised ; but as their decision
was not accepted by the Donatists, the Emperor convened
a provincial council at Aries. The names of the British
bishops are found towards the latter part of the signatures,
and included among those of the bishops of Gaul. The
bishops were accompanied by Sacerdos, a priest, and
Arminius, a deacon. Adelfius in the entry is called
* Bishop of the City Colonia Londinensium ;'2 but as no
* Colony of Londoners ' is known, there is evidently here
some mistake. Various have been the suggestions in
consequence : Usher supposes the place intended to be
Colchester, the Caer Collon of Nennius ; Selden and
Spelman think it is Camulodunum, whether that be
Maldon or Colchester ; Whitaker prefers to accept the
present reading, and interprets it of Richborough ; and
Lingard and Routh give their judgment in favour of
Lincoln (Col. Lind.). Stillingfleet, with the late Arthur
Haddan, and the Bishop of Oxford, substitute ' Legionen-
sium ' for ' Londinensium,' and interpret of Caerleon.
1 * Book of Llan Dav ' (Evans' edition), p. 225.
2 Episcopus de civitate Colonia Londinensium.
The Church during the Roman Period 19
The Bishop of Eboracum, or York, naturally takes the
first place in the list from the predominance of York in
the time of Constantine ; the bishop of the southern
capital comes next ; and if Caerleon were indeed the
western capital, its bishop would naturally come third.
British bishops also attended the Council of Ariminum
in A.D. 359. Whether any of these were from Wales, we
know not. All the information we possess is that the
Aquitanians, Gauls, and Britons who were present were
for the most part unwilling to avail themselves of the
Emperor's proffered hospitality ; but that three only of
the British bishops accepted it on account of their
poverty.1 This statement seems to imply that there was
a considerable number of British bishops present, so that
it is not improbable that one or more came from Wales.
The bishops of Britain certainly concurred with the
decrees of the Council of Nice2 (A.D. 325), and with the
acquittal of Athanasius by the Council of Sardica3 (A.D. 347),
but there is no proof that any of them were present at
those councils. The lists of the bishops present are,
however, incomplete ; but with regard to the Council of
Nice, we learn that its decrees were sent to the West by
Hosius, Bishop of Cordova, through two Roman presbyters,
Victor and Vincentius, which seems to imply that Gaul
and Britain sent no representatives. However this
may be, the orthodoxy of the British Church during the
period of the Arian heresy is attested by the unimpeach
able witness of both Athanasius and Hilary. The Western
Churches do not seem to have thoroughly grasped the
niceties of Eastern terminology, and for a time hesitated
about accepting the new term ' consubstantial ' ; but they
were still less willing to listen to the heretical novelties of
the Arians, and although coerced and cheated into agree-
1 Sulpicius Severus, ' Hist. Sac.,' ii. 41, in ' H. and S.,' i. 9.
2 'Athanasius ad Jovian Imp.,' etc., in ' H. and S.,' i. 7, 8.
3 Athanasius, 4Apol. cont. Arian.,' and 'Hist. Arian. ad Monach./
in 'H. and S.,' i. 8, 9.
2O A History of the Welsh CJmrch
ing to an ambiguous creed at the Council of Ariminum,
they speedily disavowed any complicity with heresy, and
maintained throughout the purity of their Christian
heritage. The presence of British bishops at Ariminum
was partly due to the efforts made by the Arian Emperor
Constantius to get together the bishops of the West,
and partly to the protection afforded at this time to the
coast of Britain by the ' Britannic fleet,'1 which kept the
piratical Franks and Saxons in check.
' Happy the nation which has no history.' If this be
true of Churches as well as nations, the Church in Wales
in the Roman period must have been happy indeed.
There is plain, unmistakable evidence that such a Church
existed ; but of its acts and memorials, apart from those
of the British Church in general, there is scarcely a trace
remaining. Yet, doubtless, it was doing a good work, for
it was pure in doctrine, although unused to theological
subtleties and probably unlearned. The dwellers in the
gorgeous Roman villas knew little of the work that was
going on all around them, and cared less. As had
happened earlier still, ' not many wise men after the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble ' were called ;
and the archaeologist may search in vain amid the relics
of Roman greatness for imposing monuments of British
Christianity. Nothing has yet been found at Viriconium,
and nothing at Caerleon, except perhaps a sepulchral stone
with a ' rough scoring,' which may be a palm-branch, and
may perhaps indicate the burial-place of a Christian.
The stone at Llanerfil may bear a Christian inscription of
this period : ' Hie in tumulo jacit Restice filia Paternini
an xiii in pa(-ce).'2 The words ' in pace,' ' in peace,' are
very commonly used on Christian tombs in early times.
' A gold Basilidian talisman, with an inscription, partly
1 'Classis Britannica.'
2 ' Here, in this mound, lies Restice, daughter of Paterninus, aged 13,
in peace.'
The Ch^lrch during the Roman Period 2 i
in Greek letters, partly in astral or magical characters,'1
found at Llanbeblic in Carnarvonshire, about twenty
yards from the old Roman wall of Segontium, shows that
semi-Christian heresies penetrated into Wales at a very
early date. There are other traces of Christianity in
Britain outside Wales besides these ; but these are all
that have been detected with any approach to certainty
within the borders of Wales. This is certainly significant ;
it proves, not that the Christian Church was non-existent,
but that it lived apart from the patronage of wealthy
Roman residents. The same fact is hinted in con
temporary history by the statement of Sulpicius Severus,
that three British bishops were compelled by poverty,
and evidently sorely against their will, to accept the
heretical Emperor's bounty at Ariminum. It is a
problem of considerable interest, whether the members of
the Church were chiefly Roman slaves and freedmen,
' the poorer class of that mixed race of immigrants which
clustered round the chief Roman colonies,'2 or whether
they were for the most part native Britons. The names
of British Christians in traditions and martyrologies —
Alban, Aaron, Julius, Socrates, Stephanus, Augulus, and
the rest — have been referred to in support of the former
hypothesis, and the connection of bishops with the
Roman towns, Eboracum, Londinium, and possibly
Caerleon has been thought to tend the same way. Yet
Eborius is a British name, appearing in the forms Ebur,
Ibarus, and Ywor among the names of British and Irish
bishops in later times, and the argument drawn from
foreign names is by no means strong. Such names as
David, Asaph, Daniel, Samson, and Ismael, which are
parallel to Aaron, occur among the later Welsh saints,
and suggest either a tendency among the Britons to adopt
' Bible names,' or an adaptation of native names to
1 ' H. and S.,' i. 40.
2 Haddan, ' Remains,' p. 218.
22 A History of the Welsh CJmrch
Hebrew forms, just as the name of St. Thenew, mother
of St. Kentigern, has been corrupted in Scotland into
St. Enoch.1 As regards the Latin forms, we know that
Britons occasionally had two names, one Roman and one
Celtic. Thus we are told that Patrick in addition to his
Roman name had also the native name of Succa.t.2
Whatever may have been the character of the British
Church in the earliest period of Christianity, it must have
been strongly Celtic at the time of the separation of
Britain from the empire, otherwise the departure of the
Romans would have weakened it, whereas in reality it is
from that point that it seems to have acquired fresh
vitality and vigour. Patrick, who was born in Britain
probably towards the close of the period of Roman occu
pation, has all the characteristics of a Celt both in
his writings and in his work. But he was of a family
that had long been Christian ; his father Calpornus, or
Calpurnius, was a deacon,3 and also a decurion of a
Roman colony. His grandfather Potitus was a priest, the
son of Odissus. Perhaps the Roman names may indicate
an intermixture of Roman blood ; but the Celtic spirit and
temperament were in the brave missionary all the same,
and his Celtic name proves him to have had Celtic blood
as well. As it was with Patrick, so it was with the
Church from which Patrick sprung. The Latin and the
Celtic strains were blended, but the Celtic in the end
predominated. The story of Patrick's work in Ireland
explains the problem which has sorely puzzled some of
our archaeologists, why there are so few remains of
churches of the Roman period. St. Martin's, Canterbury,
and a few others, none of which are in Wales, contain
1 St. Enoch's Station, Glasgow.
2 Sochet, so Muirchu, 'Tripartite Life of Patrick, with other Docu
ments,' ii. p. 494 (Whitley Stokes, Rolls Series) ; Succetus, so Tirechan,
ibid., ii. 302 ; Succat, so Fiacc's ' Hymn,' ibid., ii. 404 ; Lebar Brecc,
Preface to Secundinus, ' Hymn,' ibid., ii. 390.
s 'Confession' in 'Tripartite Life' (Rolls Series), ii. 357.
The Church during the Roman Period 23
Roman work, and may have been used for Christian
purposes even in the Roman period, by the Roman
Christians or the Romanized Britons ; but probably the
majority of the churches throughout Britain, and almost
certainly the majority in Wales, were wooden. Occasion
ally, when wood was scarce, Patrick built a church of
earth, as at Foirrgea — he * made a quadrangular church
of earth, because there was no forest near at hand.'1 At
Clebach also, we are told, he made a church of earth.2
Churches of stone were rare, though probably not without
examples even in the time of Patrick. It has been
supposed, from the special mention of quadrangular
churches at Foirrgea, and in the Fe4gn of Conmaicne,3
that Patrick usually built round churches, and it is
inferred from the fact that only one dimension is given
for the buildings of the Ferta at Armagh,4 that they were
all circular. It is not improbable that Patrick introduced
this custom from Britain, and it has been suggested that
the word Cor is a trace. Old churchyards in Wales are
often round, and possibly the ashes of rude pagan fore
fathers lie in many such with the ashes of their Christian
sons and successors.
Welsh patriotism would claim St. Patrick as a native of
Gower, and asserts that his father's name was Mawon,
and that his own name was Padrig Maenwyn. One story
even calls him the first principal of the college of Llantwit
Major, and states that he was carried away captive
thence by the Irish ; but this is manifestly inconsistent
with Patrick's own narrative. Wherever Bannavem
Taberniae may have been, whether at Old Kilpatrick,
near Dumbarton, or elsewhere, it was certainly in Britain,
1 ' Fecit ibi asclessiam terrenam de humo quadratam, quia non prope
erat silva.' Tirechan in 'Book of Armagh'; Whitley Stokes' 'Tri
partite Life of St. Patrick,' ii. 327, and other documents.
2 ' yEclessiam terrenam fecit in eo loco.' Tirechan in ' Book of
Armagh'; ' W. S.,' ii. 317.
3 ' W. S.,' ii. 321. 4 ' Tripartite Life '; ' W. S.,' i. 237.
24 A History of the Welsh Church
not in Gaul, and Patrick's practices and writings are
valuable, therefore, as illustrative of the condition of the
British Church at the close of the Roman period. It is
very clear from his writings that Christianity was the
dominant religion throughout the civilized parts of
Britain. Of himself, and the companions of his boyhood,
he says : ' We had departed from God and had not kept
His precepts and were not obedient to our Priests, who
admonished us for our salvation j'1 but his words are
clearly the outcome of spiritual contrition for moral
faults, not a confession of any relapse into paganism.
During his mission some of his Irish converts were
carried off into slavery by a British prince, named
Coroticus. But this prince himself was no pagan, but a
nominal Christian. Joceline in his life of Patrick calls
the prince Cereticus, and states that his principality was
' in certain territories of Britain which are now called
Vallia,' i.e., Wales. Cereticus would be in Welsh,
Ceretic or Ceredig, so that he may perhaps be identified
with Ceredig, the son of Cunedda.2 But the older writer,
Muirchu, calls the prince Coirthech, King of Aloo,3 a
place which is probably to be identified with Alclud or
Dumbarton. In any case, whether he were of Wales or
the north, he was nominally a Christian, though he
scoffed at the clerical embassy which Patrick sent to his
court, and was for this act denounced by the saint. By
the end of the period of Roman occupation, Christianity
was the religion of the native population of the Roman
provinces, except perhaps in backward districts, although
doubtless paganism was largely blended with it in popular
beliefs and practices.
' Society was a long time unlearning heathenism ; it
has not done so yet,' says a recent writer,4 and in
1 ' Confession,' in Haddan and Stubbs' ' Councils,' ii. 2, 296.
2 See Rees, 'Welsh Saints,' pp. 108-110; Todd, 'St. Patrick,' p. 352.
3 Muirchu Maccu-Machtheni in ' Book of Armagh '; ' W. S.,' ii. 271.
4 Dean Church, ' St. Anselm.'
The Church during the Roman Period 25
Patrick's time 'the dead hand' of paganism was still
mighty to thwart Christian practice, though not to
prevent the Christian profession. The old worships had
been many and diverse. The conquest of Britain by the
Romans had not destroyed the native heathenism ; it
only introduced new gods. The Roman raised his altars
to Jupiter, best and greatest ; to Mars, conqueror and
avenger, and to the other gods of his mythology, and
the numerous nationalities among the legionaries and
settlers — Gauls, Germans, Spaniards, Tungrians, Dacians,
Thracians, Dalmatians, and Palmyrenes — joined him in
his worship, and adored also their own national gods.
Thus all the gods whose worship had been adopted at
Rome, and besides these many strange and barbarous
deities also, had their temples and altars in this island.
The Britons, too, learned to identify their gods with the
gods of the conquerors, and the conquerors in turn con
descended to adore the British gods. So Maponus, or
Mabon, and Grannus, ' the light-bringer,' both received
the name of Apollo, and Belatucadrus, ' the god mighty
to kill/ and ' the holy god Mars Cocidius ' were identified
with the Roman god of war. But all these greater gods
passed away before the power of ' the dreaded Infant ' of
Bethlehem, it was the minor superstitions that died
hardest ; in respect of these it is true that ' the Canaanite
dwelt still in the land.' The worship of the three god
desses, the Deae Matres ; of the Genius Loci, of the
Nymphs, and of the god of Druidism, was too deeply
rooted in the popular mind to be quickly destroyed. The
old temples might be pulled down or abandoned, but the
convert could still behold the sun, the fire, the wells,
the streams, and the stones. He had still a superstitious
dread of the powers of Nature, and a fondness for the
older rites, and so many a one ' feared the Lord and
served his own gods.'
It is sometimes maintained that the early Christianity
26 A History of the Welsh Church
of Britain and of Ireland was a compromise between
Christianity and Druidism. This is undoubtedly a fairly
accurate description of the Christianity of Ireland at
some periods, but is not more applicable to Britain
than to most of the other countries of Christendom in the
early ages of the Church. There was a conflict to be
waged with paganism in every country where Christ's
Gospel was preached, a conflict which did not cease when
the old gods were cast down and when their temples
were demolished. It is difficult for us to realize how
entirely the everyday life of mankind was interpenetrated
by pagan ideas and pagan actions ; though we may get
a glimpse of the condition of things in the old Roman
world from the description of Tertullian. While the
Christians were a small, persecuted body, they remained
comparatively pure in spite of all the infection around
them, though even then, as many examples prove, it was
exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for converts when
they embraced Christianity to give up wholly their old
ways of thought. But when the world itself became
Christian, Christianity necessarily suffered from the
adhesion of multitudes who were pagans at heart, and
who mixed with their Christianity many of their old
beliefs and practices.
These are somewhat trite reflections, which any
student of Early Church history can make for himself; but
it is necessary to remind those who view British Chris
tianity as a kind of Christianized paganism that the
pagan survivals which they notice and upon which they
lay undue stress had their counterpart in every nation of
Christendom, and that it would be as fair to accuse the
Church in other nations of paganism, as it is to accuse
the Church in Wales. The dream of a British Church
distinguished by ambitious native heterodoxy, wherein
' the Bards, or Druids, continued for many centuries
after they became Christians, the ministers of religion,
The Chiirch during tJie Roman Period 27
even till, and probably in some places long after, the time
of the two Athanasian and incipiently Popish bishops,
Germanus and Lupus ?1 (I quote the text of the accusa
tion in all its naked absurdity), is too ridiculous for any
serious thinker now to entertain. But the more sober
conception which has been sometimes advanced, and
which represents the early British Christians as so far
influenced by pagan superstitions as scarcely to hold
Christianity in any restricted sense of the term/ has, I
venture to assert, hardly any more support from history
than the older dream which I have just quoted from the
writings of lolo Morganwg. Not the slightest shadow of
paganism rests upon the writings of St. Patrick, the
British missionary of the fifth century, or upon the ' De
Excidio Britannia' of Gildas in the sixth century. Both
writers serve as unimpeachable witnesses to the orthodoxy
1 ' Poems,' by Edward Williams (lolo Morganwg), vol. ii., p. 203.
2 This would almost seem, indeed, to be the view of Professor Rhys.
See his 'Arthurian Legend,' p. 369 : ' It is not wholly improbable that
some of them (viz., the early recluses who were fond of withdrawing
to the islands) expected to derive advantage from the wall of inviol
ability which the pagans of former ages had built round the person of
the islander. At any rate it would be hazardous to treat that con
sideration as a quantite negligeable before the sanguinary advent of
the Norsemen ; and it lends some countenance to our conjecture
expressed elsewhere to the following effect : " Irish Druidism absorbed
a certain amount of Christianity ; and it would be a problem of con
siderable difficulty to fix on the point where it ceased to be Druidism,
and from which onwards it could be said to be Christianity, in any
restricted sense of that term." This has been characterized as an
extreme statement, but after toning it down a little we should be
disposed to extend it so as to take in the Celts, not only of Ireland,
but of Britain too.' See also Rhys, ' Hibbert Lectures,' p. 224, and
my 'St. Patrick' ('The Fathers for English Readers'), p. 221. I
acknowledge pagan survivals in Wales ; I acknowledge the existence
of a semi-pagan bardic literature, such as the 'Book of Taliessin';
but I cannot rind any evidence that the Church was largely 'tinctured'
with paganism, as lolo Morganwg says, or that the Christianity of
Wales was in any proper sense of the term a druidical or semi-pagan
Christianity. I find instead in the earlier ages, at least down to the
seventh century, traces of a very healthy Christianity, and with all
due respect to so eminent an authority as Professor Rhys (to whom all
students of Celtic antiquity must owe deep obligation), if he takes an
opposite view, I must beg to differ from him.
28 A History of the Welsh Church
of the British Church. Even the statement as regards
Ireland that ' Patrick engrafted Christianity on the pagan
superstitions 51 in order to accommodate it to the tastes of
his Irish converts, cannot be supported by one tittle of
evidence from his ' Confession/ his * Epistle to the Subjects
of Coroticus,' or even from the ' Deer's Cry,' but is wholly
diverse from the spirit of these writings. If we seek for
its basis, we find it in the worthless testimony of late
writers of legends, who created a fictitious Patrick,
whom they embellished with forgeries of their own evil
imaginations.
It is noteworthy that the orthodoxy of the British
Church, except for the short period of the Pelagian
heresy, which we are immediately about to consider, was
never impugned in ancient times by its bitterest assail
ants, and that the suspicions which have been raised are
entirely of modern origin. There were pagan survivals
all over Christendom in those old days (as, indeed, there
are still), and no branch of the Church could venture to
throw stones at another on this account. All over
Christendom, too, these practices were more or less
condoned by the Church for reasons of expediency. St.
Columba was not alone in his policy when he converted
a well venerated by pagans into a Christian holy well ;2
the same principle was more or less at work everywhere.
Here and there some bold leader would strive to stem
the popular tide, but it was too strong for him ; for the
people forced upon the clergy some compromise with
their favourite practices. And so it came to pass that
paganism even gained the ascendancy in some points ;
the conquered one, as so often happens, took the con
queror captive, and mediaeval Christianity, in its popular
1 Dr. O'Donovan quoted by Todd ; * St. Patrick,' p. 500. See also
my ' St. Patrick' (S.P.C.K.), p. 200.
2 Adamnan, ' Vita S. Columbae,' ii. 10 ; ' Historians of Scotland/
p. 159.
The Church during the Roman Period 29
form, was largely adulterated with paganism. But this
we usually call medievalism, or sometimes Romanism,
not paganism ; and few, however extreme their Protes
tantism may be, would refuse to the religion of the
Middle Ages the name of Christianity.
We shall not, however, grasp the whole truth of the
matter unless we try to understand the true essential
nature of Celtic Christianity, which certainly differed very
much from the comfortable, unexciting and unexacting
compromise which the British Philistine, who makes the
best of both worlds, considers his ideal of Christianity ;
but which critics, even among ourselves, have sometimes
stigmatized as a ( civilized heathenism.' We are about
to consider the lives of the Welsh saints, and if we hold
fast to our modern ideals, cold comforters though they
be, we may utterly misconceive these strange, uncouth
men of the days of old. When we contemplate their
fasts and vigils, or when we read the gloomy pages of
Gildas, the Celtic Jeremiah, we may fall into the error of
regarding the religion of early Wales as a morbid and
repulsive asceticism. But a wider view and a deeper
insight will teach us a very different lesson. The Celt
then, as now, was eminently sympathetic, and animated
by a love for Nature and for the beautiful. It was no sour
ascetic that won the heart of the little child Benen, so
that he took the feet of the weary missionary in his arms
and clasped them to his breast, and placed sweet-scented
flowers in his bosom as he lay asleep.1 No ; St. Patrick
had the Celtic charm of manner in his dealings with men,
as well as decision in action and skill in policy, or he
would never have won the tribes of Ireland for his Lord,
and succeeded where Palladius had failed. He had, too,
1 The story of Benen, or Benignus, the successor of Patrick in the
See of Armagh, is contained in Tirechan's ' Life'; ' Book of Armagh';
' W. S.,' ii. 303. The mention of the flowers is not in Tirechan's
narrative, but in the 'Tripartite Life'; ' W. S.,' i. 37.
30 A History of the Welsh CJmrch
the Celtic love of Nature, and resented the claim of the
Druids to control it for their purposes, and in his ' Deer's
Cry ' ' bound himself to '
' The sun with its brightness,
And the snow with its whiteness,
And fire with all the strength it hath,
And lightning with its rapid wrath,
And the winds with their swiftness along their path,
And the sea with its deepness,
And the rocks with their steepness,
And the earth with its starkness ;'
for he held that the earth was the Lord's, and the fulness
thereof, and that the powers of Nature, which so long had
been regarded as spirits of dread, to be propitiated with
sacrifices, were appointed to serve the servant of the
Lord. With a like feeling, in a later age, the Celtic
monk could look forth from the little island of lona upon
the sea around him, and with no fear that there was
aught sinful or profane in the love of beauty, could sing
of ' the level sparkling strand,' ' the thunder of the crowd
ing waves upon the rocks,' ' the song of the wonderful
birds,' and 'the sea monsters, the greatest of all wonders,'
in a poem1 which in pathos is almost modern, and in its
love of Nature approximates to that intimate feeling of
sympathy with her moods which we usually associate
with our own century, and with the name of Words
worth. Celtic Christianity, in spite of its asceticism (or
ought we rather to say in consequence thereof?), was no
creed of gloom ; it was eminently a joyous Christianity,
loving and lovable, which realized, perhaps as nearly as
ever has been realized in the history of Christendom,
such aspirations after a higher level of pure and gentle
Christian practice, as in recent literature breathe in
Kenelm Digby's magnificent pages, or, perhaps, in the
late Mr. Pater's ideal picture of Marius the Epicurean ;
1 Skene's ' Celtic Scotland,' ii. 92. The poem, which is Irish, is
ascribed to Columba.
The Church during the Roman Period 31
or, again, in the daringly simple verses of the most
Christian of our living poets, Coventry Patmore :
' Would Wisdom for herself be wooed.
And wake the foolish from his dream?
She must be glad as well as good,
And must not only be, but seem.
Beauty and joy are hers by right,
And knowing this, I wonder less
That she's so scorned, when falsely dight
In misery and ugliness.'
The brightness of joy and hope which the Celtic saints
possessed, sometimes illuminated their faces. Said
Columbanus to one of his disciples, ' Diecholus, why are
you always smiling ?' He answered, ' Because no one
can take my God from me.' Diecholus was pure, not
Puritanical.
This being the standpoint of the leaders of Celtic
Christianity, would it not be rash for us to blame them
overmuch, or accuse them of paganism, if in our investiga
tion of the acts and teaching of the saints we find at
times that they erred from an excess of charity, and
evinced too great an anxiety to detect a soul of goodness
in things evil ? I think, however, that we shall fail to
find any certain evidence of such error on the part of the
saints of Wales, though we may have to notice it in some
of their fellows and compeers of Ireland. But those who
are over-keen in detecting pagan tendencies have at
times erred themselves by considering as paganism what
was only a healthier type of Christianity than they were
familiar with. When the Celtic saint refused, from his
innate love of Nature and of beauty, to regard this earth
and its glories, however profaned, as in themselves
common and unclean, he proved his grasp of an essen
tially Christian and anti-pagan principle, and a discrimin
ation which has not always been attained by those who
deem themselves more enlightened. We have differen
tiated so much that we have restricted religion to a very
32 A History of the Welsh Church
narrow sphere ; we have feared so much the temptations
of art, beauty, and culture, that we have at times altogether
divorced them from Christianity. It matters little by what
names we may disguise these acts ; we may call them
Progress, Puritanism, or Positivism, but really they are
Paganism. The essence of paganism is to claim the
earth and all that is therein for some other than their
rightful Possessor ; and against this claim the Celtic saints
contended with all the earnestness of their Celtic nature.
If in details we venture to blame them, in their central
conception we owe them only respect and imitation, for
there is reason to fear that we, not they, are the pagans.
The nearer we approach their ideal, the nearer will
Christianity approach its realization as the Religion of
Humanity.
CHAPTER II.
GERMAN AND THE AGE OF THE SAINTS.
ABOUT the time of the withdrawal of the Roman legions
from Britain, Pelagius first began to teach his heresy at
Rome. He was, as we learn from his great opponent
Augustine and from Orosius, himself a Briton by nation,
and his doctrines were afterwards introduced by his
disciple, Agricola, into his native land, where they rapidly
spread to such an extent, that the orthodox clergy sent
to the Church of Gaul for assistance. Constantius of
Lyons, who wrote his ' Life of St. German ' towards the
close of the century, relates that on account of this
embassy ' a great synod was gathered ; and by the
judgment of all two glorious lights of religion were beset
by the petitions of the whole body, viz., German and
Lupus, Apostolic priests, who possessed earth, indeed,
with their bodies, but heaven by their merits. And the
more urgent appeared the necessity, the more promptly
did the devoted heroes undertake the work, hastening on
the business with the goads of faith.'1 German, one of
the selected missionaries, was Bishop of Auxerre. He
had been a soldier, and governor of Auxerre, and had
been made a clergyman in a curious way, significant of
the manners of his time. An enthusiastic huntsman, he
was accustomed to hang up his spoils upon an ancient
tree. Amator, then Bishop of Auxerre, caused this tree
1 'M. H. B.,' p. 122, note.
3
34 A History of the Welsh Church
to be cut down, possibly because it was connected with
pagan superstition. German was exceedingly angry, and
threatened that he would kill Amator. But not long
afterwards Amator summoned the people to the cathedral,
and having ordered them to lay aside their arms, and
the ostiarii to shut the doors of the church, he, with a
number of clergy, laid hands upon German and ordained
him, tonsuring him and investing him in the clerical
habit. This was in A.D. 418, eleven years before the
selection of German for the mission to Britain. German's
companion, Lupus, was Bishop of Troyes, and a brother
of the celebrated Vincent of Lerins. The date of their
mission (429) is fixed by the contemporary witness of
Prosper the Aquitanian, who relates also that the two
bishops were sent by Pope Celestine at the suit of
Palladius.1 This latter statement, at first sight, seems
scarcely consistent with the narrative of Constantius, and
it has often been questioned on the ground of Prosper's
known partiality for the see of Rome. Certainly, if
Prosper made a false statement, he did so wilfully, for he
must have known the facts ; but it is quite possible that
both he and Constantius are truthful, and that each
relates the circumstances from his own point of view.
The fitness of the two bishops for their work was
speedily manifested on their arrival in Britain by their
energy and success. At a council held at Verulam the
Pelagians were utterly beaten in argument, and the people,
in their enthusiasm for German and Lupus, could scarcely
refrain from laying hands upon their opponents.
It is not certain that German and Lupus visited Wales,
and we do not know how far the Pelagian heresy affected
that part of Britain. But one incident in their mission has
been popularly connected with Wales ever since the time
of Usher, but on somewhat insufficient grounds. This is
the Alleluia Victory.
1 'M. H. B ,' p. 123, note.
German and the Age of the Saints 35
The Saxons and Picts, so Bede relates, joined their
forces at this time and made war against the Britons,
who, in their necessity, sought the aid of the holy bishops.
' The sacred days of Lent were at hand, which the
presence of the priests made more solemn to such an
extent that the people, taught by daily sermons, flocked
eagerly to the grace of baptism ; for the greatest part of
the army sought the water of the laver of salvation, and a
church is constructed of boughs for the day of the Lord's
resurrection.' Wet with the baptismal water, the army
marches forth ; ' German offers himself as their general ;
he picks out some light-armed men, views the circum
jacent country, and espies, in the direction by which the
arrival of the enemy was expected, a valley enclosed by
mountains. Here he himself, as their general, draws up
his raw troops. And now the fierce multitude of the
enemy was at hand, the approach of which was espied by
the men in ambuscade. Then suddenly German, bearing
the standard, admonishes and orders the whole body to
answer to his voice with one shout, and as the enemy
came on carelessly, in their confidence that they were not
expected, the priests call out thrice "Alleluia." A single
shout of all follows, and the hollows of the mountains
multiply the clamour with their reverberations ; the band
of the enemy is stricken with panic, so that they fear not
only that the surrounding rocks are falling upon them,
but even the very vault of heaven itself, and scarcely was
the speed of their feet believed sufficient for their haste.
They flee in all directions ; they cast away their arms, glad
even to have snatched their naked bodies from danger ;
many also in the headlong haste of their panic were
drowned in re-crossing the river. The guiltless army
looks upon its own revenge, and becomes an inactive
spectator of the victory granted to it. The scattered
spoils are gathered up, and the pious soldiers embrace the
joys of the heavenly reward. The bishops triumph in
36 A History of the Welsh Church
the rout of the foe achieved without bloodshed ; they
triumph in a victory gained by faith, not by strength.'1
The wattled church has been supposed by some to be
Llanarmon in lal, and the battle-field to be the Vale of
Mold. There are several churches in Wales which are
dedicated to St. German and which have been supposed
to owe their foundation to him. These are2 Llanarmon
in lal, and Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, both in Denbigh
shire ; St. Harmon's, Radnorshire, and Llanfechain,
Montgomeryshire. The chapels dedicated to him are :
Llanarmon under Llangybi, and Bettws Garmon under
Llanfair Isgaer, both in Carnarvonshire ; and in Denbigh
shire Capel Garmon under Llanrwst, and Llanarmon
^Jpach under Llandegfan.3 Philologists, however, deny
that any of these can be traced back to the age of
German.4 German's companion, Lupus, is known in
Wales by the Welsh equivalent, Bleiddian. 'The
churches ascribed to him are Llanfleiddian Fawr, in
Glamorganshire, which bears the same relation to the
town of Cowbridge as Llanbeblig and Llannor do to
Carnarvon and Pwllheli ; and Llanfleiddian Fach, or
St. Lythian's in the same county.'5 Llanfleiddian Fawr
is now more commonly known as Llanbleddian.
Some years afterwards, in A.D. 447, German came on a
second visit to Britain, where the Pelagian heresy was
again making head. This time he was accompanied by
Severus, Bishop of Treves, and was equally successful.
British traditions preserved by Nennius bring German
into Wales and connect him with Guorthigern, or
1 ' Hist. Eccl.,' i. 20 ; * M. H. B.,' pp. 126, 127. Bede is here quoting
from Constantius.
2 Rees, ' Essay on the Welsh Saints,' p. 131.
3 Recently a church has been dedicated to St. German in Cardiff.
4 ' There are reasons for doubting that the churches called Llanarmon
received that name during the period in which St. German lived.'
Professor Rhys in Journal of the British Archaeological Association,
vol. xxxiv,; p. 425.
5 Rees, ' Welsh Saints,' p. 126.
German and the Age of the Saints 37
Vortigern. Vortigern, adding this to his other crimes,
according to the story, took his daughter to him to wife, u£icc_
and she bare him a son. When this was discovered by
St. German, he came to seize the King with all the clergy
of the Britons. But the King told his daughter to go to
the council and give the boy to German, and say that he
was the father. The scheme failed, and Vortigern was
cursed and condemned by German and all the council of
the Britons. He fled, and German followed him with the
clergy into Wales, and for forty days and nights upon a
rock prayed God to forgive his sins. Vortigern after
wards fled to a castle on the river Teifi and was followed
there by the saint, who, with his clergy, fasted and prayed
for three days and three nights. Finally, fire fell from
heaven and consumed the castle, and the guilty King and all
his company. Guorthemir, or Vortimer, in compensation V'
for the calumny which his father Vortigern had brought
against German, gave him the district of Guartherniaun,
in which the charge had been made, to be his for ever,
whence it got the name Guarrenniaun, ' a calumny justly
retorted.'1
Guartherniaun, or Gwrtheyrnion, is a district of Rad
norshire, being the present hundred of Rhayader, in which
at the present day there is a church (St. Harmon's)
dedicated to St. German. Historically the stories of
Nennius are worthless, and cannot even be accepted as
testimony that the saint set foot in Wales, but they
indicate clearly enough in what reverence the name of
German was held by the Church in that part of the island.
The power of his eloquence and the force of his character
left indelible traces on the subsequent life of the Church.
When Amator ' pressed ' the young soldier into the
service of his Lord, he doubtless had a clear insight into
the wondrous energy and the magnetic attraction of that
1 Nennius, ' Historia Britonum,' §§ 39, 46, 50; ' M. H. B.,' pp. 66,
68, 70.
38 A History of the Welsh Church
heroic soul, and deemed that all means were lawful to
save such, and to enlist so brave a champion under the
banner of Christ. Once enlisted, the soldier served faith
fully, the instinct of discipline prevailed, and he who
knew how to obey, held thereby the secret of command.
The story of the Alleluia Victory is no fiction, it is well
attested and is in full harmony with German's character,
and German's military training. The marvel would
rather have been if soldiers, led by such a commander, had
failed. Tradition, attracted by his name, has ascribed to
German all the institutions of his own and even of the
next century. Though inaccurate, tradition is not wholly
wrong, for to the spirit which he infused into the British
Church the subsequent glories of its history are due.
'Garmon,' says one authority,1 ' was a saint and a
bishop, the son of Ridigius from the land of Gallia ; and
it was in the time of Constantine of Armorica that he
came here, and continued here to the time of Vortigern,
and then he returned back to France, where he died. He
formed two choirs of saints, and placed bishops and
divines in them, that they might teach the Christian
faith to the nation of the Cymry, where they were become
degenerate in the faith. One choir he formed in Llan
Carvan, where Dyfric, the saint, was the principal, and he
himself was bishop there. The other was near Caer
Worgorn, where he appointed Iltutus to be principal ;
and Lupus (called Bleiddan) was the chief bishop there ;
after which he placed bishops in Llandaff; he constituted
Dubricius archbishop there ; and Cadoc, the saint, the
son of Gwynlliw, took his place in the choir at Llancarvan,
and the Archbishop of Llandaff was bishop there also.'
This narrative is full of anachronisms, but it is quite
possible that German infused the monastic spirit into
the British Church, which produced such monasteries
as Llantwit and Llancarvan. It is scarcely necessary
1 ' Achau y Saint/ quoted in Rees' 'Welsh Saints,' p. 122.
German and the Age of the Saints 39
to discuss the statements that German founded the
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but, worthless as
they are, they testify in a somewhat emphatic manner to
the opinion formed of him as an organizer and a leader
of men.
The mission of St. German was followed by that
interesting, but difficult, period, the Age of the Saints.
Tradition gives the names of very few saints before his
time : there are those of the Lleurwg story ; there is
Cadfrawd, who has been supposed to be the same with
Bishop Adelfius ; there is Ceneu the son of Coel ; and
the legendary Owain, son of Maximus, and his brothers,
Ednyfed and Peblig, have also been accounted saints.
The church of Llanbeblig, near Carnarvon, is dedicated
to Peblig, and Llannor, or Llanfor, in Carnarvonshire, and
also Llanfor in Merionethshire, are assigned to Mor, the
son of Ceneu ab Coel, who is considered to be a con
temporary of Peblig. There are also a few other names
of early saints in the Welsh genealogies, concerning whom
tradition states nothing except their parentage ; but from
the time of German the number and importance of the
names increases, so that altogether the roll of Welsh
saints is made up to the total of four hundred and
seventy-nine.
The Age of the Saints is often passed over with but
scanty attention, on account of the difficulty of distin
guishing between history and fiction in the records of the
period which we possess. These are the writings of
Gildas : a few dates in the chronicle known as the
' Annales Cambriae ' ; the ' Book of Llandaff ' ; the Welsh
genealogies of the Saints ; a number of Welsh traditions,
some of which are contained in the lolo Manuscripts ;
and the Legends of the Saints. The question of Welsh
dedications is also important in connection with this
subject. The most ancient churches in Wales are
believed to have got their names either from their actual
40 A History of the Welsh Church
founders or from some other connection with the saints
after whom they are called, and not to have received any
formal dedication to those saints.1 The earliest founda
tions bear the names of native saints ; next in point of
antiquity are those which are called after St. Michael ;
and last of all, those which are dedicated to the Virgin
Mary and other saints.2 A dedication to St. Michael is
first mentioned in the year 718. 3 The first Church of St.
Mary was dedicated in A.D. 973,* and this was founded by
the English King, Edgar.
Gildas tells us nothing of the Welsh saints ; his topic is
rather the sins of his countrymen, but he draws a graphic
picture of his time. The ' Book of Llandaff' was compiled
in the twelfth century by Geoffrey, brother of Urban,
Bishop of Llandaff, and contains also numerous entries
by other and later hands. The earlier portion comprises
the Lucius legend, and the story of the foundation of the
see of Llandaff by King Meurig ; the lives of Dubricius,
Teilo, and Oudoceus, the first Bishops of Llandaff; and
a number of charters and synodical records from the
sixth century onwards. One of the most important of
the subsequent entries is a life of St. Samson. The
synodical records contain numerous anachronisms ; and
the early charters are unquestionably confused and have
been much suspected. But even the severest critics
admit that * real materials existed for the compilation of
the book,' and it is not improbable that the charters are
for the most part genuine.5
The Welsh genealogies of the saints appear to have
1 Rees, ' Welsh Saints,' §§1,2, 3.
2 Ibid., p. 59.
3 'Brut y Tywysogion' says, A.D. 717: 'The " Annales Cambrias"
has cclxxiii. Annus (i.e., A.D. 718) Consecratio Michaelis Archangel!
ecclesiae.'
4 At Bangor. Rees, p. 69, note; Pryce, ' Ancient British Church,'
p. 128, note.
6 ' H. and S. Councils,' p. 147, note; ' Remains of Arthur Haddan,'
pp. 239-253 ; 'The Book of Llan Dav,' preface, by J. G. Evans. Also
kArchseologia Cambrensis,' 5th Series, x. 332-339.
German and the Age of the Saints 41
been drawn up by mediaeval antiquaries, and differ to
some extent among themselves. One curious feature of
these records is the number of names which are thrown
together in one group. In the Latin tract ' Concerning
Brychan of Brycheiniog and his family,'1 said to be copied
from an ancient manuscript of A.D. goo, or thereabouts,
Brychan is credited with ten sons and twenty-six
daughters, a most prodigious family. In the ' Bonedd y
Saint ' twenty-four sons and twenty-five daughters are
ascribed to him. The smallest number of children given
him by any genealogist is twenty-four.2 Various explana
tions have been given of these absurdities, which are far
from consistent with one another ; but it is a little doubt
ful whether ingenuity is not wasted in the task.'3 The
genealogies, as has been well said, seem to be ' an
attempt on the part of chroniclers to systematize and
bring into harmony a mass of pre-existing legends, the
subjects of which are thus brought into mutual relation.'4
At the same time, it is highly probable that they contain
1 ' Cambro-British Saints,' pp. 272-275.
2 Rees, 'Welsh Saints,' p. 136. See also Giraldus Cambrensis
(' Itin. Kamb.,' i. c. 2), who mentions that the British historians testify
that Brychan had twenty-four daughters, all saints.
3 The children of Brychan may have been merely natives of the
county over which he once ruled (Borlase, 'Age of the Saints,' p. 89 ;
Journal Royal hist. Cornwall, 20). Wakeman in a note to the
'Cambro-British Saints' mentions three Brychans (p. 606). Skene
also suggests that there were various Brychans, and Borlase mentions
that it was a common Celtic patronymic. Rees and others suppose
that the names of the grandchildren of Brychan have crept into the
list of his children (Rees, p. 137).
4 Jones and Freeman (k History of St. David's,' p. 252, note] : ' Hence
probably arose the " Triad of Holy Families," and in particular the
extremely symmetrical progeny of Brychan Brycheiniog, many of the
individuals composing which may have had, very possibly, a real
though an independent existence. Compare Mr. Grote (vol. i.,
pp. 596-601) on the Greek and (pp. 623-625) Teutonic genealogies,
and on the process of harmonizing conflicting legends (p. 145). 'The
legendary world of Greece/ he says, 'in the manner in which it is
presented to us, appears invested with a degree of symmetry and
coherence which did not originally belong to it. ... The primitive
elements, originally distinct and unconnected, are removed out of
sight, and connected together by subsequent poets and logographers.'
42 A History of the Welsh Church
historical matter, and that the relationship they show
between the leading saints and the princes of Wales is
historically correct.
The legends of the Welsh saints were written with an
ethical purpose, and have many of the characteristics of a
religious novel. The hero is frequently made the centre
of the religious work of the time ; around him are grouped
his great contemporaries ; and, if he be a bishop, his
see is magnified to the disparagement of others. His
privileges or his person are threatened by some stupid
and malignant tyrant, either Maelgwn Gwynedd, ' ever
the tempter of the saints,' or a wicked Arthur, strangely
diverse in character from the ' white Arthur ' of Tennyson,
or perhaps some minor chief, who takes a curious pleasure
in running upon his own destruction, and whom the saint
in the calmest manner causes to be stricken with blind
ness, swallowed by the earth up to the chin, or in some
other way frustrated and punished. The tyrant is an
important requisite to act as a foil to the virtues of the
saint, and his vices are painted in the darkest colours.
It is only minor saints whose legends lack a tyrant. It
is curious to note how in some legends the cursing powers
of the saint are so insisted upon, that they nearly equal
those of the Irish saints, Patrick in the ' Tripartite Life '
is represented as cursing friend and foe alike, as cursing
the sea1 and the rivers Buall'2 and Dub,3 as cursing the
stones of Uisnech,4 as driving his chariot three times over
his penitent sister Lupait till he killed her,5 and as defying
the Almighty himself in his wrath upon the peak of
Cruachan Aigle.6 Aedh of Ferns by his curse split a
rock in two.7 Another Irishman ' performed fasting
against the Lord ' because he thought that a fellow-
1 Whitley Stokes, ' Tripartite Life,' i. 205. 2 Ibid., p. 143.
3 Ibid., p. 147. 4 Ibid., p. 183. 5 Ibid., p. 235.
6 Ibid., pp. 113-121.
7 'Vita S. Aidui' (Rees, ' C. B. S .,' p. 244), 'cum sanctus Aidus
illam petram malediceret, statim ilia petra in duas partes divisa est.'
German and the Age of the Saints 43
clergyman had been better treated by Heaven than him
self. So, too, Cadoc of Llancarfan cursed the boorish
servant Tidus, because he would not give him fire, and
the rustic was burned up with his threshing-floor and
corn.1 Sawyl Benuchel, who offended him by taking meat
and drink by force from the monks of Llancarfan, was
punished ignominiously by the saint's order : when he
and his company were asleep, half their beards and hair
was shaven off, and the lips and ears of their horses were
cut off. Afterwards the whole troop was swallowed up.2
Rhun, son of Maelgwn, and his ' eunuchs ' were blinded
for a time for another offence.3 At another time Cadoc
sailed with two disciples, Barruc and Gwalches, from
Echni (the Flat Holme) to Barry. The disciples found
that they had left his Manual behind at Echni, whereupon
the saint, burning with anger, said, 'Go, not to return!'
The two returned to Echni and got the book, but through
the saint's curse were drowned on the way back, and
Barruc's body was cast upon Barry Island, which to this
day bears his name.4 Since those who offended from
forgetfulness were thus punished, it is not strange that
wilful offenders suffered heavily. A murderer vanished
like smoke before the saint ;5 a swineherd who was going
to slay the saint, thinking he was a thief, was blinded and
had his arm paralyzed, but was afterwards made whole ;G
and two English wolves which followed their natural
instincts so far as to tear^Cadoc's sheep on the Isle of
Echni, were changed to stone on swimming back, and
still remain as two dangerous rocks — The Wolves — in the
Bristol Channel.7 Even after Cadoc's death, his coffin
when struck by robbers bellowed like a bull, and an
earthquake followed.8
1 ' Vita S. Cadoci,' § 4 (' C. B. S.,' p. 29).
2 Ibid., §i3('C. B. S,' pp. 42, 43).
3 Ibid., § 20 (' C. B. S.,' p. 54). 4 Ibid., § 25 (' C. B. S.,' p. 63).
5 Ibid., § 12 ('C. B. S./ p. 42). 6 Ibid., § 5 (' C. B. S.,' p. 31).
7 Ibid., § 26 (' C. B. S.,' p. 64). 8 Ibid., § 37 0 C. B. S.,' p. 77).
44 A History of the Welsh Church
The legend of Cadoc is especially notable for miracles
of the revengeful type, which are not particularly notice
able in most of the other legends, for a few judgments
upon the ordinary legendary tyrant served to point a
moral to the princes and nobles for whose behoof the
legends were in part compiled. This characteristic of
Cadoc's legend is probably to be explained by Irish
influence, which manifests itself in various other ways in
the story.
It may be inferred from the foregoing remarks that the
historical element is rather overlaid in the legends by the
ethical, and that they are full of extravagant miracles. It
has been seen that these miracles sometimes savour more
of the spirit of a cruel and relentless paganism than of
Christianity ; at other times they are merely ridiculous.
When Brynach invited Maelgwn to supper, he had
nothing to give him, whereupon he went to a neighbour
ing oak and pulled off as many wheaten loaves as he
required, and then drew wine from the river Caman, and
made fishes of its stones.1 At Teilo's death three
churches quarrelled for his body, but in the morning, lo !
there were three Teilos, so that each was contented.
One strange peculiarity of the Welsh saints is their
partiality for pigs. Several churches of the first impor
tance have their sites pointed out by a white boar or a
white sow. In this wise Kentigern was directed to the
site of St. Asaph ;2 Dyfrig to the site of his church at
Mochros, * the moor of the pigs '; Brynach to a spot by
the banks of the Caman ;3 and Cadoc to Llancarvan,4
and to Cadoxton-juxta-Neath.5 Probably the story is
adapted from Roman legend, though it has been suggested
1 'Vita S. Bernaci' (' C. B. S.,' p. 12).
2 ' Vita Kentegerni auct. Jocelino,' § 24 (' Hist, of Scot.,' v. 202).
3 ' Vita S. Bernaci ' (' C. B. S.,' p. 9).
4 'Vila S. Cadoci,' § 5 (' C. B. S.,' p. 34).
6 Ibid., § 31 C C. B. S.,' p. 67).
German and the Age of the Saints 45
in the case of St. Asaph that local names, such as Sarn
Sws, Berwyn and aper (i.e., aber), may have helped.1
The legend of an Irish saint, as has been well said,
' too often bids defiance to truth, reason, and decency ;
and, instead of history, presents a specimen of the
meanest fiction.'2 The legends of the Welsh saints are
not of quite so low a grade as the Irish legends, but they
are exceedingly poor as literature, and cause somewhat
painful feelings when we reflect that they supplied much
of the religious wants of the people in the Middle Ages.
Yet here and there occur brighter and better parts which
make us feel that, amid all their extravagance, they show
that a better era of gentleness had dawned upon the
world, and that the old days of force and fraud were
doomed. Oudoceus's pity for the stag which sank upon
his cloak as if taking refuge there from Prince Einion and
his troop ; Illtyd's protection of another stag, which was
chased by King Meirchion, are pretty stories, which a
cold, hard age would not have appreciated. The stories
of vengeance taken by the saints upon aggressors may be
pardoned at a time when the poor needed the defence of
the spiritual arm against many a local tyrant, as wicked
as Maelgwn, Meirchion, or the wicked Arthur. But if,
from an ethical point of view, we can discern good as
well as evil in the legends, can we also find history as
well as fiction ? Are we to believe in Cadoc's power of
cursing, and in his possession of two wooden horses,
exceeding swift, or, if we reject these wonders, what are
we to receive ?
There are two ways of solving these problems, which
have been often tried, but neither of which is perfectly
satisfactory. One is to reject the legends altogether as
monkish impostures — ' blasphemous fables and damnable
deceits '; the other is to rationalize the myths, to strip
14 St. Asaph' ('Diocesan History,' S.P.C.K.), by Ven. Arch
deacon Thomas, p. i, note.
2 Reeves, ' Columba' (' Hist, of Scot.,' vi. 223).
46 A History of the Welsh Church
them of their miraculous element, and serve up all the
rest as genuine history.
The latter plan is, to the critical student, utterly false
and wrong ; the first is rash. Though the stories are
not history, they contain history. They have traces of
old ecclesiastical customs, which frequently the writers of
the legends themselves did not understand, and could not
have invented ; they bear testimony to a state of society
which the pages of Gildas prove to have existed in reality;
they evince a conflict between ancient national habits of
thought and Roman habits, some of the legends, as that
of Beuno, being strongly national, and others, as that of
Cadoc, strongly Roman ; and they have here and there
touches of paganism, and even of a tenderness for
Druidism which help us to understand what a composite
thing early British Christianity was. In all these respects
they are of the utmost value. Furthermore, if one atten
tively studies these legends, and carefully compares them
one with another and with the legends of other nations,
he will gain a discernment between the genuine original
tradition and the false later accretions. Some stories, as
the wickedness of the monastic cook and steward, the
pointing out of sites by a white boar or a white sow, and
the judgments upon princes, are the stock-in-trade of the
professional legend writer, and may be treated accordingly.
Some legends will have to be rejected altogether as wholly
fictitious. But in others a basis of early tradition may
be traced, just as the 'Tripartite Life of St. Patrick,' with
all its marvellous absurdities, is built up upon the sub
structure of the early, rational, and sober life by Tirechan.
The life of St. Samson in the ' Book of Llandaff' corre
sponds closely in its main features to an early life of the
saint still extant, which was written probably about
A.D. 600, and whose author states that he crossed the sea
to Britain, and obtained information from Samson's own
cousin. The lives of St. David are, in the main, the
w *rntu*/u^ UV/AAC^V, »^cj^cU^uuA
German and the Age of the Saints 47
same, and Giraldus, who despised his predecessors in the
work, was content to steal from them. Rhygyfarch, the
biographer of St. David, and Joceline, the biographer of
St. Kentigern, both profess to use earlier materials, exist
ing in their time, and there is no reason to doubt their
statements, but rather the contrary.
The legend writers were poor inventors after all ; that
is proved by their constant repetition of the same stories
with the names altered ; when they had materials to go
upon they were very glad to avail themselves of them,
and did so. It is not often that the lives of one saint
differ so much from each other as do the lives of Gildas ;
but, of course, if Arthurian fictions are introduced as they
are in Caradoc's 'Life of Gildas/ the historical value of the
legend is at once ruined. But, with care and discrimina
tion, a certain historical residuum may be gathered from
some of the legends, even with regard to the lives of the
saints themselves.
The Age of the Saints was an age of conflict and sin,
of 'fightings without and fears within.' The pagan
English were driving the Britons back westward, step by
step, and the defence of the Christians was enfeebled by
reason of their sins. If the obscure verses of Aneurin
are interpreted aright,1 the drunkenness of the Britons
lost them the battle of Cattraeth. There was wickedness
in high places. ' Britain,' says Gildas, ' has kings — nay,
tyrants; it has judges — they are unrighteous; ever
plundering and terrifying the innocent ; avenging and
protecting — aye, guilty brigands ; having a multitude of
wives — nay, harlots and adulteresses ; frequently swear
ing, but falsely ; vowing, and almost immediately breaking
their vow ; warring, but in unjust and civil warfare ;
chasing zealously thieves through the country, and yet
not only loving, but even rewarding the brigands who sit
1 'Gododin,' n, etc., * Mead they drank, yellow, sweet, ensnaring ;'
also 17, etc., Ab libel's edition, pp. 96, 106.
48 A History of the Welsh Church
with them at table ; giving alms lavishly, yet heaping up,
on the other hand, an immense mountain of crimes ;
sitting in the seat to judge, but rarely seeking the rule
of right judgment ; despising the guiltless and humble,
raising to the stars, to the best of their power, the bloody,
the proud, murderers, comrades, and adulterers, enemies
of God, who ought earnestly to be destroyed together
with their very name ; having many bound in prisons,
whom they trample under foot rather by their own
treachery than for any fault, loading them with chains ;
tarrying among the altars to take oaths, and shortly after
despising these altars as though they were muddy
stones.'1
These are not mere rhetorical antitheses ; Gildas gives
particulars in the case of five princes. Constantine of
Pamnonia, the same whose later repentance was one
':of the most notable events of the sixth century, had
perpetrated a sacrilegious murder in the very year that
Gildas was writing. After having bound himself with a
dreadful oath that he would do no wrong to the citizens,
this prince, in the dress of an abbot, had killed two
princely boys ' among the sacred altars.' His previous
life had not been stainless, for he had put away his
lawful wife. In like manner Gildas accuses Aurelius
Conan2 of murder, fornication, and adultery, and Vortipor,
the prince of the Demetse, ' the wicked son of a good
prince, like Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah,' of murder,
adultery, and of divorcing his wife. Cuneglas,3 a fourth
prince, had not only divorced his wife, but had married
her sister, who was under a vow of celibacy. Against
all these Gildas turns the bitterness of his indignation,
1 'Epistola Gildse.' See 'H. and S.,' i., pp. 48, 49; ' M. H. B.,'
p. 1 6.
2 ' Catule leoline Aureli Conane.'
3 ' Tu, ab adolescentise annis, urse multorum sessor, aurigaque currus
receptaculi ursi, Dei contemptor, sortisque ejus depressor, Cuneglase,
Romana lingua Lanio-fulve.' — ' Ep. Gild.,' ' M. H. B.,5 p. 17.
German and the Age of the Saints 49
and summons them to repentance. But the chief out
burst of both reproach and entreaty is directed to Mag-
locunus, or Maelgwn Gwynedd, in whom, at one time,
there had been some signs of goodness. He, ' the dragon
of the island, who had deprived many princes of their
territories and their lives,' was the ' first in evil, greater
than many in power and in wickedness, more lavish in
giving, more profuse in sins, powerful in arms, but bolder
in the destruction of the soul.' He had not lacked a
good training, for he had had as his instructor ' the
elegant master of nearly the whole of Britain.' Yet, in
the first years of his youth, he had ' crushed most
vigorously with sword, spear, and fire, the king, his
uncle, with almost the bravest soldiers, whose counten
ances seemed in battle not greatly unlike to those of a *}
lion's whelps.' After this he had repented and taken
the vow of a monk; but he sinned again, and this time
more grievously than before. Led astray by a wicked
woman, the wife of his nephew, he had murdered his
wife and his nephew, and having thus got rid of the two
obstacles to the gratification of his guilty passion, he then
married his temptress.
It is not without significance that Gildas includes in
his rebukes the priests of Britain, as well as its princes.
' Britain1 has priests, but they are foolish ; a multitude
of ministers, but they are shameless ; clergy, nay, crafty
ravishers ; shepherds, as they are called, but they are
wolves ready to slay souls, for they provide not for the
good of their people, but seek to fill their own bellies ;
having the houses of the Church, but approaching these
for the sake of base gain ; teaching the people, but show
ing them the worst examples, vices, and wicked manners;
rarely offering the Sacrifice, and never standing among
the altars with pure hearts ; not reproving the people
for their sins, for they do the same themselves ; despising
1 < Ep. Gild.,' ' M. H. B.,' p. 29.
4
50 A History of the Welsh Church
the commands of Christ, and taking care by all means
to satisfy their own lusts ; usurping with foul feet the
seat of the Apostle Peter, but falling by their covetousness
into the pestilent chair of the traitor Judas ; hating truth
as an enemy, and favouring falsehoods as dear brothers ;
looking with fierce countenances upon the righteous that
are poor, as if they were frightful serpents, and vene
rating the wicked, who are rich, without any regard for
shame, as if they were angels from heaven ; preaching
with their lips that alms should be given to the needy,
and themselves not giving even an obolus ; keeping silent
with respect to the wicked crimes of the people, and
magnifying their own wrongs as if done to Christ ;
driving from home, perchance, a religious mother or
sister, and indecently welcoming strange women as
familiar friends, as it were, for some more secret office,
or rather, to speak truth, though folly (but the folly is
not mine, but theirs who act thus), humiliating them ;
seeking after ecclesiastical preferment more eagerly than
the kingdom of heaven, and defending it when received
like tyrants, and not adorning it by lawful manners.'
They are ' hoarse like bulls with fatness,' ' they roll in
the mire like pigs,' they imitate Simon Magus, and yet
sin more desperately than he, ' for they buy their priest
hood, counterfeit and never likely to profit, not from the
Apostles or the successors of the Apostles, but from
tyrants and from their father, the devil.'1 They are
' enemies of God and not priests, veterans in evil and
not bishops, traitors and not successors of the holy
Apostles, and not ministers of Christ.' They are ' shame
less, double-tongued, drunken, covetous of evil gain,
holding the faith and, to speak more truly, the lack of
faith in an impure heart, ministering, not approved in
good, but known beforehand in an evil work, and having
innumerable crimes.'
^ ' M. H. B.,' p. 30.
German and the Age of the Saints 5 1
This is indeed a dark picture of the Age of the Saints.
Gildas admits that his description of the priesthood of
his times was not universally applicable. He says :
1 But perhaps someone may say, " Not all the bishops
or priests are wicked as above described," because they
are not stained with the infamy of schism, or pride, or
impurity, which we also do not vehemently deny. But
though we know that they are chaste and good, yet we
will briefly reply : What profited it Eli the priest, that
he alone did not violate the commands of the Lord . . .
seeing that he was punished by the same fatal wrath as
were his sons P'1 In his denunciation of the worldliness
and immorality of the clergy, we may discern the monk's
dislike of a secular and married clergy ; but there are
some charges precise and definite enough, for which
there must have been some ground.
The Penitentials also which remain testify to the
existence of the foulest crimes even among the clergy.
There is one set of rules which is ascribed to Gildas
himself, another to a Synod of Northern Britain, a third
to the Synod of the Grove of Victory (Luci Victorise),
and a fourth to St. David. Some of the crimes men
tioned in these can scarcely have been of common occur
rence, but it is appalling to find them included at all,
and the mild punishment in one for drunkenness may
suggest that it was not an unfrequent offence. ' If any
one from drunkenness cannot sing through being unable
to speak,' says the rule of Gildas, ' he is to lose his
supper.'2 In the rules of St. David3 it is ordered that
priests about to minister in church, who drink wine or
strong drink through negligence, and yet not ignorance,
are to do penance for three days ; but if they do it
wilfully, they are to do penance for forty days. Those
who are drunk through ignorance have penance for fifteen
<M. H. B.,' p. 31. I''.-' ,CA^.Jjr.a No. X., ' H. and S.,' i. 114.
3 'H. and S.,' i. 118-120.
52 A History of the Welsh Church
days ; those through negligence, forty ; those wilfully,
thrice forty days. He who causes anyone to get drunk
from courtesy is to do the same penance as the drunken
man. He who makes others drunk to laugh at them is
to do penance as a murderer of souls.
These Penitentials would hardly have been drawn up
in a period of general virtue and holiness. But indeed it
is quite a modern conception of the Age of the Saints to
represent it as such a period ; and those who object to
the genuineness of the Epistle of Gildas on the ground
of its severe criticisms of the princes and priests of
Britain might equally well object to other authorities
also. The legends of the saints do not represent all the
clergy and monks as alike holy. The ' Life of St. David '
contains a story of an attempt to poison the saint, which
was made by the steward, the cook, and a deacon of the
monastery of Menevia.1 We are led to suppose, indeed,
that the steward and the cook were frequently wicked, or,
at least, were unpopular with the writers of the legends,
for these officials in the monastery of Llancarfan, together
with the sexton, annoyed the Irish visitor St. Finnian,
and were cursed by St. Cadoc.2 St. Padarn, while he
was in Brittany, suffered much from false brethren, and
one wicked monk was seized by a demon for a trick he
played on the saint.3 The legends of St. Samson draw
a dark picture of monastic life in Wales. A nephew of
St. Illtyd, who was anxious to succeed his uncle as abbot,
but feared that the superior merits of St. Samson might
cause him to be chosen in preference, sought, in conjunc
tion with his brother, to poison his rival and so remove
him out of his way. Samson drank the poisoned cup,
but, as might have been expected, felt no hurt, and
1 Rhygyfarch, 'Vita S. David;' ' Cambro-British Saints,' pp. 131,
132. For stories of wicked stewards, see also Todd, 'St. Patrick,'
pp. 167-169.
2 'Vita S. Cadoci,' § 9, ' C. B. S.,' p. 38.
3 'Vita S. Paterni,5 ' C. B. S.,' p. 190.
German and the Age of the Saints 53
the guilty clergyman was soon afterwards seized by the
devil. Soon afterwards Samson visited another monastery
on an island near Llantwit, and here also he found matters
in an evil state. ' One gloomy night,' says the old ' Life,'1
' the venerable Abbot Piro took a solitary stroll into the
grounds of the monastery ; but what is more serious, he
was in a very tipsy condition, and tumbled headlong into
a deep pit. The brethren were alarmed by his loud cries
for help, and hurrying to the spot, they dragged him out
of the hole in a helpless state, and before morning he was
dead.' When Samson visited Ireland he found there an
abbot possessed with a devil, whom he delivered. St.
Kentigern, according to his biographer Jocelin of Furness,
was especially careful to denounce hypocrisy, and on one
occasion supernaturally detected a British clergyman, ' of
great eloquence and much learning,' who was nevertheless
guilty of a most abominable crime, and who finally perished
by a sudden destruction.
The testimony of Gildas to the vices of the princes and
of the world at large is abundantly corroborated by all
our other authorities. The legends, as has already been
said, ordinarily introduce some wicked tyrant who molests
the saint, but is continually worsted. Maglocunus, or
Maelgwn, whom Gildas rebukes, is a familiar figure to a
reader of these lives. The 'Book of Llandaff' records
excommunications pronounced, and penalties imposed,
upon princes for crimes of violence and unchastity. Two
princes of Glamorgan, Meurig,2 and Morgan,3 as well as
Tewdwr, prince of Dyfed,4 and Clydri, or Clotri, prince of
Ergyng,5 were excommunicated for murder committed
after they had sworn to friendship upon relics. Gwaed-
nerth,6 prince of Gwent, was excommunicated for fratricide
1 This story is told in the old life of Samson, written at the request
of Bishop Tigerinomalus. The later life in the ' Book of Llandaff '
discreetly omits it.
2 ' Book of Llan Dav,' Oxford edition, p. 147. 3 Ibid., p. 152.
4 Ibid., p. 167. 5 Ibid., p. 176. c Ibid., p. 180.
54 ^ History of the Welsh Chiirch
and sent on a pilgrimage for a year to Brittany. Gwrgan,1
prince of Ergyng, was excommunicated for incest with
his step-mother. Margetud,2 King of Dyfed, was punished
for the murder of Gufrir, * a man of St. Teilo,' whom in
a frenzy of rage and cruelty he had murdered in front of
the altar. Tutuc,3 a rich man, gave certain lands to the
see of Llandaff, as an atonement for the murder of a
young nephew of St. Teilo, named Tyfei, whom he killed
while he was attempting to slay a neglectful swineherd,
who had allowed his pigs to damage Tutuc's corn.
Another curious story of the same age illustrates the
prevalent savageness of manners when left unrestrained.
A prince of Dyfed, Aircol Lawhir,4 was holding his court
at Lircastell ; but every night some quarrel happened,
and murders were frequent. The cause was drunken
ness ; but the murders became so customary, that even
in that wild age the prince and his court became alarmed,
and feared that the devil was let loose among them. So,
after fasting and prayer, the prince sent to Penaly to
St. Teilo, that ' he might bless him and his court, so that
the accustomed murder should not take place any more
therein.' Teilo came and blessed him and his court, and
sent two of his disciples to distribute meat and drink to
all in future by measure ; ' and by the grace of the Holy
Spirit no murder was committed that night, nor after
wards in his court, as had been usual.'
Although some of the above stories may not be history,
they are correct in their picture of the Age of the Saints.
As in the age of Antony and the first hermits, men's
hearts were ' failing them for fear, and for looking after
those things which were coming on the earth.' The
world was full of savage violence and unbridled lust ; the
appointed pastors were not always faithful to their flocks,
they spoke softly to the rich and roughly to the poor, and
1 'Book of Llan Dav,J Oxford edition, p. 189.
2 Ibid., p. 125. 3 Ibid., p. 127. 4 Ibid., p. 125.
German and the Age of the Saints 55
so earnest men fled to the wilderness to save their souls,
in solitude, apart from the world, for it seemed impossible
to save them in the world and amid its wickedness. Some
lived as hermits on the islands or rocky promontories of
Wales, or retired across the British Channel to Devon
and Cornwall, for Cornwall has been called ' the Thebaid
of the Welsh saints.' Some of these may have lived a
solitary life continually in the places which they had
chosen ; but most became monks or abbots in one of
those great camps wherein the soldiers of the Cross kept
ever watch and ward against their spiritual adversaries.
Thus, though the age was an evil one, and merited the
terrible rebukes of Gildas, it was also an age of religious
revival and of Church progress. The sixth century
witnessed the foundation of the Welsh bishoprics and
of the great Welsh monasteries, which latter were the
especial glory of the Church in Wales. Gildas says
nothing of these, and the omission has been thought
strange. But those who thus criticise his writings fail to
perceive their purpose. His Epistle is a stern denuncia
tion of the world outside the monasteries ; he deals with
the sins of the princes, and of the secular priests who
live in that outside world ; those within the monastic
pale are men of quite a different sphere ; to them he
utters no word of praise or of blame in this treatise. His
mission, to use modern phraseology, is only to the uncon
verted ; and he seeks to rouse such to a sense of sin, with
all the force of Celtic impetuosity and Hebrew rhetoric,
until the Latin language nearly breaks down under the
strain that is put upon it. There is no need, therefore,
to infer from the gloomy picture of Gildas that the saints
were not saintly, and that the religious revival in the
Church was unreal, or that there was merely progress in
Church institutions, not in Christian morals. The testi
mony of the hostile English controversialist, Aldhelm,
in a somewhat later age, proves that Wales was noted
56 A History of the Welsh Church
for the purity of its clergy and the sanctity of its hermits.
His words, which we shall consider later, lead rather to
the conclusion that the temperament of Gildas led him
to put matters in the very worst light. However great
were the sins and failings of the Welsh, they were
at least superior in morality to the English converts of
Aldhelm's age, and Aldhelm can only blame them for a
Pharisaic contempt of sinners, and not for being sinners
themselves.
It is probable that, even among the monastic saints
Gildas was exceptionally severe in his abhorrence of the
secular world. There are legends which seem to show
that antiquity esteemed the mildness attributed to the
gentle Cadoc rather than the terrible severity of the
stern Gildas. Celtic Christianity has frequently pre
sented two different aspects in the same age : there has
been the awful earnestness of Gildas which doubts the
goodness even of the good, and applies the test of its
rigid rules to prince and priest alike ; and there has been
the gentleness of Cadoc1 and of Columba,2 which seeks
to discover the * soul of goodness in things evil,' which
bridges over the space between paganism and Chris
tianity, which believes that ' nothing is common or un
clean,' and which gently invites even such as Maelgwn
' to brighter worlds and leads the way.' Perhaps in each
case ' wisdom is justified of her children.'
The Welsh bishoprics were the creation of the new
monastic spirit, and the Welsh princes whom Gildas
criticises so severely, co-operated with the monastic saints
in their foundation. Maelgwn gave lands for the see of
Bangor, of which Deiniol Wyn, who died in A.D. 584, was
the first bishop. Meurig is said to have endowed Llan-
daff, which was founded by Dyfrig or Dubricius, who
1 Cadoc in Breton legends, and others, is represented as a gentle
saint.
2 I incline to accept Adamnan's picture rather than the Irish
stories.
German and the Age of the Saints 57
died in A.D. 612. 1 Dubricius seems to have resigned the
see before his death, and to have retired to Bardsey.
St. Teilo, who was his successor, is also reckoned a
founder of the see. Padarn, an Armorican saint, appears
to have established a bishopric at Llanbadarn Fawr, near
Aberystwith. He was another sixth-century saint, being
a contemporary of David and Teilo. Kenauc or Cynog,
who died in A.D. 606, was transferred from Llanbadarn to
succeed St. David in his see. The bishopric of Llan
badarn was finally united to St. David's, perhaps on
account of the murder of Idnerth, one of its bishops.
St. David founded the bishopric of Menevia or St. David's.
He is said to have died in A.D. 6oi.2 Llanelwy or St.
Asaph was founded by Cyndeyrn or Kentigern, who is
said to have left his disciple, St. Asaph, in charge on his
return to his bishopric of Glasgow. Kentigern died in
A.D. 6i2.3 These five bishoprics seem to have corre
sponded fairly well to the Welsh principalities then exist
ing ; Bangor being the bishopric for Gwynedd, St. Asaph
for Powys, St. David's for Dyfed, Llanbadarn for Cere-
digion, and Llandaff for Gwent and Morganwg. None
had any jurisdiction over the others, although the term
archbishop is applied loosely, as a mere term of honour
to various bishoprics, as it was also used in Ireland, and
claims of archiepiscopal jurisdiction were advanced by
more than one of the five. Giraldus Cambrensis made a
bold but fruitless stand on behalf of St. David's, but his
arguments merely show how fictitious the claims were ;
and the ' Book of Llandaff' claims the same privilege for
the see of Llandaff.
The Welsh diocesan bishops of the sixth century were
abbots as well as bishops — a fact which attests the pre
dominance of the monastic spirit in the Church. It also
1 'Annales Cambriae,' p. 6.
2 Ibid., p. 6. ' clvii. Annus . . . David episcopus Moni judeorum.'
3 Ibid., p. 6. 'clviii. Annus. Conthigirni obitus.'
58 A History of the Welsh Church
seems probable that there were abbot-bishops in Wales
who had no dioceses. Such is the tradition respecting
Paulinus or Pawl Hen, who was abbot of Ty Gwyn, and
was the instructor of St. David.1 Cybi, founder and
abbot of the monastery of Caergybi, is also called a
bishop in his legend, which, however, contains an
anachronism in relating his consecration by Hilary of
Poitiers, who lived some two centuries before his time.2
Tradition hands down also the names of Tudwal Befr,3
Cynin,4 and Guislianus or Gweslan, as non-diocesan
bishops. Of these three, the two former were not
abbots, and the evidence regarding them is not very
strong. Gweslan was cousin, or uncle, of St. David, and
lived at Old Menevia (Hen-meneu) as a bishop, and pos
sibly also as an abbot over a small monastery.5 But the
legend of the consecration of David, Padarn, and Teilo
at Jerusalem by the Patriarch, without reference either to
dioceses or abbacies, and the similar story of the con
secration of Samson to be bishop without a see, shows
that the idea of a non-diocesan episcopate was per
fectly familiar to Welsh churchmen. Rhygyfarch6 also
states that at the synod of Llanddewi Brefi ' there were
gathered together 118 bishops, and an innumerable
multitude of presbyters, abbots, and other orders.'7 A
Bishop Afan is found among the saints of Wales, and
a mediaeval inscription at Llanafan Fawr, in Brecon-
shire, marks his burial-place and preserves the tradition
122.
1 Rhygyfarch, ' Vita S. David/ ' C. B. S.,' p.
2 'VitaS. Kebii,' ' C. B. S., p. 183.
3 Rees' 'Welsh Saints,' p. 133. 4 Ibid., p. 144.
5 Rhygyfarch, 'Vita S.David," C.B. S.,' p. 124 ; cf. ' Buchedd Dewi
Sam,' ' C. B. S.,' p. 108.
6 Frequently called Rhyddmarch, the form of the name in the so-
called Gwentian Brut, against which form Mr. Egerton Phillimore has
protested. He calls himself in Latin, Ricemarchus. The 'Annales
Cambriae' (p. 32) calls him Regewarc, the Brut y Tywysogion Rych-
march (p. 62).
7 'C. B. S.,' p. 136.
German and the Age of the Saints 59
that he was a bishop.1 It has been conjectured that
Llanafan Fawr was for a short time the see of a bishop,
but this is not very probable. In a mediaeval list of the
seven bishops who met St. Augustine, a bishop of Wig
and a bishop of Morganwg are mentioned. The Bishop
of Morganwg has been conjectured to have had his see
at Margam, and a list of bishops of the see has been
preserved. But all other than the five Welsh sees of St.
David, St. Asaph, Bangor, Llandaff, and Llanbadarn, are
exceedingly doubtful, and the traditions respecting them,
so far as they have any truth, may not improbably rest
upon the existence of non-diocesan bishops.
The Dimetian form of the laws of Hywel Dda contains
a curious entry, which may bear upon the same matter.
It runs as follows : ' There are seven bishop-houses in
Dyfed : i. One is Menevia, a principal seat in Wales ;
2. The second is the Church of Ismael ; 3. The third is
Llan Ddegeman ; 4. The fourth is Llan Usyllt ; 5. The
fifth is Llan Deilo ; 6. The sixth is Llan Deulydog ;
7. The seventh is Llan Geneu ; 8. The abbots of Teilo,
Teulydog, Ismael and Degeman, should be graduated in
literary degrees ; 9. Their ebediws, due to the lord of
Dyfed, are ten pounds, and those who succeed them are
to pay them ; 10. Menevia is to be free from every kind
of due; n. Llan Geneu and Llan Usyllt are free from
ebediws, because there is no church-land belonging to
them ; 12. Whoever draws blood from an abbot of any
one of these principal seats before mentioned, let him
pay seven pounds ; and a female of his kindred to be
a washer-woman, as a disgrace to the kindred, and to
serve as a memorial of the payment of the saraad.'2
1 This stone is traditionally said to mark the site of the bishop's
martyrdom. The inscription is ' HIC IACPLT SANCTUS AVANUS
EPISCOPUS.' There is a brook near called Nant-yr-escob (The
Bishop's Brook), and a dingle, Cwmesgob (Bishop's Dingle), and not
far off the little parsonage, still known as Perth-y-saint.
2 * Cyvreithiau Hywel Dda,' ii. 24, in ' H. and S.,J i. 281.
60 A History of the Welsh Church
Whatever may be the exact signification of this section,
which is not quite clear, this much is certain, that the
heads of the bishop-houses were abbots, and it is not
improbable that originally, at least, they were abbot-
bishops.
The existence of a non-diocesan episcopate in Wales,,
although doubted by some high authorities, is certainly
rendered probable by the hints afforded by tradition,
especially when interpreted by the usages of the daughter
Church of Ireland. St. Patrick, who was a British priest,
introduced into Ireland a non-diocesan episcopate on
rather an extensive scale. The ' Catalogue of the Saints
of Ireland,' an authority which is referred by Dr. Todd
to the middle of the eighth century, states that the first
order of Catholic saints in the time of Patrick ' were all
bishops, famous and holy, and full of the Holy Ghost,
350 in number,'1 or 450, according to another manu
script. Tirechan, in his ' Life of Patrick,' states that he
came to Ireland with a multitude of holy bishops and
other clergy, and that he consecrated afterwards 450
bishops.'2 The ' Tripartite Life ' mentions 370 bishops
as consecrated by Patrick ;3 Nennius mentions ' 365 or
more;' the Chronological Tract in the ' Lebar Brecc'4
mentions ' seven fifties ;' and the Litany of Angus the
Culdee invokes ' seven times fifty holy bishops.' The
numbers in these estimates need not be taken as exact,
being in some cases influenced by a prejudice in favour
of the sacred number seven ; but the fact that there was
a prodigious number of bishops in Ireland is beyond
question.5 St. Bernard complained that in his time ' one
bishopric was not content with one bishop, but almost every
1 Usher, 'De Brit. Eccl. Primord.,3 p. 913 ; ' H. and S.,' ii. 292.
2 Tirechan's 'Collections' in 'Book of Armagh,5 ' W. S.,' ii. 303,
3°4-
3 'Tripartite Life,' ' W. S.,' p. 261.
4 Quoted in ' W. S.,' p. 553.
5 See Skene, ' Celtic Scotland,' ii. 14-26.
German and the Age of the Saints 61
church had its separate bishop.' It is, therefore, highly
probable from the connection of Patrick with the British
Church that there was also a goodly number of British
bishops without dioceses. We know that Wales was
very closely connected with Ireland in the sixth century,
and that Gildas, David, and Cadoc in particular were
intimately associated with the Saints of the Second Order.
This order of Irish saints had, however, fewer bishops,
being composed mostly of presbyters.
Groups of seven bishops are frequently found in the
Irish Church. The Litany of Angus the Culdee invokes
one hundred and fifty-three groups of seven bishops, and
six are mentioned in the Martyrology of Donegal. An
arrangement in sevens was common both in Ireland and
Wales. The seven bishop-houses in Dyfed suggests the
working of the same principle. There were seven British
bishops at the meeting with Augustine of Canterbury.
Oratories were clustered together in groups of seven at
Glendalough, at Cashel, at the river Fochaine, at Cianacht,
and among the Hui Tuirtri. So, too, we are told that
at Llantwit Major ' Illtyd founded seven churches, and
appointed seven companies for each church, and seven
halls, or colleges, in each company, and seven saints in
each hall or college.'1 Bede tells us of Bangor Iscoed
that it was divided into seven companies with provosts
set over them, and no company had less than three
hundred monks.2
There is no trace in the traditions of the Church in
Wales of anything parallel to the authority of the abbots
over the bishops, which prevailed in the Irish and
Scottish Churches. Columba, though only a priest, had
bishops subject to him, as Bede relates with wonder,3
1 'lolo MSS.,' p. 555.
2 Bede. ' H. E.,J ii. 2; ' M. H. B.,' p. 151. See further, 'St.
Patrick' (S.P.C.K.), pp. 121-123.
3 Bede, 'H. E.,' iii. 3.
62 A History of the Welsh Church
and this example was followed by the subsequent abbots
of Hy. Even a woman, like St. Bridget, kept a bishop
in connection with her monastery to perform the neces
sary functions, for, although the abbot or abbess was
superior in jurisdiction to the bishop, none but a bishop
could convey holy orders.
The ascertained customs of the Irish Church throw
much light upon hints and traditions concerning the
Welsh Church, which might otherwise be very obscure.
But the two Churches had their differences as well as their
similarities. The civilization of Britain was superior to
that of Ireland, and the age of its paganism was more
remote. In the sixth century the Irish Church suffered
severely from paganism, and the Saints of the Second
Order virtually effected a compromise between paganism
and Christianity. Ireland at this time received effectual
aid from Wales, and especially from the monasteries of
Menevia and Llancarfan. Of the Second Order of Irish
Saints the Catalogue states that ' they received a mass
from Bishop David and Gillas and Docus, the Britons.'
Gillasis Gildas, and Docus is Cadoc, of Llancarfan. The
legend of Cadoc represents him as studying in Ireland at
v.Lismore under Muchutu, who may be the same as
Mochuda.1 Finnian of Clonard and others are said to
$iave accompanied Cadoc on his return to Llancarfan.2
Rhygyfarch relates that ' almost the third or the fourth
part of Ireland serves David.'3 Aedh of Ferns, Bar of
Cork, Finnian of Clonard, Scuthin and Senanus are
brought by various legends to Menevia to study there
under St. David. St. Canice also 'went across the sea
into Britain to Doc (Cadoc), a wise and most religious
man, and read with him diligently and learned good
morals.'4 Gildas is said to have been invited to Ireland
1 « Vita S. Cadoci,' § 7, ' C. B. S.,' p. 36. * Ibid., § 8.
3 'Vita S. David,' * C. B. S.,J p. 133.
4 'Vita S. Cannechi,' p. 3, quoted by Todd ; 'St. Patrick,' p. 100,
note.
German and the Age of the Saints 63
by King Ainmire, ' because almost all the inhabitants of
that island had abandoned the Catholic faith.' He
consented, and 'went around all the country of the Irish,
restored churches, and instructed the whole clergy in the
Catholic faith and the worship of the Holy Trinity. He
healed the people who had been grievously wounded by
the bites of heretics, and drove away from them heretical
deceits with their authors.' The date of this mission,
according to the ' Annales Cambriae,' was A.D. 565. The
Irish annals mention the death of Gildas variously under
the dates 569 and 570.
All these scattered hints tend one way : they prove that
in the sixth century Ireland was much more affected by
paganism than was Wales, and that the Church in Wales
did a good work in restoring the Christianity of at least
the centre and south of that country, for the north seems
to have been chiefly under the influence of Ninian's
foundation of Whitherne. It is plain, then, that in some
respects Ireland and its Church differed widely from
Wales and its Church, although in other respects they
were similar, and we must not conclude that, because we
find one state of affairs in Ireland, a similar condition
existed in Wales. There is no proof of any subjection of
bishops to abbots in Wales, and no traditions to that
effect ; hence it is rash to assume it, merely because it
was a custom in the Irish churches, both of Ireland and
Scotland. Bede's astonishment at the existence of such
a custom in the case of Hy and his silence with respect to
Wales proves that he knew nothing of it in the latter
country. Neither can we infer because Irish Christianity
was largely tinged with paganism, that British Christi
anity was affected by it to the same extent. There is no
trace of paganism in the writings of Patrick, his ' Deer's
Cry' containing instead a very healthy Christianity, and
the compromise with paganism finally effected by the
Irish Christian leaders appears to have resulted from the
64 A History of the Welsh Church
policy of the Second Order of Saints rather than from
the Briton, St. Patrick. In North Britain we trace the
influence of paganism on Christianity down to the time of
Kentigern, for the story of his mother's delusion shows
how the two were liable to be blended in the case of a
Christian daughter of a half-pagan father.1 But Gildas
brings no charge of paganism against the people of
Wales, though unquestionably the crimes he mentions
were in part the result of a struggle between pagan ethics
and Christianity. The curious statement of the Triad
that the family of Brychan Brycheiniog taught the faith
in Christ to the nation of the Cymry ' where they were
without faith ' does not seem consistent with the pictures
presented either by Gildas or by our other authorities.
David is said to have contended with Baia or Boia, an
Irishman and a 'magus,'2 and 'magus' usually in the Irish
legends means a Druid. Boia was eventually slain by his
enemies, and his castle, which is traditionally identified
with Clegyr Foia at St. David's, was destroyed by fire
from heaven, which is scarcely suggestive of compromise
on the part of the Welsh saint. The ' Magi ' prophesied
of the birth of St. David, just as the Irish Druids foretold
the coming of St. Patrick. But the most that these
stories preserved by Rhygyfarch can indicate is that there
may have been in the remote district of Menevia near the
western coast, some Gaelic or Irish settlers, perhaps
planted by an Irish invasion, who were pagans. A
similar influence may have inspired the reference to the
Druids in the legend of St. Beuno, the Abbot of Clynnog
Fawr. At his death he sees heaven open and exclaims,
' I see the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, and Peter, and Paul, and the Druids, and Deiniol,
1 See the old life of St. Kentigern, of which only a fragment is
preserved, 'Vita Kentegerni Imperfecta,' §§ 1-3 (Forbes' edition,
pp. 245-247, ' Hist, of Scot.,' v.).
2 'Vita S. David' (Rhygyfarch), ' C. B. S.,' p. 124.
German and the Age of the Saints 65
and the saints, and the prophets, and the apostles and the
martyrs appearing to me.'1
There is no doubt, however, that pagan ideas entered
largely into the beliefs of the common people, and that
they tainted their practice even with the consent of the
clergy. The wells that had previously received Divine
honours were consecrated to the saint, who used them
for baptism, and too often the rites that had been
performed of old were continued with a change of names.
The superstitious practices connected with the wells of
St. Elian, St. Dwynwen, St. Cynhafal, St. Cynfran,
St. Winifred, and St. Peris, among others in Wales, even
down to modern times sufficiently prove this. The pagan
reverence for stones, which was long preserved in Ireland
and Cornwall, left also its traces in the legends of Wales.
Nimanauc, we are told, crossed from Brittany to Britain
on a stone, Carannog's altar floated on the Severn ; and
Cadoc saw three stones at Jerusalem which he liked and
which he willed to fly thence like birds to Llancarfan.
St. Canna's stone, near Llangan, Carmarthenshire, was
long credited with magical powers, and another in St.
David's Church, at Llanfaes, was pointed out as having
caught a thieving boy and held him fast for three days
and nights.
It may be also that the association of the saints with
the islands off the Welsh coast, as also the superstitious
reverence of the Welsh for bells and for books, of which
there is abundant testimony in the legends and in the
writings of Giraldus Cambrensis, are survivals or trans
ferences of pagan ideas. It would have been strange
indeed if such ideas had not survived in Wales, as they
did in every other country of Christendom, but there is
no reason for us to conclude therefrom that Welsh Chris
tianity was in early times of a lower type than existed in
Western Europe generally.
1 'Buchedd Beuno Sant,' *C. B. S.,' p. 20.
5
CHAPTER III.
EARLY WELSH MONASTERIES.
MONASTICISM appears to have reached Britain by way of
Gaul. Ninian, the apostle of Whitherne, dedicated his
church to St. Martin of Tours, of whose death he heard
while he was building it (A.D. 397) ; and Patrick's connection
with the Gallican Church, of whose saints he speaks
with reverence and affection, is mythically illustrated by
the tradition that he was a nephew of St. Martin. The
British Church, near Canterbury, where Bertha had her
Christian service, was dedicated to the same saint. All
these indications point to the influence which St. Martin's
name and fame exerted on the British Church. It is
natural, then, that his monastic system, as exhibited at
Liguge and Marmoutier, should have been copied more
or less by the Britons. But the mission of St. German
and St. Lupus appears to have given the necessary
impetus to the monastic movement. We find that in
Patrick's Church, which was planted by Gaul and Britain,
acting in conjunction, the full monastic rigour was
unknown. 'They rejected not the service and society of
women, because, founded on the Rock of Christ, they
feared not the blast of temptation.'1 Yet there were
pretty certainly monasteries or ' insulse,' as they are
called in the legends, in the Church of Patrick. The
1 ' Catalogus Sanctorum Hib.,' Usher, p. 913.
Early Welsh Monasteries 67
Second Order of Irish saints, who were in close connection
with the monastic leaders of South Wales, were much
more rigid in their customs than the earlier saints had
been ; for ' they refused the services of women, separating
them from the monasteries.'1 The leaven of the teaching
of German and Lupus had had time to work, the out
burst of monastic zeal in Wales had taken place, and
Ireland in its turn was affected thereby. To German,
traditions ascribe the foundation of several monasteries,2
and these traditions, though literally inaccurate, correctly
represent the effects of his mission.
Among the native leaders of this great movement in
South Wales were the trio who have already been men
tioned for their work for Ireland, David, Gildas, and
Cadoc, to whom may be added Dyfrig, Teilo, and Padarn.
Probably a little earlier than these were Paulinus and
Illtyd, the former of whom founded the monastery of
Ty-gwyn ar Daf or Whitland in Carmarthenshire, and is
said to have instructed both David and Teilo. A stone,
formerly at Pant y Polion in the parish of Caio near
Llanddewi Brefi, and now at*Dolau Cothi, preserves the
memory of a Paulinus, who is perhaps to be identified
with this saint. The inscription runs thus :
'SERUATUR FID^I
PATRIEQUE SEMPER
AMATOR HIC PAULIN
US IACIT CULTOR PIENTI
SIMUS
* A maintainer of the faith and ever a lover of his
country, here Paulinus lies, a most pious observer of
justice.'3 Although Paulinus was a notable saint, there
is no legend of his life extant.
Illtyd ' Farchog,' Illtyd ' the knight,' as he is called
by Welsh authorities, is said to have been an Armorican
1 ' Catalogus S. H.,' Usher, p. 914.
2 Paulinus is called his disciple by Rhygyfarch, * C. B. S.,' p. 122.
3 There are in all three Paulinus stones in Wales.
68 A History of the Welsh Church
by descent. His legend1 represents him as a contempo
rary of Dyfrig, the first Bishop of Llandaff, and of a
Glamorganshire prince named Meirchion, who alternately
patronized and persecuted the saint. The one thing
certain about him is his foundation of Llanilltyd Fawr
or Llantwit Major, in which monastery, according to a
tradition already quoted, there were seven churches,
each with seven companies, and seven colleges in each
company, and seven saints in each college. ' Illtyd,'
says another tradition, f made on the banks of the
Hodnant eight score and eight colleges, where two thou
sand saints resided, leading a life according to the faith
of Jesus, practising every godliness, fasting, abstinence,
prayer, penance, almsgiving, and charity, and all of
them supported and cultivated learning.'2 The Triads
give the number of the Llantwit monks as two thousand
four hundred ; other traditional estimates are three thou
sand, and two thousand one hundred. The monastery
was so notable that its origin was traditionally carried
back many years before Illtyd, and was ascribed to the
Emperor Theodosius, in conjunction with Cystennyn
Llydaw. It was regulated, so runs the story, by Balerus,
a man from Rome, and its first principal was St. Patrick.3
The wooden huts of the first monks have long since
decayed or been destroyed, but around and within the
curious old church of Llantwit Major stand some curious
monuments of early Welsh Christianity. On the south
side of the church against the wall of the porch may be
seen the old stone which lolo Morganwg rescued, after
it had lain for many years in the tomb of a local celebrity.
It is a tall narrow pillar, on which are inscribed in twenty
or twenty-one short lines the following words, so far as
1 'Vita S. Iltuti,' ' C. B. S./ pp. 158-182.
2 ' lolo MSS.,' p. 549.
3 Ibid., p. 537. One story is that Eurgen, daughter of Caractacus,
first founded there a college of twelve saints (' lolo MSS.,' p. 554).
Of course these stories are not historical.
Early Welsh Monasteries 69
they can be deciphered : ' In Nomine Di Summi Incipit
Crux Salvatoris Quse Preparavit Samsoni Apati Pro
Anima Sua Et Pro Anima luthahelo Rex Et Artmali
Tecani n — 'In the name of God Most High begins the
cross of the Saviour, which Abbot Samson prepared for
his soul and for the soul of King luthael and Arthmael
the Dean.' There was a luthael, King of Gwent, and
he was killed in battle in A.D. 848, according to the ' Brut y
Tywysogion ' and the ' Annales Cambriae.' Within the
church, on the west/js a most beautiful carved wheel cross,
unfortunately broken. Its inscription, which for the
most part is extremely clear, is as follows : ' In Nomine
Di Patris Et Speretus Santdi Anc Crucem Houelt Pro-
perabit Pro Anima Res Patres Eus ' — ' In the name of
God the Father and the Holy Spirit Howel prepared this
cross for the soul of his father Rhys.' There was a
Howel, King of Glamorgan, whose death is fixed by the
' Annales Cambrise ' and the ' Brut y Tywysogion ' in the
year 885. On the north side of the church in the middle
of the churchyard stands a richly-carved stone with three
inscriptions, one, ' Iltet Samson Regis '; the second,
' Samuel and Ebisar '; the third, on the reverse side,
•' Samson Posuit Hanc Crucem Pro Anima Eius ' —
' Samson placed this cross for his soul.' Against the
north wall of the church, not far from this cross, there
leans a curious cylindrical stone, which has been supposed
to be a corner-piece of a pedestal of another cross.
It is not strange that with these relics of ancient
Christianity ever witnessing to the world, there have
arisen numerous stories respecting the antiquity and
importance of the old monastery of Llantwit Major.2
One of the most notable pupils of Illtyd at Llantwit
1 This word is doubtful.
2 For a full description of these crosses see ' Archaeologia Cam-
brensis,' Fifth Series, vol. vi., pp. 118-126. See also Mr. Edward
Williams's (' lolo Morganwg') account of these crosses >n 'Arch-
Camb.,' Fifth Series, x. 326-331.
7O A History of the Welsh Church
Major was St. Samson, son of Amwn Ddu and of Anna,
said to be daughter of Meurig, King of Morganwg.
Samson, according to his legend, which is a very early
one, removed from Llantwit to some adjacent island,
perhaps Barry or Sully, where, notwithstanding the lax
morals of Piro, its abbot, * he led a glorious and angelic
life,' and eventually on Piro's unhappy death, which we
have already related, he was elected as his successor.
After a short visit to Ireland he returned to Britain, and
for a time lived the life of a hermit in a cave near the
river Severn. He was consecrated bishop by Dubricius
at Llantwit, without appointment to any particular see,
and some time afterwards left Llantwit for Brittany,
which was then ruled by Count Commorus, a tyrannical
foreigner who had slain the native count Jonas, and given
up his son Judual to King Hildebert. Samson is said
to have obtained the release of Judual in spite of the
opposition of the queen which he miraculously overcame.
Commorus was defeated, and Judual was restored to his
authority. Samson founded the monastery of Dol, and
in later times, when it became definitely recognised as a
bishop's see, he was accounted as its first bishop. He
was present at the Council of Paris held about 557-1
Besides the legendary miracles which have gathered
around Samson's name, other fictions were added with
the purpose of exalting respectively the sees of Dol and
of St. David's, and so both Giraldus Cambrensis, and the
clergy of Dol gave him the title of archbishop in the
later sense of the term, and Giraldus asserted that he
was Archbishop of St. David's, and carried the pall away
with him to Dol, whereby St. David's had lost its token
of being a metropolitan see. The romancer Geoffrey
of Monmouth puts Samson a century earlier than his
real date, and makes him Archbishop of York and after
wards of Dol. There is nothing of all this in the legends,
] See Usher, ' Ue Brit. Eccl. Prim.,' p. 532.
Early Welsh Monasteries
which in this case furnish us with more history than
the professed historians. But unquestionably few of the
legends of the Welsh saints are so certain in their main
outlines as the legends of St. Samson.1
Within a short distance of Illtyd's foundation of
Llantwit Major stood Cadoc's foundation of Llancarfan,
or rather of Llanfeithin, for the original monastery was
probably at a short distance from Llancarfan. Cadoc,
otherwise called Cathmael, Doc, and Cattwg, and known
generally in Welsh tradition as Cattwg Ddoeth, or Cattwg
the Wise, owed much of his position as a leader in the
Welsh Church to his birth, for he was son of a Mon
mouthshire prince, named Gwynlliw. His legend repre
sents his power at Llancarfan as princely : ' He daily
fed a hundred clergy and a hundred soldiers, and a
hundred workmen, and a hundred poor men, with the
same number of widows. This was the number of his
household, besides servants in attendance, and esquires,
and guests, whose number also was uncertain, and a
multitude of whom used to visit him frequently. Nor is
it strange that he was a rich man and supported many,
for he was abbot and prince' (abbas enim evat et princeps) ;
' besides his father, Gunluc, from Ffynnon Hen, that is,
the Old Well, as far as the mouth of the river Rymni,
and he possessed the whole territory from the river
Gulich as far as the river Nadauan, from Penntirche
right on to the valley of Nantcarvan, from the valley
forsooth to the river Gurimi, that is the Little Remni
towards the sea.'2
1 Mr. Egerton Phillimore accepts the early life of Samson as written
at its professed date, viz., about 600 (* Y Cymmrodor,' xi. 127). So
does also Adams (' Chronicles of Cornish Saints,' iv. 4, 5), though he
believes that it is largely interpolated. See also for the later legend
* Book of Llan Dav,' Evans' edition, pp. 6-24.
2 'Vita S. Cadoci,' by Lifris, § 15, ' C. B. S.,' p. 45. The Gulich,
according to the notes in Rees' ' C. B. S.,' is a tributary of the Daw,
the Nadauan is the Dawon or Daw, which enters the sea at Aberthaw
and the Gurimi is conjectu'ed to bi a stream running near Cadoxton •
juxta-Barry.
72 A History of the Welsh Church
This picture is probably exaggerated, but making all
due deductions, we can infer from it what in some cases
was the power of a prince-abbot, and how it was that
his monastery was so much resorted to. When thousands
left the world and became monks, they very often did so
as clansmen, dutifully following the example of their
chief. The populousness of Celtic monasteries admits
of no question ; Bede testifies to it in the case of Bangor
Iscoed, and it was equally common in Ireland as in
Wales. Their tribal character is another feature which
the Irish and Welsh monasteries had in common. ' In
Ireland,' says Dr. Todd, ' the land granted in fee to St.
Patrick, or any other ecclesiastic, by its original owner,
conveyed to the clerical society, of which it became the
endowment, all the rights of a chieftain or head of a
clan ; and these rights, like the rights of the secular
chieftains, descended in hereditary succession. The
com-arb, or co-arb, that is to say, the heir or successor
of the original saint who was the founder of the religious
society, whether bishop or abbot, became the inheritor of
his spiritual and official influence in religious matters.
The descendants in blood or " founder's kin " were in
heritors of the temporal rights of property and chieftain
ship, although bound to exercise those rights in subjection
or subordination to the ecclesiastical co-arb.'1 This
principle is illustrated by the particulars given in the
curious story of the foundation of the church of Trim,
contained in the ' Book of Armagh,'2 and also by the
succession of the abbots in the monastery of Hy.3 In
1 Todd, ' St. Patrick,' p. 149.
2 ( Additamenta ad Collectanea Tirechani,' in W. Stokes' ' Trip.
Life,' etc., ii. 334, 335.
3 Reeves' ' Vita S. Columbaj auctore Adamnano,' Introd., cvi. (' Hist,
of Scot.,' vol. vi.). * In the election, preference was given to founder's
kin, and hence it happened that of the eleven immediate successors
of the founder there is but one (Suibhne, sixth abbot) whose pedigree
is uncertain, and but one (Connamail, tenth abbot) whose descent was
confessedly from another house.'
Early Welsh Monasteries 73
Wales the same principle prevailed; bishoprics, canonries,
and parochial benefices passed from one to another
member of the same family, and frequently from father
to son. Celtic monasticism undoubtedly developed on
Celtic lines, and though there are some unusual features,
such as that of abbot-bishops, in which Gallican customs
may have been followed, there are others which are
purely Celtic.
Little can be affirmed with certainty concerning Cadoc,
the abbot-prince, save his foundation of Llancarfan, and
his. efforts in the cause of the Irish Church. But there
are a large number of churches which preserve his name,
and of many of which he probably was in some way the
founder.1 He appears to have visited Brittany, and
Breton legends attest his piety and gentleness. A large
body of Welsh proverbial philosophy is ascribed to him,
and he is connected by some traditions with the mythic
Arthur and his court. Altogether there is a mass of
curious lore connected with his name, but the facts we
can gather therefrom are few.
Gildas, another great leader of the Welsh monastic
movement, and the author of the ' History ' and ' Epistle,'
was born in the year of the battle of Mount Badon,' viz.,
about A.D. 516. So much is certain, for he tells us this
himself. He is said to have been the son of Caw, a
prince of Northern Britain, who was driven from his
principality by hostile incursions, and to have been born
at Alclud,2 before the removal of the family. Illtyd was
his reputed instructor. His mission to Ireland has been
already related. He appears to have been associated in
various ways with Cadoc, and to have visited Brittany.
He died in A.D. 569 or 570.
St. David, or Dewi Sant, was another saint of noble
1 Rees' 'Welsh Saints/ p. 177, enumerates fourteen of which he
considers him to be the founder. Two other subordinate churches are
dedicated to him.
2 Dumbarton.
74 A History of the Welsh Church
descent, though the story of his birth points to a deplor
able state of society.1 Such stories are not altogether
uncommon in the ' Legends of the Saints,' and may
perhaps arise from a popular belief in the ability of the
children of such unions. The name Non in this case
may have originated the idea that David's mother was a
nun, and so caused the legend. His father is said to
have been Sant, or Sandde, who is called a son of
Ceredig, and grandson of the great Cunedda. David was
brought up, it is said, at Old Menevia, and afterwards
settled in Glyn Rosyn, where he founded his monastery
of Menevia. He was present at the Synod of Llanddewi
Brefi, and also at the ' Synodus. Victoria,' held at
Caerleon. He did a good work for Ireland, and made
his monastery a place of instruction for the Irish clergy.
He died on March i, A.D. 601, according to the * Annales
Cambria/2
With regard to David's synods, the customary story
regarding the revival of Pelagianism cannot be regarded
as historical, and is exceedingly improbable in itself.
The date of the ' Synodus Victorise ' is given by the
'Annales Cambrise ' as A.D. 56g.3 The canons which
remain and purport to be those of a ' Sinodus Luci
Victoria ' are of a penitential character, and fix the
penalties for various crimes, some of which are of the
most detestable character. The ' Annales Cambriae '
records a Synod of Caerleon in A.D. 601, the year of
David's death.
Dyfrig, or Dubricius, is said to have founded colleges
at Henllan and Mochros, both on the river Wye, and
also one at Caerleon.4 He was the first Bishop of
1 His father was Sanctus, Sant, or Sandde, a prince of Ceredigion.
who, while walking" in Dyfed, met Non or Nonnita, whom he ravished,
* Vita S. David,' ' C. B. S.,' p. 1 19. ' Buchedd Dewi Sant.,' ' C. B. S.,'
p. 103.
2 P. 6. 3 MS. 'B.,' p. 5.
4 Life in ' Book of Llan Dav,' Evans' edition, pp. 78-86.
Early Welsh Monasteries 75
Llandaff, and retired before his death to Bardsey Island,
where he died on November 14, 612. His bones were
removed in 1120 to the cathedral of Llandaff, and there
buried.
Teilo, Dyfrig's successor in the See of Llandaff, is
always reckoned as a founder of the see, and figures
more prominently in tradition than Dyfrig himself. The
* Book of Llandaff' is the ' Book of Teilo,' and the Bishop
of Llandaff is ' Escob Teilaw,' the Bishop of Teilo. Teilo
is one of the representatives of the Welsh Church in the
mythical pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which the writers of
the legends delight in describing. Rhygyfarch represents
St. David as the saint specially honoured by the patriarch,
but the author of the ' Life of St. Teilo,' with local
patriotism, dwells rather upon the honour paid to the
saint of Llandaff. He records that trial was made of
the three pilgrims by offering them three seats in the
church.
' There were in the church from ancient times three
seats placed by the elders, two of divers metals, and
wrought with wondrous art, the third of cedar, having
no outward adornment save what nature had given,
which lowly seat the lowly Eliud chose for himself,
yielding the more costly ones to his brethren through
reverence. On seeing this, all they who were present
fell down on their faces before holy Eliud, saying : " Hail,
Teilo, saint of God, and grant that thy prayers may
avail for us with the Lord, because to-day thou art
exalted above the rest of thy brethren, sitting in the seat
of our Lord Jesus Christ, in which He preached the
kingdom of God to our fathers." But the holy man
hearing this was sore amazed, and arose and prostrated
himself on the ground, saying : " Blessed is the man who
hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood
in the way of sinners, and hath not sat in the seat of
the scornful. And blessed be the Saviour who chose
7 6 A History of the Welsh Church
that a seat should be made for Him of wood, who by
wood willed to succour the perishing world." Thus, the
humble man humbly adored the seat; nay, rather Him
who had sat thereon, because he, a creature, had sat in1
the seat of the Creator.' Teilo was then requested to
preach, and when he had ended he bade the people
listen to his brethren, David and Paternus, who also
preached to them — a circumstance which suggests that
something like the modern Welsh cymanfa was known
and was popular in early times. After these things ' they
were raised to the pontifical dignity : Teilo in the stead
of Peter, David in the stead of James, and, as it were
for a testimony of the grace which they had received
there from the bounty of the Lord, three precious gifts
were given to them according as it suited each. To
Paternus a staff and a choral cope,'2 woven of very
valuable silk, because they saw he was an excellent
singer. To St. David, moreover, a wondrous altar,
whereof no one knew of what material it was wrought ;
nor was such a gift bestowed on him unfitly, for he used
to celebrate in a more pleasing manner than the rest.
Last of all, yet not the least of the gifts, was given to
the blessed Bishop Teilo a bell more famous than large,
more precious than beautiful, for in sweetness of sound
it seems to excel every organ. It condemns the perjured,
it heals the sick, and, what seems more wonderful still,
it used to sound every hour without being moved, until,
through the sin of men preventing it, who were handling
it rashly with defiled hands, it ceased from so sweet a
service. Nor was he presented with such a gift un
suitably, for, like as a bell invites men to church from
the torpor of sleep and of sloth, so the glorious Bishop
Teilo, being made a herald of Christ, incessantly by
1 ' Considerat in,' so Oxford edition. The Llandovery edition
(p. 99) has 'consideratur.'
2 Not ' cap,' as in Rees5 translation (Llandovery edition, p. 342).
Early Welsh Monasteries 77
preaching invited to heaven.'1 It would appear from this
eloquent eulogium that good preaching was as much
admired in Wales in the days of Teilo, or, at least, of his
biographer, as it is at the present day. The sweet singer
of the service and the popular celebrant have in the
legend to yield to the eloquent preacher.
Teilo thus for some reason was regarded with more
reverence by the Llandaff clergy than was Dyfrig. The
college at Llandaff was called Bangor Deilo (Teilo's
monastery), and he is accounted its founder. His
descent is traced from Ceredig, the son of Cunedda, so
that he is placed as a member of the same family as St.
David. During his bishopric, the terrible Yellow Plague
overran Wales, an event that must be regarded as
historical. Its date is given by the ' Annales Cambriae ' as
547, in which year Maelgwn Gwynedd is said to have
died of it. But if the Epistle and History of Gildas are ;
indeed one work, as seems probable, Maelgwn must have r1
b€£ii_a4ive^ir~36o. The date of Dyfrig's death, A.D. 612,
seems also inconsistent with Teilo's succession to the See
of Llandaff as early as 547. The plague broke out at
various times, and Teilo's abandonment of his see, and
Maelgwn's death, may have happened on a subsequent
occasion to the visitation of 547 ; for Teilo left his
diocese for a time during the plague, and retired to
Brittany. He was succeeded in his bishopric on his
death by Oudoceus, who is said to have been his nephew.
Padarn, or Paternus,2 the third saint of the trio who
went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, is said to have been an
Armorican. He founded the monastery and bishopric of
Llanbadarn, and is said to have received lands from
Maelgwn Gwynedd. He is called in the Triads one of
the three blessed visitors of the Isle of Britain. He is
said to have returned to Brittany, and then to have gone
1 ' Book of Llan Dav,' Evans' edition, pp. 104-107.
2 'Vita S. Paterni,' ' C. B. S.,' pp. 188-197.
7 8 A History of the Welsh Church
to France and become Bishop of Vannes ; but this seems
to be due to confusion with an earlier namesake, for of
the two Bishops of Vannes, named Paternus, one died in
A.D. 448, and the other was consecrated in A.D. 465 ;
whereas Paternus, or Padarn, of Wales, was a saint of
the sixth century.1
Perhaps the most prominent saints of North Wales
were Dunawd Fyr and his son Deiniol. They, in con
junction with Dunawd's other sons, Cynwyl and Gwarthan,
are reckoned founders of the monastery of Bangor Iscoed
by the Dee in Flintshire, not far from the present town of
Wrexham. Bede states that ' Dinoot ' was the abbot in
the time of Augustine of Canterbury, and that ' so great
was the number of the monks, that although the monastery
was divided into seven companies with provosts in charge
over them, no company had less than three hundred men,
who all were accustomed to live by the work of their
hands. From Bangor Iscoed came a large number of the
learned men who accompanied the Welsh bishops in
their conference with Augustine ; and the destruction of
the monks of Bangor by the pagan ^Ethelfrith at the
battle of Chester, in A.D. 613, was regarded by Bede as a
fulfilment of Augustine's denunciation of the Welsh for
not uniting with him. A large number had come to the
battle-field to pray for the success of the British arms.
The English King noticed them where they were standing
under the protection of Brocmail, and inquired who they
were. Being informed, he said, ' Then, if they call to
their God against us, they assuredly fight against us,
even though they do not carry arms, and they attack us
with hostile prayers.' Accordingly, he ordered them to
be attacked first, and about twelve hundred were slain,
only fifty escaping by flight.2
Dunawrd is said to have been originally a chief of
1 ' H. and S.,' i. 145, note.
2 Bede, ' H. E.,' ii. 2; «M. H. B.,' p. 151.
Early Welsh Monasteries 79
Northern Britain and a great warrior. His brother,
Sawyl Benuchel, is also accounted a saint, and is said to
have died as a monk of Bangor Iscoed. He is the patron
saint of Llansawel in Carmarthenshire.1 In his early
life he is said (by a Triad of the Third Series) to have
been a tyrannical ruler, and the ' Legend of St. Cadoc '
represents him as oppressing the people of Llancarfan,
and swallowed up in consequence through the anger of
the saint.2 His son Asaph was the successor of Kentigern
as Bishop of Llanelwy.
Deiniol Wyn, the celebrated son of Dunawd, was the
founder of the monastery known as Bangor Deiniol or
Bangor Fawr, now Bangor in Carnarvonshire, which
Maelgwn Gwynedd made the see of a bishopric, Deiniol
being the first bishop. The ' Annales Cambriae ' gives the
date of his death as A.D. 584^ and he is said to have been
buried at Bardsey.
The foundation of the monastery and bishopric of
Llanelwy, or St. Asaph, is commonly ascribed to St.
Cyndeyrn or Kentigern. This saint was of noble
descent, but the story of his birth is somewhat similar to
the story about St. David. His chief work was done
around Glasgow, of which place he became bishop. He
was driven thence by a tyrant named Morken, and retired
to Wales, on his way converting the pagans of Cumbria,
and erecting a cross at Crosthwaite by Derwentwater.
He visited David at Menevia, and afterwards in North
Wales founded the bishopric of Llanelwy. But he was
recalled to his northern see by Rhydderch, called Hael
or ' the Liberal,' the prince of the Strathclyde Britons,
who had overthrown the pagan party of the north at the
battle of Ardderyd, probably Arthuret, near Carlisle,
1 Rees' ' Welsh Saints,' p. 207.
- Rees' 'Camb. British Saints,' p. 43 ; 'Vita S. Cadoci,' § 13.
••< P. 5.
8o A History of the Welsh Church
A.D. 573. He died, according to the ' Annales Cambrian, '
in the year 6I2.1
Joceline of Furness, the biographer of St. Kentigern,
gives a somewhat detailed account of his sojourn in
Wales, which was doubtless derived from those old lives
which Joceline despised, on account of their primitive
simplicity, and their variations from the orthodoxy of the
twelfth century,2 but from which nevertheless he copied.
He relates how David and Kentigern were associated
together at Menevia, ' like the two cherubim in the Holy
of holies in the temple of the Lord, having their faces
bent down towards the mercy-seat. They lifted their
wings on high in the frequent meditation upon heavenly
things; they folded them down in the ordination and
arrangement of earthly things.' It would seem that
Kentigern also visited Cadoc's monastery of Llancarfan
(which Joceline calls Nautcharvan3), though Joceline's
narrative is here confused. In building his monastery at
St. Asaph, Kentigern was aided by Maelgwn Gvvynedd,
though at first, according to Joceline (to whom, as a
biographer, all princes appear naturally tyrants), that
prince violently opposed him.4 Then follows a good
description of the ideal of a Celtic monastery:
' There flocked to the monastery of the man, old and
young, rich and poor, to take upon themselves the easy
yoke and the light burden of the Lord. Nobles and men
of the middle class brought to the saint their children .to
be trained unto the Lord. The tale of those who re
nounced the world increased day by day both in number
and importance, so that the total number of those who
enlisted in God's army amounted to 965, professing in
act and habit the life of monastic rule according to the
1 P. 6.
2 'Vita Kentegerni, Prologus ' (Forbes' edition, p. 160, 'Hist, of
Scot.,' vol. v.).
3 A mistake for Nantcarvan.
4 He calls the prince Melconde Galganu, apparently a corruption of
Maelgwn and Maglocunus.
Early Welsh Monasteries 8i
institution of the holy man. He divided this troop that
had been collected together, and devoted to the Divine
service, into a threefold division of religious observance.
For he appointed 300, who were unlettered, to the duty
of agriculture, the care of cattle, and the other necessary
duties outside the monastery. He assigned another 300
to duties within the cloister of the monastery, such as
doing the ordinary work, and preparing food, and building
workshops. The remaining 365, who were lettered, he
appointed to the celebration of Divine service in church
by day and by night ; and he seldom allowed any of these
to go forth out of the sanctuary, but ever to abide within,
as if in the holy place of the Lord. But those who were
more advanced in wisdom and holiness, and who were
fitted to teach others, he was accustomed to take along
with him, when at the urgent demand either of necessity or
reason, he thought fit to go forth to perform his episcopal
office. But dividing into troops and choirs those whom
he had appointed for the service of God, he ordained
that as soon as one choir had terminated its service in
the church, immediately another entering should com
mence it, and that again being concluded, a third should
enter to celebrate. Thus the sacred choirs being con
veniently and discreetly arranged so as to succeed in turn,
while the work of God was celebrated perpetually, prayer
was regularly made to God without ceasing of the church
there ; and by praising God at every time, His praise ever
resounded in their mouths. Very excellent things were
said in that and of that city of God, for as it became the
habitation of all who were joyful therein, so one might
well apply the prophecy of Balaam : ' How goodly are thy
tents, O Jacob ! and thy tabernacles, O Israel ! As the
valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's
side.'1
1 'Vita S. Kentegerni,' § 25. The translation from Bishop Forbes'
edition, ' Historians of Scotland/ v., pp. 78, 79.
6
82 A History of the Welsh Church
Cadfan, an Armorican saint, was another of the
monastic leaders in North Wales. The legend of Saint
Padarn relates the departure from Brittany of his com
pany. ' At that time,' it says, ' an ecclesiastical company
of monks, leaving Letavia, were purposing to seek the
shores of Britain,1 for as the winter hive, when spring
smiles, becomes bold and, prudently intent on increasing
its people, sends forth another first and especial swarm
to gather honey elsewhere ; so Letavia, the quietude of
religion increasing, sends across bands of saints to the
original home whence they came forth, under the leader
ship of Hetinlau, Catman and Titechon.' Padarn was
filled with like zeal, ' and so all the companies assemble,
with one consent, desiring to sail across to Britain ; soon
Padarn is made the fourth leader of a band.' Catman
and Titechon appear to be Cadfan and Tydecho. Eight
hundred and forty-seven monks are said to have followed
Padarn, so that if the other three leaders had any similar
following, a fair army would have landed on the coast of
Wales.
The continual journeying of the Celtic monks is a fact
beyond dispute, whatever may be thought of the accuracy
of the above passage. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells
us of three Irishmen who landed in Cornwall in the
reign of Alfred, and who had set out from Ireland in a
vessel without sails and oars, desiring to be in a state
of pilgrimage. Irish missionaries traversed the whole
of Western Europe, and even founded six monasteries in
Italy. Between Britain and the neighbouring Celtic
population of Ireland and Brittany there was constant
communication. The saints of Breton extraction con
stitute an important section of the Welsh saints.2
1 * Vita S. Paterni,' ' C. B. S.,' p. 189. The translator in this edition
has invented a new saint ' Corus,' translating 'In illo tempore Corus
ecclesiasticus monachoruin, etc.,' as k At that time Corus, a monk, left
Armorica,' etc.
2 Rees ('Welsh Saints,' pp. 213-224) enumerates Cadfan, Cynon,
Padarn, Tydecho, Trinio, Gwyndaf, Dochdwy, Mael, Sulien, Tanwg,
Early Welsh Monasteries
Cadfan is the reputed founder of two churches in
Wales, one of which, the fine church of the pleasant
watering-place, Tovvyn, contains a rude stone pillar,
called St. Cadfan's pillar, with a Welsh inscription which
has been variously interpreted ; some authorities con
sidering it to signify that the pillar marked the burying-
place of Cadfan and of Cyngen, King of Powys, and others
opposing this view. Cadfan's chief work in Wales was
the foundation of the monastery in the island of Enlli,
now commonly known as Bardsey. This was done with
the co-operation of Einion Frenhin. Bardsey became a
place for pilgrims to flock to, and was the sacred island
of Wales. Dubricius and Deiniol were buried there, and
so many saints retired thither, that it was believed that
the island was hallowed by the bones of twenty thousand
saints. The poet Meilyr, about 1137, in his ' Death-bed of
the Bard,' uttered his wish that he might die at Enlli,
* the holy isle of saints.'1
Other saints of North Wales wrere Cybi, the founder of
the monastery of Caergybi (Holyhead), and Beuno, the
founder of Clynnog Fawr. Cybi's name is perhaps most
generally known in connection with the story of his
meetings with Seiriol, abbot of the monastery of Pen-
mon, which is the subject of one of Matthew Arnold's
sonnets.2
Eithras, Sadwrn, Lleuddad, Tecvvyn, Maelrys, Amwn Ddu, Hyvvyn,
Umbrafel, Cristiolus, Rhystud, Derfel, Dwywau, Alan, Llonio, Llynab,
Canna, Crallo, Gredifael, Fflewyn, Triilo, Tegai, Twrog, Baglan,
Llechid, Tyfodwg, liar, Ust, Dyfnig, Llywan and Durdan ; also Budic
(p. 251), Illtyd (p. 178), and Samson, born, however, in Glamorganshire
(P- 253). Welsh saints also visited Brittany (see p. 256).
1 Stephens, ' Literature of the Kymry,' p. 23.
2 The poet, however, has altered or mistaken the legend : * From
the circumstance of Seiriol travelling westward in the morning, and
eastward in the evening, and Cybi, on the contrary, always facing the
sun, they were denominated Seiriol Wyn a Chybi Felyn, Seiriol the
Fair, and Cybi the Tawny ' (Rees, ' Welsh Saints,' p. 267). Matthew
Arnold makes Seiriol the Bright saint because the sun was on his
face, and Kybi the Dark one because he was ' in shade.'
84 A History of the Welsh Church
' In the bare midst of Anglesey they show
Two springs which close by one another play ;
And " Thirteen hundred years agone," they say,
" Two saints met often where these waters flow.
One came from Penmon westward, and a glow
Whitened his face from the sun's fronting ray ;
Eastward the other, from the dying day,
And he with unsunn'd face did always go."
Seiriol the Bright, Kybi the Dark ! men said,
The seer from the East was then in light,
The seer from the West was then in shade.
Ah ! now 'tis changed. In conquering sunshine bright,
The man of the bold West now comes array'd ;
He of the mystic East is touched with iight.'
\*2
The Welsh life of Beuno1 is strongly national and anti-
Saxon, and in many respects exceedingly curious and
interesting. After his father's death, we are told, Beuno
' resided in the township of his father and there he built
a church, which he consecrated in the name of the Lord
Christ ; and he set an acorn on the side of his father's
grave, which there grew to an oak of great size, height,
and of a fine form, and on that tree grew a branch which
reached the ground, and from the ground again upwards
as high as the boughs of the tree ; and there was a part
of this branch in the ground, as it is at present ; and if an
Englishman should go between that branch and the body
of the tree, he would immediately die ; but should a
Welshman go, he would be nothing worse.' Beuno
stayed some time at Aberrhiw, or Berriew, in Mont
gomeryshire, but left the place for a curious reason.
' On a certain day, as Beuno was travelling near the river
Severn, where was a ford, lo ! he heard a voice on the other
side of the river inciting dogs to hunt a hare, being that
of an Englishman, who spoke as loud as he could,
" Cergia," which in that language incited the dogs. And
when Beuno heard the voice of the Englishman he im
mediately returned, and coming to his disciples said to
them, " My sons, put on your clothes and your shoes,
and let us leave this place, for the nation of this man has
1 «C. B. S.,' pp. 13-21.
Early Welsh Monasteries
a strange language and is abominable ; and I heard his
voice on the other side of the river inciting the dogs after
a hare ; they have invaded this place, and it will be theirs,
and they will keep it in their possession." J1
Besides the monasteries already mentioned, there were
others in Wales, such as ' those of Dogfan in Mochnant,
of Gwyddvarch in Meifod (Mechain), of Dyfnog in
Cinmeirch, of Jeuan Gwas Batuc in Dinmael,'2 and the
monastery of Caerwent. The abbot of Docwinnus is
mentioned in the ' Book of Llandaff ' as one of the three
chief abbots of the see, the others being the abbots of
Llancarfan and Llantwit Major. His monastery may
perhaps have been situated at Llandough.
The monastic life in Wales was at first exceedingly
ascetic. Bishop Morgeneu, of St. David's, in the ninth
century, broke through the strictness of the rule, and ate
meat. He was killed by the Danes, and, after his death,
his ghost appeared to an Irish bishop and said, * I ate
meat, and I have become meat.' The greater saints were
renowned for their austerities. Kentigern, at St. Asaph,
would recite the Psalms standing naked in cold water,
even in time of frost.3 Illtyd, at Llantwit, bathed at
midnight before matins, staying in the cold water as long
as it took him to say the Lord's Prayer thrice.4 David,
at Menevia, sought, by standing long in cold water, to
subdue the heat of the flesh, and imitated in his self-
discipline, so Rhygyfarch reports, the methods of the
Egyptian monks.5 Sometimes these heroes of the faith
1 ' Buchedd Beuno Sant' (' C. B. S.,' pp. 14, 15, 301, 302).
a Thomas, 'St. Asaph' (S. P. C. K.), p. 8. See also ' lolo MSS.,'
P- 557-
3 'Vita S. Kentegerni,' § 25.
4 So I interpret the passage in ' Vita S. Iltuti,' § 7 ; * C. B. S.,' p. 164.
'Nocte media ante matutinas abluebat se aqua frigida, sic sustinens,
quamdiu posset ter diei oratio dominica.' Surely ' diei ' ought to be ' dici.'
The editor translates the latter clause (p. 472) : ' thus sustaining as
long as he could the Lord's command thrice a day,' which seems to
me nonsense.
6 'Vita S. David,' ' C. B. S.,' p. 129.
86 A History of the Welsh Church
would leave the monasteries altogether for awhile, and
seek in utter solitude to die to the world and lead the
angelic life. Samson, as we have seen, retired to a
cave near the Severn ; Illtyd himself left Llantwit for
awhile (partly, however, to avoid the persecution of King
Meirchion), and stayed in a cave beside the pleasant
Glamorganshire stream Ewenny for a year and three
days, sleeping every night on a cold stone.1 Other Celtic
saints, both of Britain and of Ireland, did the like ; the
caves of St. Ninian and of St. Medana are still pointed
out on the coast of Galloway.2 The Irish saint Fiacc
used to retire to a cave during Lent, so one grotesque
story tells, and would take five cakes with him, and when
he came out on Easter Saturday, ' there always remained
with him a bit of the five cakes.'3 Cadoc was wont to
leave Llancarfan4 at the approach of Lent, and to keep
that season in comparative seclusion in the neighbouring
islands of Barry and Echni.5 The heremitical life was
full of attraction to men of this type, and the hardships it
entailed were the object of their highest ambition. The
austerities of the Irish monks were extreme, and, as re
lated by the writers of legends, are frequently incredible.
One would sleep with corpses, and hang himself up on
sickles placed under his arm-pits ; another would keep a
stone in his mouth during the whole of Lent ; a third
mixed his bread with sand ; and a female saint, named
Ite, let a stag-beetle eat away her side.6 St. Patrick
himself is related by Tirechan to have fasted for forty
days and forty nights on Cruachan Aigle. Seven of
St. Comgall's monks died of cold and hunger, being un
able to live so hard a life as their abbot.7 There is at
1 'VitaS. Iltuti,' § 17.
- Bishop Forbeb' ' Lives of St. Ninian and St. Kentigern,' p. 284.
:! 'Tripartite Life of Patrick,' p. 243.
4 'Vita S. Cadoci,' § 15.
5 Echni is the Flat Holme in the Bristol Channel.
0 See Whitley Stokes, Introduction to 'Tripartite Life,' cxcv.
7 'Vita,' § 12, quoted by Bishop Reeves in 'Notes on Adamnan,
p. 233, in 'Historians of Scotland' Series.
Early Welsh Monasteries 87
times a touch of insanity in the legends, which suggests
that occasionally some Celtic saint went mad under the
infliction of prolonged fasting and mortification of the
flesh, and that his wild ravings and bursts of frenzied
passion were regarded as signs of inspiration by the
awe-struck and wondering people. The frequent curs
ings which we find in legends of the Irish saints, and
their irascible and revengeful temper, which caused
astonishment in Giraldus Cambrensis, probably had some
historical foundation, and some members of the com
pany may have been more like fakirs or dervishes
than Christian saints. Probably in Wales there were
fewer saints of this type than in Ireland, and in
general the ideal of the saintly life was higher, though
the varied estimates of Sawyl Benuchel may indicate
that a late retirement to a monastery has been in some
cases the chief qualification for enrolment in the list of
saints.
The great ambition of a monastery, according to some
traditions, seems to have been to keep up the ' laus
perennis,' the perpetual worship of God day and night.
But perhaps the most characteristic feature of a Welsh
monastery was the manual labour of its occupants. The
ideal of the monastic life is well depicted by Rhygy-
farch.
' The holy father ' (David), he says, ' decreed such
strictness in the zeal of monastic life, that every monk
working hard daily with his hands should pass his life in
community, as, saith the Apostle, " He who doth not
work, neither let him eat." For knowing that rest with
out care was an incentive and mother of vices, he bent
the shoulders of the monks beneath Divine labours, for
those who devote their time and attention to easeful rest,
without rest beget the unstable spirit of melancholy,1 and
1 'Accidia.' In ' C. B. S.,5 p. 429, it is translated 'accident' (!).
See Du Cange. ' Glossarium,' i. 42, 43.
88 A History of the Welsh Church
incitements to lust. Therefore, with zealous efforts they
labour with feet and hands ; they put the yoke to their
shoulders ; they fix stakes with unwearied arms in the
earth, and in their holy hands carry hoes and saws for
cutting. . . . They make no use of oxen for plough
ing . . . every one is an ox to himself. When the work
was done, no murmur was heard, no conversation was
held beyond what was necessary, but each one, either by
praying or by rightly meditating, performed his appointed
work.
' Moreover, wrhen their rural work was completed, return
ing to the enclosure of the monastery, they spent the
whole day till evening in reading, or writing, or praying ;
but at evening, when the ringing of a bell was heard,
everyone left his study . . . and so in silence, without any
idle conversation, they go to the church. Having ended
the chanting of the psalms with harmonious effort of
heart and voice, they continue the service kneeling, until
the stars being seen in the sky marked the close of day ;
but the father alone, when all had gone out, poured forth
his prayer to God in private for the state of the church.
At length they meet at table, and they relieve their weary
limbs with the refreshment of supper, yet not to satiety.
For excess, though it be of nothing but bread, breeds
licentiousness ; but then, according to the difference of
health or age, each takes his supper. Nor do they set on
dishes of various flavours, nor more palatable kinds of
food ; but, having fed on bread and vegetables seasoned
with salt, they quench their burning thirst with a tempe
rate kind of drink. The infirm and the old, and those
who are wearied by a long journey, are provided with
some little delicacies, for the same measure must not be
meted out to all alike. But after grace they go to church
at the canonical ringing, and there for three hours they
continue in watching, prayer and kneeling. But as long
as they were praying in the church, no one dared to
Early Welsh Monasteries 89
yawn, to sneeze, or to expectorate. When these things
are finished, they compose their limbs to sleep ; but,
awakening at cock-crow, and devoting themselves to
kneeling in prayer, they spend the whole of the rest of
the day without sleep from morning to night, and so they
do the other nights.
' From the night of the Sabbath, until the light has
shone after daybreak in the first hour of the Lord's Day,
they devote themselves to watching, to prayer and to
kneeling, save only one hour after Matins on the Sabbath ;
they make known their thoughts to the father, they ask
the father's leave even for the necessities of nature. All
things are in common ; there is no mine and thine. For
whoever should speak of "my book," or the like, would
forthwith be set a hard penance. They wore mean
garments, chiefly of skin. Unfailing obedience to the
father's command was required of all. . . . For he who
desired the fellowship of the holy life, and craved to enter
the company of the brethren, had first to remain ten
days before the doors of the monastery as an outcast,
and be loaded with abuse. But if he should patiently
abide until the tenth day, he was received, and being put
under the elder who happened to preside, served him,
and after working hard there for a long time, and being
subdued by many afflictions, at last he merited to enter
the company of the brethren. No superfluity was retained ;
voluntary poverty was beloved ; for whosoever desired
their fellowship, the holy father would receive none of his
substance, which he gave up when he renounced the
world ; not even would he take, so to say, a single penny
for the use of the monastery. But he was taken in
naked as a man escaping from shipwreck, lest in any
way he should lift up and exalt himself among the
brethren, or, relying on his substance, should not do an
equal share of work with the brethren, or, wearing the
garb of religion, should wrest by force from the monastery
9O A History of the Welsh Church
what he gave up to it, and stir firm patience to
wrath.'1
The monastic buildings in Wales probably resembled
those of an Irish monastery, such as that of St. Cainnech
at Aghaboe, or of Columba at Hy. Adamnan has left
us a number of particulars respecting the latter in his
life of the saint. The Irish monasteries were surrounded
by a rampart and ditch, generally of circular form ; the
rampart being either of stone, or of earth, or of earth
mixed with stones. Within this stood the village of
huts, made originally of wattles or of wood, where the
monks lodged. A little apart from the rest stood the
abbot's house and the guests' house, the former being
usually on an eminence. There was also a refectory, or
perhaps more than one in large monasteries, and con
nected with these were the kitchens ; but chief among
the buildings was the church. Sometimes there were
groups of seven churches, as perhaps was the case at
Llantwit Major. The church was usually built of wood,
and there was a sacristy adjoining, where, probably, was
kept the bell by which the congregation was summoned.
Other buildings within the enclosure were the smithy
and the carpenter's workshop. It is uncertain whether
the cemetery stood within or without the enclosure, but
probably it was within. Outside were such buildings as
the barn, the kiln, and the mill.2
Such is the picture we have drawn for us of one of
those Irish camps, in which the soldiers of the Cross
kept ever watch and ward in the midst of a hostile
world. The indications we find in the legends respecting
Welsh monasteries show that they corresponded pretty
closely to these.
Cadoc, when he came to Llancarfan, or rather Llan-
1 'Vita S. David,' ' C. B. S.,' pp. 127-129. The text, however, is
very faultv. I have not adopted the editor's translation.
2 See Skene's 'Celtic Scotland,' ii. 59. Reeves' 'Introduction to
Adamnan,' cxix.-cxxi. ('Historians of Scotland,' vi.).
Early Welsh Monasteries 91
feithin, built in three several places in the valley a church
of wood, a refectory, and a dormitory. Afterwards he
raised a vast mound of earth, and there made a very fair
cemetery dedicated to the honour of God, where the
bodies of the faithful might be buried round about the
church. He also raised another round mound like a
city, whereon the abbot's house was built, which, in the
British tongue, was called Castell Cadoc (Cadoc's Castle).
We are told, too, that he made four great paths.1 Nothing
is said in the legend respecting any enclosure, but we read
in St. Illtyd's life how that saint constructed an immense
rampart and ditch of earth and stones to prevent the
inundations of the sea and river which approached his
cemetery.2 Illtyd's barn was the scene of an amusing
miracle, worked by the benevolent Samson, who im
prisoned therein the wicked birds which robbed the
monks' cornfields.3
From these and like scattered hints we may gather
some idea of the picture which a Welsh monastery, such
as that of Llantwit Major, presented to a visitor in the
sixth century. Llantwit is even now, despite some recent
improvements, one of the most delightful places in our
still delightful isle. Its quaint old cottages with small
windows, and low, broad doorways ; its ruined castle,
and plain town-hall, with St. Illtyd's bell in the belfry ;
its grassy heights that look out over the silver-bright
waters of the Severn Sea to the glad English hills beyond,
and its narrow valley stretching seaward between sides
of strangely regular slope ; its British camp and its
monastic ruins, and, more than all, its church, which is
not one, but three churches — a monastic church at the
east end, a parish church in the middle, and a Galilee at
the west end — and the old monuments that stand therein,
and among the flowers of the churchyard, with their
1 'Vita S. Cadoci,' §§ 5, 6. 2 'Vita S. Iltuti,' $ 13.
3 Ibid., § 14.
92 A History of the Welsh Church
precious memories of the ancient saints ; these all unite
to produce an impression that is quite unique. Usually,
elsewhere, the old is blended with the new ; but here,
until quite recently, the nineteenth century had scarce
dared to intrude, and it seemed that here, at least, one
might find a haven from its commonplace mediocrity, as
Illtyd found in his time a haven for his spirit to rest in.
Even the simplicity of the people, which is proverbial in
Glamorganshire, was not lacking to complete the spell.
The monk who tells us the story of St. Illtyd's life felt
the strange, subtle charm of the spot in his day. When
Illtyd came there, he says, it pleased him well, for it was
a delightful place ; there was a fertile plain with no
ruggedness of mountain or of hill, a thick wood with
trees of various kinds, the dwelling-place of many wild
creatures, and a river flowing between pleasant banks.
It was in truth the most beautiful of all spots.1
To this place of retirement many a visitor doubtless
came in the sixth century and received a cordial welcome,
for hospitality was a prominent monastic virtue. After
passing over the pebbly beach and entering the narrow
valley, the visitor would come to the embankment which
Illtyd had constructed to keep the sea from encroaching
on his cemetery. Crossing this he enters the monastic
town, and after climbing the hill, he comes in sight of the
guest house and the principal buildings.2 Standing here
1 ' Pulcherrimus iste locorum.'
2 I am inclined to think from my own investigation of the valley
and the town of Llantwit Major that, at least, much of the original
monastery of Illtyd must have been in the valley. At present the
town and church are on a hill, and the valley is only reached by road
after a walk of about a mile from the church. The legend represents
Illtyd as building in the valley where the sea invaded his cemetery.
Possibly the monastery was removed later to the hill away from the
sea to escape the depredations of the Danes, or perhaps, as I have
supposed in the above description, the monastic settlement, which
certainly must have covered a large extent of ground, was much more
extensive than the present town, and was not only in the valley, but
also occupied the site of the present town.
Early Welsh Monasteries 93
he sees on all sides the multitudinous round huts in which
the monks dwell, with their walls built of wooden props
with wattles and daub between, and covered with roofs
of thatch. Should he enter one of these, he has to step
down, for the floor is sunk considerably under the level of
the ground outside, so as to give the props security
against spreading outwards under the weight of the roofs.
The guest house on the hill in which he lodges, and the
refectory in which he dines, are quadrangular in shape,
but built of similar materials.
As he goes on his way to the abbot's house, to which
he is being conducted by the monk who has chanced first
to meet him, he sees but few of the brethren ; for most
are now in the fields, busy with farm work. The few
whom he meets are clothed in rough garments of leather
or of wool, with sandals on their feet, and all have the
ugly Celtic tonsure, which leaves the front part of the
head bare with a ridge of hair coming round in the shape
of a crown, while the back hair hangs down unshorn in
shaggy locks over their shoulders. As the visitor passes
a church he hears within the sound of choral melody,
for in each of the seven the community are keeping up
the perpetual service of prayer and praise which they
regard as their especial duty.
Arrived before the abbot, he is welcomed with a kiss
of brotherhood, and he is afterwards lodged in the guest
house. It is a fast day, but in his honour the fast is
relaxed and better food than usual is served out to the
whole of the community.1
At daybreak on the Lord's day he attends a celebration
of the Holy Communion at one of the seven churches.
The churches are small, of some twenty-nine feet2 in
1 Adamnan, 'Vita S. Columba;,' p. 15. Reeves, 'Hist, of Scot.,'
vi. 127.
2 This is the length of the old church of Perranzabuloe, which some
suppose to be the original British building. Haslam's ' Perranzabuloe,'
p. 67.
94 A History of the Welsh CJmrch
length, built of planks of oak and covered with reeds.
At the east end1 is the sanctuary, parted off by a screen,'2
and within stands a stone altar,3 covered by an altar-
cloth.4 A chalice and dish of bronze are placed thereon.5
The monks come to the church in their surplices, and
two priests in conjunction6 ' offer the sacrifice,' standing
before the altar facing eastward, wearing over albs full
white chasubles with embroidered orphreys. The maniple
is worn over the wrist, hanging from the forefinger of the
left hand.7 The service is in Latin, wholly choral and
broken by many collects.8 There is a sermon after the
Gospel. At the oblation of the elements water is mixed
with the wine,9 and circular wafer bread (unleavened) is
offered.10 After the oblations, a deacon brings forward a
diptych with the names of the faithful departed written
upon it, which are recited by the celebrant, and the
prayers of the church are then offered on their behalf.11
During the communion of the priests a hymn is sung:
' Draw near and take the Body of the Lord,
And drink the sacred Blood for thee outpoured.'12
1 See so-called prophecy of Patrick, ' W. S.,' i. 35 : 'His dish in the
east of his house.'
2 There was a screen in St. Bridget's Church. ' Cogitosus, V. S.
Brigidse,' quoted by Warren, * Liturgy and Ritual,' pp. 89, 90.
3 Gildas, ' M. H. B.,' p. 16. 4 Ibid.
" St. Gall refused to use silver vessels for the altar, saying that
St. Columbanus used bronze, because his Saviour was nailed to the
Cross with bronze nails. Walafrid Strabo, ' Vit. S. Galli,' i. 19, quoted
by Warren, p. 143.
0 Adamnan, 'Vita S. Columbae'; Reeves, 'Hist, of Scot.,' vi. 142.
7 Warren, pp. 112, 114.
* A multiplicity of collects was urged against the Celtic liturgy at
the Council of Magon, A.D. 624 or 627 ; ' H. and S.,; i. 154.
y See Adamnan, ' Vita S. Columbas,' ii. i ; ' Hist, of Scot.,' vi. 152.
10 Warren, pp. 131, 132.
11 Warren, p. 106 ; Adamnan. 'Vita S. Columbae,' iii. 13 ; Reeve?,
'Hist, of Scot.,' vi. 202.
12 * Ymnum quando Commonicarent Sacerdotes':
' Sancti venite, Christi corpus sumite ;
Sanctum bibentes quo redempti sanguine,' etc.
Warren, pp. 187-189.
Early Welsh Monasteries 95
Immediately before the communion of the people the kiss
of peace is given, each of the officiating clergy and of the
members of the congregation kissing the one who stands
next to him. Then the laity receive in both kinds, and
the cup is presented to each communicant by the deacon.1
When the liturgy is ended, a loaf of bread is brought
forward and cut into small pieces with a consecrated
knife, and the people come forward and each receives a
piece from the priest's hands.2
During his stay at Llantwit, the visitor would become
familiar with the monastic routine. He would walk out
over the cliffs towards the Nash Point, and see the monks
busy making clearings in the woods, or tilling the soil
that had already been cleared. He would watch them,
and, may be, help them, building huts for fresh refugees
from the perishing world outside, who had been admitted
to join the community of brethren. He would sit among
the students, and join with them in reading the Holy
Scriptures, and in learning by heart portions of the Book
of Psalms, and would listen while one of the more learned
monks gave instruction in Latin or in Greek, or while
one read the ' Lives of the Saints ' to an attentive
audience. He would watch the skilful scribes illumin
ating with all manner of complex and lovely ornament
the books of the Gospels that they were writing, or in
another place some artificer fashioning one of those little
bells that the saints loved, or metal cases for the monastic
books, or perhaps patens and chalices for the service of
the altar.
It might chance, too, that before he left, Dubricius might
come over from Llandaff, attended by some of his clergy.
Then the abbot and the brethren would go forth to meet
the guest and conduct him and his party to church, where
thanks would be offered for their safe arrival. On Sunday
1 'Excerpta de Libro Davidis,' 'H. and S.,' i. 119.
2 The ' Eulogias,' Warren, pp. 139, 140.
96 A History of the Welsh Church
the bishop would ' offer ' alone, crowned,1 and wearing on
his breast the rationale, a breastplate of gold or silver,
studded with precious stones, after the fashion of the
breastplate of Aaron.2 He would wear also, as other
badges of his authority, the episcopal ring and a pectoral
cross, and would carry in his hand on occasion his short
pastoral staff.3
In such peaceful wise the life of the monks sped
on. There were at least four of such retreats within
easy distance of each other, in the pleasant vale of
Glamorgan : Llantwit, Llancarfan, Llandaff, and Llan-
dough ; a well-girt traveller might visit them all in the
space of a single day. All too, we may reasonably believe,
were doing an excellent work ; men who would have
perished in that rough and dangerous world, in these
retreats lost the world and were lost thereto, but gained
their souls in exchange.
Rhygyfarch's picture of monastic discipline may be
ideal ; but it may have been realized in well ordered com
munities, such as Menevia and Llancarfan. Not every
monk was holy, but the average of piety was a high one,
and though the monkish conception of sanctity was in
part mistaken, the aim was sincere. There were hypo
crites among the brethren as there are among Christians
of the nineteenth century ; and probably there were not
more then than there are now. Even serious slips such
as that of Abbot Piro may be judged leniently, if we
remember the long fasts of the monks, and reflect how a
very slight indulgence might affect a man who had been
thus weakened. The monks were undoubtedly super
stitious, paganism had made their forefathers so ; and
though paganism was probably dead as a creed in Wales,
its survivals must have been powerful. Consequently
1 Warren, pp. 119. 120. 2 Ibid., p. 113.
3 One of these short staves, that, possibly, of Mochuda, may even
now be seen in the castle of Lismore. See my 'St. Patrick,' pp. 127,
128, where I have described it.
Early Welsh Monasteries 97
they dreaded the evil, malignant powers with which they
peopled the world of nature, and to which their forefathers
had offered sacrifices to propitiate their wrath. They
looked for miracles and they found them ; some are
ridiculous enough, especially when contained in late
legends ; but some of those related of Columba by
Adamnan are reasonable and are well attested, and if
miracles are to be expected anywhere, they are to be
expected in connection with missions to the heathen.
The monks dreaded devils and saw visions of angels.
Perhaps while they weakened their bodies by fasting,
they increased their spiritual perception ; or are we to
conclude that bad health produced in them delusions ?
Certainly Adamnan's picture of the monastery of Hy
represents a community in which miracles and angelic
appearances were recognised as matters of common
occurrence, as sanctified ' human nature's daily food,'
accepted by all, and questioned by none. And these
men were heroes by virtue of their faith. Even if our
own eyes are holden, and do not descry the chariots of
fire and horses of fire that compass us around, we need
not rashly deny that others placed in the outposts of
Christendom on the borders of heathendom, in times
when Christians were militant and aggressive, may have
had such visions vouchsafed to them for their comfort
and encouragement. The fact that some stories of the
supernatural are absurd does not discredit them all ; far
from it. Adamnan's ' Life of Columba' is a well-attested
and an astounding work, which should not be ignored,
but in some way or other should be accounted for.
CHAPTER IV.
THE AGE OF CONFLICT.
UNTIL the end of the sixth century the Church in Wales
had come into no direct contact with the See of Rome.
While Britain was part of the Roman empire, and was
becoming so far affected by Roman civilization that, as
Gildas rhetorically says, it was rather to be deemed
Romania than Britannia, the British Church, in common
with the rest of Western Christendom, had recognised
the primacy of the Imperial city and its bishop. What
that primacy involved, and how distinct it was from the
later conception of the papacy, may be clearly seen from
the canons of the Council of Aries (A.D. 314), at which
British bishops, including possibly one from Wales, were
present. These canons were sent to Pope Sylvester as
primate, and the first of them ordained that notice of the
proper time of observing Easter should be given by the
Bishop of Rome ; but at the same time the council
treated him as a ' brother,' and as primus inter pares, and
not as a superior in authority. ' To the most holy lord,
Brother Sylvester ' (so their letter begins), ' Marinus1 and
the assembly of bishops, who havft met together in the
town of Aries, have signified to thy Charity what we have
decreed in common council, that all may know what they
1 The Bishop of Aries.
The Age of Conflict 99
ought to observe for the future.'1 They expressed regret
that the Pope had been unable to be present, and sent
him the canons which they had decreed, that he might
publish them to the Churches of the West.
After the separation of Britain from the Empire, Pope
Celestine, if Prosper is to be credited, sent St. German
in 429 to check the Pelagian heresy in this country, and
two years later sent Palladius as a bishop to the sister
island of Ireland. Even as late as the middle of the
same century, in 455, according to the ' Annales Cambrise,'
the orders of Pope Leo were followed in Britain respect-
1 See Spelman, * Concilia,' pp. 39-43, where the canons, etc., of this
Council are given. The Latin for the above is as follows : * Domino
sanctissimo fratri Silvestro, Marinus vel caetus Episcoporum, qui
adunati fuerunt in oppido Arelatensi, quid decreverimus communi
concilio charitati tuas significavimus, ut omnes sciant quid in futurum
observare debeant.' The first canon is : ' Ut uno die et tempore Pascha
celebretur. Primo loco de observatione Paschae Dominici, ut uno die
et uno tempore per omnem orbem a nobis observetur, et juxta con-
suetudinem litteras ad omnes tu dirigas.' See further for comments
on the tone of this Council towards the Pope, and its incompatibility
with any theory of Papal Supremacy at this date, Collier's ' Ecclesi
astical History,' i. 27, 28 : 'The form of saluting that See is very
different from that of later ages. Here's no signs of submission, no
acknowledgment of supreme pastorship or universal supremacy. By
their language we may plainly understand that they looked upon the
authority of the Council to be perfect in its legislative capacity without
the concurrence or after-consent of the Bishop of Rome. Their words
run thus : Qucc decrevimus communi concilio. . . . Now one would
hardly have imagined that Baronius should have found out the
necessity of the Pope's confirmation from hence. For don't they
plainly tell him, the points were already settled by common consent,
and that they sent them to him to make 'em more publick ? . . . Would
such freedom as this have been allowed in a Council since the claim
of the Papal Supremacy? Would it not have been looked upon as a
great failure of respect in a provincial Council, even within any of the
Eastern Patriarchates? But at this time of day the fathers assembled
at Aries thought Charitati tuce, your Friendliness, ceremony enough,
even for the See of Rome. They likewise call him Dear Brother, as
St. Cyprian had often done before 'em. . . . Was it possible for this
Council, who declared the compleatness of their authority, and treated
the Pope with such familiarity, was it possible, I say, for 'em to look
upon that Bishop as their Supream Head, or that he had any para
mount jurisdiction to confirm, or null the Acts of the Council? By
what has been said we may understand what opinion the British
bishops of this century, and the rest of their order, had of the Pope's
Supremacy.'
ioo A History of the Welsh Church
ing the date of Easter. But the entry in the ' Annales '
is certainly confused and may be altogether incorrect.1
Two years later, when a new rule for the calculation of
Easter was adopted by the churches in union with Rome,
the Britons certainly took no notice of the change. They
were then too fully occupied with their struggle with the
pagan English, who in that year overthrew their army in
the Battle of Crayford.2 Henceforward they were cut
off from Roman influence, and the subsequent develop
ment of the Celtic churches of Britain and of Ireland
took place in isolation.
We have seen how marvellous that development was in
Wales, in spite of the civil commotions due to the progress
of the invaders, and to the rivalries of the various petty
princes who claimed the name and style of kings, but
acknowledged the leadership of a Dux or Gwledig.
Chieftains whose dominions had been taken from them
by the Picts and Scots or by the English, retired to
Wales, and exchanged a life of conflict for the quiet of
the monasteries, and. probably their followers did the
same, which will account in great measure for the
multitude of monks in Wales. Caw, the father of
Gildas, and his family ; Pabo Post Prydain, and his son
Dunawd, the founder of Bangor Iscoed, and grandson
Deiniol, first bishop of Bangor ; Elaeth Frenhin, a monk
of Seiriol's college in Anglesey ; and Clydno Eiddyn and
1 The 'Annales Cambria' (' M. H. B.,' p. 830) has: 'A.D. 453.
ix Annus. Pasca commutatur super diem Dominicum cum papa Leone
episcopo Roma?.' There was a dispute at this time between the Eastern
and the Western Churches as to the date of Easter in A.D. 455, whether
it should be on April iyth or 24th. Pope Leo finally agreed to the com
putation of Alexandria. But in the entry in the ' Annales Cambrias'
the words 'super diem Dominicum' are a blunder, as there was no
question then whether Easter should be kept on a Sunday or a week
day, and there is no reason to suppose that the Britons ever kept it on
a week-day.
2 'A.D. 457. This year Hengest and ^sc, his son, fought against
the Britons at the place which is called Crecganford, and there slew
four thousand men ; and the Britons then forsook Kent, and in great
terror fled to London.' — 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,' ' M. H. B.,: p. 299.
The Age of Conflict 101
his brothers are accounted by tradition among such
fugitives. Cunedda himself, the founder of a great family
to which many of the most illustrious saints, including
David and Teilo, belonged, was originally a chieftain of
northern Britain, who retired to Wales in consequence
of an irruption of the Picts. The concourse of fugitives
in Wales was so great and their number so constantly
increasing, that they found their bounds too strait for
them, and many of them sought a home across the sea,
some in Ireland, and others in Armorica, called also by
the Welsh, Letavia, or Llydaw, which we know now as
Brittany, where already a British colony had been settled
since the time of Maximus. WTe have already seen that
many of the Welsh saints were Armorican by birth or
descent ; but the Britons who settled in Armorica far
exceeded these in number. Armorica was the Briton's
health resort in time of pestilence, and his place of
refuge, when pressed by the invasions of the hated Saxon,
or driven to despair of the world in which he lived, by
reason of its wickedness and irreligion. Thither in the
fifth century came Fracan, cousin of Cathow, a British
king, fleeing from a pestilence which had been sent to
punish his nation for their ' acts of sacrilege and improper
marriages, and lawless feasts, and debauchery forbidden
by God.'1 His wife, Gwen Teirbron and his three sons,
Guethennoc, Jacut, and Winwaloe, are still held in venera
tion by the Bretons. Jacut was the founder of a monastery
called by his name, about five miles distant from St. Malo.
But, Winwaloe or Gwennole is the most renowned of the
three brothers. The austerities related of him are equal
to those of the Irish Saints. From his twentieth year to
his death he was never seen to sit in church. ' Every
1 ' Cartulary of Landevennec,' quoted in ' Arch. Camb.,' 3rd Series,
1864, p. 41. This represents Fracan to have come from Britain with
his wife and Guethennoc and Jacob (Jacut), and Winwaloe to have
been born in Brittany. Another story makes Winwaloe born in Britain
about A.D. 418.
IO2 A History of the Welsh Church
day he repeated the hundred and fifty psalms, sometimes
standing with his arms stretched forth in the figure of a
cross, sometimes fallen on his knees. From the day that
he began to build his habitation, he never used any
garment of wool or linen, but made use only of goat
skins. Neither on his bed had he either feathers or
clothes ; but instead of feathers he strewed under him
nutshells, and instead of blankets, sand mingled with
pebbles, and two great stones he put under his head. He
used the same garments day and night. He never eat
wheaten bread, and but a small proportion of bread made
of barley, with which was mingled an equal measure of
ashes. He took his refection once only in two, and some
times three days. His other diet was a mixture of meal
and cabbage, without any salt at all. Upon Saturdays
and Sundays he would add a little cheese sodden in
water, and at Easter a few small fishes.'1
Winwaloe founded the celebrated monastery of Lan-
devennec, the rule of which was exceedingly severe. Its
brethren sustained themselves by the work of their hands,
we are told, ' like the Egyptian monks ; for they were
running by the path, not only of monks, but even of
hermits.' Their days of relaxation were 'the Sabbath
and the Lord's day,' on which they were permitted, like
their founder, to eat sparingly of cheese boiled in water,
and on Sunday also of a little fish.2 Louis le Debonnaire
abolished the rule in 817, with all their Celtic customs,
and substituted the rule of St. Benedict, for the old rule
was too strict for the weaker brethren, especially in the
matter of dress.
The second abbot of Landevennec, St. Guenhael or
Guenant, was also a Briton, and other Armorican saints
of the fifth century who came from the old country were
St. Corentin, first bishop of Quimper ; St. Brioc, founder
Capgrave, quoted in Cressy's 'Church History of Brittany/ p. 183.
'Vita S. Gumgaloei,' quoted in ' H. and S.,' ii. 79.
The Age of Conflict 103
of a monastery, and St. Ninnocha, one of the numerous
daughters of King ' Brechan,' who founded the nunnery
of Lan Ninnok, but who may perhaps be a little later in
date.
At the beginning of the sixth century, in 513, there was
a large immigration of Britons, and the stream continued
constant during the whole century. Fresh monasteries
were founded by the settlers, one by St. Mevanius, or
Meen, in the depth of the terrible forest of Breceliande,
the barrier which Gallican missionaries could not cross,
a region of enchantment and romance, where, as trouveres
afterwards told, the fairies dance by the fountain of
Baranton, and where Merlin lies for ever beneath the
whitethorn bush, snared by the device of the fair and
faithless Vivien. Another Breton monastery, that of
Ruys, was founded by the great saint of South Wales,
Gildas.
Constant communication was kept up between Wales
and Brittany during this century by journeys to and fro.
Both Cadoc of Llancarfan and Illtyd of Llantwit are said
to have visited Brittany, and Illtyd is said by his legend
to have died at Dol.1 Cadoc is said to have built a stone
church on an island of the archipelago of Morbihan,
called Ynys Cathodw, i.e., the island of Cathodw, or
Cadoc.2 Breton legends describe the saint's fondness
for Virgil, and say that he made his scholars learn his
verses by heart. ' One day, while walking with his friend
and companion, the famous historian Gildas, with his
Virgil under his arm, the abbot began to weep at the
thought that the poet whom he loved so much might be
even then perhaps in hell. At the moment when Gildas
reprimanded him severely for that perhaps, protesting that
without any doubt Virgil must be damned, a sudden
gust of wind tossed Cadoc's book into the sea. He was
1 'Vita S. Iltuti,' § 24 ; 'C. B. S.,' p. 179.
' Vita S. Cadoci,' § 32 ; < C. B. S.,' p. 68.
IO4 A History of the Welsh Church
much moved by this accident, and returning to his cell,
said to himself, " I will not eat a mouthful of bread, nor
drink a drop of water, before I know truly what fate God
has allotted to those who sang upon earth, as the angels
sing in heaven." After this he fell asleep, and soon after
dreaming, heard a soft voice addressing him. " Pray for
me, pray for me," said the voice ; " never be weary of
praying; I shall yet sing eternally the mercy of the Lord." :
The next day the book which Cadoc had lost was restored
in a wonderful manner.
* Eight centuries after his death,' says Montalembert,1
who dwells lovingly on the character of Cadoc, ' the great
Celtic monk and patriot was still invoked as their special
patron by the Breton knights in the famous battle of the
Thirty, where Beaumanoir drank his own blood. On
their way to the field they went into a chapel dedicated
to St. Cadoc, and appealed to him for aid, and returned
victorious, singing a Breton ballad, which ends thus :
' " He is not the friend of the Bretons who does not cry
for joy to see our warriors return with the yellow broom
in their casques ;
' " He is no friend of the Bretons, nor of the Breton saints,
who does not bless St. Cadoc, the patron of our warriors ;
' " He who does not shout, and bless, and worship, and
sing, ' In heaven, as on earth, Cadoc has no peer.' '
The Breton See of Leon had two British bishops, the
first being Paul Aurelian, who came from Cornwall, and
was a cousin of St. Samson, and who was made Bishop of
Leon by King Childebert in 512, and died in 573 ; the
other being St. Golven. The family of Samson figures
largely in Breton church history ; and the fiction of his
own archbishopric of Dol was put prominently forward
after the creation of the See of Dol by Nomenoe in the
ninth century. St. Mevanius, the founder of the abbey
1 Montalembert, ' Monks of the West,' bk. viii. c. 2 (authorized
translation).
The Age of Conflict 105
of St. Meen in the Forest of Breceliande, was a cousin of
St. Samson, and came from Gwent. Another kinsman was
Maclovius, founder of the See of Aleth. He came from
Cadoc's monastery of Llancarfan, and according to his
legend, being evilly entreated by the Bretons, he cursed
them and passed into France, but on their repentance
absolved them. He is known also as Machutes, or
Machutus. Maglorius, another cousin of Samson, and a
disciple of St. Illtyd, of Llantwit, succeeded Samson at
Dol, probably as episcopal abbot. According to Welsh
stories the father of St. Samson was himself a Breton
chieftain, who had settled in South Wales and married
the daughter of Meurig, King of Glamorgan ; and this
may possibly explain the prominence of Samson himself
and of his relations among the saints of Brittany.
Llantwit Major and Llancarfan seem to have taken
the lead among Welsh monasteries in work for Brittany.
The former is said to have sent over a fifth saint,
Leonorius, or Lunaire, in addition to Illtyd, Samson,
Gildas, and Maglorius. So intimate was the connection
between Brittany and the diocese of Llandaff, that when,
according to his legend, St. Teilo with his people fled
from the Yellow Plague, which passed over the country
' in the column of a watery cloud, sweeping one head
along the ground, and dragging the other through the
air/ he crossed the seas to Samson in Brittany.1 So, too,
Teilo's successor, Oudoceus, when the excommunicated
Guidnerth of Gwent asked pardon of him, sent him on a
pilgrimage to the ' Archbishop of Dol into Cornugallia
(viz., Cornouaille in Brittany), on account of the ancient
friendship and acquaintance which the holy fathers, their
predecessors, had had between them, to wit, St. Teilo
and St. Samson, first archbishop of the city of Dol. And
also for another reason because Guidnerth himself arid
the Britons and the archbishop of that land were of one
1 'Book of Llan Uav,' p. 107.
io6 A History of the Welsh Church
tongue and of one nation, although they were divided by
a space of land.'1 The identity of nationality thus claimed
by the ' Book of Llandaff ' on the part of the Cymry of
Wales was asserted also by the Cymry of Brittany as
late as the ninth century. ' We sojourn in France in
exile and captivity '2 was the lamentation of the Bretons
in the days of the English King Athelstan, when the
Normans, under Rollo, depopulated Brittany, and many
of its inhabitants sought refuge in England.
These statements, legendary and historical, point to
the intimacy of the union which existed at the end
of the sixth century between the British Church and
the Church in Armorica. The latter had become prac
tically merged in the former, for it had by this time
shaken off the supremacy of the Archbishop of Tours,
which its earlier bishops had recognised. Tours had
now become a Prankish see, so that racial jealousy
promoted the estrangement, and Armorican Christians
looked rather towards Llandaff for support and sympathy,
and the saints of Llandaff were their saints. Nor must
it be forgotten that Irish monks, who had now begun to
overrun the Continent of Europe in their restless zeal
and missionary enterprise, settled in Brittany also, and
contributed their quota to swell the army of its saints.
Brittany was a miniature Britain, wherein the same con
flict was already going on, which was soon to begin in the
parent country. It had Saxons on its border, who at
tacked the Bretons on the Vilaine in 578 ; it had its own
Easter question, and its own disputes about the form of
the tonsure ; it had its quarrel with a see which was in
union with Rome, and was situated in the land of
alien Teutons ; it had, too, its allies and friends in the
other Celtic Churches. The See of Tours resented its
1 'Book of Llan Dav/ p. 181.
2 ' In exulatu atque in captivitate in Francia commoramur.' * Epist.
Radbodi Dol. Epis.,; quoted by Lingard, ' Hist.,' i. 125 (Dolman, 1855).
The Age of Conflict 107
independence, as the See of Canterbury a few years later
resented the independence of the Britons ; and at the
second Council of Tours, held in 567, a canon was passed
asserting the Metropolitanship of Tours over Brittany.
' We add also/ so it runs, ' that no one presume to or
dain a Briton or a Roman as bishop in Armorica with
out the consent or letter of the metropolitan or the
co-provincials. But if anyone shall attempt to resist, let
him observe the sentence published in former canons,
and recognise that he is removed and excommunicated
from our charity until a greater synod ; because those
are deservedly separated from our charity or our
churches who despise the decrees of the Fathers/1
But this canon was as little regarded by the clergy of
Brittany as were Augustine's threats by the Church of
Wales.
Brittany was not the only outpost of the British
Church at this period. There were Britons and a See of
Bretofia in Galicia, in the north-west corner of Spain.
' To the See of Bretofia,' so runs the record of the Council
of Lugo (A.D. 569), ' belong the churches which are
among the Britons, together with the monastery of
Maximus, and the churches which are in Asturia.'2 A
bishop of Bretofia, with the Celtic name of Mailoc, was
present at the second Council of Braga in 572, and sub
scribed its canons.3 Spain, according to the testimony
of Gregory of Tours, seems generally to have adhered to
the older date of Easter at that time, so that there was
no divergence of the Britons from the other churches in
this matter, as there was in Gaul. Gregory notices with
complacency that in the years 577 and 590, and probably
also, he would believe, in other years as well, the springs
in Spain, which were filled by Divine command, were
1 ' Cone. Turon.,' ii., can. 9, in ' H. and S.,' ii. 77.
2 See 'Cone. Hisp.,' iii. 188, quoted in 'H. and S./ ii. 99.
3 Mailoc, Britonensis Ecclesias Episcopus, his gestis subscripsi.
'H. and S.,7 ii. 99.
io8 A History of the Welsh Church
filled on the Easter-day which he and his party considered
the orthodox one. A difference from the Spanish usage
in respect of the tonsure which prevailed among the
lectors of Galicia — probably the Britons of that district
and those under their influence — is noted in the next
century by the Council of Toledo (A.D. 633). The forty-
first canon complains that these lectors, ' letting their
hair grow long like laymen, shave a small circle on the
top of the head only. For this custom in Spain has been
hitherto that of heretics. Whence it behoves that to re
move a scandal to the Church this sign of disgrace be
done away ; and there be one tonsure or dress, as is the
use of the whole of Spain. But he who shall not observe
this, will be an offender against the Catholic faith.' The
Easter question was also settled by this council. The
See of Bretona seems to have continued, but with other
than Celtic bishops, until about A.D. 830, at which time
it was merged in the Sees of Oviedo and Mondefiedo
because of the destruction of the town of Bretona by
the Moors.
Brittenburg, at the mouth of the Rhine, has also been
mentioned as a British colony, settled by Christian
Britons in the time of Maximus ; but it would be rash
to consider this an outpost of the British Church. On
the other hand, the Church of Ireland, founded by St.
Patrick, who had among his bishops both Britons and
Romans from Britain, and revived in its time of declen
sion by the efforts of the Welsh monks, Gildas, David,
and Cadoc, and of the North British monks of Whit-
herne, was at the end of the sixth century and in suc
ceeding centuries so active and vigorous in its intellectual
and spiritual life, and so full of new-born zeal in missionary
effort, that its glory quite eclipsed that of the parent
Church. Yet, none the less, it was in intimate union and
communion with the Christians of Wales and of Britain
in general ; its customs were similar, if not in all respects
The Age of Conflict 109
identical ; and its sympathies were likely to be enlisted
in favour of the Britons in any conflict with a non-Celtic
communion in which they should become involved.
In 563 the great Irish missionary, St. Columba, who
had been trained by St. David's pupil, Finnian of Clonard,
and by the Whitherne student, Finnian of Moyville, and
thus inherited the British traditions of Wales and of
Strathclyde, settled in Hy, otherwise called lona, with
his missionary colony, which was destined eventually to
evangelize the northern English. About ten years later
another Irish missionary with a similar name, St. Colum-
banus, landed in Gaul. At the foot of the Vosges he
founded the celebrated monastery of Luxeuil, and after
wards, in Italy itself, the monastery of Bobbio. ' Armies
of Scots,' i.e., Irish, sallied forth from their native land
and covered Western Europe with their monasteries,
overrunning England, Scotland, Brittany, France, Alsatia
and Lorraine, and penetrating into Bavaria, Rhetia,
Helvetia, Allemania, Thuringia and Italy, and in the
North invading both Norway and Iceland. It would be
out of place to enumerate their monasteries here, and to
record in detail their labours, but it may be permitted to
quote the brief and pregnant summary of one of their
eloquent panegyrists. ' First,' says Mr. Haddan, ' by
armies of monastic missionaries, and next by learned
teachers — first, by attracting pupils to Irish schools from
all Christian Europe north of the Alps and the Pyrenees,
and, next, by sending forth men to become the founders
of schools, or monasteries, or churches abroad — the
churches of St. Patrick and St. Columba stand out, from
the sixth century forward, as the most energetic centres
of religious life and knowledge in Europe ; the main
restorers of Christianity in paganized England and
Roman Germany ; the reformers and main founders
of monastic life in northern France ; the opponents of
Arianism, even in Italy itself; the originators in the West
i to A History of the Welsh Church
of the well-meant, however mistaken, system of the
Penitentials ; the leading preservers in the eighth and
ninth centuries (though under strange guise) of theo
logical and classical culture, Greek as well as Latin ; the
scribes, both at home and abroad, of many a precious
Bible-text ; the teachers of psalmody ; the schoolmasters
of the great monastic schools ; the parents, in great part,
as well as the forerunners, of Anglo-Saxon learning and
missionary zeal ; the senders forth of not the least bright
stars among the galaxy of talent gathered by Charle
magne from all quarters to instruct his degenerate Franks ;
the founders of the schoolmen ; the originators, it must
be confessed (to add a dark touch to the picture), of meta
physical free-thinking and pantheistic tendencies in modern
Europe, yet (we must maintain) not open as a Church to
the charge of Pelagianizing so commonly laid against
them ; the hive, lastly, whence, long after Charlemagne,
Germany and Switzerland drew a never-failing supply of
zealous and learned monks, driven from home probably
by Danish ravages and intestine brawls, down to the very
time of the Normanizing of the Celtic Churches in the
entire British Isles in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.'1
We must not forget, too, that all this energy and en
thusiasm of the Irish Churches was originally kindled by
British missionary zeal, which Mr. Haddan unduly dis-
parages, and was due, first to Patrick, the saint of Alclyd,
or Dumbarton, and afterwards to the Welsh saints, Gildas,
David, and Cadoc.
W7hen, therefore, Augustine landed in Thanet in A.D. 597,
on his mission to the pagan English, and our island was
thereby again brought into connection with the See of
Rome, the British Church was in a far different position
from that which it had held when the Roman legions had
left our shores. Although it had lost to paganism the
1 ' Scots on the Continent,' in Haddan's ' Remains,' pp. 260, 261.
The Age of Conflict 1 1 1
greater part of Britain, and was there confined within
much narrower limits, yet it had gained largely in self-
reliance and in spiritual power ; it no longer looked
towards Gaul for leaders and instructors, but itself sent
its saints abroad on missions of succour ; and, further, it
had planted colonies in other lands, which in magnitude
and importance exceeded what had been lost at home.
Celtic Christianity, too, had developed its own customs
and modes of thought, distinct from those of the rest of
Western Christendom, from which it had so long been
severed. The British Church was no longer a weak and
dependent branch of the Gallican Churches, as it had
been at the Council of Aries, where its bishops were
reckoned as among those ' from the Gauls ' ; it was
independent and self-sufficient, itself the Mother Church
of a great and powerful Celtic confederacy, which might
challenge the dominion of the West with the See of Rome.
But fortunately for Rome, the confederacy was a loose
one, liable to fall in pieces from the common Celtic fault
of defective organization.
It was not long before the Roman mission came into
conflict with the Christians of Wales. The holiness of
Pope Gregory did not save him from that disregard of
national rights which has been the besetting sin of the
Roman See, and in reply to Augustine's question how he
should conduct himself towards the bishops of Gaul and
Britain, the Pope informed him that the bishops of Gaul
were outside his jurisdiction ; but ' as to the bishops of
the Britains, we commit them all,' he wrote, ' to thy
Fraternity, that the unlearned may be taught, the weak
strengthened by persuasion, the perverse corrected by
authority.' Augustine was not the man to waive any of
the privileges to which he thought himself justly entitled,
and in the year 603 or thereabout, he sought a conference
with the British bishops. The story of what followed is
told with some fulness of detail by the Venerable Bede.
112 A History of the Welsh Church
The two parties met at Augustine's Oak, on the borders
of the Huicii and West Saxons, possibly Austcliffe, on
the Severn. Here Augustine urged the Britons to unite
with him in the work of converting the heathen English,
and pointed out certain differences of use between the
British and Roman Churches, especially in the date
of Easter. After a long discussion, when the Britons
maintained their own traditions and would not yield to
the foreign missionary, he is said to have proposed to
settle the matter by a miracle : ' Let some sick man be
brought, and let the faith and practice of him by whose
prayers he shall be healed, be believed acceptable to God,
and to be followed by all.' A blind Englishman was
brought, whom the Britons could not cure, but whom
Augustine restored to sight by his prayers. The Britons
then confessed that Augustine taught the right way ; but
pleaded that they could not abandon their ancient
customs without the consent of their people. Wherefore
they asked for a second conference.
At the second conference seven British bishops were
present, and many very learned men, chiefly from the
monastery of Bangor Iscoed. Before going to the con
ference, they had asked advice of a certain holy anchorite,
who answered them, ' If he be a man of God, follow him.'
' And how can we prove that ?' they replied. He said :
' The Lord saith, " Take My yoke upon you and learn of
Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart." If, then, this
Augustine be meek and lowly of heart, it is to be believed
that both he carries the yoke of Christ himself, and offers
it to you to carry ; but if he be hard and proud, it is plain
that he is not of God, nor are we to regard his words.'
They asked again, ' And how can we discern even this ?'
' Contrive,' said he, ' that he may first arrive with his
friends at the place of the conference, and if at your
approach he shall rise up to you, hear him submissively ;
but if he shall despise you and will not rise up to you,
The Age of Conflict
although you are more in number, let him also be despised
by you.'
The advice was taken. They found Augustine sitting in
a chair, and he did not rise up ; consequently they rejected
his overtures. Augustine on his part offered to tolerate
other differences of ritual, if they would conform in three
points: ' to celebrate Easter at the right time ; to complete
the administration of baptism, whereby we are born again
to God, according to the custom of the holy Roman and
Apostolic Church ; and to preach the word of the Lord
jointly ' with him and his mission. The Britons refused
to comply or 'to receive him as archbishop,' and the con
ference broke up angrily, Augustine foretelling that if
they would not preach the way of life to the English, they
should at their hands undergo the vengeance of death.
This is Bede's version of the conferences, and in its
main particulars it is pretty certainly accurate. The
attempt of Augustine to assert the supremacy of Canter
bury had failed, and his curse recoiled upon his own
party. Within a few years the Canterbury mission,
disturbed by the general hostility of the Celtic Churches,
adopted a much more moderate tone, and Augustine's
successor, Laurence, in the letter to the Irish bishops
and abbots, sent by him jointly with Mellitus and Justus,
used language of gentle complaint and entreaty. He
saluted his opponents as his ' most dear brethren the
lords bishops and abbots,' and stated that when they
came into Britain, before they knew the facts, they held
both the Britons and the Irish in great reverence for
holiness ; but when they became acquainted with the
Britons, they thought the Irish were better. But, con
tinues the letter, ' We have learned from Bishop Dagan,
coming into this island, which we have before mentioned,
and the Abbot Columbanus in Gaul, that the Irish in no
wise differ from the Britons in their manner of life. For
Bishop Dagan, coming to us, not only would not take food
114 A History of the Welsh Church
with us, but not even in the same house in which we
ate.' Laurence also and the other bishops sent like
letters, we are told, to the priests of the Britons, whereby
he strove to confirm them in Catholic unity. But, adds
Bede with a touch of bitter sarcasm, ' how far he profited
by doing these things, the present times still declare.'1
1 Bede, ' H. E.,' ii. 4 ; ' M. H. B.,' p. 153.
CHAPTER V.
THE AGE OF CONFLICT AND THE SUBMISSION OF THE
WELSH CHURCH.
IT is no matter for astonishment that the Roman mis
sionaries were dismayed at the tempest which their
pretensions had aroused. The difference between them
and the Celtic Christians was no mere local quarrel of
Bangor Iscoed with Canterbury, as it is sometimes
represented ; nor a mere outburst of hostility on the part
of the Church of the Briton against the Church of the
invader. National hatred, and the sense of old and of
recent injuries, ever rankling in the breasts of the Britons,
unquestionably had their part in embittering hostile
feelings in Britain itself; but Dagan, the Irish bishop of
Inverdaoile, in Wexford, and Columbanus, the Irish
missionary in Gaul, had no such antipathy and wrongs to
stir their blood, and yet they too joined in the struggle as
loyally as Dunawd and his associates. The churches of
the Celtic communion were united in defence of their
ancient customs and in opposition to the claims of the
See of Rome, which to the majority of Celtic Christians
was little else than an abstraction and a name. It was a
struggle for independence. The Irish Church might claim,
as Columbanus claimed on its behalf, that Ireland had
never been part of the Roman Empire, and was there
fore from the first outside of the Roman Patriarchate,
1 1 6 A History of the Welsh Church
belonging to the churches of the Barbarians, which,
according to the judgment of the Council of Constanti
nople, were to live according to the laws taught them by
their fathers. The Britons for their part were no longer
willing to concede to the Bishop of Rome even that harm
less primacy which before the Saxon invasion they had
acknowledged ; it had lapsed long ago when their Church
was in its infancy, and its revival, to secure acquiescence,
needed more caution and moderation than Augustine, or
even Gregory, had shown. The Celtic Churches were of
one heart and of one mind. The exiles of Landevennec
and St. Meen, while keeping their rigorous fasts and
vigils, would learn from British visitors that a contest
had begun for their brethren in the mother country
similar to that which they were sustaining with Tours — a
contest for the customs of Winwaloe, of Illtyd, and of
Samson, and would be encouraged by their steadfastness
to abide themselves more firmly by the old paths.
Through all the monasteries of Ireland it would be told
how a bishop from the distant city of Rome had presumed
to censure the Easter and the baptismal rite that had
been held sacred by Gildas, David, and Cadoc, who had
given them their liturgy, and by the saints before them,
and had even cursed the Welsh brethren because they
would not lightly abandon these usages. The monks of
lona, to whom Columba had been as an angel of God-
nay more, for had he not been a discerner of spirits, and
held constant communication with angels, who delighted
to wait upon him ? — would learn with astonishment and
disgust that an arrogant foreigner, who had been sent to
teach the pagan English, had pronounced the way of
truth that Columba held so dear a by-path of error, and
had threatened its adherents with destruction. It is not
easy to imagine the indignation which must have passed
through the whole Celtic community at the news. If
Rome had its saints, so had they, attested by as notable
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church i 1 7
miracles, and more successful in missionary work. If
Rome had its antiquity in its favour, the Church of Ire
land had, at least, youth and vigour on its side ; if the one
could plead tradition, the other might lay claim to a clearer
spiritual instinct. Augustine had treated the Britons
with the haughtiness of a superior who expected as a
Roman that his commands would be obeyed. The
Britons and the Irish with equal spirit treated him and
his followers as schismatics, and would not eat in their
houses. Columbanus, encountered on the Continent
with similar censures to those which the Britons sus
tained at home, lectured various Popes with a freedom of
language, which even in those days, when papal supremacy
was not yet developed, must have been to its recipients
an exceedingly unpleasant, if wholesome, tonic, and if
used in the present day, would appear to a Romanist
rank blasphemy. He acknowledged the authority of the
See of Rome over the Churches of the Roman Empire ;
but, as we have seen, claimed exemption for his own
Church and for himself. He gave all honour to ' the
chair of St. Peter,' and admitted that Rome was the chief
see in the world — except Jerusalem. He reasoned with
Pope Gregory, because, with all his wisdom, he supported
the dark Paschal system, out of regard, he supposed, to
the authority of Pope Leo ; but he urged him to think for
himself on the ground that a living dog was better than
a dead lion (leo), ' for a living saint might correct errors
that had not been corrected by another greater one,' a
left-handed compliment that would scarcely be appreciated
by a nineteenth-century Pope, were such now called upon
to correct the errors of an infallible predecessor. He
urged Pope Boniface to watch, for Vigilius had not kept
vigil well, and to cleanse the chair of Peter from all error,
for it were a sad and lamentable thing if the Catholic
faith were not kept in the Apostolic See. In a later age,
St. Columbanus would have run a considerable risk of
1 1 8 A History of the Welsh Church
being burned alive as a heretic, and his epistles would
have been placed upon the Index.
A great blow was inflicted upon the Britons and
the British Church in A.D. 613 by the battle of Chester,
at which ^Ethelfrith defeated the Britons, and massacred
the monks of Bangor Iscoed, who were praying for his
defeat. Bede and English churchmen of his day regarded
the massacre of the monks as the fulfilment of Augustine's
curse. But a far worse result of this battle for the British
was the severance it effected between Wales and Strath"
clyde. Before 577 the Britons had held the entire west
of the island south of the Clyde. In that year the
brothers Ceawlin and Cutha had won the battle of
Deorham, and forced a wedge of English between the
Cymry of what is now Wales, and the Cymry of the
south-western peninsula. During the next few years
they had gradually advanced up the valley of the Severn,
until in 584 they destroyed Viriconium, ' the White Town
in the bosom of the wood,' and made desolate the hall of
Cynddylan.1 But they were defeated soon after at Fethan
leag (Faddiley), and Cutha was slain, and so they failed
to reach Chester. Now^thelfrith finished what Ceawlin
had only half carried out — the isolation of Wales. Hence
forth begins the history of Wales and the Welsh as a
separate country and people.
The inevitable result of this isolation, so far as the
Church was concerned, was to turn the attention of Welsh
Christians more especially to home affairs, and to separate
them in some measure from the common current of Celtic
feeling. At the same time, the interest of the Celts
outside of Wales in the Church of Wales tended gradually
to diminish. Communication between Wales and the
bishoprics of Candida Casa and Glasgow could only be
kept up by sea ; and although to a travelling people like
1 See Dr. Guest's paper, and his translation of Llywarch Hen's
elegy in ' Origines Celticae,' ii. 282-312.
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church 1 1 9
the Britons, who were wont to send their saints to Ireland
and Brittany, this difference from the earlier state of
things might seem to be a slight one, it proved in the end
very real. In the sixth century, Kentigern was a saint
and bishop both of Wales and of Glasgow ; no one after
wards filled a like place, and the immigration of northern
Britons into Wales seems to have ceased. Wales had
hitherto been in communication through Strathclyde
with the stream of life and energy flowing from lona, and
Kentigern, the friend of David, was, according to his
legend, a friend of Columba ; the battle of Chester
weakened this connection also.
Though the travelling bent of the Celts softened the
blow a good deal at first, until the Danish pirate fleets
rendered all communication by sea exceedingly perilous,
yet the Celtic confederacy of churches was necessarily
thereby weakened in its struggle against Rome. The
Welsh sees were the leading sees in the war of independ
ence ; the monastery of Bangor Iscoed the leading college ;
and when the monks were massacred, and the Welsh sees
isolated, the Celtic cause suffered, and the anti-national
party gained a corresponding advantage. The battles of
Deorham and Chester not only cut the British civil
community into three parts, they also divided the British
Church. Its three parts acted separately, and while one
part was comparatively friendly to the missionaries who
kept the Roman Easter, another part would be bitterly
hostile. Wini, the Gallican Bishop of Wessex, even
procured the co-operation of two British bishops, probably
of West Wales, i.e., Devon and Cornwall, in the conse
cration of Chad (A.D. 665). But it would appear that the
Church of Wales at this time had in no degree relaxed
its stern, unbending attitude.
The first part of the Celtic body to desert the Celtic
cause was the south of Ireland, where it was decided in
634, after a synod and the despatch of deputies to Rome,
120 A History of the Welsh Church
to accept the Roman Easter. But the decisive point in
the struggle was the synod of Whitby,1 held by Oswiu of
Northumbria, the murderer of the gentle Oswini. The
rivalry between the Churches caused a very practical
difficulty at Oswiu's court. He was himself a disciple of
the Irish mission, whereas his wife Eanfled followed the
usages of Canterbury. As the two kept Easter at different
dates, it happened, that while the queen was still observ
ing the fast of Lent, Oswiu was celebrating the joyous
festival of Easter. The good Aidan during his life had
contrived to keep peace between the Christians of the
rival communions, and prevent any breach of amity.
But in the time of Colman, the dispute ran so high, that
the intervention of the royal authority became necessary,
and it was agreed that both parties should meet and
discuss their differences at Whitby. Wilfrid argued on
the Roman side, and Colman for the Celtic Easter. The
rude king, after hearing the speeches of both parties,
succeeding in grasping one point, that Wilfrid claimed to
have in his favour the authority of St. Peter, who held the
keys of the kingdom of heaven, and as Colman could not
claim any such authority for his Columba, Oswiu thought
it wisest to conciliate the door-keeper of heaven, lest he
might afterwards refuse to open for him. He therefore
decided in Wilfrid's favour, and Colman retired from
Northumbria (A.D. 664). From this time all the English
Christians were united in observing the Roman usage.
Wilfred gained at Whitby something even of more
importance than the decision of the canny Northumbrian
king, and that was the adhesion of the able and saintly
Cuthbert. There is no sadder proof of the bitterness with
which the struggle was often carried on, than the last
charge of this holy man, who had himself been trained
among the Scottish clergy, and who, so men told, had
seen the spirit of Bishop Aidan carried to Paradise.2 Yet,
1 Streanaeshalch. 2 Beda, ' Vita S. Cudb.,' iv.
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church i 2 1
after with his dying breath charging his friend, Abbot
Herefrid of Lindisfarne, and the brethren around to keep
peace with the household of faith, and despise them not,
he thus continued : ' But with those that err from the
unity of Catholic peace, either by not celebrating Easter
at the proper time, or by living perversely, have no com
munion. And know and hold in memory, that if necessity
should compel you to choose one of two evils, I would
much rather that you should dig up my bones from the
tomb, and carrying them away with you, desert these
parts, and dwell wheresoever God may provide — much
rather, I say, than that by giving any consent to the
iniquities of schismatics, you should submit your neck to
their yoke.'1 The same appellation of schismatics is
applied to the Britons and Irish by Eddius, the
biographer of the Roman partisan, Wilfrid.2 Wilfrid
himself would not be consecrated in England by Irish
bishops, or by those who had been consecrated by the
Irish ; but went over to Gaul and received consecration
from Bishop Agilberct.3 Archbishop Theodore, in like
manner, would not acknowledge the validity of Celtic
orders. He upbraided Chad, who, as we have seen, was con
secrated by Wini with the assistance of British bishops,
and told him that he had not been duly consecrated, but
as Chad answered submissively, he did not depose him,
but ' himself consummated his ordination anew after
the Catholic manner.'4 The Penitential which bears
1 Beda, ' Vita S. Cudb.,' xxxix. I quote the English translation l>y
Stevenson in 'The Historical Works of the Venerable Beda/ 'The
Church Historians of England,' i., pt. ii. 595.
2 'Schismatic! Britannia? et Hibernigs,' 'Vita S. Wilf.,' v.
3 Bede, ' H. E.,1 iii. 28 ; Eddius, 'Vita S. Wilf.,' xii.
4 Ibid.) iv. 2: 'Ipse ordinationem ejus denuo catholica ratione
consummavit.' ' M. H. B.,' p. 211, where also is this note: 'Duo
in Ceaddae ordinatione Theodorus erroris arguebat. Primum, quod
ordinatus est ad sedem quas Uilfridi electione jam plena luit.
Secundum, quod in ordinatione ejus, episcopi in Uini societatem pro
ministerio adsumpti, ex iis erant qui Brittanicum Paschse morein
sequebantur.'
122 A History of the Welsh Church
Theodore's name, treats the Britons as schismatics,
whose orders, and very baptism, were of doubtful validity.
Its rules are of the most stringent character. ' Those,'
it says, ' who have been ordained by bishops of the Irish
or of the Britons, who are not Catholics in Easter and
the tonsure, are not united to the Church ; but are to be
confirmed again by a Catholic bishop with the laying on
of his hand. In like manner also the churches which are
consecrated by the bishops are to be sprinkled with holy
water and confirmed with a collect. Also we have no
permission to give the chrism or the Eucharist to those
asking, unless they shall first confess that they desire to be
with us in the unity of the Church. And in like manner,
if anyone from their race, or another, whosoever he be,
shall have scruples as to his baptism, let him be baptized.'
It seems impossible to find any justification for canons
such as these. Even if the Britons and Irish were the
schismatics that the Roman party considered them, they
were not guilty of heresy. The charge of Pelagianism
which Pope John IV. brought against the Irish Church is
not proven,1 and was never even alleged against the Britons
at this period. Moreover, as even heretical baptism is
held valid by the Church, heresy itself, were such proved
against the Celts, would not militate against their
baptism, so that in the absence of any proof of careless
ness on their part in the administration of the rite, the
order for the re-baptism of converts to the Roman party
must be considered an act of wanton provocation, and
utterly contrary to Catholic usage. The controversial
policy of Rome seems to have been then what it is now,
to alarm the weak-minded by raising doubts as to the
orders and sacraments of their opponents, even though
the Roman controversialists knew then well enough, as
they know now, the utterly baseless character of those
suspicions. The policy of the Popes varied : Gregory did
1 Bede, ' H. E.,' ii. 19.
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church 123
not deny the validity of British orders, and wrote of the
British bishops to Augustine as if they were genuine
bishops ; yet, at the same time, he did not advise him even
before the schism to seek the co-operation of British
bishops in his consecrations, but referred him rather for
help to the Gallican bishops, wherever such might be in
England.1 Pope John IV., when Pope Elect, in writing
to the Irish bishops and priests respecting Easter,
addresses them as most beloved and holy, and gives
them their proper style as bishops and priests.2 But
Pope Vitalian, writing to Oswiu, about 665, tells him
that he was seeking a bishop for him, who might root
out all the enemy's tares throughout the island,3 which
appears from the context to be an uncomplimentary
reference to the British and Irish Christians. In the next
century, Boniface, the English missionary in Germany, did
his utmost in the spirit of this letter to root out his
British and Irish rivals. He had a quarrel with Virgilius,
or Ferghal, and Sidonius, two Irish missionaries, the
former of whom became the saintly bishop of Salzburg.
In the first place they appealed to Rome against an order
which he had issued for the re-baptism of one, at whose
baptism the Latin words had been mispronounced by an
ignorant priest. The Pope decided against Boniface ; but
soon afterwards the Englishman accused Virgilius of
heresy in believing that there were antipodes, and nearly
procured his deposition from the priesthood. Two other
Irishmen were more unlucky than Virgilius. Boniface
obtained the deposition and excommunication of a bishop
named Clement, for various alleged heresies, and also of
a priest named Samson. He recommended that the
former should be imprisoned for life ; but it is uncertain
whether this was carried out.4 The manner in which
1 Bede, ' H. E.,' i. 27. Answer 6. 2 Ibid., ii. 19. •"' Ibid., iii. 29.
4 Neander, 'History of the Christian Religion' (Bohn's edition),
vol. v., pp. 73-87.
124 A History of the Welsh Church
Boniface regarded the British missionaries is probably
reflected in the letter wherein Pope Gregory III. recom
mends him to the Bavarian and Allemanic bishops as his
legate. He bids them at the same time to ' reject and
forbid the rites and doctrines of paganism, or of Britons
coming among them, or of false priests and heretics,
whencesoever they may be.'1 This was in the year 739,
before the Britons had submitted.2
Facts like these prove the completeness of the separa
tion of Wales from Rome for more than a century and
a half, during which it set the Pope and his agents at
defiance. It was Wales that incurred the curse of
Augustine, and it was Wales that held out longest against
the excommunicatory canons of Theodore. Good men
such as Abbot Ceolfrid and the Venerable Bede could
yield so far to Christian charity as to respect and love
the holiness of St. Aidan and other of the saints of Hy,
and to excuse their Celtic customs on the ground of
ignorance. But for the Welsh, the leaders in the rebel
lion, Bede cannot find a good word. To him they are
' a perfidious race,'3 and their army ' an impious army.'
He speaks of the massacre of the monks of Bangor
Iscoed by the pagan ^Ethelfrith as though it were almost
a Christian work ; yet he bitterly complains of the alliance
between the Christian Welshman Cadwallon and the
eathen Penda, and the devastation the Welsh wrought
1 ' Inter Epistt. St. Bonifacii,' Ep. 45, quoted in ' H. and S.,' i. 203 :
Gentilitatis ritum et doctrinam, vel venientium Brittonum, vel falsorum,
sacerdotum et hasreticorum,' etc.
'2 Even as late as 816, when both the British and Irish Churches
had made their peace with the See of Rome, and abandoned their
ancient customs, it was ordered by the Council of Celchyth, held under
the presidency ot Archbishop Wulfred of Canterbury, that no Irishmen
should be allowed to minister in any way in the Church of England,
because ot a doubt whether they were ordained or not. But this may
indicate a suspicion as to the ejood faith of many of the wandering
Irishmen, rather than a disposition to question the validity of Irish
orders. See Canon V. in ' H. and S ,' iii. 581.
3 Bede, ' H. E.,' ii. 2; *M. H. B.,' p. 151 : ' gentis perfidas . . .
nefandas militiae.'
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church 125
in Northumbria, though surely, if ever man might be
excused on the ground of provocation received, Cadwallon
might. As for the state of things in his own day, he
tells us that it was ' the custom of the Britons to hold
the faith and religion of the English of no account, and
to have no dealings with them in anything more than
with pagans.' ' Through domestic hatred,' he says again,
' they are adverse to the race of the English, and wrong
fully and by wicked customs oppose the appointed Easter
of the whole Catholic Church.'
It is certainly strange in view of facts such as the
above, the curse pronounced upon the Britons by St.
Augustine, their treatment as schismatics by St. Cuth-
bert, the denial of their orders and of the validity of their
baptism, and the refusal to them of chrism and the
Eucharist by Archbishop Theodore, their denunciation
as tares by Pope Vitalian, and their classification with
heathens and heretics by Pope Gregory III., that some
controversialists attempt to minimize the dispute between
Wales and Rome, and even have the audacity to claim
the Welsh saints as orthodox Roman Catholics. Those
who so argue go perilously near to incurring the charge
of heresy themselves, for they cannot be sincere believers
in Papal Infallibility, seeing that they give the lie to their
own popes, Vitalian and Gregory III. Cardinal Baronius
in a former age did not venture upon so unhistorical a
paradox, but classed the Britons and the Irish alike as
guilty of schism for their breach of unity with Rome.
It must be remembered, too, that if the chronology of
the ' Annales Cambriae ' be accepted, some of the most
notable of the Welsh saints are included in the charge
of wilful schism. St. David just escapes, for he died
in 601, though it has been supposed that the Synod
of Caerleon, which he held in the year of his death,
was connected with the overtures of Augustine. But
St. Dubricius and St. Kentigern were certainly wilful
126 A History of the Welsh Ch^trch
' schismatics ' in the Roman sense, for they did not die
until 612. St. Teilo and St. Oudoceus, the successors
of Dubricius in the See of Llandaff, probably both come
under the same category, and as for St. Dunawd, he was
the arch-schismatic of all. Five only out of the four
hundred and seventy-nine Welsh saints whom Professor
Rice Rees enumerates in his learned ' Essay ' are posterior
in date to the submission to Rome, and of the remaining
four hundred and seventy-four, the vast majority belong
to the three hundred years of entire isolation and in
dependence. All such, if the Roman postulates be
admitted, must be pronounced guilty of error from the
unity of the Church and of disobedience to the See of
Rome, whether committed in ignorance or through wilful
perversity. It is difficult, therefore, to see how Romanists
• ... can claim the Welsh saints as their own, except on the
^assumption that all good men are Roman Catholics,
1 whatever else they may choose to call themselves, and
however much they may oppose the See of Rome during
their lifetime. But if this be so, we have no reason to
desert our own Church for an allegiance which the Welsh
saints of old rejected and repudiated.
It will be interesting in this connection to consider the
letter of St. Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne, written in
705 to Geruntius, the British King of Damnonia (i.e., Devon
and Cornwall), and the British priests of his principality.
This both shows that the Roman party of his time con
sidered the Britons to be guilty of schism, which would
cut them off from heaven at the last, and also gives us
a contemporary picture of Wales, proving that the Welsh
regarded the Roman party exactly as the Roman party
regarded them. There cannot be a clearer proof of
Welsh independence of Rome at the beginning of the
eighth century than this interesting letter affords.1
1 The passages which I quote verbatim I take from the vigorous
translation of Serenus de Cressy, contained in his 'Church History of
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church 127
At the outset, Aldhelm states that the duty of writing
had been unanimously imposed on him by a synod of
bishops at which he had been present, that he might
acquaint the Britons * with their fatherly suggestion and
request that they would be careful not to break the unity
of the Catholic Church, nor admit opinions not suiting
with the Christian faith, since so doing they would
deprive themselves of future rewards in heaven. For
what profit,' he continues, ' can anyone receive from good
works done out of the Catholic Church, although a man
should be never so strict in regular observance, or retire
himself into a desert to practise an anchoretical life of
contemplation ?'
He informs them further that it was reported that
their priests did ' very much swerve from the rule of
Catholic faith enjoined in the Scriptures, and that by
their quarrels and verbal contentions there had arisen
in the Church of Christ a grievous schism and scandal,
whereas the Psalmist said, " Great peace is to those who
love Thy name, and among them there is no scandal." '
He points out that the British tonsure, which they re
tained as being 'the tonsure of their predecessors, whom
with pompous phrases they exalted, as men eminently
illustrated with Divine grace,' was in reality the tonsure
of Simon Magus, whereas the Roman tonsure was that
of St. Peter. Besides this, 'there was among them
another practice, far more pernicious to souls,' which
was their observance of an incorrect date of Easter.
He then proceeds to complain of the behaviour of the
Christians of Wales.
' But besides these enormities, there is another thing
wherein they do notoriously swerve from the Catholic
faith and Evangelical tradition, which is that the priests
of the Demetae inhabiting beyond the bay of Severn,
Brittany' (i.e. Britain), A.D. 1668 (no place given), bk. xix., chap, xvii.,
pp. 481-483.
128 A History of the Welsh Church
puffed up with a conceit of their own purity, do exceed
ingly abhor communion with us, insomuch as they will
neither join in prayers with us in the church, nor enter
into society with us at the table ; yea, moreover, the
fragments which we leave after refection they will not
touch, but cast them to be devoured by dogs and unclean
swine. The cups also in which we have drunk, they will
not make use of, till they have rubbed and cleansed them
with sand or ashes. They refuse all civil salutations or
to give us the kiss of pious fraternity, contrary to the
Apostle's precept, " Salute one another with a holy kiss."
They will not afford us water and a towel for our hands,
nor a vessel to wash our feet. Whereas our Saviour,
having girt Himself with a towel, washed His disciples'
feet, and left us a pattern to imitate, saying, " As I have
done to you, so do you to others." Moreover, if any of
us, who are Catholics, do go amongst them to make
an abode, they w7ill not vouchsafe to admit us to their
fellowship till we be compelled to spend forty days in
penance. And herein they unhappily imitate those
heretics who will needs be called Cathari. Such enormous
errors and malignities as these are to be mournfully
bewailed with sighs and tears, since such their behaviour
is contrary to the precepts of the Gospel, and suiting
with the traditions of Jewish Pharisees, concerning whom
our Saviour saith, "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees,
who cleanse the outsides of cups and dishes." On the
contrary, our Lord disdained not to be present at feasts
with publicans and sinners, thereby showing himself a
good physician, who was careful to provide wholesome
cataplasms and medicines to heal the corrupt wounds of
those that conversed with him. Therefore he did not,
like the Pharisees, despise the conversation of sinners,
but on the contrary, according to his accustomed clemency,
he mercifully comforted the poor sinful woman who be
wailed the former pollutions of her life, and casting herself
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church 129
down at our Lord's feet, washed them with showers of
tears, and wiped them with the curled locks of her hair,
concerning whom He said, " Her many sins are forgiven
her, because she hath loved much." '
Aldhelm then goes on to implore Geruntius and the
clergy of Damnonia to be reconciled to the See of St.
Peter.
' Since, therefore, the truth of these things cannot be
denied, we do with earnest humble prayers and bended
knees beseech and adjure you, as you hope to attain to
the fellowship of angels in God's heavenly kingdom, that
you will not longer with pride and stubbornness abhor
the doctrines and decrees of the blessed Apostle St.
Peter, nor pertinaciously and arrogantly despise the
tradition of the Roman Church, preferring before it the
decrees and ancient rites of your predecessors. For it
was St. Peter who, having devoutly confessed the Son
of God, was honoured by Him with these words, " Thou
art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church. . . ."
If, therefore, the keys of the kingdom of heaven were given
to St. Peter, who is he, who, having despised the principal
statutes and ordinances of His Church, can presumingly
expect to enter with joy through the gate of the heavenly
paradise ?'
' Some nice disputer,' Aldhelm admits, may urge that
the Britons hold and teach the doctrines of the Catholic
faith, and it is noteworthy that Aldhelm does not deny
the truth of such a statement, showing that so far as
doctrine was concerned, the British Church was quite
orthodox. His answer to such a contention is, ' That
man does in vain boast of the Catholic faith, who does
not follow the dogma and rule of St. Peter.'
Geruntius and the Britons of Damnonia were per
suaded by the letter of Aldhelm, as Naiton and the Picts
were persuaded five years later, in 710, by a letter from
Abbot Ceolfrid. Probably in both cases the recalcitrant
9
130 A History of the Welsh Church
clergy were already tired of their separation from their
brother Christians, and were glad to avail themselves
of some pretext for abandoning their attitude of opposi
tion. The Britons of Strathclyde had conformed to the
Roman usages as early as 668 ; the Northern Scots of
Ireland, with the exception of the Columban monasteries,
followed their example in 697, and in 704 there began to
be a Roman party in Hy itself. After the submission of
the Picts, Wales was left almost alone in its opposition
to Rome, though the national customs did not altogether
lose their hold of Hy till 772, and Landevennec in Brittany
certainly retained its Celtic tonsure until 817.
The importance of Aldhelm's letter, however, does not
lie in the conversions it effected, so much as in the con
temporaneous picture it presents of the struggle, and
especially of the condition of the Church in Wales,
which now from its isolated position may be called also
the Church of Wales. It is evident from the language
of Aldhelm that the Welsh Christians were pure in
doctrine, and at least so far pure in morals, that none
of the English Christians could venture to cast the first
stone against them. They even seem to have laid claim
to a morality superior to that of the English, which
Aldhelm for his part could not deny, and only disparages
as Pharisaic self-righteousness. The Britons generally
held their former saints in great reverence, and still had
saints and anchorites whose strictness of life Aldhelm is
forced to acknowledge, though he deems such holiness
worthless on account of their state of schism. It does
not appear that he refrained from offensive charges out
of courtesy to those whom he addressed ; he rather
magnified their faults, or, at least, used much plainness
of speech, so that his testimony to the virtues of the
Britons, and especially of the Welsh, is the more valuable,
as extorted from an enemy. It is the fashion with some
authors to represent the Welsh Christians as corrupt in
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church 131
morals and utterly lacking in religious zeal, except such
as manifested itself in a gloomy and selfish asceticism.
It would be well, therefore, for those who may have been
misled by such misrepresentations, to study not only the
pages of Gildas, but also the * Epistle ' of Aldhelm.
Undoubtedly the age was dark and troublous, and the
increpations of Gildas, though one-sided, had their
foundation in fact. But what readers of his gloomy
' Epistle ' too often forget, is that the same crimes were
to be found also elsewhere than in Wales ; the English
converts were not immaculate either, and had Aldhelm
denounced the Welsh for sin, they might have advised
him to look at home. Wales at the beginning of the
eighth century was at least not worse than England, and
probably was rather better. Nay, I would be inclined
to go even beyond this, and maintain that Wales in
Aldhelm's time was no worse than Wales is to-day.
We must not make too much of growth in civilization
as though it were the same as growth in grace ; outward
manifestations vary in different ages, but the sum total
of human corruption probably varies less than we may
think. A modern Gildas might fill as goodly and as
forcible a volume as that of the saint of Llancarfan, with
the crimes and follies of Christian Englishmen and
Welshmen of the nineteenth century.
It is stupid to blame harshly the Britons for not send
ing missionaries among the pagan English ; it is false to
accuse them of lack of missionary zeal. The facts of the
conversion of Ireland and of the revival of its Church are
a sufficient answer to the latter charge. There were also
British missionaries on the Continent, otherwise Pope
Gregory III. would not have warned the Bavarian and
Allemanian bishops against them. There was a Briton
with St. Gall in Switzerland. Their fame on the Con
tinent has been obscured by that of the Irish with whom
they were associated, but we have sufficient indications
132 A History of the Welsh Church
to prove that Britons were there. That they did nothing
for the conversion of the English is true enough ; for the
story told by Nennius that Rum map Urbgen baptized
Edwin of Northumbria and ' all the race of the Ambrones,'
and that through his preaching many believed in Christ,1
seems somehow to have arisen, from a confusion with
Paulinus, the origin of which is not apparent. But those
who censure the Britons for not preaching to the English
should first make it clear that it was even possible for
them to do so ; it does not follow that because the Celts
of Ireland could do missionary work, therefore the
national enemies of the English, the conquered race,
would also have been welcomed. Short, probably, would
have been the shrift of the intrusive Briton who had
ventured among the Saxons to overthrow their belief in
their national gods. Neither can we determine with any
certainty whether Bede, who half applauds the massacre
of the monks of Bangor, would have chronicled him as a
martyr or as a miscreant.
Eventually Wales also accepted the Roman Easter.
The circumstances are unknown, but the leader was
Elbod or Elfod, Bishop of Bangor, and the date given
for the change by the ' Annales Cambriae' and the ' Brut
y Tywysogion ' is 768. The ' Book of Aberpergwm,'
sometimes called the ' Gwentian Brut,' asserts that Easter
was changed in 755 in Gwynedd by the advice of Elfod,
but that the other bishops did not concur therein, on
which account the Saxons invaded the Cymry in South
Wales, where the battle of Coed Marchan took place,
and the Saxons were defeated. The same book gives
A.D. 777 as the date of the alteration in South Wales.
In 809 Elbod died, a date upon which all the chronicles
are in agreement. The ' Book of Aberpergwm ' adds
that in the same year ' a great tumult occurred among
the ecclesiastics on account of Easter ; for the Bishops
1 ' M. H. B.,' p. 76.
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Chiirch 133
of Llandaff and Menevia would not succumb to the
Archbishop of Gwynedd, being themselves archbishops
of older privilege.' But all these statements of the
' Book of Aberpergwm ' are extremely questionable, for
the book cannot be regarded as possessing any historical
value.
Thus terminated the struggle for independence, after
it had continued for more than a century and a half.
Wales at the beginning was the head of a great and
powerful Celtic confederacy ; at the end it was left almost
alone. A party in Hy, and perhaps also the Breton
clergy, remained faithful to the last to the cause of Celtic
independence, but Wales had no other allies. The
Church of Ireland had so entirely turned against it that
by its canons it had put restrictions upon the ministra
tions of such clergy as came from Britain, and had con
demned their churches for separating from the Roman
customs and from the unity of Christendom. The pro
longation of the struggle only completed the isolation
of Wales, and though by its submission to Rome it again
entered nominally into fellowship with the rest of Western
Christendom, it was long separated in feeling from the
English Church and the Churches of the Continent, and
it never quite regained the old connection with its Celtic
brethren. It had lost alike its headship and its colonies.
Communication with Ireland was still kept up, but Wales
was never again to Ireland what it had been in the days
of Gildas, David, and Cadoc ; the relative positions of
the two Churches rather tended to be reversed.
The differences of the British customs from the Roman
have not always been understood. It is clear that the
Britons agreed in doctrine with the rest of Christendom ;
there was no taint of heresy or of paganism about them,
and their differences in practice do not at this distance of
time appear important enough to be worth a struggle.
The chief differences which were made matter for dis-
134 A History of the Welsh Church
cussion were whether Easter Sunday should come a
week or so earlier in the year or not, and how the priests
should be tonsured. The discussion upon these two
points tends to become wearisome to a modern reader :
bat such an one should bear in mind that the real matter
at issue was the important question whether the Celtic
churches were to retain their independence or to submit
to the authority of Rome. This fact invests this old-
world controversy with abiding interest, and stands out
clearly from dull verbiage about minor points, in the
letters of Ceolfrid and Aldhelm and the speeches of the
Synod of Whitby, as it came to the front, too, at the very
first, when the Britons rejected Augustine's overtures,
not from stupid conservatism, but because of his arrogant
claim to their obedience as their superior sent to them
from Rome.
The British Easter was undoubtedly merely the result
of an older calculation of the date, which the Roman
Church and Western Christendom generally had aban
doned during the period of British isolation. The differ
ence was very similar to that which existed in the last
century, when Britain retained the unreformed calendar,
whereas the countries under the Roman obedience had
adopted the Gregorian calendar. The Church of Rome
in 457, for purely astronomical reasons, made an impor
tant change in their mode of reckoning Easter ; and in
525 made another. Isolated and distracted, the British
Church either remained in ignorance of these changes or
gave no heed to them ; and hence it was, that in the
time of Augustine, when the British Church was redis
covered by Continental Christendom, it was found to be
using the antiquated cycle, frequently, but erroneously,
attributed to Sulpicius Severus. Ignorant or prejudiced
persons accused the Britons of being Quarto-decimans
and Judaistic ; but this charge was false and calumnious,
and is contradicted by Bede, whom no one can accuse of
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church 135
being prejudiced in favour of the Britons. The Celtic
Easter was the Sunday which fell next after the equinox,
between the i4th and the 2Oth days inclusive of the
moon, whereas the Roman Easter was the Sunday
between the i5th and 2ist days. The Celts determined
the moon by the old eighty-four years' cycle, whereas the
Roman party settled it by the nineteen years' cycle of
Dionysius Exiguus.
The Celtic tonsure was the subject of much criticism
from the Roman party, and was doubtless abandoned by
the Britons simultaneously with their adoption of the
modern Easter. The British priests shaved all the hair
in front of a line drawn over the top of the head from
ear to ear, shaping the ridge of hair in front like a crown,
and suffered the back hair to grow long, so that they must
have presented a strange and uncouth appearance.1 The
Roman party, as we have already seen from Aldhelm's
letter, stigmatized this tonsure as the tonsure of Simon
Magus, whereas they claimed that their own tonsure was
that of St. Peter, who, according to the well-known legend,
had overthrown Simon at Rome. It has been supposed
that the Celtic tonsure was Druidical. The Druids are
called magi in the old Irish and Welsh legends, and
Simon himself is called in Irish Simon Drui, or Simon
the Druid ; and according to one Irish story, he was ac
counted the ancestor of the Fir Bolg, a mythic people of
ancient Erin.2 It is possible that the Celtic tonsure may
have had some likeness to that of the Druids ; at any
rate, the custom of wearing the hair long seems to have
prevailed among the heathen, for there is an early Welsh
canon forbidding it as a practice ' of the barbarians.'3
But it is not probable that the tonsure of the Celtic
1 See ' Du Cange,' sub voce tonsura.
2 Rhys, 'Celtic Heathendom,' p. 213.
3 ' Si quis Catholicus capillos promiserit more barbarorum, ab Ecclesia
Dei alienus habeatur et ab omni Christianorum mensa, donee delictum
emendat.' — ' H. and S.,: i. 137.
136 A History of the Welsh Church
priests was identical with that of the Druids. In the
beautiful story of Ethne the fair and Fedelm the ruddy,
related by Tirechan in his ' Life of St. Patrick,' we are told
that when the druid Mael was converted, 'the hair of
his head was taken off, that is, the magical rule which
before was seen on his head, airbacc giunnce, as it is
called.'1 This seems decisive against the identity of the
two tonsures, especially if airbacc giunnce be rendered, as
it is by Dr. Todd, 'a band of hell.' The slightest
similarity would be sufficient for the Roman party as a
basis for their calumny, or some skilful controversialist
might originate it purely from his own imagination,
because of the beautiful antithesis of Simon Magus and
Simon Peter. That controversialists were no more
scrupulous then than they often are now is proved by
another ridiculous story which attributes the invention
of the Celtic tonsure to the swineherd of the Irish King
Laoghaire, who ruled over Meath in the time of St.
Patrick.
One of Augustine's requirements was that the Britons
should ' complete the administration of baptism according
to the custom of the holy Roman and Apostolic Church.'
What this refers to cannot be certainly discovered ; but
probably it is to the custom of single immersion, which
prevailed in a Breton diocese as late as the year 1620. It
cannot be that the Britons omitted chrism, as the Irish
are said to have done in the time of Lanfranc, for Patrick
accuses Coroticus of carrying off his converts while the
faith was shining on their foreheads, and the neophytes
having been baptized, and having received the chrism,
were wearing their white garments or chrisoms. Neither
is it credible that the defect referred to was a lack of
confirmation, a charge brought by St. Bernard against
the Irish of his time, for so serious a fault would have
been commented upon by others than Augustine, and
1 Tirechan in ' W. S.,' ii. 317.
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church 137
more precisely. The later Irish appear to have been
rather careless with regard to baptism, as it is said that
it was customary for the infant's father, or someone else
present, to immerse it thrice in water by way of baptizing
it immediately on its birth ; and this apparently without
always using the correct formula in the name of the
Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. If the babe were
the son of a rich man, he was immersed in milk. There
is no warrant, however, for attributing these customs to
the Britons. Augustine could not have referred to the
Celtic custom of the Pedilavium, or ceremonial washing
of the feet after baptism, preserved in the Stowe Missal,
for this was rather an addition than a defect.1
These were the most important differences of usage
between the Celtic churches and Rome. There were,
however, a large number of minor differences. The
Britons differed, we are told in a passage falsely attri
buted to Gildas. ' in the Mass,' and there is some reason
for supposing that they used either the Gallican liturgy,
1 The Stowe Mi-sal is the earliest surviving missal of the Irish
Church. The earlier portion was assigned by Dr. Todd to the sixth
century, but Mr. Warren attributes this portion doubtfully to the
ninth century, and the latter portion to the tenth century. Trine
immersion, with the alternative of aspersion, is enjoined, as well as
three separate acts of unction, and the 'pedilavium/ The following is
the passage referring to the last curious rite, which is found also in
early Gallican ' Ordines Baptism!':
' Tune lav antur pedes eius, accepto linteo accepto.
'Alleluia ! Lucerna pedibus mieis verbum tuum. domine.
' Alleluia ! Adiuva me, domine, et saluus ero.
' Alleluia ! Uisita nos, domine, in salutare tuo.
'Alleluia ! Tu mandasti mandata tua custodire nimis.
' Mandasti misericordiam tuam, opus manuum tuarum ne despicias.
' Si ego laui pedes uestras dominus et magister uester, et uos debetis
alterutrius pedes lauare ; exemplum enim dedi uobis ut quemadmodum
feci uobis et uos faciteis aliis.
'Dominus et saluator noster ihesus christus, pridie quam pateretur,
accepto linteo splendido, sancto, et immaculate, precinctis lumbis suis,
misit aquam in piluem, lauit pedes discipulorum suorum. Hoc et tu
facias exemplum domini nostri ihesu christi hospitibus et peregrinis
tuis.'— 'The Stowe Missal,' in Warren's 'Liturgy and Ritual of the
Celtic Church/ pp. 217, 218. •
138 A History of the Welsh Church
or one of the same family. There is no indication of the
existence of a Welsh Prayer-Book, or of a Welsh Bible ;
but Gildas, though he sometimes uses the Vulgate,
appears to have been also familiar with a different Latin
translation, probably a special Celtic revision of the Old
Latin version. It is a little doubtful whether the Vulgate
was known at all to St. Patrick.
The Celtic practice of consecrating churches and
monasteries was peculiar, and caused astonishment in
Bede, who records how Bishop Cedd, who had been
trained in Celtic customs, consecrated the monastery of
Lastingham by prayer and fasting during the forty days
of Lent. This he told Ethelwald, King of Deira, was
the custom which he had learned among the Scotic
clergy of Lindisfarne. We are told that Cybi stayed
forty days and forty nights in Mida before he built a
church there,1 and that Beuno stayed forty days and
forty nights in Meifod, where he built a church,2 state
ments which appear to be made by the writers of their
lives in ignorance of any particular significance attaching
to them, but which are probably to be connected with
the peculiar Celtic usage of consecration. It has been
already mentioned that instances of dedication to departed
saints are rare in early times, and that the British
churches were generally wooden. Bede mentions that
the cathedral of Lindisfarne was built ' after the manner
of the Scots, not of stone, but of hewn oak/ and was
covered with reeds. It was dedicated to St. Peter, not,
however, by Finan, its founder, but afterwards by Arch
bishop Theodore, when it had passed under Anglican
authority.
The hands of deacons and priests were anointed at
ordination in the British Church, as Gildas testifies, and
this custom passed also into the Pontifical of the English
1 'Vita S. Kebii,' ' C. B. S.,' p. 185.
2 ' Buchedd Beuno Sant.,' ' C. B. S.,; p. 15.
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church 1 39
Archbishop of York, Egbert. Certain other Anglican
peculiarities have been supposed to be derived from
British sources, such as the prayer at the giving of the
stole to deacons at their ordination, the rite of delivering
the book of the Gospels to them, and the rite of investing
priests with a stole. The sections of Scripture used in
ordination are quoted by Gildas,1 and differ from those
in the Gallican and the Roman Ordinals.
The Celtic customs differed from the Roman also in
the consecration of bishops. Joceline of Furness is led
to dwell on this matter in his ' Life of St. Kentigern.'
He states that the British use was merely to anoint the
head by pouring on it the sacred chrism with invocation
of the Holy Spirit, and benediction, and laying on of
hands. The consecration, moreover, was performed by
a single bishop, a custom which he confesses did not
invalidate the act, though it was irregular. Kentigern
himself was thus consecrated, and single consecration is
assumed as customary in several of the legends of the
Welsh Saints. The celebrated story of the journey of
David, Teilo, and Padarn to Jerusalem, and of their
consecration thereat, mentions the patriarch only as
consecrator. So, too, Patrick was consecrated in Gaul
by Amatorex, and, it would seem, without the presence
of other bishops ; and Patrick in like manner consecrated
bishops in Ireland. Augustine was not likely to cavil
at single consecration, as Pope Gregory had permitted
him to practise it himself, owing to the peculiar circum
stances of his mission. It can scarcely have been always
prevalent in the British Church, seeing that the British
bishops at the Council of Aries had consented to a canon
forbidding the practice.
It would be outside the scope of this history to discuss
the various ecclesiastical usages, which can only be
1 They are i St. Peter i. 3, 13, 14, 22; ii. I, 9; Acts i. 15, 16 ;
' Secunda Lectio Pauli'; i Tim in. i etc. ; St. Matt. xvi. 16-18.
140 A History of the Welsh Church
proved of the Church of Ireland. As David, Gildas,
and Cadoc gave a mass to the Second Order of Irish
saints, it is exceedingly probable that many of these
usages were common to Wales and Ireland, and some,
therefore, have already been mentioned in the picture
which I have drawn of sixth-century life at Llantwit
Major. But to treat of them further would be wearisome
and unprofitable. On the other hand, it would be rash
to assume the accuracy of the ' Book of Llandaff,' and
the legends of the Welsh saints, when they mention
customs of the mediaeval Church as existing in the earlier
centuries before the submission to Rome. To mediaeval
readers the use of anachronisms by an author appeared
to be a virtue, not a fault, and every compiler of ancient
documents did his best to impart to his work the colour
of his own time.
There are numerous relics of the period of the early
Celtic Church in Wales, but most of them are monu
mental stones. There are no churches, and we can only
conjecture that when such buildings were not of wooden
construction, they resembled the stone oratories on
Skellig Mhichel, or the oratory of Gallerus,1 in county
Kerry, Ireland. The earliest monumental stones belong
ing to the period of Celtic Christianity are rough unhewn
pillars, varying from four to nine feet in height. The
inscriptions which they bear are either in the Latin
language, and written in debased Latin capitals ; or in
Celtic, and written in Oghams. Altogether there are go
such inscribed stones in Wales, 66 being inscribed with
Latin capitals only, 6 with Oghams only, and 18 bi-
literal, with both Oghams and Latin capitals. Those
with Oghams only are thus distributed : 4 in Pembroke
shire, i in Glamorganshire, and i in Carmarthenshire.
Of biliteral stones there are 8 in Pembrokeshire, 4 in
Carmarthenshire, 3 in Brecknockshire, and i in Cardigan-
1 Figuied in Miss Stokes' ' Early Christian Art in Ireland,' p. 155.
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church 141
shire, Glamorganshire, and Denbighshire respectively.
Of those with Latin capitals only, Carmarthenshire has
14, Carnarvonshire 13, Glamorganshire and Pembroke
shire 7 each, Anglesey and Brecknockshire 6 each, Car
diganshire 5, Merionethshire 4, Denbighshire 2, and
Flintshire and Montgomeryshire I each.1 It is to be
noted, by way of caution against a tendency to suppose
that early Irish and Welsh customs were always identical,
that in Ireland there are no rough pillar-stones with in
scriptions in Latin capitals only, and only two with bi-
literal inscriptions, whereas there are no less than 186
with Oghams only, of which 160 are in the three counties
of Kerry, Cork, and Waterford. Of the 24 Welsh stones
with Oghams, either alone or in conjunction with Latin
capitals, exactly half are in Pembrokeshire, the nearest
county to the south of Ireland. Cornwall, however, has
no Ogham stones, and Devonshire only 2, both biliteral;
but the Isle of Man has four.
It has been disputed how far the Ogham stones are
Christian, and opposite conclusions have been come to
on this subject. In Wales six of such stones bear in
cised crosses. In all the early pillar-stones that have a
cross, that cross is incised and not sculptured in relief.
The formula hie jacit (for hie jacet] is frequently employed
in the Latin inscriptions ; and in two cases in pace is
found. On one very early monument at Penmachno
church, Carnarvonshire, the Chi-Rho monogram is used
above the inscription, CARAUSIUS HIC IACIT IN HOC CON
GERIES LAPIDUM (Carausius lies here in this cairn). At
Bedd Porius, near Trawsfynydd, in Merionethshire, the
monogram forms the beginning of the word Christianus.
The inscription runs thus : PORIUS HIC IN TUMULO IACIT
HOMO XPIANUS FUIT. At Trawsmawr in Carmarthen-
1 I derive these statistics from Mr. Romilly Allen's excellent
' Monumental History of the British Church,' p. 68.
142 A History of the Welsh Church
shire a pillar-stone is found, marked with an incised
cross, without an inscription.1
One of the most interesting of these early stones is
the Maen Llythyrog or Letter-Stone on Margam Moun
tain in Glamorganshire, about which there used to be a
popular superstition that whoever read the inscription
would die soon after. The pillar is 5 feet high, i foot
6 inches wide, and i foot thick. On the top is an incised
cross of the Maltese form, which is continued by a
narrow line over the angle towards the inscription, which
runs down the face of the stone perpendicularly in four
lines, and is as follows : BODVOCI me IACIT FILIUS CATO-
TIGIRNI PRONEPVS ETERNAL: VEDOMAVi. The name
Bodvoc is also found on two ancient coins, which are
possibly British.2
These early pillar-stones, with inscriptions in Oghams
or in debased Latin capitals, probably date between
A.D. 400 and 600. After this period minuscules, or small
letters, were introduced for inscriptions. There is an
intermediate class between the early stones and the later
elaborate sculptured stones, in which minuscule inscrip
tions are found on rough unhewn pillar-stones. Some of
the stones in this class belong to the period of Welsh
Church history which we are now considering, namely,
that prior to the submission of Elfod. One of these is
the celebrated stone of St. Cadfan, the Armorican saint,
who is said to have come over to Britain with St. Padarn,
and to whom is ascribed the foundation of the first church
of Towyn. The stone now lies at the west end of the
fine church of Towyn, and is to the student one of the
1 This and the Penmachno stone are both figured in Romilly Allen's
' Christian Symbolism in Great Britain and Ireland,' pp. 87, 99, where,
as also in Westwood's 'Lapidarium Walliae,' the various volumes of
the ' Archaeologia Cambrensis,' etc., a large amount of information on
these early inscribed stones may be found.
2 See 'The Maen Llythyrog/ by J. O. Westwood. in ' Archaeologia
Cambrensis' for 1859, pp. 287-292, where the stone is figured and
described.
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church 143
chief attractions of that pleasant and growing watering-
place. It is a rude pillar, ' about 7 feet long, and about
10 inches wide on the two widest sides, the other two
sides being considerably narrower.' The inscription is
in old Welsh, and seems to import that the stone marks
the burial-place of Cadfan and Cyngen. The latter was
a King of Powys.1 Another notable stone of the same
type as that of Cadfan may be seen in the church of
Llanddewi Brefi, which stands in a fine position near a
wild and romantic gorge, which is one of the most at
tractive points in the scenery in the neighbourhood of
Lampeter. Tradition says that St. David leaned against
this stone when he addressed the synod of Brefi.
Others of these early stones, besides the stone of
Cadfan, commemorate persons about whom we have
some small amount of information from tradition or
history. The stone of Paulinus, formerly at Pant y
Polion, has been mentioned in a former chapter. Pascent,
a legendary son of Brychan, has (or had)2 his stone at
Towyn ; Saturninus, or Sadwrn, a brother of St. Illtyd, is
commemorated, together with his wife, at Llansadwrn, in
Anglesey ; and King Catamanus, or Cadfan, at Llan-
gadwaladr, in the same island. Near the church and
holy well of St. Canna, a cousin of St, Illtyd, at Llangan,
in Carmarthenshire, is her stone chair with her name
inscribed upon it.
The subject of the early inscribed stones of Wales is
one of exceeding interest, especially as many are certainly,
and all are probably, connected with its early Chris-
1 See further ' Archseologia Cambrensis,' Old Series, iii. 364 ; New
Series, i. 90-100 (two articles by J. O. Westwood and Rev. J. Williams
ab Ithel) ; i. 205-212 (a discussion of St. Cadfan's history and con
nection with Armorica by T. Wakeman) ; ii. 58-65 (a criticism of
previous interpretations by T. Stephens). See also Rees, 'Welsh
Saints/ p. 215.
2 I speak doubtfully, because I cannot remember seeing it there ;
and that stones sometimes disappear I know full well, having to my
astonishment discovered a curious case of disappearance at Penaly.
144 A History of the Welsh Church
tianity. They are so numerous that familiarity too often
breeds a measure of contempt, and they are not always
regarded with that interest and treated with that venera
tion which such precious and sacred monuments of
antiquity deserve. Too often they are left exposed to
suffer from the ravages of the elements, or from the pro
faning hands of the British Philistine, and so the inscrip
tions fade and the stones themselves disappear. Yet,
while men hold their peace, these stones cry out and
remind all who have ears to hear, of the lives and labours
of early saints, and of the illumination of that loving and
lovable Celtic Christianity which they shed around them.
Some curious bronze spoon-like objects, which have
been found at Llanfair, in Denbighshire, and at Penbryn,
in Cardiganshire, as also at various places in England
and Ireland, have been supposed by some to be connected
with the early British Church, whether for administering
the consecrated wine at the Holy Communion, or for
conveying a little water into the chalice of wine before
consecration, or for the administration of the consecrated
wafer after being dipped in the chalice, or for aspersion
in baptism, or for the use of oil in that sacred rite. The
spoons seem to have been made in pairs, and some stress
has been laid upon the fact that one of each pair has
transverse lines upon it, something like a cross. But
there is absolutely no proof that these objects were used
for any sacred purpose at all, nor even any real evidence
pointing to that conclusion.1
Much more important are the hand-bells, which we
know from the legends of the saints were much reverenced
in ancient times. There are nine of these still existing in
Wales or in the borders. There are also fifty-five similar
bells in Ireland, fifteen in Scotland, two in France, and
1 See an exhaustive paper on the subject (with illustrations) by Mr.
Albert Way in ' Archseologia Cambrensis,' Series iv., 1870, pp. 199-
234. See also 'Arch. Camb.,' Series iv. 5, pp. 1-20, for an article by
Dr. Rock on the same subject.
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church 145
one in Switzerland. The most remarkable of all these
early relics is the iron bell of St. Patrick, which ' is at
once the most authentic and the oldest Irish relic of
Christian metal-work that has descended to us. It pos
sesses the singular merit of having an unbroken history
through fourteen hundred years.'1
One of the Welsh bells, which I have had the privilege
of handling and examining, is known as the bell of
St. Ceneu, and was dug up ' on a farm, eastward of the
present church, called Penydaren, in the parish of Llan-
geney, Breconshire.'2 It is now preserved in the library
of the University College at Cardiff. It is quadrangular,
made of two iron plates hammered and riveted together,
and has a loop of metal at the top to serve as a handle.
This is continued through to the inside to form a smaller
loop to hold the clapper, which, however, has disappeared.
The whole was covered with bell-metal, but the bell has
suffered so much that the bell-metal has peeled off
altogether in many places, and it is impossible to say
whether it was chased or not. It is ten inches in length
without the handle ; the size at the top is five and a half
by three inches, and at the mouth seven and three-quarter
inches by six, so that it is considerably larger than
St. Patrick's bell. The weight is a little more than six
pounds fifteen ounces.3
Another very important class of relics of early Celtic
Christianity are those left in language. The number of
Llans in Wales seems to an English visitor almost end-
1 Miss Stokes, ' Early Christian Art in Ireland,' p. 58.
2 Jones, 'History of Breconshire,' ed. 1809, iii. 469.
3 See 'Cymru Fu,' i. 365. I have consulted also Mr. Thomas
Kerslake's ' Catalogue,' in which this bell was offered for sale in 1859,
and have examined the bell myself. Mr. Kerslake thought that the
bell-metal was 'applied by dipping or washing the finished iron utensil
in fluid metal, as all the joints, and the rivets themselves, are covered,
and the seams and interstices filled with it. Being corroded through
in some places, the amalgamated contact of the metals is apparent.
The result is similar to that of electrotype.' Mr. Kerslake finally
presented the bell to University College, Cardiff.
IO
146 A History of the Welsh Church
less. I have just counted 510 in Professor Rees' list of
churches in Wales,1 but many of these have other and more
generally used English names, and some are now extinct.
All these mark the site of an old church, and in many of
the place-names the second part of the word indicates the
saint or saints who are the reputed founders, or in some
cases to whom the church is dedicated, though, as has
before been pointed out, instances of dedication are ex
ceedingly few in the period which we are now considering.
The dedications to St. Michael, which are denoted by the
numerous Llanfihangels in the Principality, and those to St.
Mary, indicated by the Llanfairs, are all later. The name
Llanddewi, which is fairly common, signifies the church of
David, Llandeilo is the church of Teilo, Llangollen the
church of Collen, Llandudno the church of Tudno, Llan-
badarn the church of Padarn, Llanelly the church of Ellyw,
Llanrwst the church of Grwst, and Lantwit, or Llanilltyd,
the church of Illtyd. I select these examples out of the list
of Llans because most of them will be familiar to English
visitors to the Principality. The term llan is the earliest
in use for church or sacred enclosure ; late subordinate
chapels are known by the terms capel or bettws, as Capel
Curig and Bettws-y-coed, two neighbouring places well
known to lovers of the Snowdon district, which mean
respectively, ' The Chapel of Curig,' and ' The Chapel
in the Wood.' Eglwys, a church, from the Latin ecclesia,
is sometimes used in place-names, but rarely.
The kinship which in early times existed between
Wales and Brittany, as also between Wales and Corn
wall, is well illustrated by place-names and (so-called)
church dedications. Brittany and Cornwall have place-
names beginning with Ian ; Cornwall has eglos for eglwys
(the Breton equivalent for which is His), as in Eglos
Hayle, and also one unique Altar in Altarnun, the church
1 He includes Monmouthshire and also Herefordshire south-west of
the Wye.
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church 147
of St. David's mother, Nonna. Altogether there are
twenty-six Cornish parish churches with the prefix Ian
(of which four are aliases); there are five compounded
with eglos (of which two are aliases), and there are two in
which Ian and eglos are found together. Mr. Borlase makes
the following statement with respect to Cornish dedica
tions i1 " Out of a list of 210 Cornish churches (22 of which
bear uncertain or modern names) I find 9 dedications to
St. Mary, 5 to St. Michael, 29 to well-known Calendar
saints, 28 to obscure saints (some in the Roman Calendar,
but most of them of foreign origin, contained in early
Celtic lists), while no less than 117 retain their native
British name. Out of a list, however, of 200 chapelries,
holy wells, cells, and oratories, collected from the MSS.
of Dr. Borlase, but of which 35 have lost their identity, I
find that 20 are dedicated to St. Mary, 8 to St. Michael,
84 to well-known Calendar saints, 8 to obscure saints,
while 45 bear a native Celtic name.' The saints of Wales
have numerous churches and place-names in Cornwall.
Teilo, who was also called Eliud, has the churches of St.
Issey and Philleigh,2 of Endellion,3 and possibly others ;
David has Dewstow ; his mother, Nonna, has Altarnun ;
Samson has St. Samson's Island, at Scilly, and also
churches at Golant and Southill ; Padarn has North and
South Petherwyn ; Petroc, who is claimed by Lifris as an
uncle of Cadoc,4 has Petrockstow, or Padstow, and Little
Petherick ; Cadoc has a chapel at Padstow, and may
have left his name to St. Cadix, Quethiock or Quedock,
and Landock or Ladock ; Mabon, the brother of Teilo,
may have a church at St. Mabyn ; Illtyd has a chapel,
that of St. Ilduictus, in St. Dominick ; and Cyby has a
church and well at Duloe, and also the parish of Cuby.
1 ' The Age of the Saints,' in Journal of the Royal Institution of
Cornwall, 1878, p. 74.
"2 Both ascribed to St. Filius, viz., Feliaus or Theliaus.
3 Viz., Landelian. 4 'Vita S. Cadoci,' Piefatio.
148 A History of. the Welsh Church
Various other dedications which are more obscure have
also been referred to Welsh saints.1
The Welsh language retains from the times of the early
Celtic Church the terms of ritual and the names of
Church seasons. This appears certain from a comparison
with Cornish and Breton, in which the same words are
found, with too much resemblance in some cases to make
it probable that each formed the word from Latin inde
pendently. In old canons ascribed to St. David we find
the phrase ' to offer the sacrifice ' (off err e sacrificium) used
of the Eucharist, and the deacon ' holds the chalice '
(tenere calicem).2 The reader (lector) and sub-deacon are
mentioned in addition to the three orders of bishops,
priests and deacons. In Welsh, as also in Breton and
Cornish, the Eucharist is offeren, ' the offering,' and in
Welsh the priest is offeiriad, ' the one who offers,' the
Cornish equivalent being of en at ; but here the Breton
differs, being bcelec. Esgob is Welsh for ' bishop/ and the
Breton and Cornish have escop. Vespers is Gosper in
Welsh and gousper in Breton ; Sunday is Dydd Sul in
Welsh and Dissul in Breton ; Trinity Sunday is Dydd Sul
y Drindod in Welsh arid Dissul an Dreindet in Breton.
Christmas is Nadolig (natalis) in Wrelsh, Nadelic in Cornish,
and Nedelec in Breton. Lent is Carawys (Quadragesima)
in Welsh and Corais in 'Breton. Easter is Pasg (Pascha)
in Welsh, Pasch in Cornish, and Pasc in Breton. There
are other similarities between the three languages, and
when taken all together they point to the common use of
Church ordinances and festivals in bygone ages, when the
Churches of Wales, Cornwall and Brittany were practically
one. One of the most curious identifications, however, is
connected with the word Ply gain, or Pylgain (pulli cantus ?),
which is used for Matins in the Welsh Prayer-Book in the
Calendar of Proper Lessons, but in ordinary speech
1 'Age of the Saints,' pp. 70-102.
2 ' Excerpta Quaedam de Libro Davidis,' ' H. and S.,' i. 118.
Age of Conflict and Submission of the Church 1 49
means the early service which is held in many Welsh
churches on Christmas Day. ' Some years ago,' says the
present Bishop of St. David's, * being in Brittany, I asked
one of the people whether a messe de minuit was celebrated
on Christmas Eve, and, if so, by what name it was popu
larly known. The answer was, " Pelguent." This word,
which I do not find in any Breton book of devotion, or in
Lhuyd's " Armoric-English Vocabulary " (I have no better
Breton dictionary at hand), seems to be confined to that
particular service. Matins are called Matinesou. Now
the word Pelguent is not merely similar to, but . . . abso
lutely identical with, Pylgain, a popular pronunciation of
Ply gain. And, so far as one can judge, it is of purely
Celtic origin. The coincidence appears to me to favour
the supposition that this particular usage was common
to the British and Gallican1 Churches at a very early
period.'2
These relics which survive in language are perhaps the
most permanent of all the relics of early Welsh Chris
tianity. The monumental inscriptions may become
obliterated through lapse of time and the carelessness of
their custodians ; they may even be used as garden-
rollers,3 or as targets for frolicsome tourists.4 The sacred
bells, hallowed by the use of ancient saints, may pass
into secular hands, and, instead of gracing their churches,
may be gazed at in museums, sometimes doubtless by
reverent eyes, but often in mere heedless curiosity, and at
times, even by the scientific antiquary, in the spirit of him
who would ' peep and botanize upon his mother's grave.'
But the place-names of Wales will remain and be known
1 I should myself prefer to say Armorican, as the Church of Brittany
was for some time, as I have shown, distinct from the Gallican.
2 'Arch. Camb.' for 1854, pp. 90, 91. I have to own my obligations
to this article generally for the comparison of Welsh terms with Breton
and Cornish.
3 The Victorinus Stone was once used thus. See 'Arch. Camb.'
for 1851, p. 226.
4 As was the case not long ago with the cross at Penmon, Anglesey.
150 A History of the Welsh Chitrch
of all when the monuments have decayed and the bells
are hidden away, and the names which the Welsh of old
gave to the ordinances and seasons of the Church will
live too, to testify to the antiquity and nationality of the
Catholic faith in Wales as long as the Cymric language
lives, in which, as every pious Welshman believes, the
Welsh nation ' shall, in the day of severe examination
before the Supreme Judge, answer for this corner of the
earth.'
CHAPTER VI.
THE AGE OF FUSION TO THE CONSECRATION OF BISHOP
BERNARD.
THE Celtic lack of cohesion in the struggle with Rome
was unquestionably due in part to the weakness of the
Celtic position on the subject of Easter. Irishmen went
to Rome and inquired into the matter for themselves, and
as a result, felt that it was presumptuous on their part
to say, ' Rome errs, Jerusalem errs, Alexandria errs,
Antioch errs, the whole world errs, the Irish and the
Britons alone know what is right.'1 But it was never
theless a lamentable .proof of Celtic disunion, that not
only did Irish Christians renounce their peculiar customs
of Easter and the tonsure separately from the Britons,
and earlier than they, but also the South of Ireland
acted independently of the North. In spite of the un-
trustworthiness of the ' Book of Aberpergwm,' there is
unfortunately some plausibility in its statement as to a
like disagreement on the Easter question between North
and South Wales. Celtic Christianity, it must be ad
mitted, did not weld tribes and people together as Latin
Christianity did. In England the Church unified the
1 Cummian thus sums up the matter in his letter to Segienus, Abbot
of Hy : 'Quid autem pravius sentiri potest de Ecclesia matre, quam
si dicamus, Roma errat, Hierosolyma errat, Alexandria errat, Antio-
chia errat, totus mundus errat, soli tantum Scoti et Britones rectum
sapiunt.'
152 A History of the Welsh Church
various states, and brought about one kingdom ; in
Wales, no such effect was ever experienced. The oppo
sition between North and South Wales, of which traces
remain even to the present day, appears very plainly in
the history of the Welsh Church. In the Period of
Fusion which we have now reached it was a mere aggre
gation of four independent units, and not one organized
whole. ' Ni bydd dy-un dau Gymro,' ' Two Welshmen
will never be unanimous,' is a proverb that may be amply
illustrated from this period of the history of the Welsh
Church and people.
There are indications also which point to the conclusion
that the Period of Fusion was a time of spiritual declen
sion, and this also may have been a result of faults inherent
in the Celtic type of Christianity. The Christianity of
the Celt was more spontaneous, more enthusiastic, and
less mechanical than Latin Christianity ; but it was less
sustained ; it was inferior in discipline, and utterly lack
ing in organization ; and so it came to pass, that after it
had won souls for Christ, not only in Britain and in
Ireland, but all over Western Europe; the Latin Church
' entered into its labours.' And we must confess that it
was well that it was so, for otherwise when the enthusiasm
of the first love was spent, the disciples of the Celtic
teachers might have relapsed into semi-paganism, as
from time to time happened in Ireland. It is to this
period of declension, and not to earlier centuries of
spiritual advance, and certainly not to the Age of the
Saints, which was an era of spiritual fervour— -that I
should be inclined to refer any recrudescence of paganism
that may be traced in Welsh history or genuine literature,
though I cannot find any justification for connecting such
traces with the Church of the Welsh people.
From the time of Elbod, the Churches of Wales and
England ceased from active hostility towards one another,
and in various ways the two became little by little con-
Age of Fusion to Consecration of Bernard 153
nected together. But the history of the Fusion is by no
means clear, inasmuch as certain of the chroniclers have
been largely influenced by local prejudice. The compiler
of the ' Book of Llandaff,' writing in the twelfth century,
was anxious to establish a connection between his see
and that of Canterbury at an early period, and records
the consecration of Oudoceus, third Bishop of Llandaff,
at Canterbury at the beginning of the seventh century.
This is a manifest absurdity, and only serves to discredit
more or less other more plausible statements of the same
chronicle regarding later consecrations. English records
such as the Canterbury Rolls are open to a similar sus
picion. Considerable confusion also is introduced by the
discordant statements of our various authorities, and if
the evidence of the ' Book of Aberpergwm ' were to be
accepted as trustworthy, this confusion would only become
more confounded. It is possible, as I hope has been
made evident, to gain a fairly accurate idea of the religious
movements of the Age of the Saints, and of the general
political and social condition of the time ; but after this
period of mingled gloom and glory we have for some
time only short and scanty notices respecting ecclesiastical
affairs. The historians of the diocese of St. David's lament
that as far as concerns the history of that part of the
Church of Wales, ' from the era of St. David to the
middle of the ninth century, a period of two hundred and
fifty years, is an almost total blank.'1 With regard to
the diocese of Llanelwy, or St. Asaph, ' a deep silence '
prevails for a much longer period. We know, indeed, of
the slaughter of the monks of Bangor Iscoed in 613 ; but
we have no distinct mention of any bishop of the diocese
from the time of Tysillio (circa 6oo)'2 to the consecration
1 Jones and Freeman, p. 257.
2 Rees, ' Welsh Saints/ p. 277. He was son of Brochwel, Prince
of Powys, and is said to have been a bard, and to have written an
ecclesiastical history of Britain.
154 ^ History of the Welsh Church
of Melanus1 about 1070, with the single2 exception of
Cebur,3 named as one of the bishops who went to Rome
in the time of Hywel Dda, to compare his laws with the
law of God, and ' to obtain the authority of the Pope of
Rome for the laws of Hywel.' The only diocese of which
any continuous history can be made out, is that of
Llandaff.
The Age of Fusion is accordingly exceedingly obscure.
It must not be forgotten that the Welsh dioceses acted
independently, so that while one was submissive to the
See of Canterbury, the others might be in full possession
of their ancient rights and privileges. Unquestionably
the political ascendancy of the English King went hand
in hand with the ecclesiastical supremacy of the English
primate. In the ninth century, according to the testi
mony alike of the English and Welsh chronicles, Wales
was for a time more or less in subjection to the rule of
Egbert. ' The Saxons,' says one manuscript of the
* Annales Cambriae '4 under A.D. 816, ' invaded the moun
tains of Ereri and the kingdom of Roweynauc,' and
again under A.D. 818 the same manuscript says, ' Ceniul5
devastated the regions of the Demetse.' Another manu
script6 records, under A.D. 822, ' The fort of Diganwy7 is
destroyed by the Saxons, and they brought the kingdom
of Powys under their power.' The Brut y Tywysogion
relates the same events.8 But it does not appear to have
been so much these hostile operations of the English,
1 Consecrated by Bedwd, Bishop of St. David's, according to a
statement of the chapter of St. David's to Pope Eugenius. ' De
Invectionibus,' ii. 6 : Gir. Camb., Op. iii. 57.
2 Renchidus Episcopus is mentioned in conjunction with Elbod of
Bangor in one MS. of Nennius. ' H. and S.' (i. 144) say he 'may
have been Bishop of St. Asaph.' Archdeacon Thomas (' Diocesan
History of St. Asaph,' p. 113) includes him in the list of bishops, but
see his ' History,' p. 23.
3 His name is mentioned by the Dimetian copy of the laws ; the
Venedotian mentions 'the Bishop of Asaph' without giving the name.
4 MS. B in Rolls edition. « I.e. Cenulf.
6 A. " ' Arcem Decantorum.'
8 Under A.D. 817, A.D. 819, A.D. 823 respectively.
Age of Fusion to Consecration of Bernard 155
as later friendliness on their part, that caused the first
approximation to union. The first indications of such
friendliness are connected with the names of Alfred and
Asser. No pleasanter picture is found in our history
than the friendship of these two good men. Asser was
nephew of Novis, Bishop1 of St. David's, and both him
self and his uncle were expelled by the local tyrant,
Hemeid, or Hyfeidd, King of Dyfed, ' who often used to
plunder the monastery and See of St. David's.'
' At that time and long before ' (so Asser relates) ' all
the districts of the southern part of Britain belonged to
King Alfred, and still belong. Hemeid, with all the
inhabitants of Dyfed, forced by the violence of the six
sons of Rotri, had submitted to the King's authority.
Howel also, son of Rhys, King of Glewyssig, and Broch-
mael and Fernail, sons of Mouric (Meurig), Kings of
Gwent, forced by the violence and tyranny of Earl
Eadred and the Mercians, of their own accord sought
the same King, that they might have government and
defence from him against their enemies. Helised also,
son of Tewdwr, King of Brecknock, forced by the violence
of the same sons of Rotri, of his own accord, sought the
government of the aforesaid King. Anaraut2 also, son of
Rotri, with his brothers at last deserting the friendship
of the Northumbrians, from which he had had no good
but loss, eagerly seeking the King's friendship, came to
his presence ; and when he had been honourably received
by the King, and had been received as son by confirma
tion at the bishop's hand, and had been enriched by very
great gifts, he submitted to the King's government with all
his people on the same terms that he should be obedient
in all things to the King's will in the same way as ^Ethered
with the Mercians.'3
1 Asser calls him ' Novis arcliiepiscopum propinquum meum.' ' De
Rebus Gestis Alfred),' ' M. H. B.,' p. 488.
2 King of Gwynedd.
3 ' De Rebus Gestis /Elfredi,' ' M. H. B.,' p. 488.
156 A History of the Welsh Church
Wales, accordingly, was at this time subject to the
King of England, and its people were more or less
inclined at times to look to him for protection against
their own petty kings. Alfred, too, was an enlightened
ruler, who saw in the Church a bond of brotherhood
that should knit all nations and peoples together, and it
mattered not to him whether the Church he befriended
was the Church of England or the Church of Wales.
He was wont to give money ' some years in turns to the
churches and servants of God in Britain1 and Cornwall,
Gaul, Armorica, Northumbria, and sometimes even in
Ireland.'2 It was natural, therefore, that the clergy of
St. David's should look to him for succour against the
oppression of Hemeid, and that when Alfred sent for
Asser, of whose wisdom and learning he had heard, and
pressed him to take up his abode in England, they should
advise Asser to consent to stay with Alfred six months
in the year, for they hoped that by means of this friend
ship they might secure some abatement of the wrongs
they were enduring.
Asser, accordingly, went to live with Alfred at his
court, and became his instructor, and in return he was
presented to the monasteries of Cungresbury3 and Ban-
well, in Somersetshire, and afterwards to the bishopric
of Sherborne, an evident proof that Welsh orders were
recognised as valid by the Church of England in the
ninth century. Asser had a genuine love and admiration
for his royal pupil, as can plainly be seen in his ' Life
of Alfred,' which is worthy alike of its subject and its
author ; and these feelings seem to have been fully
reciprocated by Alfred. It is the first instance we find
recorded of friendship between Welshman and English-
1 Viz., Wales.
2 « De Rebus Gestis Alfred!,' ' M. H. B.,' p. 496.
3 So MS. B. But another reading is Amgresbyri, i.e., Amesbury, in
Wiltshire. See * M. H. B.,' p. 488, the editor of which prefers the
reading Cungresbury.
Age of Fusion to Consecration of Bernard 157
man, and, therefore, is the more interesting. Hitherto
the Irish alone of the Celtic nations had done anything
for the English, but now Asser was to Alfred what Aidan
had been to Oswini. In Alfred's youth learning was at a
very low ebb in England, and although he was most
desirous then of gaining knowledge of the liberal arts,
he could find no good teachers, because ' at that time
there were no good readers in the whole kingdom of the
West Saxons.'1 It would appear from Alfred's recourse
to Asser that the Church of Wales was at that time
superior in learning to the Church of England.
Asser gives a most interesting narrative, how under
his instruction Alfred began ' on one and the same day to
read and interpret.' ' On a certain day/ he says, ' we
were both sitting in the King's chamber, talking on all
kinds of matters, as was our wont, and it happened that
I read to him a quotation from a certain book. He
listened to it attentively with both his ears, and anxiously
examined it with his inmost mind, and suddenly showing
me a little book, which he carried carefully in his bosom,
wherein were written the daily course and certain psalms
and prayers which he had read in his youth, he bade me
to write that quotation in the same book. Hearing this,
and perceiving his willing aptness and devout desire
of the study of Divine wisdom, I silently gave great
thanks to Almighty God, who had implanted so great a
devotion to the study of wisdom in the King's heart.
But I could not find any vacant space in that little book
in which to write the quotation, for it was quite full of
various matters ; and so I made a little delay, especially
because I was anxious to provoke the King's apt wit to a
greater knowledge of the Divine testimonies. So, when
he pressed me to make haste and write it, I replied, " Is
it your pleasure that I should write this quotation on
some leaves separately ? For we know not whether we
1 < De Rebus Gestis ^Elfredi,' ' M. H. B.,' p. 474.
158 A History of the Welsh Church
shall find sometimes one or more other like quotations
which may please you ; and if that shall happen unex
pectedly, we shall be glad we kept them apart." " Your
plan is approved," he said ; and I gladly, with haste, pre
pared a volume, at the beginning of which I wrote as
he bade ; and on that same day 1 wrote at his bidding
in the same volume as I had said before, no less than
three other quotations which pleased him. And after
wards, by our daily conversation and investigation of
these things, other quotations were found which pleased
him equally ; and so the volume became full, and de
servedly so, as it is written : " The just man builds upon
a moderate foundation, and little by little flows to greater
things." Like a most productive bee, flying far and wide
and asking questions,1 he gathered eagerly and incessantly
divers flowers of holy Scripture, with which he filled full
the cells of his heart.
' For when that first quotation was written, he was
eager forthwith to read and to interpret in the Saxon
tongue, and then to teach more ; and as we are warned
of that happy robber, who recognised the Lord Jesus
Christ, his Lord, aye, and the Lord of all, hanging by
his side on the venerable gibbet of the holy cross, and
turning on Him, as he prayed, his eyes only, because
otherwise he could not move, for he was wholly pierced
with nails, cried with lowly voice, " Lord, remember me
when Thou comest into Thy kingdom" ; who first began
to learn the rudiments of the Christian faith on the
gallows. So, too, the King, although his lot was different,
by Divine inspiration began to study the rudiments of
holy Scripture on the venerable solemnity of St. Martin
(November n) ; and these flowers, collected from various
quarters by certain masters, he learned, and gathered
1 Latin: 'Longe lateque gronnios interrogando discurrens.' What
is gronnios? Da Cange (' Glossarium Latin. Med. et Infim.'), s. v.,
says, ' Forte gronniens, aut grunniens?
Age of Fusion to Consecration of Bernard 159
into one book, although diverse, as he could, and this he
enlarged so much that it became at last almost as large
as a psalter. This he called his Enchiridion or Manual,
because he most diligently kept it at hand day and night,
and found therein, as he then used to say, no small
solace.'1
The good Asser died in A.D. 906 or 908, and the com
piler of the ' Brut y Tywysogion,' proud of his illustrious
countryman, calls him, in his record of his death, ' Asser,
Archbishop of the isle of Britain ' — a notice which may
have led to his inclusion in some lists of the Bishops of
St. David's.2
One cause of the growing kindness between England
and at least a part of Wales about this time was their
exposure to a common foe, ' the black pagans ' or ' black
Normans,' as the Welsh chronicles call them ; that is,
the Northmen or Danes. In 8533 Anglesey was laid
waste by them ; in 890* they came a second time to
Castle Baldwin, and in 8945 they devasted England,
Brecheiniog, Morganwg, Gwent, Buallt, and Gwenllwg.
In 915, or thereabout,6 there was a notable invasion of
South Wales by the Danes, which gave opportunity for
another act of kindness on the part of England. 'The
pagan pirates ' who, about nineteen years before, had left
1 ' De Rebus Gestis,' ' M. H. B.,' pp. 491, 492.
2 'Annales Cambriae,' p. 16 : '908, cccclxiv. Annus. Asser defunctus
est.' MS. B has 'Asser episcopus defunctus est.' C has 'Asser epis-
copus Britanniae fit.3 'Brut y Tywysogion,' p. 18 : 'dccccvi. Ac y bu
uarw Asser archescob ynys Prydein.'
3 c Annales Cambriae.' 4 'Brut y Tywysogion.'
6 So ibid. 'Annales Cambriae' gives 895.
6 91 5 is the date of Florence of Worcester, ' M. H. B.,' p. 570. The
'Brut y Tywysogion' (Rolls edition, p. 19), says : '910 was the year
of Christ when Other came to the island of Britain,' but the" marginal
chronology from MS. D gives 911. The 'Annales Cambriae' (Rolls
edition, p. 17) says: '913. cccclxix. Annus. Otter venit [in Brit-
lanniam].' The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' (' M. H. B.,' p. 377) narrates
the invasion under A.D. 918, but MSS. C and D agree with Florence
of Worcester. Henry of Huntingdon ('Historiae Anglorum,' lib. v. ;
' M. H. B.,' p. 743) relates the invasion as happening in the eleventh
year of King Edward.
160 A History of the Welsh Church
Britain and gone to Gaul, returned from Brittany with a
great fleet, under the command of Other and Hroald ;
and (as the ' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ' relates) ' they went
west about till they arrived within the mouth of the
Severn, and they spoiled the North Welsh everywhere1
by the sea-coast where they then pleased. And in
Ircingfeld they took Bishop Cameleac, and led him with
them to their ships ; and then King Edward ransomed
him afterwards with forty pounds. Then after that the
whole army landed, and would have gone once more to
plunder about Ircingfeld. Then met them the men of
Hereford and of Gloucester, and of the nearest burhs, and
fought against them, and put them to flight, and slew the
eorl Hroald, and a brother2 of Ohter, the other eorl, and
many of the army, and drove them into an inclosure,
and there beset them about, until they delivered hostages
to them, that they would depart from King Edward's
dominion. And the King had so ordered it that his
forces sat down against them on the south side of Severn-
mouth, from the Welsh coast westward, to the mouth of
the Avon eastward ; so that on that side they durst not
anywhere attempt the land. Then, nevertheless, they
stole away by night on some two occasions, once to the
east of Watchet, and another time to Porlock ; but they
were beaten on either occasion, so that few of them got
away, except those alone who there swam out to the
ships. And then they sat down, out on the island of
Bradanrelice,3 until such time as they were quite desti
tute of food ; and many men died of hunger, because they
could not obtain any food. Then they went thence to
Deomod (Dyfed), and then out to Ireland ; and this was
during harvest.'3
1 I.e. the Welsh of Wales as opposed to the Welsh of Devon and
Cornwall.
2 Henry of Huntingdon calls him Geolcil, ' M. H. B.,' p. 743.
3 Henry of Huntingdon calls it Stepen, Florence of Worcester
(' M. H. B.,' p. 570) calls it Reoric. It is now the Flat Holme.
Age of Fusion to Consecration of Bernard 161
Cameleac, whom Florence of Worcester calls ' Cymel-
geac, a bishop of the Britons,' and whom Henry of
Huntingdon calls Camelegeac, is the Cimeilliauc, or
Civeilliauc (in modern Welsh, Cyfeiliawg), of the ' Book of
Llandaff,' and comes in the register between Bishops
Nudd and Libiau, Two disputes are recorded to have
taken place between him and Brochmael, son of Meurig,
the King of Gwent, mentioned by Asser, and on one
occasion it was adjudged that Brochmael should pay the
bishop ' the price of his face in length and breadth in
pure gold,' instead of which, however, he gave Tref Peren
with six modii of land, and ' with all its liberty, and all
commonage in field and in woods, in water and in
pastures.'1
It is not surprising that, at a period of comparative
friendliness such as is indicated by these acts of kindness
on the part of English kings towards Asser and Cyfeiliawg
and the Welsh Church in general, we find records of
consecrations of Welsh bishops by archbishops of Canter
bury. These records are confused, but it is highly prob
able that they contain a measure of truth, and a good
deal may be done in the way of harmonizing them, if we
altogether decline to admit the evidence of the untrust
worthy ' Book of Aberpergwm.' Ralph de Diceto records
that yEthelred, Archbishop of Canterbury, whose tenure of
his see lasted from 870 to 889, consecrated at Canterbury
Chevelliauc, Bishop of Llandaff, and after him Libau,
Bishop of Llandaff, and after him Lunverd, Bishop of
St. David's. By Chevelliauc he must mean Cyfeiliawg,
the bishop who was afterwards ransomed from the
Danes, and who died, according to the ' Book of Llandaff,'
in 927.2 This date is corroborated by the authority of
Florence of Worcester, who records Cyfeiliawg's cap
tivity under date A.D. 915. It is impossible, therefore,
that ^Ethelred can have consecrated Libiau, who was
1 'Book of Llan Dav,' pp. 233, 234. '2 Ibid., p. 237.
II
1 62 A History of the Welsh Church
Cyfeiliawg's successor, but he may have consecrated
Lunverd, or rather Llunwerth, of St. David's, who be
came bishop in 874,* in succession to Bishop Nobis, or
Novis. Asser's invitation to the court of King Alfred is
generally supposed to have been given about A.D. 884, so
that both the consecrations of Cyfeiliawg and of Llun
werth, if they are historical, must have been prior to his.
visit ; but Asser's invitation need not have been the first
act of kindness on the part of the English court.
In the next century, according to the ' Book of Llandaff/
the limits of the diocese of Llandaff and of the kingdom
of Morganwg were determined by the English King,
Edgar, acting as suzerain over Morgan Hen, King of
Morganwg, and Hywel Dda, King of Deheubarth.
Hywel Dda had attempted, it is said, to deprive Morgan
Hen wrongfully of Ystradyw and Ewyas, but Edgar
awarded those districts to Morgan Hen and to the
diocese of Landaff. The document which professes to
record the decision of Edgar claims for the diocese of
Llandaff seven cantrefs : (i) Cantref Bychan, or the
district round Llandovery ; (2) the Cantref of Gower,
Kidwelly and Carnwillion ; (3) Cantref Gorwenydd, in
Glamorgan ; (4) Cantref Penychen, also in Glamorgan ;
(5) the Cantref of Gwenllwg and Edelygion, in Monmouth
shire ; (6) Cantref Gwentiscoed, also in Monmouthshire,
and (7) the Cantref of Gwentuwchcoed, with Ystradyw
and Ewyas, of which part is in Monmouthshire, but
Ewyas is in Herefordshire, and Yystradyw is in Breck
nockshire.
The claim thus advanced is practically to an inclusion
1 ' Annales Cambriae,' MS. B. The ' Brut' calls him Lwmbert, the
' Liber Landavensis ' Lumberth. The 'Book of Aberpergwm ' states
under 871 that Einion died and 'Hubert the Saxon was made Bishop
in his room/ See also Jones and Freeman, p. 262 : 'Giraldus finds
room for seven, and Godwin's Catalogue for eight, prelates between'
Novis and Llunwerth. Among these are Asser and Sampson, the
latter of whom, according to the discredited story of Giraldus, carried
the pall away from St. David's to Dol.
Age of F^t,s^on to Consecration of Bernard 163
in the diocese of Llandaff of the district between the
Tawe and Towy with a portion of Brecknockshire and
Archenfield, in Herefordshire, districts which eventually
became parts of the dioceses of St. David's and Here
ford. The document may not be genuine, for it contains
one decided anachronism, as Hywel Dda died several
years before Edgar became King of England ;l and further,
it was not inserted by the compiler of the ' Book of
Llandaff,' but by a somewhat later hand.2 It is curious
also that it is stated that it was entered in the ' Book of
Llandaff' because the original document was in danger
of falling to pieces from extreme age,3 whereas there are
many charters in the earlier part of the book which
purport to be much older.
As we shall see later on, there was a dispute in the
twelfth century between the See of Llandaff on the one
hand, and the Sees of St. David's and Hereford on the
other, respecting the districts mentioned in this document,
for St. David's claimed the country between Towy and
Tawe with the Brecon district, and Hereford claimed
Archenfield. Those who take a sceptical view of the
older charters in the ' Book of Llandaff' say that there
can be little doubt that we owe these to a desire on the
part of the Llandaff clergy to support their claim by
written evidence as well to these districts as to other
possessions in dispute. But on the other hand, some of
these early documents are couched in an archaic Welsh
which it is averred could not have been written in the
twelfth century, and this is an argument of considerable
force, for if the Welsh documents be not forgeries,
probably the majority of the other documents are also
1 The 'Book of Aberpergwm ' attempts to get rid of this difficulty
by recording the dispute as one between Morgan Hen and Owain
of Deheubarth, which is possible. See ' Gwentian Brut,' p. 27, in
' Archaeologia Camb.,' supplement for 1863, Third Series, vol. x.
2 See 'Book of Llan Bav; (Evans' edition), xxix. Evans ascribes
the writing of hand 'Fc' to 'early thirteenth century.'
3 Ibid., p. 247.
164 A History of the Welsh Church
genuine. The narrative of the Danish invasion of Wales
in 915, which is gathered from English and unprejudiced
sources, has shown that a Bishop of Llandaff was captured
in Archenfield, and it would appear probable from this
that Archenfield, which was one of the districts in dispute,
was at that time reckoned in the diocese of Llandaff.
The document which purports to record the decision of
Edgar in favour of Morgan Hen, whether it be genuine
or not, shows clearly that the diocesan boundaries were
considered the same as the civil boundaries, and the
limits of the different dioceses probably varied very much
from time to time, and thus the dispute arose. It is
certainly probable that matters had been maturing for
a long period before the final great cause of the twelfth
century.
There are other doubtful records of this period of
Welsh history, which are contained in the ' Book of
Aberpergwm.'
Under 961 it relates that ' Padarn, Bishop of Llandaff,
died, and Rhodri, son of Morgan the Great, was placed
in his room, against the will of the Pope, on which
account he was poisoned, and the priests were enjoined
not to marry without the leave of the Pope, on which
account a great disturbance took place in the diocese of
Teilo, so that it was considered best to allow matrimony
to the priests.'1 As the date given would put this in the
time of Dunstan, the great adversary of the secular clergy,
it may be that the compiler in this case is relating, more
or less accurately, actual facts due to the influence of
the English archbishop and his party, but the authority
is too weak to enable this to be confidently accepted.
The same book relates a visit of Edgar to Caerleon in
A.D. 962, and under 972 relates the death of the same
King, stating also that * he erected the monastery at
1 ' Gvventian Brut,' in ' Arch. Camb.,' Third Series, x., supplement,
p. 28.
Age 6f Fusion to Consecration of Bernard 165
Bangor Fawr, and many other monasteries in Wales
and England, and recompensed the churches of Wales
for the injuries he did them in his youth.' Edgar really
died in 975, so that the date at least is wrong. The
genuine * Brut ' records that Edgar ' collected a very
great fleet at Caerleon upon Usk ' in 971, but says
nothing of any previous visit.
The next records of any acts of supremacy on the
part of England are those contained in the ' Book of
Llandaff' of the consecration by Archbishops of Canter
bury of three Bishops of Llandaff, Gucaunus or Gwgan
in A.D. 982, Bledri in A.D. 983, and Joseph in A.D. 1022.
The ' Canterbury Rolls ' confirm the testimony of the
Llandaff authority, and Ralph de Diceto also relates the
consecration by Archbishops of Canterbury of Bledri
and Joseph, Bishops of Llandaff, and of Tramerin, Elfod,
and Bleduc, Bishops of St. David's. Unfortunately the
dates are in such hopeless confusion that it is difficult
to ascertain the truth. Elfod is a Bishop of St. David's
otherwise unknown to fame, but the historians of the
diocese incline to accept Diceto's testimony for the other
consecrations.1 In any case, friendliness with the English
Church must have been increasing, for during the last
thirteen years of the life of Bishop yEthelstan of Here
ford, while he was incapacitated by blindness, Tremerin,
or Trahaiarn, of St. David's acted as his vicar.
With the Norman Conquest the claims of the Anglican
bishops grew more imperious than before. The saintly
and gentle Anselm, who likened himself to a tame old
sheep in comparison with the fierce young bull, William
the Red, behaved in nowise tamely towards the Church
of Wales. He placed Hervvald, Bishop of Llandaff,
under an interdict, and in a letter to Ralph, Abbot of
Seez, forbade that the orders of a certain man whom
1 Jones and Freeman, p. 267. See also Canon Bevan, ' St. David's,'
p. 50.
1 66 A History of the Welsh Church
Herwald had consecrated should be recognised as valid.
He also suspended temporarily Wilfrid, or Gryffydd,
Bishop of St. David's. What were the causes or pretexts
for these high-handed acts on the part of Anselm cannot
be determined. It has been conjectured that Wilfrid
was suspended for an alienation of Church property
which he made. Herwald, the offending Bishop of
Llandaff, may possibly have received consecration from
an Anglican source, though the accounts vary extremely,
Lanfranc of Canterbury, Joseph of St. David's, and Kinsi
of York, being respectively named as his consecrators.
Lanfranc of Canterbury is manifestly impossible, as
Herwald was consecrated in or about A.D. 1056. About
the same time as Herwald of Llandaff was placed under
an interdict by Anselm, Herve, a Breton, was consecrated
to the See of Bangor1 by Thomas, Archbishop of York
(A.D. 1092). This is the first instance of any encroach
ment by the English Church upon the independence of
the northern dioceses of Wales, and is therefore the more
significant. Herve was promoted to his see by reason
of the favour of William Rufus. However, he did not
retain his position long ; for, as we are informed by a
sympathetic chronicler, ' he treated the fierce people with
too great austerity, seeing in their manners so great a
perversity as no one could easily endure.' When he
began to take strong measures to coerce his irreverent
flock, they rose in rebellion against him, and slew his
brother, and ' were ready to punish him in like manner
if they could lay hands upon him.' Many of his friends
were wounded and slain, and Herve himself fled for pro
tection to Henry I. He was anxious to be transferred
to another see, and after failing to obtain the bishopric
of Lisieux, was finally translated to Ely (1109) through
1 Previous Bishops of Bangor are mentioned by the chapter of
St. David's in their letter to Pope Eugenius ('De Invectionibu?,'
ii. 6, Gir. Camb., op. iii. 57) ; Morgleis and Duvan, consecrated by
Joseph of St. David's, and Revedun by Julienus of St. David's.
Age of Fusion to Consecration of Bernard 167
the intervention of Pope Paschal II., who pitied him for
the cruelties which he and his kindred had suffered at
the hands of the ' barbarians.'
South Wales by this time had been conquered by the
Normans. In 1079, as the ' Brut ' states, ' William the
Bastard, King of the Saxons and the French and the
Britons, came for prayer on a pilgrimage to Menevia,' a
pilgrimage which very probably had more of a political
than a religious purpose. In 1091, Rhys, son of Tevvdwr,
King of South Wales, was overthrown and slain by the
Normans, ' and then/ says the ' Brut,' ' fell the kingdom of
the Britons. . . . And about the calends of July,' continues
the same authority, * the French came into Dyved and
Ceredigion, which they have still retained, and fortified
the castles, and seized upon all the land of the Britons.'
There were many alternations of fortune in subsequent
years, but the Norman dominion was never altogether
overthrown, and the conquerors dealt with the Church of
the subject principality as they dealt with the English
Church. Upon the death of Wilfrid of St. David's,
whom the chronicle calls Jeffrey, the clergy of the diocese
elected Daniel to succeed him. Daniel had especial
claims as son of a noted former bishop, Sulien ; but King
Henry put him aside ' against the will and in contempt of
all the scholars of the Britons.' Bernard, ' a man from
Normandy,' was preferred instead to the vacant see ; he
was not even in priest's orders at the time, so that he was
ordained priest on a Saturday, and consecrated bishop on
the next day. There was some little dispute about the
place of his consecration, one baron asserting that it
ought to take place in the royal chapel, which called forth
an indignant protest from the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The King smoothed the angry waters by a few polite
words to the archbishop, and in compliment to the Queen,
who wished to be present at the ceremony, the primate
agreed to alter the place of consecration from Lambeth
1 68 A History of the Welsh Church
to Westminster Abbey. Bernard made formal profession
of canonical obedience to the See of Canterbury, and was
consecrated by Archbishop Ralph with the co-operation
of various suffragans, among whom is mentioned Urban
of Llandaff, Sept. 19, IH5-1 The death of the unfortunate
Daniel ab Sulien, who had been set aside in Bernard's
favour, is mentioned by the ' Brut' under 1124. ' In the
end of that year,' it says, ' died Daniel, son of Sulien,
Bishop of Menevia, the man who had been arbitrator
between Gwynedd and Powys, in the trouble between
them ; and there was none of them who could find blame
or dispraise in him, for he was peaceful and beloved by
all ; he was likewise the Archdeacon of Powys.'2
The Church in South Wales had now finally lost its inde
pendence, for Urban of Llandaff, although not imposed so
violently upon his diocese as was Bernard, was apparently
equally a nominee of the Normans, and was consecrated by
Archbishop Anselm in 1107, when he professed canonical
obedience to the See of Canterbury.3 Urban, however,
was probably a Welshman, for he is called Worgan, i.e.,
Morgan, in the ' Brut.'4 It remains, therefore, now that
the process of fusion or absorption has been traced to its
close, so far as South Wales is concerned, to gather from
such scanty materials as we have at our disposal some
idea of the general condition of the Church during the
period.
It would appear that the strictness of the monastic
ideal had been very considerably relaxed. Gildas would
probably have found very much more to censure in this
age than in the sixth century. The Age of the Saints
was indeed not closed for many years after Augustine
landed ; but very few saints are chronicled after A.D. 664.
1 Eadmer, ' Hist. Nov.,' 5, in ' H. and S.,3 i. 306. The ' Brut' gives
the dale of Wilfrid's death as A.D. 1112 (' Brut y Tywysogion,' p. 118).
2 'Brut/ p. 152.
3 See ' H. and S.,' i. 302, 303. 4 P. 80.
Age of Fusion to Consecration of Bernard 169
Elbod of Bangor, who ended the Easter controversy
Sadyrnin, Bishop of St. David's, who died in A.D. 832
Cyfeiliawg, Bishop of Llandaff, who died in A.D. 927
Caradog, a hermit, and Gwryd, a twelfth-century friar,
bring up the rear of the noble army.1 The passion for
asceticism had died out, and though the monasteries were
still resorted to, the austerities of the monks were not
quite so severe. Morgeneu, the thirty-third bishop from
St. David, was murdered by Danish pirates in A.D. 999,
and the popular voice proclaimed that his death was a
judgment for his violation of the rule not to eat flesh.
' Because I ate flesh, I became flesh,' was the ghastly
message which his ghost told an Irish bishop, so Giraldus
informs us. But the spectral warning probably went
unheeded. Clerical celibacy was not universal in the
time of Gildas ; but it may be supposed that all the
bishops contemporary with that ascetic saint, whether
diocesan bishops or others, were celibates. At a later
age, however, clerical celibacy seems to have been the
exception rather than the rule, and parochial cures
passed from father to son. This was the case, too, with
the canonries of St. David's cathedral, and even in some
measure at one time with the bishopric of St. David's
itself. Sulien, one of the most notable of the pre-Norman
bishops of that see, was the father of four sons.
' Quattuor ac proprio nutrivit sanguine natos,
Quos simul edocuit dulci libaminis amne,
Ingenio claros ; iam sunt base nomina quorum, —
Rycymarch sapiens, Arthgen, Danielque, Johannes.'2
Of these ' Rycymarch/ or Rhygyfarch, the biographer
of St. David, succeeded his father in A.D. 1089. Daniel,
the third son of Bishop Sulien, was the nominee of the
Welsh clergy, who was set aside in favour of Bernard.
Rhygyfarch was himself a married man, and had a son,
named Sulien after his grandfather. A certain Cuhelm,
1 Rees, ' Welsh Saints,' p. 305.
2 ' Carmen de Vita Sulgeni,' in ' H. and S.,' i. 666.
170 A History of the Welsh Church
' the son of a bishop/ is mentioned in a memorandum on
the margin of the ' Book of St. Chad,'
This prevalence of marriage among all ranks of the
clergy was scandalous in the eyes of the Norman ecclesi
astics, accustomed to the greater severity of the rule of
Latin Christendom. But herein the Welsh Church was
only preserving the ancient usage, which had not been
abrogated even during the outburst of religious enthusiasm
in the sixth century. Some hint of a feeling against the
custom may be discovered in the ' Laws of Hywel Dda,'
which draw a distinction between a son born before his
father had taken priest's orders and one born after :
' Where a clerk takes a wife by gift of kindred, and has a
son by her, and afterwards the clerk takes priest's orders,
and subsequently, when a priest, has a son by the same
woman ; the son previously begotten is not to share land
with such son, as he was begotten contrary to decree.'1
But more than two hundred years after this enactment,
even in the Norman period, the custom still flourished.
The curious succession system, whereby benefices
descended from father to son, led in some cases to a
strange abuse, the custom of dividing benefices between
various incumbents. The church of Keri, in Mont
gomeryshire, had two rectors ; one in Radnorshire had
six or seven ; and the rectory of Hay, in Brecknockshire,
was divided between two brothers, one a clergyman and
one a layman. This was due no doubt to the Celtic rule
of gavelkind.2 It was mentioned in the foregoing chapter
that the succession system was probably analogous to the
rule which prevailed in the Church of Ireland and the
monastery of Hy.
Though Wales showed a sturdy spirit of independence
in retaining some of her ancient customs, such as the
right of the clergy to marry, there had been a growing
1 ' Cyvreithiau Hywel Dda,' in ' H. and S.,' i. 279.
2 See Jones and Freeman, p. 274.
Age of Fusion to Consecration of Bernard 1 7 1
awe and reverence for the See of Rome ever since the
submission of Elfod. We hear no more of visits to
Jerusalem and the East, whether legendary or otherwise,
but, on the contrary, Rome became a favourite place of
resort for such of the Britons as were still, like the older
saints, ' born under a travelling planet.' It has been
questioned whether the visit of Hywel Dda to Rome
on the occasion of drawing up his code is historical or
not, but there can be little doubt that some of the visits
of Welsh and other British Kings to Rome recorded by
the ' Brut ' really took place. Cadwalader's visit to Rome
and death thereat in 681, when the schism was at its
height, is exceedingly improbable in itself, and is also
opposed to the authority of the ' Annales Cambrise 'j1 but
there is less reason for doubting the death at Rome of
Cyngen, King of Powys, in 854, 2 of Hywel of Glamorgan,
whose cross is at Llantwit, in 885,3 or of Joseph, Bishop
of Llandaff in 1043, 4 all which are recorded by the ' Brut.'
From the same source we learn of a visit to Rome in 974
of the Briton, Dunwallon, King of Strath Clyde.
But though Wales had altogether changed its attitude
towards Rome, it had in no way relaxed its friendship
with other Celtic communities, except in so far as circum
stances hindered the interchange of friendly acts. The
compilers of the Welsh chronicles, the 'Annales Cambrise'
and the ' Brut y Tywysogion,' record the chief events in
Irish history and the deaths of eminent Irishmen so
commonly that they must have had access to Irish
sources of information. It is evident that they regarded
all Celts as their kinsmen, and preserved the old British
traditions in this respect inherited from Patrick and from
the three great Welsh saints, David, Gildas and Cadoc.
1 'Annales Cambriae,' '682: ccxxxviii. Annus. Mortalitas magna
fuit in Britannia, in qua Catgualart filius Catguolaum obiit.'
2 'Brut y Tywysogion/ p. 12 ; 'Annales Cambrias,' p. 13.
3 Ibid., p. 1 6 ; ibid., p. 15.
4 Ibid., p. 41. In the 'Annales' the date appears to be 1045.
172 A History of the Welsh Ch^lrch
If we can trust the ' Book of Aberpergwm/ Cydifor, an
abbot of Llancarfan, carried on the same work for Ireland
as his predecessor Cadoc, and ' sent six learned men of his
abbey to Ireland to instruct the Irish.'1 The ' Manuscript
Juvencus,' which is now preserved in the library of Cam
bridge University, and is certainly Welsh of the ninth
century, contains entries about Nuadu and Fethgna,
Bishops of Armagh, who died respectively in A.D. 811 and
874, and must clearly have been taken to Ireland in the
lifetime of Fethgna. If the ' Book of Aberpergwm '
contains in this case a genuine piece of history, it is
possible that the manuscript was taken from Llancarfan,
and in any case its presence in Ireland proves intercourse
between, the Churches of Ireland and Wales in the ninth
century. Jeuan, the son of Bishop Sulien of St. David's,
relates that his father, who was reputed ' the wisest of the
Britons '2 in his day, ' being moved by desire of study,
went to the Irish renowned for marvellous wisdom,' a
renown, by the way, that was well deserved. Sulien's son,
Rhygyfarch, proves by his 'Life of St. David' that he was
a master of that florid and viciously rhetorical style which
was one of the most cherished products of Irish training.
But without any doubt there was also much real scholar
ship as well as artistic skill in the Irish monastic schools.3
Further evidence in favour of the existence of inter
course between Ireland and Wales in this period is found
in the inscribed stones. These differ from the earlier
ones in the elaborateness of their ornamentation, in which
they resemble the Irish stones. There are about sixty-
four stones of this class in Wales, of which forty-two are
found in Glamorganshire and Pembrokeshire, so that it
would appear that the south of the principality was most
affected by Irish influence. The best known and most
1 ' Book of Aberpergwm ' under A.D. 883 in recording the death of
Cydifor.
2 ' Brut y Tywysogion/ p. 54.
3 See Stokes' ' Ireland and the Celtic Church,' Lectures x., xi.
Age of Fusion to Consecration of Bernard 173
remarkable of those of North Wales is that called
Eliseg's Pillar in the lovely valley near Llangollen, which
holds also the ruins of the beautiful abbey of Valle Crucis.
Eliseg, to whose memory it is inscribed, seems to have
lived in the eighth century, and the stone was erected
about a hundred years after his death. In Glamorgan
shire there are inscribed stones with Celtic ornament at
Kenfig, Bryn Keffneithan, Baglan, Llandough, two at
Merthyr Mawr, two at Coychurch, three at Llantwit
Major, and five at Margam. Pembrokeshire has similar
inscribed stones at Nevern, Penaly, Carew, Pen Arthur,
and St. David's. The stones of Llantwit Major have
already been described, and, together with the beautiful
crosses of Margam, which may easily be visited by a
pedestrian in the same day, for they are only about
twenty miles distant, will give the investigator a high
opinion of the artistic ability of the early Welsh
sculptors.
There was, therefore, much intercourse between the
Irish and Welsh Churches during the Age of Fusion, but
probably less than in the Age of the Welsh Saints, for the
seas were so much infested at times by Danish and Norse
pirates that intercourse must have had its perils. We can
scarcely over-estimate the sufferings undergone by South
Wales from the incursions of these robbers, who especially
attacked the churches and monasteries for the valuable
altar vessels and crosses which they contained, and who
seem to have taken particular pleasure in slaying the
clergy or putting them to ransom. The chronicles are
full of the records of the devastations of the Danes, and
place-names along the coast of South Wales attest their
former presence. It has even been thought that ' the
Teutonic element which prevails in the topography of
Lower Pembroke and Gower ' is partly due to settlements
of these Vikings.1 Menevia, or St. David's, was several
1 Clark, ' Land of Morgan,' p. 16.
1 74 A History of the Welsh Church,
times laid waste, and two of its bishops, Morgeneu1 and
Abraham,2 were murdered. In the year of Sulien's death,
1089, St. David's was attacked for the last time, and was
then utterly demolished.3 We read also that in A.D. 987
' the Pagans devastated Llanbadarn, and Menevia, and
Llanilltud (Llantwit Major), and Llancarfan, and Llan-
dydoch/4 Bangor was laid waste in A.D. io7i.5 It was
at least one of the merits of the Normans that they put an
end to this miserable condition of affairs.
1 A.D. 1023 ('Brut'). 2 A.D. 1078 ('Brut').
3 ' Brut y Tywysogion.' 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid.
CHAPTER VII.
FROM THE CONSECRATION OF BISHOP BERNARD TO THE
VISITATION OF ARCHBISHOP BALDWIN.
THE Norman conquest of South Wales was fraught with
many changes for the Welsh Church. Henceforth the
higher dignities were often placed in the hands of Nor
mans — a policy which was also carried out in England,
but operated there less injuriously because the Normans
eventually became amalgamated with the English both in
speech and language, whereas in Wales, though amal
gamation went on, it was a slower process, and was
never quite completed. The old Celtic monastic insti
tutions also decayed or were destroyed, and in many
cases Church lands were seized by the invading nobles.
If the ' Book of Aberpergwm ' is to be credited, the chief
churches of the diocese of Llandaff, those of Llandaff,
Llancarfan, Llanilltud (Llantwit), Llandough, St. Pagan's,
Caerleon, Caerwent, and others, lost their right of sanc
tuary at the time of the Norman invasion, but had it
restored about 1150 by Bishop Nicholas; and about the
same time the churches that had been demolished were
rebuilt, and new ones were founded.1 Popes Calixtus II.
and Honorius II. issued injunctions to various Norman
nobles of the same diocese to restore the lands, tithes,
offerings, and other dues which they had seized or were
1 ' Book of Aberpergwm ' in Arch. Camb., Third Series, x., p. 122.
i/6 A History of the Welsh Church
withholding.1 Among these lords were Walter Fitz-
Richard, Brian Fitz-Count, William Fitz-Baderon, Robert
de Chandos, Payne Fitz-John, Bernard Newmarch, Wyne-
bald de Baalun, Milo of Gloucester, Richard de Pwns,
and Robert Fitz-Martin, and the number indicates that
these spoliations must have been altogether considerable.
It would appear that Robert Fitz-Hamon, the conqueror
of Rhys ap Tewdwr, who was not only Lord of
Glamorgan, but also held the Honour of Gloucester,
transferred the endowments of Llantwit and Llancarfan
to Gloucestershire churches. To St. Peter's, at Gloucester,
he gave the church of St. Cadoc, at Llancarfan, with
Treygof and Penhon.2 To his great foundation of
Tewkesbury Abbey3 he also made a considerable grant of
Welsh ecclesiastical property, which included Llantwit.
A charter exists, wherein Bishop Nicholas of Llandaff,
whose tenure of the see extended from 1153 to 1183,
confirmed to Tewkesbury Abbey the churches and bene
fices which it held in his diocese ; and no better proof
than this can be exhibited of the wholesale spoliation of
the Welsh Church for extraneous purposes.4 It enume
rates ' the parish church of St. Mary of Kayrdif,5 with
the chapel of the castle, the chapel of St. John,6 the
chapel of St. Thomas, the chapel of Raht,7 the chapel
of St. Dionisius of Kibur, the chapel of Liffenni, the
1 ' Book of Llandav,' pp. 93, 37.
2 Clark, * Cartas de Glamorgan/ i. 7-9. Treygof is now Treguff
Place ; Pennon is a village near Llancarfan. See also ' Cartularium
S. Petri Glouc.,' Rolls Series, i. 93, 115.
3 Originally an old Mercian foundation of A.D. 715. The new
Tewkesbury Abbey was founded in 1102.
4 ' Carta N. Land. Ep. Confirmantis S. M. Theok. Beneficia quae
Habent in Episcopatu Suo.' (Cott. MS., Cleop. A., vii. 68). ; 'Cartas
et Alia Munimenta quae ad Dominium de Glamorgan pertinent,
curante G. T. Clark,' vol. i., pp. 20-22.
5 Cardiff.
0 'St. John's, Cardiffe V., St. John Baptist, cap. to St. Mary's,
Cardiff ; but now, since St. Mary's Church was ruined, it is made the
parish church.' Ecton's ' Thesaurus,' third edition, p. 506.
7 Roath.
Bishop Bernard and Archbishop Baldwin 177
chapel of St. Edern,1 the chapel of Lanbordan, with all
its belongings within the borough and without, and the
tithe of the lord's revenues in the county of Kairdif and
of all his lordship in Wales ; the church of Londoch,2
belonging to the church of Kairdif, with the chapel of
Leotwtha,3 and the chapel of Cogan, with the lands and
its remaining belongings; the church of Llandiltuit,4 with
the chapel of Liswini,5 the chapel of St. Bartholomew,
the chapel of St. Cujan of Cherleton, with its belongings
of Lanbari and of Lanparan and of St. Nicholas, and
with its remaining belongings ; the church of St. Leonard
of Newcastle,0 with the chapel of St. Theduct,7 the chapel
of Lathelestuna,8 the chapel in the wood on the eastern
side of Leveni, the chapel of St. Thomas in the land
which William, Earl of Gloucester, gave to William Fitz-
Henry, between the waters of Avan and Neth ; the church
of St. James of Kenefeg,9 with the chapel of St. Thomas
in the same town, the chapel of Corneli,10 which is the
town of Thomas ; the chapel of St. Wendun, of the town
of Walter Luvel, the chapel of St. Thomas of Creitic,
the chapel of St. Cunioth of Leveni, with all the rest of
its belongings, as well of the church of St. Leonard, as
of the church of Kenefeg, of Landbleth,11 with the chapel
of St. Donat,12 the chapel of St. James of Landcoman,
the chapel of St. Lenwara of Lathawa, with the rest of
its belongings.'
It is a goodly list indeed, and the monks of Tewkes-
bury may well have been thankful to their munificent
benefactors whose chapels and effigies still adorn their
1 Llanedeyrn. St. Dionisius of Kibur may be Lisvane church,
which is dedicated to St. Denis.
2 Llandough. 3 ? Leckwith.
4 Lantwit Major, or Lllanilltyd Favvr. 5 Llyswerni, or Lisworney.
6 The church of Newcastle, Bridgend,is now dedicated to St. Illtyd.
7 Tythegston, dedicated to Tudwg. 8 Laleston.
9 Kenefeg (i.e., Kenfig) is printed in the text ' Keneseg,' an evident
mistake.
10 Comely, near Porthcawl. n Llanblethian (Llanbleiddian).
12 Llanddunwyd, or Welsh St. Donat's.
12
178 A History of the Welsh Church
magnificent fane ; but it is somewhat sorrowful reading
for all who are familiar with the district of South Wales
thus despoiled, and who can realize in some measure the
wrong inflicted upon the Church therein — a wrong from
which it has never recovered, for the revenues thus
alienated have never been regained, and their loss has
meant for many centuries the hindering of God's work
in the district. All these churches were served by vicars,
appointed by the monks of Tewkesbury, who were to
assign them honourable sustenance. But these churches
did not constitute the whole of the benefaction to Tewkes
bury and plunder of the Welsh Church, for Bishop Nicholas
also enumerates lands and tithes which the monks owned
elsewhere.1
It has been said that ' on the whole the Church in
the lordship ' (of Glamorgan) ' had no reason to complain
of the new lords,'2 because of the new monasteries which
they founded. This, however, is a weak defence, for their
policy was to take from the poor and to give to the rich ;
to strip the native institutions and clergy of their posses
sions and to bestow them upon the privileged Normans.
The foundation of new monasteries in Wales was no
compensation to the secular clergy for the loss inflicted
1 ' Confirmat autem eis omnes decimas quas in illo episcopatu legitime
obtinuerunt, viz., duas partes decimse dominii de Crenemarestune, duas
partes decimas dominii Rogeri de Sumeri, medietatem decimas dominii
de Sto Fagano, duas partes decimas dominii de Sto Nicholao, duas
partes decimas dominii de Bonlemlestun, duas partes decimas dominii
de Wufa, duas partes decimas dominii de Manwrekestun, duas partes
decima? dominii quodfuit Hugonis de Gloucestria, duas partes decimas
dominii de Treigof, medietatem decimae dominii Willielmi de Lond. et
c acras terre apud Wuggemore, duas partes decimas dominii de Pen-
marc, duas partes decimas dominii quod nunc est monachorum de
Neth apud Essam, duas partes decimas dominii de Marois, duas partes
decimas dominii de Sto Donate, duas partes decimas dominii deCoitiff
et Novocastello. Et confirmat eis terras, que in elemosinam eis datas
sunt, villulam quas dicitur Landochan, terram quam dedit Walterus de
Landbleche, terram quam dedit Robertus filius Nigelli, terram quam
dedit Walkelinus, dictam Landcadhele, totum brachium aquas de Taf
ex quo exit, et etiam pratum ultra aquam juxta ecclesiam.'
2 Clark, ' Land of Morgan,' p. 23.
Bishop Bernard and Archbishop Baldwin 179
on their body. But it must be acknowledged that the
Normans also founded many parish churches.
This policy of spoliation was exceedingly detrimental,
and often proved fatal, to the old Celtic monasteries of
South Wales. Llantwit Major continued for a long time
to exist as a cell, as the remains prove ; and this was
probably true also of Llancarfan for a time at least ; but,
as the legends of St. Cadoc of Llancarfan and St. Illtyd
of Llantwit show, a new spirit was infused into these
communities. The former legend was written by Lifris,
or Leofric, who is probably the same as ' the son of a
bishop, Archdeacon of Glamorgan, and Prior of St.
Cadoc,' who is mentioned in the ' Book of Llandaff,'1
and who was contemporary with Bishop Herwald,
whose episcopate lasted from 1059 to IIO3- The legend
is Roman and anti-national in tone.2 An appendix to
the ' Life of St. Illtyd,' written apparently in the time of
Robert Fitz-Hamon, records an attack of a Welsh army
upon Llantwit at that period, which was repulsed by the
aid of the saint, indicated by fiery signs in the sky ;3 and
it is very evident that the chronicler had no sympathy
with the Welsh cause.
Urban of Llandaff, though he was a nominee of the
Normans, was a good Welshman and did not submit
tamely to the robbery of his see, but was unremitting in
his endeavours to get Church lands and property restored
by the nobles who had seized them, and to secure the
extension of his see so as to include the parts which
are said to have been awarded it by the arbitration of
Edgar, as well as to gain possession of the Teilo churches,
which were thirty-seven churches in Carmarthenshire,
Pembrokeshire, Brecknockshire and Radnorshire.4 For
1 ' Book of Llan Dav/ p. 271.
2 See ' Vita S. Cadoci,' § 23 ; Rees' ' C. B. S.,' p. 60.
'Vita S. Iltuti,' § 26; Rees' ' C. B. S.,? pp. 181, 182.
4 See Grant of Rhydderch, son of Jestin, in 'Book of Llan Dav,'
PP> 253'255- They are ' nearly all churches that, if not dedicated to, at
1 80 A History of the Welsh Church
these purposes he appealed to three successive Popes,
Calixtus II., Honorius II. and Innocent II. His first
appeal, addressed in mg to Calixtus II., gives a lament
able account of the diocese. ' It was always,' he says,
' the mistress of all other churches of Wales in dignity
and in all privilege, until at length through seditions and
so many wicked deeds in war, and also as my predecessor
Herward had become old and therefore enfeebled, the
church began to be weakened and almost deprived of its
shepherd, and annihilated by the cruelty of the natives
and the invasion of the Norman race. . . . Very lately in
the reign of King William,1 a great part of the clergy
having already been removed, the church was yet defended
by twenty-four canons, of whom at present none save
two remain, and in the possession of the church, four
ploughlands and four librae. Not only by the loss of
territories is the church now desolate and despoiled, but
also by tithes being taken away from it, and from all the
clergy of the whole diocese, both by the power of the
laity and the invasion of the monks, as also by the great
least bore the name of the great Llandaff saint, Teilo. It must be
borne in mind that the territorial name " Bishop of Llandaff" was not
the ancient title of the holders of the see. The earlier name is the
personal one, " Esgob Teilau." While the claim of a Bishop of Llandaff
to churches outside his diocese may seem preposterous, the claim of
the Bishop of Teilo to the churches of Teilo is by no means so. If
the Irish mode of evangelizing the country was the one adopted in
Wales — and the probabilities are that it was — then the mother
monastery of Teilo sent forth bands of missionaries who obtained
grants of land from the local rulers where they formed religious settle
ments. To use the Irish term, these colonies would form part of the
possessions of " the tribe of the saint," that is, of the monastery to which
the missionaries belonged ; and so wherever Teilo monks went, Teilo
churches, part of the possessions of the Teilo Monastery, grew up.
These settlements would be considered to belong to the monastery,
quite apart from any territorial division of the country that then, or
afterwards, might exist. To most of the Teilo churches this view
furnishes a reasonable explanation of the Bishop of Llandaff's claim,
except as to that important group of them in Pembrokeshire.'—
Mr. Willis Bund, in 'Arch. Camb.,' Fifth Series, x. 194, 195.
1 Viz., Rufus, as the MS. followed in the 'Liber Landavensis'
(Llandovery ed.) gives, p. 84.
Bishop Bernard and Archbishop Baldwin 181
invasion of our territory and diocese by our brethren, the
Bishops of Hereford and of St. Dewi.'1 In the same year
as he issued this appeal Urban attended the Council of
Rheims,2 and his representations were so far successful
as to obtain a Papal bull, receiving the church of Llandaff
under the protection of the Apostolic See, and forbidding
both clergy and laity to take away aught of its posses
sions.3 Calixtus also admonished the lay plunderers of
the diocese to restore their spoil,4 and sent letters to the
king5 and the Archbishop of Canterbury, urging them to
protect the See of Llandaff, ' which was so despoiled of
its possessions both by bishops and laymen, that it seemed
almost reduced to nothing.'6
Calixtus II. died in 1124, and two years afterwards an
agreement was arranged between Urban and the celebrated
Robert of Gloucester, the natural son of King Henry I.,
who by his marriage with Mabel, daughter and sole
heiress of Robert Fitz-Hamon, now held the lordship of
Glamorgan. The agreement was made at Woodstock in
the King's presence, and in consideration of the grants
and privileges conceded by the earl, the bishop on his
part consented to withdraw all charges against the earl
and his men.7 The proceedings at the Papal court, how
ever, still went on, for Urban having failed at the Council
of Westminster in 1127, agam appealed to the Papal See.
The new Pope, Honorius II., admonished lay plunderers,8
some of whom were among the witnesses to Earl Robert's
agreement, and in 1128, and again in 1129, in the absence
of Bernard of St. David's and Richard of Hereford, he
adjudged the whole of the districts in dispute between
the rival sees to Llandaff.9 After this decision Bernard
appeared at Rome, to plead the cause of his see, and the
whole proceedings were opened again.10 Promises were
1 « Book of Llan Dav,' pp. 87, 88. 2 Ibid., p. 89.
3 Ibid., pp. 89-92. 4 Ibid., pp. 93, 94. 5 Ibid., p. 92.
6 Ibid., pp. 92, 93. " Ibid., pp. 27-29. 8 Ibid., p. 37.
9 Ibid., pp. 30-33, 39-41. 10 Ibid., pp. 53, 54.
1 82 A His lory of the Welsh Church
repeatedly given of a final decision, which never came
until the death of Urban in 1134, when Innocent II.
pronounced against the claims of Llandaff, and St.
David's and Hereford finally retained possession of the
districts. Thus, at last, says William of Malmesbury,
' the contention between Bernard, Bishop of Menevia,
and Urban of Llandaff, concerning the right of the
parishes which Urban had unlawfully usurped, was laid
at rest for ever ; for after so many appeals to the Roman
court, so many expensive journeys, so many conflicts of
lawyers, after being ventilated for many years, at length
it was ended, or rather decided, by the death of Urban at
Rome ; for the Apostolic father, having weighed the equity
of the matter, satisfied religion and the right of the
Bishop of Menevia by a suitable decision.' The annalist
of the Glamorganshire Abbey of Margam, who, however,
copies largely from William of Malmesbury, took the
same view of Urban's contention, and it may be that
popular opinion generally commended the Papal decision.1
Urban left one memorial of his episcopate, a new
cathedral church at Llandaff, portions of which still
remain, including a grand Norman arch at the east end of
the presbytery, one of the chief glories of the present
cathedral. We are told that when he removed the relics
of St. Dubricius from Bardsey to Llandaff, he determined
also to build a worthy church to contain them. The old
church was very small, being in length 28 feet, in
breadth 15, in height 20, and with two aisles, one on
each side, of very small size and height, and with a round
porch of 12 feet in length and breadth ;2 an interesting
1 The Annalist copies William of Malmesbury so closely in this, as
in many other particulars, that he cannot be regarded as an indepen
dent authority. Margam Abbey was not founded until 1147. See
'Annales de Margam' (Rolls ed., p. 13) under 1131: 'Tune etiam
contentio inter Bernardum episcopum Menevensem et Urbanum
Landavensem de jure parochiarum, quas idem Urbatms illicite
usurpaverat, morte ejusdem Urbani apud Romam finem sortitur.'
2 * By which a semicircular apse is probably meant,' says Dean
Conybeare. 'Arch. Camb.,' New Series, i. 26.
Bishop Bernard and Archbishop Baldwin 183
statement from which we may infer that Welsh churches
were generally very small even down to the Norman
conquest. The new church was begun on Wednesday,
April 14, H20,1 and Urban, who in all ways seems to have
been an indefatigable worker for his see, procured an
indulgence from Archbishop Ralph to all contributors to
the holy work,2 and a confirmation and enlargement of the
indulgence from John of Crema, the Papal legate.3 The
archbishop remitted a fourth part of the penance due
from each donor, and the Papal legate remitted fourteen
days besides.
Bernard, the Norman Bishop of St. David's contem
porary with Urban, was as active and enterprising as his
brother of Llandaff, and probably more able, but less
scrupulous. He had the reputation of courtly manners,
of brilliant wit and great learning, and he proved himself
during his tenure of the see an ambitious and skilful
ruler, but he did not scruple to secure the support of the
powerful Norman barons by alienation of Church lands.
He gave away in fiefs the whole cantred of Pebidiog, in
which St. David's is situated, and which had been be
stowed upon the see by the native princes. Fishguard
was absolutely separated from the cantred and annexed
to the barony of Cemaes. The clergy complained that he
would assign ten, twenty, or even thirty ploughlands as a
military fief, but thought one, two, or perhaps three,
enough as a portion for a canon of his cathedral. He
made no efforts to regain Cenarthmawr in Emlyn, Llan-
rian, Lawrenny, Ucceton, and the other lands which his
predecessor Wilfrid had alienated, or the manors of
Llanstadwell and St. Ishmael's, which had been seized by
foreign intruders.4 The introduction of the feudal tenure
into the property of the see may have been a necessity of
1 « Book of Llan Dav,' p. 86. '•> Jbid., p. 87. 3 Ibid., p. 48.
4 ' De Jure et Statu Menevensis Ecclesiae,' ii. ; Giraldi Camb., Op.
(Rolls ed.) iii., pp. 152-154.
1 84 A History of the Welsh Church
Bernard's position as a Lord Marcher, and he may have
been forced, as Urban was, to condone alienations that he
did not approve, but, so far as our evidence goes, it is
impossible to acquit him altogether of the crime of
dilapidation of his see. Giraldus, who is the witness
against him, says that ' he alienated very many Church
lands quite fruitlessly and uselessly ' with a view to gain
ing further preferment by translation to an English see.
In other respects, however, he was an active and, on
the whole, a successful bishop. He abolished thegfaswyr,1
i.e., ecclesiastics whom, on coming to his see, he found
living at St. David's without any definite rule ; and he
founded canonries and established canons there in their
stead. He is said, also, to have procured the canoniza
tion of St. David by Pope Calixtus II.2 He carried to a
successful issue, as we have already seen, the dispute
between himself and Urban, and his efforts on behalf of
the Welsh Church caused the native princes to invite him
to confer with them respecting Archbishop Theobald's
consecration of Meurig of Bangor.3 He also has the
distinction of being praised by the Welsh chronicle as
' a man of extraordinary praise and piety and holiness,'
who died 'after extreme exertions, upon sea and land,
towards procuring for the church of Menevia its ancient
liberty.'4 It is strange to find such praise accorded by a
Welsh author to the first alien Bishop of St. David's, who
had been imposed upon that see by royal authority in
opposition to the wish of the native clergy ; but the cause
of this praise and of the friendly attitude of the Welsh
princes is to be found in the policy pursued by Bernard
during the latter years of his episcopate.
Encouraged probably by his success in the contest with
Urban, the Bishop of St. David's, the very next year after
1 Rglivyswyr.
2 Godwin, ' De Prsesulibus Anglias ' (Richardson's ed.), p. 573.
3 ' De Invectionibus,' ii. 9. Giraldi Camb., Op. iii. 59.
4 'Brut y Tywysogion ' (Rolls ed.), p. 177.
Bishop Bernard and Archbishop Baldwin 185
the decision had been given, petitioned Pope Innocent II.
for a pall, thereby asserting the claim of his see to be
independent of Canterbury and the metropolitan See of
Wales. How this claim to metropolitan authority arose
is not clear, as none such can be proved to have existed
in ancient times, but it probably originated or was revived
during the contest with Llandaff; and Giraldus preserved
a document purporting to be an assertion of this claim
presented to Pope Honorius about 1125 by the chapter
of St. David's. It was pleaded by Archbishop Theobald
that Bernard had himself professed canonical obedience
to Canterbury, and in 1148 Pope Eugenius III. decided
against Bernard personally on this ground, but fixed
October 18 in the following year for investigating the
claims of his see;1 but before the end of 1148 Bernard
died.
The chapter of St. David's met and elected a ' discreet
and honourable man,' but, we are told, when they came
to Archbishop Theobald, he seduced a few of the chapter
and caused them to elect David, Canon of St. David's,
and Archdeacon of Cardigan, a Norman on his father's
side, but Welsh on his mother's, being the son of Gerald
de Windsor, castellan of Pembroke, and Nest, daughter
of Rhys ap Tewdwr.2 The election of the other candi
date was quashed, and Theobald proceeded to consecrate
David, under whom he hoped ' he could enjoy sleep with
out disturbance,'3 and to secure this better he made David
profess canonical obedience to Canterbury. David kept
1 In a scurrilous life of David II., Bishop of St. David's, contained
in Wharton's 'Anglia Sacra,' ii., pp. 652,653, it is said that Theobald
produced two false witnesses and gave the Pope 40 marks to receive
them. When Bishop Bernard exposed them and alleged that witnesses
of that kind ought not to be received against the bishop, ' Brother,'
said the Pope, ' I don't want witnesses on your side, but on mine'
(' Frater, non tibi quasro testes, sed mihi ').
2 See the whole story in * Vita David. II.' in ' Anglia Sacra,' also in
Appendix Gir. Camb., Op., pp. 431-434.
3 ' Sub quo securus posset carpere somnos.'
1 86 A History of the Welsh Church
his word to Theobald ; but, if his anonymous biographer
is to be believed, this fidelity on his part was almost his
only virtue. The cathedral was shut up during the
greater part of his tenure of the see.
Giraldus Cambrensis, who was David's nephew, gives
a very different account of his uncle. According to him,
David was of an exceedingly modest and contented dis
position, and interfered with no one and sought no unjust
gains. Yet he has to confess that this quiet man was a
dilapidator of his see, and alienated certain lands, as
Trallwng in Brecknockshire, and others in Dugledu (now
Dungleddy) and Pebidiog. The territory also of Oisterlaf
was seized in his days by powerful nobles, and became lost
to the see.1
His anonymous biographer adds particulars, and says
that he distributed to his sons and nephews, and also in
dowry to his daughters, the few possessions of the see
left to it by his predecessor. ' He gave his daughter in
marriage to Walter Fitz-Wyson, and quitclaimed the
land near Llawhaden, on account of which his father had
been excommunicated. He gave a fief of two soldiers to
Richard Fitz-Tancard, and this Richard forthwith gave
one fief to Robert, his nephew, and the bishop gave him
his daughter and the fief which had belonged to Hugo de
Wallingford, and gave to increase it Broghes and Tref-
hennan. Another fief, namely, Castelkennan, he gave to
Arnold Dru, his kinsman. He gave his brother Maurice
the fief of Archebold and the land of Aeyain, son of
Seisill, and the land of St. Dogmael. He granted also to
him the fief of Lanrian, and seduced Walter Lunet to do
homage to his brother Maurice for his fief which he had
held of the bishops. He made also the same brother his
seneschal over all his land. He gave his uncle Cadwgan
a fief which is called Cadwgan's fief.'2 The chapter of St.
1 'De Jure et Statu M. E.5 Girald. Camb., Op. iii. 155.
2 'Vita Davidis II.'
Bishop Bernard and Archbishop Baldwin 187
David's protested, but he had stolen their seal and the
register of their lands.
At length the chapter determined to prosecute their
bishop before the Council of London (1176), but he met
the deputation at London before they had seen the arch
bishop, and promised reformation and restitution. He
died very soon afterwards, and in a relic chest, of which
he had kept the key, there was found, says his biographer,
a hoard of two hundred marks or more, which he had
put by for a rainy day. If these be true particulars of
David Fitzgerald, the diocese must have suffered con
siderably from the episcopate of this quiet and modest
bishop, who, Giraldus says, impoverished it ' more spar
ingly and modestly ' than its other bishops.
In 1171, Henry II. passed through South Wales on
his way to Ireland, and went on pilgrimage to St. David's,
and offered there two choral copes and about ten shillings
in silver.1 On his return in the next year, he again visited
St. David's, on April 17. 2 He reached Cardiff on Low
Sunday, April 23, and attended mass in St. Piran's
Chapel. As he came forth and was mounting his horse
to go on his journey, a man of a fair complexion with a
round tonsure and meagre countenance, tall, and about
forty years of age, clad in a white robe falling down to
his naked feet, called out in English : ' God protect thee,
O King ; Christ and His holy Mother, John the Baptist,
and Peter the Apostle greet thee, and command thee strictly
to forbid any kind of traffic to be held throughout thy
dominions on the Lord's day, or any sort of work to be
done, save only in preparing necessary food ; but that
Divine offices be devoutly performed and heard on that
day. If thou wilt do this, all that thou shalt take in hand
shall prosper, and thou shalt have a happy life.' The
King turned to Philip of Marcross,3 who was holding his
1 ' Brut y Tywysogion3 (Rolls ed.), p. 215.
2 ' Annales Cambrias,' p. 54. 3 ' Philippus de Mercros.'
1 88 A History of the Welsh Church
horse's bridle, and said in French : ' Ask the clown
whether he dreamed this ;' whereupon the man replied :
' Whether I dreamed this or not, mark well what day
this is ; for unless thou doest this, and shalt amend thy
life before the end of the present year, thou shalt hear
such tidings of that thou lovest best in the world, and
shalt have thence so much trouble, that it shall last for
all the rest of thy life.' The King then put spurs to his
horse, and rode a little way, as much as eight paces,
towards the town gate ; but having reflected a moment
on what was said, he pulled up his horse, and said : ' Call
that good man.' Upon this, Philip of Marcross and a
youth named William went to search for the stranger,
but could not find him, and the King, leaving Cardiff and
crossing the bridge at Rumney, went on his way in much
vexation and lowness of spirits towards Newport. When
the King's sons rebelled against him and joined Louis of
France, men said that the strange prophet's words were
being fulfilled. WTe find in the reign of John a common
movement in the country for keeping the Lord's day more
strictly, and it would seem from this story, which is told
us by Giraldus Cambrensis, that this feeling was already
at work in Wales in the time of Henry II.1
In 1176, the chapter of St. David's renewed the claim
to metropolitanship. This was on March 14, and on
May 8 Bishop David died. There ensued, as might have
been expected, another dispute regarding the election of
a bishop. Without waiting for the conge d'elire, the
chapter met and nominated four candidates, their four
archdeacons, with the celebrated Giraldus Cambrensis at
the head of the list. The King was very angry at the
slight offered to his authority, and setting aside all the
nominees, held a meeting of the canons in his presence
at Winchester, and forced them to choose Peter de Leia,
1 ' Itin. Kam.,' i. c. 6 : Op. vi. 64, 6$.
Bishop Bernard and Archbishop Baldwin 189
Prior of Wenlock, who took the oath of canonical obedi
ence to the English primate, and was consecrated at
Canterbury, Nov. 7, 1176. :
Peter de Leia held the bishopric for twenty-two years,
and during all this time put forward no pretensions to
higher authority than was held by other suffragans of
Canterbury. His canons renewed the claim of the see to
metropolitanship by recording a protest at the third
Lateran Council in 1179 ; but Peter de Leia, who was
present, did nothing in support of their prayer, neither
did the Bishop of St. Asaph, who also was there. Before
Peter's death, Archbishop Baldwin visited St. David's in
1188, on his celebrated journey to preach the Crusade in
Wales, which marks an important stage in the absorption
of the Welsh dioceses into the Church of England. It
will be convenient, therefore, at this point to look back for
a few years and review the history of the northern dioceses
of Wales, from the time of Herve's flight from Bangor
in 1109.
The attempt of Canterbury to impose its authority upon
the See of Bangor was renewed in 1120, in which year
Archbishop Ralph consecrated a bishop at Westminster,
who formally professed canonical obedience. This was
David, a Welshman by birth, and duly elected by the
native clergy with the approval of the Prince of Gwynedd.
Five years later, when a contest was going on between
the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, a proposal was
made to heal the strife, that ' the Archbishop of Canter
bury should cede to the Archbishop of York three
bishoprics from his great province, namely, those of
Chester and Bangor, and the third lying between the two
which had no bishop because of its desolation and bar-
barousness.' This indicates sufficiently that the See of
1 ' De Rebus a se Gestis'; Gir. Camb., Op. i. 41-44; also 'De
Jure et Statu,' G. C, Op. iii. 155, 156 ; 'Annales de Theokesberia' in
'Annales Monastic!' (Rolls Series), i. 51.
190 A History of the Welsh Chiirch
Canterbury laid claim to both the bishoprics of North
Wales, and further gives a glimpse of the terrible de
pression of the See of St. Asaph, on account of the border
warfare. ' Melanus Lanelvensis ' is said to have been
consecrated by ' Bedwd,' or Bleiddud, Bishop of St.
David's, who died in A.D. 1071 ; but this name is all we
know of the bishopric from the time of Hywel Dda.
Henry of Huntingdon, about A.D. 1135, gives a list of
Welsh bishoprics, mentioning those of St. David's,
Bangor, and Glamorgan, whose bishops were, he says,
' bishops of no cities on account of the desolation of
Wales'; but he omits all mention of St. Asaph, probably
because of its utter obscurity.
In 1140 the contest about the See of Bangor began
anew. Meurig was elected duly by the clergy and people
of Bangor, and was consecrated by the Archbishop of
Canterbury, to whom he made the usual profession of
obedience. He scrupled, however, at first, to take the
oath of allegiance to King Stephen, saying, ' There is a
man of great religiousness among us, whom I hold as my
spiritual father, and who was the archdeacon of David,
my predecessor, and he has forbidden me to take this
oath.' But he seems to have been easily induced to
waive this scruple.
Unfortunately for him, the princes of North Wales,
Owen Gwynedd and Cadwalader, were more tenacious of
their liberties, and they called upon Bishop Bernard of
St. David's, who had shortly before applied to Pope
Innocent II. for a pall, and therefore might be supposed
to be a champion of the liberties of the Welsh Church,
to meet them at Aberdyfi on All Saints' Day, to oppose
Meurig, who ' had entered the church of St. Daniel, not
by the door, but by some other way, like a thief.' The
chapter of St. David's, in a statement laid before Pope
Eugenius III. a few years later, complained of three
consecrations of Welsh bishops by Archbishop Theobald,
Bishop Bernard and Archbishop Baldwin 191
and asserted that Meurig had removed the staff and ring
from the church by stealth.
The times were in truth very unpleasant for Canter
bury nominees, for Owen Gwynedd was a very sturdy
upholder of national liberties. In 1143 the See of St.
Asaph succumbed to Canterbury, when Gilbert was
consecrated as its bishop by Archbishop Theobald, and
made the usual profession of obedience. If the letter of
the chapter of St. David's can be trusted, it would seem
that he was lawfully elected by the clergy of St. Asaph,
to be consecrated by Bernard of St. David's, but that the
captivity of King Stephen caused a delay, which gave
Theobald an opportunity of advancing and enforcing his
claim. But the letters of the St. David's clergy give a very
one-sided account of all the events with which the claims
of their see are concerned. If Gilbert were lawfully
elected by the chapter of St. Asaph, it must have been
with the consent of Owen Gwynedd, who at that time
was in full possession of St. Asaph, and who captured the
castle of Mold in the following year. In 1152 Gilbert
was succeeded by the celebrated Geoffrey of Monmouth,
who also was consecrated by Archbishop Theobald, but
who never ventured to go to his see, and who died in
1154 at Llandaff. The next Bishop of St. Asaph was
Richard, and he was followed by Bishop Godfrey, who
was driven away from his diocese by ' poverty and the
hostility of the Welsh,' somewhere about A.D. 1164, and
finally resigned his bishopric at the Council of West
minster, in 1175. His successor, Adam, was an English
man, a canon of Paris, and a disciple of the celebrated
Peter Lombard, whose cause he pleaded at the Third
Lateran Council in 1179. He died, far away from his
diocese, at Oxford, in 1180, after which no bishop was
appointed for about three years. After this interval, a
certain John was consecrated bishop at Angers, and on
his death in 1186, Reiner was appointed in his stead.
192 A History of the Welsh C/mrck
The See of Bangor was even in worse case than that of
St. Asaph, for, after the death of Bishop Meurig in 1161,
a controversy about the see raged for sixteen years.
Owen Gwynedd would not receive a bishop consecrated
by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Archbishop
Thomas (commonly called Becket), with the full approval
of the Pope, refused to acknowledge any other. Owen
proposed to Archbishop Thomas, about A.D. 1165, during
the exile of the latter, that he should permit a bishop to
be consecrated by some other than himself, on the condi
tion that he should profess obedience to the See of
Canterbury. The archbishop, however, took umbrage at
the suggestion of Owen that the See of Bangor was not
subject of right to Canterbury, but only of its own free
will, and refused to agree to the suspicious compromise.
The clergy of Bangor then took a new step, which might
have been fraught with many important consequences.
Having failed in their attempt to evade the archbishop's
authority by a crafty compromise, and probably suspect
ing the foreign prelate of St. David's, they sought for a
new metropolitan in the sister Church of Ireland. This
was enough to provoke the anger of a milder-mannered
man than Archbishop Thomas. He got the Pope to
issue a mandate to the clergy of Bangor to elect a bishop
within two months. The Pope also complained that in
the election of an archdeacon, son had succeeded father,
as if by hereditary right, and held his office without the
consent of the archbishop, and in consequence thereof
he formally quashed the election. But Owen and the
clergy of Bangor heeded neither Pope nor archbishop,
and continued their attempt to find a new metropolitan
in Ireland. It would appear also, from the complaints of
Archbishop Thomas, that Owen bound the clergy by an
oath not to elect anyone but his nominee, a pledge from
which the Pope offered to free them. Both Pope and
archbishop also thundered against the rebellious Owen
Bishop Bernard and Archbishop Baldwin 193
on account of his marriage with his cousin, which, by
the Latin usages, was considered incest. When Baldwin
afterwards made his progress through Wales, he found
the tombs of Owen and his brother Cadwalader before
the high altar of Bangor Cathedral, and admonished
the bishop to seize a proper opportunity of removing
Owen's body, because, on account of his marriage, ' he
had died excommunicated by the blessed martyr, St.
Thomas 51 — an injunction which was secretly carried out.
Whether a Bishop of Bangor was consecrated in
Ireland is not quite certain, although from one passage
in a letter of the archbishop's it seems very probable ;
but in any case no bishop was recognised by Canterbury
till some years after the death of Owen Gwynedd, when
Archbishop Richard consecrated Guy to the See of
Bangor, after he had made the usual profession of
canonical obedience, May 22, 1177.
Thus ended a contest which recalls the days of the
British Abbot Dunawd and the Irish Bishop Dagan, when
all the Celtic churches were united to resist the encroach
ments of Canterbury and of Rome. For the defiance of
Rome is virtually as emphatic as the defiance of Canter
bury, and the attempted alliance with the Irish Church
indicates a disposition to recur to that union of Celtic
Christendom which had at one time threatened Roman
supremacy in the West. But the days of David, Gildas
and Cadoc, of Columba, and of Columbanus, were past,
though Welsh hearts beat high at the gallant deeds done
by the Welsh princes and heroes. Ivor Bach, of Seng-
henydd, had shown what a brave man might do, by his
gallant surprise of Cardiff Castle, from which he carried
off Earl William, his wife, and their son, to his mountain
fastnesses.
The English King, Henry II. , had thrice invaded
Wales, and had been thrice repulsed. Owen Gwynedd
1 Gir. Camb., ' Itin. Kamb.,' ii. 8 : Op. vi. 133.
13
194 A History of the Welsh Church
had fallen upon his army at the Wood of Coleshill, and all
but destroyed it ; for the Earl of Essex threw down the
royal standard, and only the personal exertions of the
King could stay the panic that ensued. The second time
he passed through South Wales as far as Pencadair ; but
so little was the result that the Lord Rhys overran the
whole of Cardigan immediately on his return, ' and after
that,' adds the chronicle, ' all the Welsh combined to
expel the garrison of the French altogether.'
All Wales was then (1164) in a blaze. There were Owen
Gwynedd and his brother, Cadwalader, with the whole
force of Gwynedd ; there was the Lord Rhys, son of
Gruffydd, with the forces of South Wales ; there were
Owen Cyfeiliog and lorwerth the Red, son of Maredudd,
and the sons of Madog, the son of Maredudd, with the
whole of Powys ; also there were the two sons of Madog,
son of Idnerth, and their whole country with them. These
princes united their armies and encamped at Corwen. A
hotly-contested battle was fought in the Vale of Ceiriog.
Henry pressed on to Berwyn ; but the storms of rain
which deluged the plains impeded his march ; provisions
failed him, and he had to retire, avenging himself for his
repulse by blinding the hapless hostages. The exiled
archbishop, when the tidings came to him, exclaimed :
' His wise men are become fools ; the Lord hath sent
among them a spirit of giddiness. They have made
England to reel and stagger like a drunken man.'
At a time like this foreign bishops were not likely to be
tolerated in North Wales, so Godfrey of St. Asaph was
chased away, and Bangor firmly refused to accept a
bishop from Canterbury.
When Baldwin made his progress matters were much
changed. Owen Gwynedd, the soul of the resistance to
England, had been dead for nineteen years, and Wales
was comparatively quiet. The Welsh princes, with the
exception of Owen Cyfeiliog, vied with each other in their
Bishop Bernard and Archbishop Baldwin 195
attentions to Baldwin. But the spirit of independence
was only slumbering, and could easily be awakened.
Even while Archbishop Baldwin was journeying, the
young Llywelyn, son of lorwerth, and grandson of Owen
Gwynedd, was beginning to molest his uncles, who had
kept his father out of his inheritance. He was only
twelve years of age at the time, but he was destined to
renew the contest with England more vigorously than
before, and restore for awhile the liberty of his native land.
Before passing on to consider the career of the cele
brated Giraldus Cambrensis and his picture of his times,
it may be well to note that, even in this melancholy period
of Norman conquest and Norman rule, quite a third of
the bishops of the Welsh dioceses were Welshmen. The
brilliant party pamphlets of Giraldus have at times been
accepted with too little criticism, and his assertion that
Welshmen were considered ineligible for Welsh bishoprics
has been regarded as literally true. Yet Giraldus con
fesses that he himself was offered the bishoprics of
Llandaff and Bangor, and the real reason for his exclu
sion from St. David's was probably not so much his
Welsh blood or his connection with the Welsh princes,
to which he attributes it, as his well-known ambition of
erecting St. David's into a metropolitan see independent
of Canterbury. His uncle, David, who was as much a
Welshman as himself, and the son of Nest, had been
permitted to hold the same bishopric, but then he was
known to be a man of quiet disposition, who would be
quite contented if he could enrich himself, and would not
be likely to disturb either King or primate with visionary
schemes. Undoubtedly St. David's held a peculiar
position among Welsh bishoprics, for it had somehow
gained the reputation of being the premier see, and so
there may have been, in the case of this particular
bishopric, a general fear on the part of the Crown of
putting it in Welsh hands, lest it might at some time
196 A History of the Welsh Church
prove a snare to the ambition of its holder. But there
was certainly no attempt to enforce a Norman monopoly
throughout the whole of the Welsh Church.
The Norman kings and Henry II. cared little, prob
ably, for the character of their nominees, or for the real
interests of the Welsh dioceses ; but they cared a great
deal for the security of their authority over Wales, and
their appointments were made solely in the interest of
that authority. If there was a Welshman who would
serve their purpose, they appointed him ; if not, they
appointed an alien. But they certainly did not uniformly
reject Welshmen and only nominate Normans or other
aliens. Though Giraldus was not allowed to hold St.
David's, yet, as we have seen, another great writer and a
better Welshman than he, Gruffydd ap Arthur, better
known as Geoffrey of Monmouth, was consecrated by the
Archbishop of Canterbury to the See of St. Asaph. The
first Norman nominee to the See of Bangor, Herve, was
a Breton by race, and it is probable that his appointment
was partly due to this fact, as a kinsman in race and
language might be considered more acceptable to the
Welsh than a Norman. We know certainly that the
kinship of the Bretons was recognised at that period in
Wales, for Rhys ap Tewdwr sought and received hospi
tality and protection in Brittany, and returned thence to
Wales in 1077.
The history of the See of Llandaff proves conclusively
that Welshmen were not considered ineligible for a
bishopric in South Wales, where the Norman power was
strongest, and where there began to be a large settlement
of Normans and English. Herewald, the Welsh bishop
before the Norman invasion, lived until HO4,1 and died
then at the age of a hundred years. In accordance with
Welsh customs, he was a married man, and had a family.
1 So 'Brut y Tywysogion,' p. 80; also the ' Annales de Margan'
(Rolls ed. 'Armales Monastic!,' i., p. 8). Godwin, ' De Prassulibus,'
p. 602, says 1103. See also Browne Willis, ' LandafT,' p. 44.
Bishop Bernard and Archbishop Baldwin 197
Archdeacon Lifris, or Leofric, the author of ' A Life of
St. Cadoc,' was his son.1 Urban, or Worgan, his suc
cessor, and the first to be appointed by the Normans,
was also a Welshman, and it would appear that he also
was so far in sympathy with the Welsh Church of his time
as to be a married man. He died in 1134. Uchtryd, the
next bishop, was also of the same nation. He had a
daughter, Angharad, who married lorweth ap Owen ap
Caradoc, Lord of Caerleon.2 He is commended by the
* Welsh Chronicle ' as ' a man of high praise, the defender
of the churches, and the opposer of his enemies.'3 He
died in H47,4 and was succeeded by another Welshman,
Nicholas, who is said by the 'Welsh Chronicle' to have
been ' son of Bishop Gwrgant,'5 by which name Urban
may be intended. It was not until the see became vacant
on his death6 that the first Norman bishop was appointed
in the person of William of Saltmarsh, Prior of Bristol,
who was consecrated at Lambeth, August 10, n86.7 But
even at this late period the see would not have fallen to
the lot of a pure Norman if * Gerald the Welshman ' had
chosen to accept it, for it was offered to him first.8
1 'Book of Llan Dav,' p. 271. 2 Godwin, p. 604.
3 ' Brut y Tywysogion,' p. 177.
4 So ' Brut y Tywysogion,' p. 177; others 1148 and 1149. See
Browne Willis, ' Landaff,' p. 47. * Annales de Theokesberia' has
under 1148: ' Obierunt . . . Huedredus Landavensis ' ('Annales
Alonastici,' i. 47).
5 'Brut y Tywysogion,' p. 177.
0 In 1183. So 'Annales de Margan,' p. 17 : * Ohiit Nicolaus Landa
vensis episcopus ii non. Junii.' ' Annales de Theokesberia,' p. 53 :
' Nicolaus episcopus Landavensis et . . . obierunt.'
7 R. de Diceto, ' Ymag. Hist.' (in an. 1186) in 'H. and S.,' i. 387.
There was no Bishop Geoffrey, whom Godwin inserts between Nicholas
and William of Saltmarsh.
8 The Welsh bishops of this period were: Herewald (a prior appoint
ment), Urban, Uchtryd, and Nicholas, of Llandaff ; David and Meurig,
of Bangor ; and Geoffrey of Monmouth, of St. Asaph. David II. of
St. David's was a Norman on his father's side, and grandson of Rhys
ap Tewdwr through his mother, Nest. Other bishops are : Bernard
and Peter de Leia, of St. David's ; Gilbert, Richard, Godfrey, Adam
(called Anglus Peripateticus by John of Salisbury, but Wallensis by
Hoveden), John, and Reiner, of St. Asaph ; Nerve* and Guy, of
Bangor ; and William of Saltmarsh, of Llandaff.
CHAPTER VIII.
GERALD DE BARRI AND THE CONTEST FOR ST. DAVID'S.
ARCHBISHOP BALDWIN was accompanied in his journey
through Wales by one of the most notable men of the
time, Giraldus Cambrensis, who thus, though professedly
a champion of the metropolitanship of St. David's, became
an accomplice in more surely imposing the authority of
Canterbury upon the Welsh sees. By birth and position
he was eminently suited to be the archbishop's com
panion. Though he proudly assumed the name and
style of Giraldus Cambrensis, he was really Gerald de
Barri, the Norman, fourth and youngest son of William
de Barri, Lord of Manorbeer, and Angharad his wife.
Angharad was a sister of the late Bishop David of St.
David's, and daughter of Gerald de Windsor, castellan of
Pembroke, and his wife, Nest, daughter of Rhys ap
Tewdwr. Gerald's claim to be a Welshman, therefore,
was derived wholly from his mother's mother ; but the
illustriousness of her birth procured him a certain amount
of respect and reputation among the Welsh, which
flattered his egregious vanity. As a Norman he might
have ranked with other Normans of good birth, but as
Gerald the Welshman he hoped to be conspicuous.
Clever and restless, and with no undue bashfulness to
keep him down, he rose from one position to another in
the diocese of St. David's through the patronage of his
uncle, and in all proved himself active, not to say fussy ;.
De Barri and the Contest for St. David 's 1 99
yet, though he may be credited with good intentions, he
cannot be said to have effected any good. Though he
posed as a Welshman, the customs of the Welsh Church
were abhorrent to his soul, and he gained the Arch
deaconry of Brecon at the expense of an old Welshman,
upon whom he brought the anger of the Archbishop of
Canterbury on the score of his being married. He, at
one time the deputy of the English primate as Papal
legate, to bring the Welsh to better order, at another
time was the champion of the national Church against the
usurpations of the See of Canterbury. Too much of a
Norman to satisfy the Welsh, he was too much of a
Welshman to satisfy the Normans, and so both Normans
and Welsh alike mistrusted him, and he failed wholly to
attain the object of his ambition, the See of St. David's.
As a historian, he gives us valuable information respecting
the Church history of his times, yet coloured so much by
his prejudices and his personality, that we are at times
uncertain how far to believe him, greatly as we may enjoy
the picturesqueness of his style, and the often unconscious
humour of his narrative. His statements regarding earlier
ecclesiastical history are often unscrupulous and false,
and he must be accounted one of the chief of those
falsifiers of history who have done so much to obscure
the story of the ancient Church of Wales. Yet he him
self could be a most severe judge of other falsifiers, as
may be seen from his story how Meilyr of Caerleon saw any
number of lying devils when the ' History ' of Geoffrey of
Monmouth was offered to his gaze. Crafty as he thought
himself, he was the easy prey of those who fooled him to
the top of his bent, and when he supposed himself the
duper, was often unconsciously the dupe. Had he been
only Gerald de Barri the Norman, he might have lived a
more useful life ; had he been only Gerald the Welshman,
he might at least have made a more honest and more
brilliant fight for the metropolitanship of St. David's.
2oo A History of the Welsh Chiirch
As Gerald the Welsh-Norman, he is one of the most
egregious and pitiful failures recorded in the pages of
history, though his faults, like Boswell's, are half excused
by his readers because with charming ingenuousness he
reveals them all himself.
There is no question, however, that Gerald had brilliant
parts, and was one of the most learned men of his day.
He attempted the impossible and he failed ; had he been
less ambitious and more unselfish, he might have done
great things both in Church and State. He was besides a
consummate literary artist, one of the most brilliant that
the Middle Ages produced. In public life he was a failure,
absolute and complete ; but in literature he touched little
that he did not adorn, and details of old-world con
troversies, that a Dryasdust would make intolerable to
modern readers, gain from him a glow and colour that
give them a perennial charm. It is a mark of his real
genius that he was not imposed upon by the all but
universal delusion that dulness is essential to historical
narrative. His prejudices often prevent him from telling
the truth, but he manifests them so ingenuously, that we
must be blind indeed not to deduct a certain percentage
from his statements. Duller authors sometimes make us
their dupes because their dulness conceals their prejudices
and gains them credence. But Gerald is never dull.
There was a touch of chivalry too in his character,
mean and tricky though he could be on occasion. The
Welsh were weak and despised, yet Gerald the Norman
(after long hesitation and much tergiversation, it is true)
finally threw in his lot with them, and chose to be
' Cambrensis.' Mixed as his motives were in this as in
everything else, we cannot withhold from him a certain
measure of respect. For he incurred ridicule by his
action ; the wits of the day styled him Sylvester, ' the wild
man of the woods ' ; he lost, too, preferment, which as a
noble Norman he might have secured. If we can believe
De Barri and the Contest for St. David 's 201
him, he was offered preferment and declined it. It is one
of the most remarkable inconsistencies of his complex
character, that though his personal ambition was over
weening, yet in this respect he was disinterested. What
was Wales to him, or he to Wales? Yet he would not
rise as Gerald the Norman, if he could not reign as Gerald
the Welshman. Sad it is that he who could fight on a
shadowy claim, for an impracticable object with the chival
rous spirit and energy of a Don Quixote, could stoop at
times to acts of meanness and self-seeking, worthy only of
Sancho Panza. Marvellous, too, is it, as evincing the
power of the Celtic race, that so brilliant a Norman
should have been constrained to take the Welsh side,
even in the hour of Welsh disaster and defeat.
The history of Gerald de Barri is connected through
out with the history of the Welsh Church. As a child,
while his brothers amused themselves at Manorbeer by
making camps and palaces in the sand, he used to build
churches and monasteries, and his father was wont to
call him his bishop, and destined him for holy orders.1
At first, however, when he was! put to his books, while
his brothers were occupied with their military exercises,
he was rather inclined to envy them and to regret his
childish inclinations, which had brought such difficult
studies upon him ; but he was admonished and corrected
for his laziness by his uncle the bishop, and further, as
he tells us, was ridiculed by two of his uncle's chaplains,
one of whom used to compare for his edification durus,
durior, durissimus, and the other (the unkindest cut of
all), stultus, stultior, stultissimus. Ridicule availed more than
the rod ; he shook off sloth, and devoted himself to his
studies with zeal and success, and, after getting all the
instruction he could in Wales, had a three years' course
at Paris, where he obtained especial distinction in rhetoric.
He returned in his twenty-fifth year, about 1172, and
1 * De Rebus a se Gestis,' i. i. Gir. Camb., Op. i. 21.
202 A History of the Welsh Church
speedily obtained preferment in the diocese of St. David's,
where he very soon began to take part in a tithe war.
The people of Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire then, as
now, were very little inclined to pay their tithes, and
Gerald, charing at the general insubordination, went to
Canterbury, and obtained from Archbishop Richard, who
was Papal legate, a commission to act as his legate for
the coercion of the refractory farmers. The Welsh of
the district submitted when he returned with these
powers, but the Flemings, who had recently been settled
in Rhos, were more stubborn. Retribution, however,
finally fell upon them in a way they did not expect, for
the obedient Welsh, who were naturally shocked at the
impiety of their neighbours, attacked them and plundered
the district of Rhos, carrying off not merely the wool
which they had refused, but the sheep as well, so that, as
Gerald reflects, the saying of Augustine was fulfilled :
' Hoc aufert fiscus, quod non accipit Christus.'
Gerald did not shrink from effective action in the dis
charge of his commission, as the Sheriff of Pembroke,
one William Karquit, found to his cost. No prophet is
honoured in his own country, and the said William Kar
quit was disposed to set Gerald at naught. To mark his
contempt, when Gerald came to the priory of Pembroke,
William Karquit drove off eight yoke of oxen. He was
asked three times to restore them, but refused, and even
threatened he would do worse, so Gerald determined to
take severe measures. He sent the sheriff word that
when he heard all the bells of the monastery sounded at
triple intervals he might know for a certainty that he was
excommunicated. Gerald carried out his threat — excom
municated the offender in due form, and had the bells
sounded to let him know. The very next day William
Karquit came with all humility before the bishop and
Gerald, restored the cattle, was flogged, and absolved.1
1 ' De Rebus a se Gcstis.' Gir. Camb., Op. i. 26.
De Barri and the Contest for St. David's 203
Another act of his legation which Gerald chronicles
will, perhaps, not be so much approved by the modern
reader. The Archdeacon of Brecon, an old man named
Jordan, like many others of the Welsh clergy, and, it may
be said, like Gerald's own uncle, the bishop, was a mar
ried man. Gerald calls his wife by a disrespectful name,
but what sin there was may be found rather in the evil
imaginations of those who censured clerical marriages
than in the married clergy or their wives. Flushed with
his victory over the Pembrokeshire farmers and William
Karquit, Gerald, who did not venture to reprove his
uncle for his marriage, determined to harass this old
man. He first admonished him, but, finding him deaf to
reproof, he threatened him with the authority of the arch
bishop. The old archdeacon, irritated at being tutored
by a juvenile upstart, let him know in pretty plain language
that he did not care a straw for him or for the archbishop
either.1 Gerald was shocked, and forthwith suspended
him, and so managed to report the matter to the primate
that the archdeacon was deprived and Gerald was put in
his place. The poor old man, however, was provided for
in some other way, as Gerald is careful to tell us.
Thus put in possession of Naboth's vineyard, Gerald,
according to his own account, discharged his new duties
with great assiduity and zeal. Be the weather what it
might, he went out in the roughest country, if duty called,
and he was wont to say that it was unmanly to wait for
fine weather, at least, unless one were going to travel by
sea. One evening, after he had gone out on a stormy day,
his uncle, the bishop, took occasion to hold him up as an
example to his suite. The storm was still raging as they
were sitting at dinner, and the bishop, as he looked round
the table, saw that some were drinking too much, and
1 * Qui non solum hoc facere renuit, sed etiam in virum tantum,
personam scilicet archiepiscopi, turpia verba et contumeliosa proferre
fatue nimis et temere prassumpsit ' (' De Rebus a se Gestis,' i. 4:
Op. i. 27).
204 ^ History of the Welsh Church
others were talking too freely and wantonly with the
ladies, so he remarked, ' He who has gone out on a journey
to-day, without any regard to the weather, does not neg
lect his duty for gluttony or wantonness or sloth.'
On several occasions Gerald had need of all the firm
ness and resolution he could muster. Once at Elvel,
after the clergy had vainly attempted by various devices
to prevent him from visiting them, his suite, which he
had sent on in front, was attacked with halberds and a
flight of arrows, and driven back in confusion. Gerald,
however, refused to turn back, and, as he could get ad
mittance nowhere in the town, he put up in the church,
and kept his horses in the churchyard, in lieu of stables.
He sent for help to his kinsman, Cadwallan ap Madoc,
prince of that country ; and when the clergy found that
he was thus supported, the six or seven clergy who, after
the Welsh custom, shared the church between them, came
one after another and offered their apologies and made
peace with their archdeacon.1
Very soon after this adventure Gerald had a notable
conflict with no less a person than Adam, Bishop of St.
Asaph, who laid claim to the church of Keri, and had de
signs upon the whole district thereabout as far as the
Wye — another illustration of the uncertainty of diocesan
boundaries in the Celtic period of the Welsh Church.
Gerald was at home when word was brought on Thursday
that the bishop was going to dedicate Keri church on
the following Sunday, so Gerald made up his mind to get
there before him. The men who had just returned with
Gerald from Elvel refused to accompany him on this new
expedition, so he set out on the Friday with the few he
could gather around him. Next morning, after matins
and mass, he sent messengers to Cadwallan and others
to despatch as many men as they could to defend with
him the rights of St. David. He travelled all day, and
1 ' De Rebus a se Gestis,' i. 5 : Op. i. 30-32.
De Barri and the Contest for St. David's 205
at night came to the church of Llanbist, not far from
Keri.
On Sunday morning he arrived at Keri, but found an
unexpected obstacle in his way. The two clergymen
who shared the church had gone to meet the bishop, and
had hidden the keys. At last the keys were found, and
the archdeacon entered the church, had the bells rung,
and began to celebrate mass. While this was going on
the bishop's messengers arrived with the parson of the
church, and gave orders that the church should be pre
pared for dedication. Gerald took no notice, and went
on with the celebration. When it was finished he sent
word to the bishop that he was welcome, if he came
peaceably, but otherwise he would not be permitted to
approach. Astonished at this message, the bishop in
quired if the archdeacon were really at Keri himself,
for he could not believe that he had come back there
so quickly, as he had only just quitted the district.
When, however, he found that Gerald had really antici
pated him, he resolved to brazen it out, and replied that
he had not come as a guest or a neighbour, but as the
bishop of the place, in order to dedicate the church.
The archdeacon's messengers protested against his
claim, and appealed to the Pope ; but as they could not
stop the bishop, they sent messengers on the swiftest
horses they had to bring word to Gerald, who accord
ingly, leaving men behind in the church to keep it and
bolt the doors, went forth to encounter the bishop at the
gate of the churchyard. Greek now met Greek, and
there came the tug of war. The bishop bade Gerald to
get out of the way with all speed, otherwise he would
have to excommunicate him, which, he politely remarked,
he would be loath to do, as they had studied at Paris
together. Gerald, in reply, begged him, for the sake of
their old friendship, to depart in peace ; and when the
bishop persisted in his attempt to enter, he charged him
206 A History of the Welsh Church
in the name of God, and of their lord the Pope, and of
the archbishop, and of the King of England too (for the
diocese was then in his custody, through the recent death
of its bishop), to refrain from exercising any episcopal
authority there, and from thrusting his sickle into another
man's harvest. The bishop then had the archbishop's
letters read, confirming to him the diocese of St. Asaph,
with all its belongings, and excommunicating all tres
passers thereupon. Then he formally laid claim to the
church of Keri, and all the churches between Wye and
Severn, and produced an ancient book in confirmation of
his right, and had a passage read from it, and finished by
saying that, unless the archdeacon let him pass, he would
forthwith excommunicate him and his party. The arch
deacon replied that the See of St. David's had held
the district 300 years and more. As for his book, no
doubt he could write there whatever he pleased. Had
he a charter with an authentic seal or a privilegium ?
If so, let him show it ; ' otherwise/ said he, ' if you ex
communicate me, I will excommunicate you.' ' I am a
bishop,' replied Adam ; ' an archdeacon cannot excom
municate a bishop.' ' If you are a bishop,' retorted
Gerald, 'you are not my bishop; you have no more
power of excommunicating me than I have of excom
municating you. The one excommunication will be as
good as the other.'
At these words the bishop drew back a little way, then
suddenly slipped down from his horse, and put on his
mitre, and thus on foot, with mitre on his head and
pastoral staff in his hand, approached with his company.
The archdeacon, not to be outdone, ordered the clergy
to come in procession from the church in their white
stoles and surplices, with cross and lighted candles, and
to face the bishop. * What is this ?' said the bishop,
* and why are these coming ?' ' If you presume,' said
Gerald, 'to give sentence against us, we, no less boldly,
De Barri and the Contest for St. David's 207
will give sentence in return against you and yours.' ' I
will spare you and those with you this time,' said the
bishop, ' because we have been friends and fellow-
students ; and I will not give sentence against any of
you by name. But I shall include in the sentence of ex
communication in general terms, as the archbishop does
in his letter, all who strive to take away and usurp the
rights of my patron, St. Asaph.' l Publish your general
sentence from morning till evening on those mountains,'
said Gerald, pointing to a range of mountains in the
diocese of St. Asaph that were not far off, ' we care not
a straw ; it will not trouble us, who are only defending
our rights. But we will not submit even to this, because
the bystanders may not understand the facts, but will
suppose your sentence given against us and to our hurt,
whatever be the form.' After a little more wrangling,
the bishop, to hide his defeat, solemnly and in a loud voice
excommunicated the enemies of St. Asaph, and the arch
deacon, in a louder voice, excommunicated the enemies of
St. David ; after which Gerald had the bells rung at triple
intervals to confound his enemies and to confirm the
sentence. The Welsh had a great dread of this bell-
ringing when it was done against themselves, so the
bishop and his people mounted their horses and rode off,
and the spectators, seeing their flight, raised a shout, and
pelted them with stones and clods and sticks. At Mele-
nith the bishop met a party of clergy who were sup
porters of Gerald, and were well provided with good
horses, halberds, and arrows. They asked him what had
happened at Keri. He replied with the greatest polite
ness that he had no wish at all to do anything to offend
the archdeacon, who was a very good friend of his, and,
in point of fact, he was on his way with most peaceable
intentions to visit his friend Cadwallan. Gerald afterwards
sent the bishop a present, and they became good friends.1
1 ' De Rebus a se Gestis,' i. 6 : Op. i. 32-39.
2c8 A History of the Welsh Church
This conflict at Keri took place in 1176, somewhere
between the death of Bishop David and the election of a
successor. The disputed district included the south of
Montgomery and a large part of Radnorshire ; and, as
it was part of Powys Wenwynwyn, it is not unlikely that
the claims of St. Asaph were well founded. St. David's
still retains Keri and the deanery of Elvel.
Soon after this dispute Gerald went off to King
Henry II., to Northampton, and told him the story of
the bishop's attempt. The King was much amused, and
repeated it to his courtiers, who appreciated it highly.
But Henry had heard it already from some other source,
and it does not seem to have disposed him in favour of
Gerald, who was soon after nominated by the chapter of
St. David's to the vacant bishopric. Abilities of this
kind were not wanted in a Welsh bishop. ' It is not
necessary or expedient either to me or to you,' said
Henry to Archbishop Richard, ' to have too upright or
too active a man in the bishopric of St. David's, other
wise either the crown of England or the chair of Canter
bury may suffer loss.' He did not consider it safe to appoint
as bishop a man who was of kin to the Welsh princes1
(so Gerald says), and Gerald's election was set aside,
and Peter de Leia was appointed to the vacant see.
Gerald draws a very unfavourable portrait of the new
prelate. It is of course a caricature ; but a caricature to
be effective and artistic, must preserve some of the
features of its original, and Gerald was a true artist.
According to his statements, Peter de Leia was an utterly
insignificant man, mean and cowardly, and of an incon
tinent life ; a shameless dilapidator ; so extortionate and
grasping as to be hated by his clergy ; and withal
frequently non-resident, and quite inattentive to his
duties. Some of these charges are scarcely compatible
with known facts. Peter de Leia could not have been
1 ' De Rebus a se Gestis,' i. 10 : Op. i. 43.
De Barri and the Contest for St. David's 209
quite so contemptible a creature as he is represented,
otherwise he would hardly have been nominated by the
monks of Canterbury to the metropolitan see on the
death of Archbishop Richard. Neither did he quite
neglect his diocese, for in 1180 he began the building of
the present cathedral. The charge of incontinence, too,
may be merely ornamental, for Gerald is somewhat
disposed to cast the stigma upon those who offended
him.1 In many cases it merely signifies the marriage of
clergy, to which Gerald was strongly opposed ; but as
Peter de Leia was a Cluniac monk, he cannot have been
a married man.
It must be admitted that in England, away from his
diocese, Peter de Leia was popular. Gervase of Canter
bury, who detested the ' rebellious craft ' of Gerald, has a
good word for Bishop Peter, whom he calls a good and
just man. The annalist of Winchester goes further, and
praises him as a saint. ' Peter, Bishop of Menevia,' he
says, ' a notably religious man, conspicuous for the
manner of his life, and the fashion of his morals, the
earthen vase of his frail body being broken, migrated
therefrom, to be clothed in heaven with the robe of
immortality, for which on earth he endured oft many
worldly afflictions.'2 But Peter was a monk, and monkish
historians were generally partial to monkish bishops.
The truth of the matter seems to be, that Peter de Leia
was, 'as Gerald himself once confesses, a ' liberal man,'
who kept a good table and made himself very agreeable
as a companion, and could on occasion tell a good story.
1 As upon Hubert Walter. ' De Invectionibus,' i. 10: Op. iii. 39 :
' Denique vitium simoni^e et incontinentiae, cujus eum accusabat
archiepiscopus, in ipsum refundat, astruens eum abbatissimam quan-
dam non procul a Londoniis praegnatam reddidisse, nee non puellam
velatam deflorasse, quod fama notum est ubique in Anglia. Et ad
marginem glossa addit : Nisi forte in his et in aliis dc ipso confictis
fama mendax existat! But all libellous statements about Hubert
Walter are withdrawn in the * Retractationes,3 Op. i. 426.
2 'Annales de Wintonia,' A.D. 1198 (' Annales Monastic!,' ii. 69).
14
2io A History of the Welsh Church
Such men are often extremely popular among those who
do not know them intimately, and are accounted good-
natured and excellent men ; but can be at times very hard
in their dealings with those whose superiors they are,
and can be guilty of many unscrupulous proceedings.
Bishop Peter's work at St. David's Cathedral testifies
that he was more active than Gerald admits ; but not
that he was a better man. It must be remembered that
Ralph Flambard also did much for Durham, and his life
was certainly not saintly. Though Gerald's picture is
false and overcharged in some respects, there can be little
doubt that Peter de Leia was generally hated in his
diocese as a rapacious and unscrupulous ruler.
Undoubtedly he was in a difficult position, and the
Welsh were not easily to be propitiated. One incident
of his bishopric shows the unruly disposition of his people,
and may show also the contempt and hatred of his person
which his own evil acts had occasioned. Towards the
end of his life he went to the lord Rhys to beg him not
to disturb the peace of the diocese by civil commotion ;
but his expostulations only met with abuse and con
tempt. Not content with thus repulsing the bishop, the
following night Rhys sent his sons, who dragged the
bishop out of his bed, took him out of the house, clad only
in his shirt and drawers, and brought him thus through a
wood to take him to their lord. The men of William de
Braose rescued him, and next morning he called his
archdeacons and priests together, and solemnly excom
municated the lord Rhys and his sons. Soon afterwards
Rhys died. This calamity seems to have brought the
guilty sons to repentance. They begged for absolution ;
and accordingly both they and the dead body of their
father were scourged ; and then both dead and living
were absolved, with the full assent and authority of
Hubert Walter, the primate.1
1 'Annales de Wintonia,' A.D. 1197 (' Annales Monastici,' ii. 66).
De Barri and the Contest for St. David ' s 2 1 1
Peter de Leia seems to have followed the evil example
of his predecessors, in disposing improperly of Church
lands.
Gerald says that when he was first appointed the
barons and soldiers who held Church lands were seized
with a panic, both because he was a monk, and therefore
supposed to be less open to bribes than an ordinary clergy
man, and also because he was reputed to stand high in
the King's favour. He augmented this fear at first by
persistently refusing to receive the homage which was
repeatedly tendered him. At last, when he was on his
way from England, the barons who held Church fiefs came
to meet him, having determined to offer him a large sum
of money to listen to them, and if that failed, to give up a
third of their lands. If he still proved inexorable, they
were prepared to give up half their lands, with all their
mills, and the patronage of the churches. But to their
surprise, Peter received them very courteously, and begged
them to accompany him to St. David's, and there he
entertained them so well at dinner, and was so polite and
good-natured in conversation, that after dinner they all
rode off without waiting for his answer, and afterwards he
had some difficulty in getting them to do homage at all-
For as they were going away, one of them, a shrewd man
named Richard, son of Tancard, said to the company,
* Be quite at ease and confident. I promise you that we
need never have any fear or dread of this bishop. There
fore enjoy quiet sleep, as long as he lives.'1
This may possibly be gossip, though it has vraisem-
blance ; but Gerald can scarcely have given a false list of
alienations and grants. Peter de Leia, he says, alienated
the lands of Llangadoc for oxen and cows ; he gave the
lands of Llanddew and Llawhaden to his English servants,
and diminished the lands of the manor of Llamphey for
English silver ; nay, he almost wholly gave away the
1 'De Jure et Statu Men. Eccl.,' ii. : Op. iii. 159, 160.
212 A History of the Welsh Church
lands of St. David's itself for Irish gold ; proving by these
and like actions too openly, that he would love his church
but little, and would very rarely visit his see, and then
would make so short a stay there as to appear not as a
fixed star but as a wandering planet.1
The story of Bishop Peter's affability to his feudal
tenants on first entering his diocese harmonizes very well
with other statements of Gerald in a letter to the chapter
of St. David's, some of which he relates from personal
experience. If these are true, he cringed to the powerful
and bullied the weak. One Wogan Stake and his sons
plundered the churchyard of St. Michael of Talachar, and
carried off two hundred sheep ; but in spite of all that
Gerald could do, the bishop would not excommunicate
them, for he was afraid that they would lie in wait for his
dues on the road to Carmarthen. All that Gerald could
get from him was, ' I consider them as excommunicate.'
' But,' said Gerald, ' this is of no avail, unless publicly,
with lighted candles, and with all due solemnity, you
excommunicate them in the church of St. David's, or at
least somewhere else, and afterwards have the sentence
published, and hold firmly by it until restitution and
suitable satisfaction be made.' The bishop's creature,
Archdeacon Osbert, answered to this : ' If my lord were to
do what you ask, he would not have a tail left of his cows
and animals at St. Keven.' In like manner, according
to Gerald, the bishop was afraid to interdict or excom
municate Robert Fitz-Richard, who often plundered the
monastery of Whitland, or to refuse to institute his son,
a child of five years old, to the churches of Haverfordwest.2
Peter de Leia's rapacity is the subject of much bitter
comment on the part of Gerald, and apparently also of
numerous scandalous stories current among the clergy.
He was the first of the bishops of St. David's, says Gerald,
1 ' De Jure et Statu M. E.,' Op. iii. 162 ; cf. 'Symbolum Electorum,'
Ep. xxxi., Op. i. 310.
2 ' Symbolum Electorum,' Ep. xxxi., Op. i. 315, 316.
De Barri and the Contest for St. David 's 213
to go wandering about seeking hospitality both in England
and Wales.1 It is one of the chief complaints made by
Gerald against the bishops of St. David's of his time,
that they went about their diocese on visitations, more
like archdeacons than bishops, not for the sake of dis
charging their episcopal office, but of eating and drink
ing too much at other people's expense. When they
were tired of their own diocese, they would make a tour
through English abbeys, and among the knights templars
and hospitallers for three or four months of the year. It
is a sweeping charge and coarsely expressed ; but it could
not have been advanced unless there was a certain amount
of talk bandied about among the clergy respecting the
doings of their superiors, which was not without a
measure of justification. Bishop Peter, too, was the
first, says Gerald, to impose the heavy burden of tallages
upon the clergy of his diocese every third year at least.
Many stories were current of his extortionate demands.
He found, it is said, that one of his clergy had a large
number of fat pigs, so he sent for him, and when he came,
said, ' You will give me ten pigs against next Christmas,
which is not far off.' ' But, my lord,' said the clergyman,
' I have only a few pigs, and those I want for myself
and my family.' ' Very well,' said the bishop, ' you will now
give twenty.' ' I am glad,' replied the other, ' that your
lordship pleases to joke about my pigs !' ' No,' said the
bishop ; ' you'll find out before you go away that it's no
joking matter ; you will now give thirty.' The poor
parson begged for mercy, for he had not done anything
wrong that he knew of. ' You will now give me forty,'
said the bishop ; ' and as often as you deny or delay com
pliance, you will have to give ten more.' By the advice
of the bystanders, who knew the bishop's pleasant ways,
the parson promised the forty pigs. This story Gerald
1 ' De Jure et Statu M. E.,' Op. iii. 144, 145, 161.
214 A History of the Welsh Church
says he had heard the bishop tell himself as a good
joke.1
Another priest, for some trifling cause, or for none at
all, was fined sixty pigs ; whereupon the archdeacon,
possibly Osbert, demanded his third of the spoil, and a
great controversy ensued between the two rogues about
the plunder
At another time, when the bishop was holding a chapter,
news was brought that a certain parish priest was dead.
' God be praised,' said the bishop, who was patron of the
living ; * here comes some profit to me, for the man who
shall give me most shall have the living.' This he said
before all the chapter. The son of the deceased came
the same day, and gave the bishop twelve fine fat oxen,
and got the living. But when he was coming out of the
bishop's room that evening with the paper of institution
in his hand, the archdeacon met him and snatched it
away, and would not give it back until he, too, had the
promise of six fine oxen.2
The dedication of a church was selected by Peter de
Leia and his chaplains as an excellent opportunity of
making money. Their entertainment would cost the
poor incumbent three or four marks, and after the dedica
tion the chaplains used to carry off the linen cloths,
napkins, and vessels of the church, and leave the altars
and the walls stripped and bare. The bishop's servants,
too, required the present of a bull, and on one occasion
when this was not paid as usual, the bishop interdicted
1 ' De Jure et Statu,' pp. 137, 138: Op. iii. 138. The name of the
bishop is not mentioned, but the context shows that Peter de Leia is
meant, as another story is here told of the same bishop which else
where is told of Peter de Leia. Gerald tells this story again in
' Gemma Ecclesiastica,' ii. : Op. ii. 330, and adds that he heard the
bishop tell it himself.
2 ' De Jure et Statu,' Op. iii. 139. In Gerald's letter to the Chapter
of St. David (Op. i. 330) he says that the parish was Llangyfelach,
and that he heard the story in Ireland from a monk who had formerly
been a prior in Gower, who heard the bishop say the words. The
bishop is there said to be Peter de Leia. See also ' Gemma Ecclesi
astica,' ii. 28 : Op. ii. 293.
De Barri and the Contest for St. David's 2 1 5
the church, and forbade Divine service to be held in it,
immediately after he had finished its dedication.1
After making all allowance for personal rancour and
clerical gossip, such stories as these (for some of which
Gerald produces evidence) could hardly have been put
about, if the bishop had been a pattern of moderation and
disinterestedness. It is to be feared that the policy of
imposing alien bishops upon the Welsh dioceses was
detrimental in the highest degree to the interests of the
Church. The men who were sought for the purpose were
not the best or the most scrupulous of the clergy, but
men who would best carry out the Court policy and
manage their dioceses in the interests of English rule.
Such bishops as these were naturally more disposed to
shear the sheep than to feed the flock, and as they cared
nothing for their diocese, but only for their immediate
personal gain, they scrupled not to alienate the Church
lands and misappropiate its revenues.
After the election of Peter de Leia, Gerald retired for a
time to Paris, to study canon law and theology ; and on
•his return, he found that Bishop Peter had retired from
Wales, alleging as the reason that he had been driven
out by the people. This, at least, is Gerald's story.
'Gerald was appointed his commissary by the advice of
Archbishop Richard. But this arrangement did not last
long. The bishop, who was living in an English
monastery, published a sentence of suspension upon
some of the canons and archdeacons of St. David's.
•Gerald interceded on their behalf, and as he was not
listened to, he resigned his commission, and appealed to
1 This story, like the story of the pigs and that of the exclamation
upon the death of the priest, is related to the clergy of Gerald's own
archdeaconry in the ' Gemma Ecclesiastica,' ii. 27 : Op. ii. 294. Gerald
mentions these customs in dedication as well known to his readers.
As he states that he himself had heard Peter de Leia tell the story of
the pigs as a good joke, and gives a certain amount of evidence for the
story of Peter's impious exclamation, it may be that these stories were
•true, however incredible they appear.
2 1 6 A History of the Welsh Church
the archbishop to reverse the bishop's sentence against
the canons. The archbishop, who must have smiled to
find the zealous defender of the rights of St. David's
against Canterbury thus compromising his position, took
off the suspension and excommunication. Finally, a
synod was assembled at St. David's, and the bishop was
forced to restore all the property which he had taken
from the chapter, after which Gerald and the bishop were
reconciled.1
The next important incident in the life of Gerald,
which is connected with Wales, is his selection to ac
company Archbishop Baldwin on his visit to Wales to
preach the Crusade. Of this tour he has left a very
interesting account, which furnishes us with most im
portant information respecting the state of Wales and of
the Welsh Church at the end of the twelfth century.
Archbishop Baldwin came to Radnor on Ash Wednes
day in 1188, and there met the lord Rhys, son of Gruffydd,
and grandson of that Rhys ap Tewdwr who had been
defeated and slain by Robert Fitzhamon. ' The lord
Rhys ' was Prince of South Wales and a man of great
ability, whom the ' Brut y Tywysogion ' calls * the head
and shield and strength of the South and of all Wales,
and the hope and defence of all the tribes of the Britons.'
Rhys himself took the cross at Radnor, as did also the
Bishop of St. David's and many others. We are told,
however, that on the return of Rhys to his own territory,
some of the canons of St. David's waited on him, and
sought by every means to persuade him to prevent
Baldwin's progress into Wales, and especially to St.
David's, from a fear that the See of St. David's and the
Welsh Church in general would in the future experience
great prejudice, and with difficulty recover their ancient
dignity and honour. But these representations failed in
1 'De Rebus a se Gestis,' ii. 6, 7 : Op. i. 54-56.
De Barri and the Contest for St. David's 2 1 7
their purpose, for Rhys took no such measures as were
asked.1
From Radnor Baldwin proceeded to Hay, and thence
to Llanddew, where Gerald lived, and thence by way of
Abergavenny to Usk, Caerleon, and Newport. After
passing ' the noble castle ' of Cardiff the company reached
Llandaff, where the Crusade was publicly proclaimed, the
English standing on one side, and the Welsh on the
other. They stayed the night with the bishop, William
of Saltmarsh, and early on the morrow Baldwin celebrated
mass before the high altar of the newly-built cathedral.
On leaving Llandaff, they passed ' the little cell of Ewenny,'
and came to the ' noble Cistercian monastery ' of Margam.
After fording the Avon, they came along the sandy shore
of the British Channel to the River Neath (Nedd), which
they crossed in a boat somewhere about the position of
the present Briton Ferry, leaving Neath Abbey on their
right. Here they left the bishopric of Llandaff, and
entered that of St. David's. They stayed a night at
Swansea Castle, and went on from thence by the castle
of Cydweli (Kidwelly) to Carmarthen, and the Cistercian
monastery of Alba Domus, that is, Ty Gwyn ar Daf, or
Whitland. On their arrival at Haverford, sermons were
preached with great success by the archbishop and by
Gerald, and the latter mentions as something wonderful
and miraculous, that although he addressed the people
both in the Latin and French tongues, those persons
who understood neither of those languages were equally
affected, and flocked in great numbers to take the cross.2
On reaching St. David's, the party were well entertained
by the bishop, Peter de Leia, and in gratitude for this
hospitality Gerald in his narrative permits himself to
give one word of praise to his successful rival, who he
confesses was ' a liberal man.' Here, too, as at Llandaff,
1 ' Itin. Kamb.,' i. I : Op. vi. 15.
2 Ibid., i. 1 1 : Op. vi. 83.
2 1 8 A History of the Welsh Church
Archbishop Baldwin celebrated mass before the high
altar in the cathedral. The next night they stayed at the
monastery of St. Dogmael, where they were entertained
by Prince Rhys, who also gave them hospitality on the
next day at Aberteifi (Cardigan). Gerald preached that
day with such effect that John Spang, Rhys's fool, said
to the prince, ' You ought to love your kinsman, the arch
deacon, very much, because he has sent to-day a hundred
men or more of yours to the service of Christ ; and had
he only spoken in Welsh, I don't believe you would have
had one man left to you of all your multitude.'1 After
preaching at Pont Stephen (Llanbedr pont Stephen or
Lampeter) they came to the abbey of Stratflur, or Strata
Florida, their next resting-place. On the next day, unless
Gerald's memory has failed him at this point, or his
memoranda became confused, they made a curious devia
tion from their natural route, returning to Llanddewi Brefi,
and thence proceeding to Llanbadarn Fawr, where they
passed the night, and where they were much scandalized
by finding a lay abbot, Eden Oen, whose sons officiated
at the altar. At the river Dyfi, they left the diocese of
St. David's for that of Bangor, and then passed through
Towyn across the Maw, or Mawddach, through Llanfair,
across the Traeth Mawr and the Traeth Bychan, through
Nefyn and Carnarvon to Bangor. On the next day, the
archbishop celebrated mass before the high altar of the
cathedral, and Guy Rufus, Bishop of Bangor, at the
instance of Baldwin and others, was compelled to take
the cross amid great lamentation of his people of both
sexes.2 After this they passed over to Anglesea, and
returning thence to Bangor, continued their journey ' on
the sea-coast, confined on one side by steep rocks, and on
the other by the waves of the sea,' past Penmaenmawr
to the river Conway, which they crossed under Deganwy,
1 'De Rebus a se Gestis/ ii. 19 : Op. i. 77.
2 ' Itin. Kamb.,' ii. 6: Op. vi. 125.
De Barri and the Contest for St. David's 2 1 9
leaving the Cistercian monastery of Conway on their
right hand. They came next to Rhuddlan, and to the
' poor little church of the See of Llanelwy ' (St. Asaph),1
where the archbishop celebrated mass, as before at Llan-
daff, St. David's and Bangor. Continuing their journey
through a country rich in silver, ' where men delve into the
bowels of the earth,'2 they came to ' the little cell ' of Basing-
werk, and the next day traversed a long quicksand, not
without some fear, leaving on their right the woody district
of Coleshill, noted for the defeat of Henry II. Their way
thence ran to Chester, the White Monastery (Whitchurch),
Oswestry, Shrewsbury, Wenlock, ' the little cell of Brom-
field,' and ' the noble castle of Ludlow,' and so through
Leominster to Hereford. ' During this long and laudable
legation,' says Gerald, ' about three thousand men were
signed with the cross.'3
The most important feature of Baldwin's journey was
his celebration of mass in each of the four Welsh
cathedrals, which was done as a sign of his supremacy
over the Welsh Church. This is noted by the chroniclers :
Brompton4 relates how ' Archbishop Baldwin, performing
the legation of the cross, entered Wales, and in the whole
of the cathedral churches there celebrated mass in full
pontificals, a thing which up to that time had not been
seen.' Gerald in like manner insists upon the same
point : ' Concerning no prelate of Canterbury is it read,
either after this subjection (of the Welsh Church) or
before, that he entered the borders of Wales, save of this
man only, who, on the occasion of this legation and in
the service of the saving cross, went around a land so
rough, so inaccessible and remote, with laudable devotion,
1 ' Ad pauperculam sedis Lanelvensis ecclesiam.' ' Itin. Kamb.,'
ii. 10 : Op. vi. 137.
2 ' Itum est in viscera terrae ' (' Ov. Met.,' i. 1 38) ; quoted in this con
nection by Gir. Camb., ' Itin. Kamb.,' ii. 10 : Op. vi. 137.
3 ' Itin. Kamb.,' ii. 13 : Op. vi. 147.
4 ' Chron.' in an. 1 187 (' H. and S.,' i. 388).
22O A History of the Welsh Church
and in each cathedral church celebrated mass as a sign
of a certain investiture.'1
This was the chief practical outcome of Baldwin's
journeyings and Gerald's eloquence, for most of the im
portant people who took the cross, including Gerald him
self, eventually evaded fulfilling their obligation. Gerald
was soon afterwards offered, in succession, the bishoprics
of Bangor and LlandafT, but declined both, as he had
previously declined two Irish bishoprics. He seems to
have been reserving himself for the chance of St. David's
on the first vacancy.
About this time he withdrew awhile from the vain
pursuit of promotion at Court, and devoted himself to
his studies, and to this inclination of his we owe a
portrait of one of the most charming characters in Welsh
Church history — Wecheleu, an anchorite of Locheis in
Elvel. He was a simple-minded, good old man, whom
Gerald reverenced for his genuine piety, and he went to
him at this time to obtain his blessing on his studies.
Among other things he begged his prayers that he might
know and understand the Holy Scriptures to his soul's
health. Wecheleu caught his hand and, pressing it tight,
exclaimed: ' Och, och ! don't say " know," but "keep";
vain — vain is it to know unless you keep.' Gerald was
much struck by the remark, coming, as it did, from a
simple and ignorant man. He burst into tears and
begged him to pray that he might not only have grace to
know, but also to keep, God's Holy Scriptures.
Wecheleu spoke to Gerald in an ungrammatical Latin,
in which the infinitive was made to do duty for all the
moods, and there was not much heed of cases. Perhaps,
although Gerald could probably speak Welsh,2 he was not
1 Giraldus Camb., ' Itin. Kamb.,' ii. I : Op. vi. 104.
2 This has been doubted, but appears probable from what he says of
William Wibert, who was with him in Wales as a constant companion,
but had to stand dumb from his ignorance of the language, which it
would appear probable from the context was used by Gerald as well as
others. See ' Symbolum Electorum,' i. i : Op. i. 204.
De Barri and the Contest for St. David1 s 221
very fluent in it, and the anchorite could understand his
Latin better. Gerald was surprised at his acquaintance
with Latin, imperfect as it was, for he knew that he had
never been educated, and he asked him how he had
learned it. The answer shows the simple-mindedness of
the pious old man. ' I had been,' he said, 'to Jerusalem
and visited the sepulchre of my Lord, and when I returned
I placed myself in this prison for the love of my Lord
who died for me. And I grieved sore that I could not
understand Latin — either the mass or the gospel — and
oftentimes I wept, and asked the Lord to grant me to
understand Latin. At last one day, at my time of eating,
I called at the window to my servant once and again and
repeatedly, and he did not come ; and through weariness
and hunger I fell asleep, and when I awoke I saw a loaf
of bread lying on my altar. And I approached and
blessed the bread and ate, and immediately afterwards at
vespers I understood the verses and the Latin words
which the priest said, and in the same manner in the
morning, at mass, as it seemed to me. And after mass I
called the priest to my window with his missal, and asked
him to read the gospel of the day. And he read and I
interpreted, and the priest said I did it correctly ; and
afterwards I spoke Latin to the priest and he to me.
And from that day I have spoken in this way, and my
Lord, who gave me the Latin language, did not give it to
me to speak it grammatically or with proper cases, but only
so that I could be understood and could understand
others.'
It is a charming story, though it teach nothing more
than how God may bless prayers that are seconded by
earnest attention and a retentive memory. It speaks well
for Gerald that, after all his converse with Courts in that
perilous age, he could retain enough simplicity of soul and
humility to suffer the word of exhortation from a poor
ignorant man like Wecheleu.
222 A History of the Welsh Church
The anchorite loved Gerald much, and used to tell him
his visions and revelations, or, if he were far distant,
would send them to him in writing.1 The sick and blind
used to come to his cell and beg him to put his hand out
from his window, believing that thereby they would be
healed. He hesitated whether he ought to do so; some
Cistercian monks had told him he should tell the people
not to come, so he asked the advice of his learned friend.
Gerald told him to exercise the healing power which God
had given him, but to beware of spiritual pride. This
veneration paid by the people was the greatest temptation
of these anchorites, who could scarcely fail to believe in
their own powers when everybody else was credulous,
from scholarly archdeacon down to ignorant peasant. So
the fame of the hermit of Locheis grew and spread abroad,
until even the defeat and slaughter of three thousand
Welshmen was attributed to his supernatural prescience,
conveyed to the hostile English — a rumour which poor
Wecheleu was at much pains to contradict.2
Gerald was not destined to remain long in retirement.
He was soon recalled to public life, to play the chief part
in one of the most exciting struggles of his time. Accord
ing to his story, on the death of Peter de Leia, in 1198,
the chapter of St. David's met and nominated four men :
Gerald himself; Walter, Abbot of St. Dogmael's ; Peter,
Abbot of Whitland ; and Reginald Foliot, an English
man. These names were laid before Archbishop Hubert,
the Grand Justiciary, but he somewhat plainly told the
canons that the King would have no Welshman, and cer
tainly no connection of the Welsh princes, as a bishop in
Wales.3 Gerald in return professed4 that he had no
1 Gerald paid much attention to dreams, and records thirty-one in
the ' De Invectionibus,' vi. One of them is a vision of the anchorite
of Locheis (Op. i. 175).
2 'De Rebus a se Gestis,' iii. 2 : Op. i. 89-93.
3 Ibid., iii. 4 : Op. i. 95.
4 In a letter to the archbishop. ' De Rebus,' iii. 7 : Op. i. 102-103 ;
' Symbolum Electorum,' Ep. xxvi. : Op. i. 289.
De Barri and the Contest for St. David's 223
desire at all for the bishopric; a quiet life of obscurity was
much more to his taste ; and he would be willing to
acquiesce in any suitable candidate who would not be
always coveting preferment in England, and, above all,
was not ' a black-hooded beast ' like the last bishop.
Later he took up a strongly national position, and raised
the cry of ' Wales for the Welsh.' No Englishman ought
to hold a Welsh see, or at any rate no Englishman who
could not speak Welsh.
King Richard was away from England as usual, so the
chapter was ordered to send four of their number to
Normandy to elect a bishop. Archbishop Hubert, and
the new justiciary, Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, offered them their
choice of two men, Geoffrey de Henelawe, Prior of Llan-
thony, and a Cistercian monk, named Alexander. But
the chapter was unwilling at present to give up the
nomination of Gerald, and strongly objected to crossing
the Channel. No church in Wales, they said, had ever
sent to Normandy before in order to elect its bishop, and
moreover they could not go, as they had no money. The
latter plea decided the point, as the justiciary did not
care to pay their expenses out of the public exchequer,
lest he might thereby establish a precedent ; so it was
agreed that they should send one of their number with
another clergyman to get the King's leave to hold the
election in England. But before the messengers could
reach the King, he had been wounded before the castle
of Chaluz and was dead. They went consequently to
Chinon to see John, who courteously received them,
and approved the nomination of Gerald. But when John
came to England and had heard the archbishop's opinion,
the aspect of affairs became less favourable. Gerald and
a deputation of canons waited upon the King, as he had
ordered, but could get nothing but fair words. The
chapter, however, met at St. David's, and plucking up
courage to act for themselves, actually elected Gerald
224 ^ History of the Welsh Church
bishop, June 29, 1199. Further, they instructed him to
go to-Rome and seek consecration from the Pope himself,
and thereby assert their independence of the See of
Canterbury.
It was a bold act, and predestined to failure, but it
suited well the ambitious temper of Gerald. The memory
of Becket's contest and martyrdom was still fresh in men's
minds, and Gerald may have hoped to rival Becket's
reputation and escape his end. One martyr, he may have
thought, was enough for that generation ; no King could
venture to add another to the noble list. He certainly
knew well enough what his appeal to Rome implied ; and
even if his keen wit had failed him this once, he would
have learned it from his friends. ' 'Tis a difficult and
toilsome business you have in hand,' his brother, Philip
de Barri, said to him, ' and withal costly and perilous ;
for it would seem not only to be against the Archbishop
of Canterbury, but even against the King and the whole
of England.'1
The clergy of St. David's found out before very long
what the King's policy would be. Their minds were
much disturbed by the receipt of a royal mandate, com
manding them to appear before the archbishop and
justiciary, and elect the Prior of Llanthony. If they
failed to obey, they were informed that he would be con
secrated without the ceremony of election. Clearly it
was advisable for Gerald to act quickly, if at all. Accord
ingly he left Wales with haste for Rome, but had first a
curious foretaste of his impending troubles, for the un
grateful Welsh, for whose sake he professed to be fighting,
plundered his companion Ithenard, near Brecon, of
money, horses and books, and as misfortunes rarely come
singly, Ithenard himself immediately afterwards fell sick
and died. Gerald, however, arrived safely at Rome, where
1 'De Rebus a se Gestis,' iii. 16: Op. i. 115 ; 'De Invectionibus,'
vi. 24 : Op. i. 182.
De Barri and the Contest for St. David's 225
he laid the subject of his election before Pope In
nocent III., and further raised the question of the status
of the See of St. David's, maintaining that it was a metro
politan see, and rightfully independent of Canterbury.
The latter claim was, of course, baseless. Gerald
acknowledges that the canons of St. David's used a little
later on to speak of it as a crack-brained fancy of his,
and of the whole story of metropolitan authority as
fabulous and non-historical, and to be classed with the
stories about Arthur.1 More than this, Gerald acknow
ledges in his ' Retractations ' that much of what he relates
as the ancient history of St. David's was based upon
common report and opinion, rather than upon the
certitude of history.'2 His plea, as laid before the Pope,
was that Caerleon was originally made the metropolis of
Wales by Ffagan and Dyfan, the missionaries sent to
Lucius by Pope Eleutherius ; that in process of time
Dubricius, Archbishop of Caerleon, retired in favour of
St. David, who removed the see to Menevia, according
to the prophecy of Merlin — ' Menevia will put on the pall
of the City of Legions' ; that there were at Menevia, or
St. David's, in succession twenty -five Archbishops of
Caerleon, of whom St. David was first and St. Samson
was last ; and that St. Samson, when he crossed over
to Brittany, took the pall with him, according to the
sequence :
' Prsesul ante Menevensis
Dignitatis in Dolensis
Transfertur fasligium.3
It would not need much historical study to upset such
a travesty of history as this, and, although it was put
forward in an uncritical age, it was not likely to impose
1 ' De Jure et Statu M. E.,' Op. iii. 328. The comparison of Gerald's
claim to the stories about Arthur, which Gerald warmly resented,
originated with the Abbot of Whitland (' Speculum Ecclesice,' iii. 3 :
Op. iv. 149).
2 ' Retractationes,' Op. i. 426.
15
226 A History of the Welsh Church
upon the keen intellect of Pope Innocent.1 It is, how
ever, worth preserving here, as a specimen of the fictions
whereby the perverse ingenuity of mankind has obscured
the history of the early Welsh Church. The earliest
known use of the term ' archbishop ' for the head of the
See of St. David's is found in Asser, who speaks of Arch
bishop Novis. As we have noticed before, the term
' archbishop ' was used in ancient times in Ireland in a
loose sense as a mere term of honour, without any idea
of metropolitanship, and it is probably thus applied to
Novis by Asser, as also by others to Elbod of Bangor,
who introduced the Roman Easter into Wales. It is
quite true, however, that Rhygyfarch and also the Dime-
tian copy of the laws of Hywel Dda claim a primacy for
St. David's, but so does the ' Book of Llandaff ' for Llan-
daff, and with equal reason. The weakness of Gerald's
arguments, which he himself acknowledges, is a sufficient
proof that the claim which he advanced was utterly with
out foundation.
Gerald had not been very long at Rome, when a courier
came from Archbishop Hubert Walter with letters for
the Pope and the cardinals. Some one stole them, and
offered them to Gerald, in case he would like to buy
them. Gerald thought it would be best to look inside
one first to see whether it were worth buying. Accord
ingly, he opened the one directed to Peter of Piacenza,
and, as he expected, found it was full of abuse of himself.
To buy or not to buy was now the question, not that he
hesitated from any scruples as to the propriety of the act
— such do not appear to have troubled him — but he was
perplexed as to what would be the more profitable course.
In this difficulty he consulted John, Bishop of Alba, one
1 It is to be noted that Gerald says nothing of the traditional answer
of Dunawd to Augustine contained in Spelman's ' Concilia,' pp. 108,
109, which used once to obtain general credence. It is a pity it was
not invented in his time, as its recognition of the primacy of ' Esgob
Kaerllion ar Wysc ' would have harmonized beautifully with his story.
De Barri and the Contest for St. David's 227
of the cardinals whom he judged most friendly to his
cause. He advised him to let the letters be, even if he
could get them for nothing ; for the Pope and cardinals
would be offended if they ever found out that he had
meddled with them ; and even though they were full of
abuse, it were better for him to have an adversary than
to stay at Rome for ever waiting for one. Gerald recog
nised the wisdom of the counsel, and gave the letters back
to the thief, who, disappointed of his profit from the
archdeacon, sold them to the man from whom he had
stolen them.1
The chief statement made by Hubert Walter in these
letters was that Gerald had been chosen by three canons
only, without the consent of the rest.2 Hubert Walter was
not at all scrupulous in this conflict with Gerald, and the
archdeacon's narrative seemsthroughout more trustworthy
than the archbishop's. But undoubtedly the election of
Gerald had not been unanimous, as he had bitter enemies
in the chapter who would do all they could against him.
Gerald believed that the archbishop's opposition to him
arose from personal malevolence, because he had pre
viously brought about the deposition of a profligate
abbot whom he calls the archbishop's friend.3 But
Hubert Walter's action is perfectly comprehensible,
without supposing that he was influenced by personal
motives. There is no doubt, however, that archbishop
and archdeacon were antipathetic by nature. Hubert
Walter was the very opposite of Giraldus Cambrensis.
Quite destitute of the brilliant and showy parts of Gerald,
who makes outrageous fun of his bad Latin and weak
theology, he had solid statesmanlike abilities, quiet shrewd
ness, and plodding perseverance which made him more
than a match for his adversary, for whom he seems to
1 ' De Rebus a se Gestis,' iii. 18 : Op. i. 119, 120.
2 ' De Invectionibus,' i. I : Op. iii. 14.
3 ' De Rebus a se Gestis,5 iii. 4: Op. i. 95 ; ' Symbolum Electorum,'
i. 1-6: Op. i. 203-218.
228 A History of the Welsh Church
have felt a measure of contempt. It was unlucky for
Gerald that in his most ambitious undertaking he had
such an opponent to contend with.
Gerald succeeded pretty well at Rome at the outset ;
the Pope was perfectly willing to listen to all that he had
to say, and treated him at all times with courtesy and
apparent kindness. One evening, indeed, he styled him
' my Lord Elect of St. David's/ and at another time used
the title ' Archbishop.' Gerald was delighted at such a
reception, but really the courtesy was a little too pro
nounced to be genuine : Innocent had found out his
suitor's weak side, and was duping him with fair words.
Commissions were appointed to try the questions of the
validity of the election and of the metropolitan authority
of St. David's, and Gerald was made in the meanwhile
guardian of both spiritual and temporal matters in the
diocese. With this authority he returned to St. David's
A.D. 1200.
But during his absence things had been going against
him. The chapter of St. David's had been cajoled or
frightened by the archbishop, and had elected under his
influence the Abbot of St. Dogmael's a little before
Christmas, 1199. Probably they cared little about
Gerald personally, for, after all, was he not a Norman,
as were Peter de Leia and Archbishop Hubert ? His
Welsh was very possibly foreigner's Welsh, which is
always offensive to the ears of a true native ; besides,
they did not think very much of his chance of securing
their independence of Canterbury ; and they would be
sacrificing in his support present and certain advantages
for a problematical future. So they willingly, for the
most part, accepted the archbishop's suggestion of a
compromise, and in electing the Abbot of St. Dogmael's
congratulated themselves that they had elected a better
Welshman than Gerald. True, he could not read— not
even a missal written plainly in large letters — but this
De Barri and the Contest for St. David's 229
was not a matter which troubled them much ; if he had
his faults, and was aware that they knew them, he might
be less careful to scrutinize theirs. Gerald had a bad
reputation as a strict and fussy disciplinarian ; the illite
rate abbot might suit them better. Undoubtedly the
crafty archbishop knew the defects of the man whose
election he had permitted, and hoped that both he and
Gerald would be rejected by the Pope in order to make
way for his original nominee, Geoffrey de Henelawe.
The claim of the Abbot of St. Dogmael's was bolstered
up by a story that after the original choice of four nominees,
the canons had conferred on the archbishop the power of
selecting one, because the King was out of the country ;
that the archbishop had accordingly, with the King's
consent, chosen the Abbot of St. Dogmael's in January,
1199, six months before the election of Gerald, and con
sequently the subsequent election of the chapter about
Christmas was merely the solemn ratification of this
choice. It looks rather a weak story, but it served the
archbishop's purpose as well as a better would have
done.
Gerald gathered new evidence in favour of the metro-
politanship of St. David's from the archives of the see,
and returned with this to Rome, where he arrived in the
spring of 1201. He was opposed there by one Andrew,
acting as proctor of the archbishop, and by Reginald
Foliot, an English canon of St. David's, who had been
one of the original nominees of the chapter to the
bishopric, and whom Gerald tersely calls ' the most cor
rupt among the corrupt, whom Peter, bishop and monk,
had made canon of the church of St. David's, not by the
revelation of the spirit, but of the flesh.'1 Two months
were spent uselessly at Rome, and then Gerald returned
to St. David's. He found the chapter more corrupt than
ever, and Archdeacon Osbert, who had been the creature
1 ' De Jure et Statu M. E.,' iii. : Op. iii. 188.
230 A History of the Welsh Church
of Peter de Leia, and the Abbot of Whitland doing all
in their power against him.1 The Papal commissioners
met successively at Brackley, Bedford, and St. Alban's,
and at the last place judgment was given against him.
Gerald, however, appealed again to the Pope, and, in
spite of a proclamation issued against him by the arch
bishop and the justiciary, he contrived to escape from the
kingdom, and reached Rome for the third and last time
on January 4, 1203.
In the final struggle of 1203 both sides did their utmost.
Gerald was even accused by a Welsh monk of horse-steal
ing, and his horse was sequestrated by the Pope's chamber
lain ; but by a clever trick he recovered the horse, and
filled his accuser with confusion, and the court with
laughter. The Pope, who played with him to the last
as a cat with a mouse, joked about the matter with
Gerald in a most friendly way when they were alone
together, conversing tcte-d-tete at the Virgins' Fountain,
where Innocent loved to walk ; and then, after a little
serious talk, asked Gerald to tell him a few more of his
amusing stories of Hubert Walter's bad grammar.'2
Meanwhile, says Gerald, his adversaries were devoured
by jealousy.
In the end the unfortunate archdeacon discovered the
illusory nature of all these Papal favours. Innocent was
a practised man of the world, and Gerald, beside him,
appears like a guileless, though intelligent, child. Evidently
it amused the Pope — one of the ablest that ever presided
over the W7estern Church — to detect his artifices and to
flatter his vanity. But to this amusement was united
serious purpose, for from the garrulous Gerald, with all
his knowledge of men and affairs in England, the subtle
Italian was doubtless able by his blandishments to extract
1 'Be Jure et Statu M. E.,' Op. iii. 196; ' Spec. [Eccl./ iii. 3:
Op. iv. 149.
2 Ibid., iv. : Op. 249-255.
De Barri and the Contest for St. David's 2 3 1
a fund of information which might be of service to him
in his future dealings with that country. When the
savage John offended his old tutor and drove him to the
court of Rome, he little anticipated that he was thereby
furnishing the Pope with intelligence which would eventu
ally conduce to his own overthrow. Gerald knew the
King well, for he had keen insight when he was not
blinded by appeals to his vanity, and there was much
that he could reveal in those interesting private conver
sations which his friend Innocent appeared to enjoy so
greatly ; and when the dispute respecting Canterbury
arose between John and the Pope, Innocent showed that
he, too, knew his man, and could deal with him effec
tively.
Before the final decision in the case was given, a
memorial on behalf of Gerald was laid before the Pope
on the part of the Welsh princes. They had done their
best for Gerald during his contest, for they were quite
content to use the Norman archdeacon as their tool ;
while he, though free from any desire for the political
independence of Wales, was quite willing to accept their
co-operation in his efforts for the See of St. David's. In
their memorial,1 Llywelyn ap lorwerth, prince of North
Wales ; Gwenwynwyn and Madog, princes of Powys,
with Gruffydd, Maelgwn, Rhys, and Maredudd, princes
of South Wales, stated the grievances which the Welsh
Church suffered from the English King and the English
primate. The Archbishops of Canterbury (so they stated)
were wont to set over them bishops wholly ignorant of
the customs and language of the country, who could
neither preach the Word of God to the people, nor hear
confessions, except by an interpreter. These bishops
were thrust upon the dioceses without election, or, if
such election were held, it was a shadowy, unreal thing,
1 'De Jure et Statu M. E.,' iv. : Op. iii. 244-246.
232 A History of the Welsh Church
held in England in one of the King's chambers, where
the chapters were forced to elect most unworthy clerics.
The bishops thus imposed came with an innate hatred to
attack the persons of the Welsh, and not to seek the
gain of souls. They exercised very little pastoral office
over their flock, but whatever they could get from the
country they carried away into England, and there in
abbacies and lands, granted to them by the English Kings
(that, as it were, by Parthian arrows shot in retreating and
afar off, they might excommunicate the Welsh princes as
oft as they were bidden), they spent their ill-gotten gains.
The lands given by early princes to the cathedral churches
they sold, gave away, and alienated — a bad example, which
the authors of this document of grievances (or per
haps rather their scribe) acknowledged was followed by
the Welsh princes themselves. In consequence thereof
the Welsh cathedrals were reduced to extreme misery
and poverty. Moreover, whenever the English attacked
Wales, the Archbishops of Canterbury laid the country
under an interdict, and excommunicated its princes and
people, who were only fighting for their liberty ; and
ordered the bishops to issue the same excommunications,
so that all who fell fighting for Wales died excommuni
cate. Wherefore the petitioners prayed the Pope to
relieve them from this undeserved slavery.
The woes of Wales made little impression upon the
mind of Innocent. His one great and mastering ambition
was to increase the power of the Papacy, whereby he
considered with all sincerity that he would likewise
increase the efficiency of the Church ; but, as his history
makes abundantly manifest, he had no respect for the
rights of nations, and, with all his keenness of intellect,
never understood what justice was. In him, as in one
of its highest representatives, the faults of the Papacy
are writ large on the page of history. His decision was
in full accordance with his policy and character. It was
De Barri and the Contest for St. David 's 233
pronounced on April 15, 1203. Innocent quashed the
election of Gerald, because the Abbot of St. Dogmaers
had been previously elected by the archbishop, accord
ing to the archbishop's story, which he accepted as true ;
and he also quashed the abbot's election because the
chapter, according to the same story, had conferred a
power upon the archbishop, which in the Pope's judg
ment they were incompetent to confer. A fresh election
would therefore have to take place. The question of the
status of St. David's was left undecided, and was never
raised again at Rome. Such was the futile ending of
this tedious suit, which exhibits in the pages of Gerald
a miserable spectacle of bribery, fraud, violence, and
cowardice on the part alike of disputants, witnesses,
and judges, such as is extremely discreditable to the
Church of the thirteenth century, and to human nature
itself.
The hands set to the Welsh memorial to Innocent
are the hands of the Welsh princes ; but the voice is the
voice of Gerald. Yet, if it be accepted as a fair picture
of the condition of the Welsh dioceses since the appoint
ment of Bishop Bernard, and with some deductions it
may, it follows that the Papacy neglected its duty to
Wales at this crisis in its history, and failed in this respect,
as in so many others, to justify the position it had assumed
over the Churches of Christendom. Though the question
of the status of St. David's was a mere chimera, and to
Innocent's keen wit appeared a craze of Gerald, as it did
to the chapter of St. David's, the more important matter,
the right of free election to the Welsh bishoprics, deserved
more serious consideration and a juster decision. But
expediency, and not justice, was the ruling motive of the
corrupt Roman curia, and its attitude towards the
protests of Wales was one of guile and greed. The
bitter rhymester, whom Gerald in his * Mirror of the
Church ' quotes with professed horror, but probably with
234 A History of the Welsh Church
some inward appreciation, was not far wrong in his de
scription of Rome :x
' Rome's the head of all the world, yet by filth offendeth ;
All the body filthy is that from it dependeth.
Rome takes men, and all their goods in its net it taketh,
And its court a market-place for the world it maketh.
There the votes are bought and sold ; there when all else faileth,
He that money has at need, in his cause prevaileth.
Whoso pleads before that court, for his wise direction
Let him keep before his mind this discreet reflection :
If he give no gold away, nought avails the sinner ;
He who pays of money most, he will be the winner.
Romans hold in secrecy every chapter meeting,
Then, when suitors meet the court, hand with hand is greeting ;
Give, it will be given to thee if thou dip the deepest ;
With what measure thou dost sow, with the same thou reapest.
When thou comest to the Pope, then remember, prithee,
He will never hear the poor ; money carry with thee.
Papa,— if you scan the word, nothing can be neater,
For papare means " to eat " ; he will be the eater ;
If you seek the root in French, it is almost better,
Paez, paez, you must pay, 'tis nearly to the letter.'2
1 The verses were written by Gerald's friend, Walter Mapes, Arch
deacon of Oxford, and himself half Welsh, being the son of Blondilde
Mapes, who came into Glamorgan with Robert Fitzhamon, and married
Flur, daughter and heiress of Gweirydd ap Seisyllt, lord of Llan-
carfan. Walter built the present church of Llancarfan. Archdeacon
Walter puts the verses in the mouth of his gluttonous bishop, Golias.
As Gerald doubtless knew who was the author of the verses, his anger
is almost certainly a pretence.
- I have ventured to translate as above, omitting a few lines. The
passage, as it occurs in Gerald, ' Speculum Ecclesiae,' iv. : Op. iv. 292,
is as follows :
' Roma mundi caput est sed nil capit mundum ;
Quod pendet a capite totum est immundum.
Trahit enim vitium primum in secundum,
Et de fundo redolet quod est juxta fundum.
Roma capit singulos et res singulorum.
Romanorum curia non est nisi forum.
Ibi sunt venalia jura senatorum,
Et solvit contraria copia nummorum.
In hoc consistorio siquis causam regat
Suatn vel alterius, hoc in pritnis legat ;
Nisi det pecuniam Roma totum negat,
Qui plus dat pecuniar melius allegat.
Romani capitulum habent in secretis
Ut petentes audiant manibus repletis ;
De Barri and the Contest for St. David's 235
The rhymes, which were written by a Welshman,
seem exceedingly apt, when we read the details of the
Welsh suit at the court of Rome before Innocent.
Gerald at first had presented the Pope with copies of
his own books, saying, rather awkwardly, that ' others
presented pounds, but he his publications.'1 We are not
told whether Innocent blushed at such a compliment ;
probably not, for the wily Italian knew how to conceal
his feelings under a courteous smile. He professed to be
exceedingly pleased with the present ; and Gerald \vas
happy in the belief that he took his books to bed with
him, and that from one, the ' Gemma Sacerdotalis,' he
could not be parted. But Gerald had to offer more than
his books if he would gain a favourable hearing ; and so
he told the Pope that if St. David's were made inde
pendent of Canterbury and subject only to Rome, the
Welsh would freely pay him Peter's pence for every
house, amounting to more than 200 marks per annum ;
and that Rome should also receive the great tithes,
amounting to more than 3,000 marks.2 But the arch
bishop also bid high, and of the rival suitors, the arch-
Dabis aut non dabitur ; petunt quando petis ;
Qua mensura seminas et eadem metis.
Cum ad papam veneris habe pro constant!
Non est locus pauperi, soli favet danti ;
Et si munus praestitum non sit aliquanti
Respondet base tibia non est mihi tanti.
Papa, si rem tangimus, nomen habet a re,
Quicquid habent alii solus vult papare.
Vel si verbum Gallicum vis apocopare,
Pacz, Paes, dit le mot; si vis impetrare.'
Gerald adds that the author of these lines deserved not only hang
ing, but burning. Yet he quotes them all the same. As Mr. Henry
Owen ('Gerald the Welshman,' p. 178) suggests respecting his pro
fessed ignorance of their authorship, it was ' only his fun.' The whole
poem of Mapes is contained in Wright's ed. of ' Poems of Walter
Mapes,' pp. 36-39.
1 ' De Rebus a se Gestis,' iii. 18 : Op. i. 119. 'Prassentant vobis
alii libras, sed nos libros.'
2 'De Jure et Statu M. E.,' ii. : Op. iii. 175.
236 A History of the Welsh Church
bishop seemed to be more likely to be in a position to
perform his promises.
With all Gerald's faults, it is impossible to withhold
from him a measure of sympathy. He was duped by the
Pope, betrayed by the clergy of St. David's, persecuted
by the court, his revenues were seized, his friends for
bidden to harbour him, yet he persisted in his suit, and
journeyed to and fro, from St. David's to Rome, and
from Rome to St. David's, with indomitable energy.
Had there been any fairness in the Papal court, his
election would have been confirmed, and the right of
free election to Welsh bishoprics maintained ; but as
bribery and expediency prevailed, the Pope pretended to
believe the plainly trumped-up story of the previous
election of the Abbot of St. Dogmael's. If Gerald was
not quite honest in his manner of carrying on the
struggle, he is less to be blamed, because of the incon
ceivable corruption and venality of all with whom he had
to do.
At the same time that Gerald was fighting his cause at
Rome, there was another Welsh claimant at the Papal
court, who had been elected to the See of Bangor.
Bishop Guy died in 1191, and for some years afterwards
the see had remained vacant, probably through some
dispute, of which no record has been preserved. At last
Alan was appointed, and professed canonical obedience
to Canterbury on April 16, 1195. But a little more than
a year after his appointment Alan died, and there ensued
a contest between the sub-prior of Aberconway, who was
the choice of the clergy, and Robert of Shrewsbury, who
was foisted into the see by the indefatigable foe of Welsh
nationality, Archbishop Hubert. The sub-prior, whose
name is unknown, was a Welshman, and was warmly
supported at Rome by Gerald, who, however, found him
grievously lacking in spirit and boldness. It is not, there
fore, surprising that his claims were set aside by Innocent,
De Barri and the Contest for St. David's 237
and that in this case also the rights of the Welsh Church
were sacrificed by the Papacy.
Gerald returned from Rome a bitterly disappointed
man. He found everything in confusion at his home, and
at St. David's all the houses were shut against him, and
no one ventured to speak to him but a poor widow.1 The
election of a Bishop of St. David's took place finally at
Waltham in the presence of the archbishop, and after a
long discussion the archbishop's nominee, Geoffrey de
Henelawe, was elected on November 10, 1203. Gerald
at first threatened to appeal, but as upon reflection
he saw the futility of this course, he afterwards gave in, to
the surprise of everyone. He now made his peace with
the archbishop and the King, and was compensated for
his losses. He retired from the archdeaconry of Breck
nock in favour of his nephew, and henceforth devoted
himself chiefly to his studies and literary pursuits. The
date of his death is uncertain, but we know that at the
age of seventy he was still busy with literary work.
1 * De Jure et Statu M. E.,' vi. : Op. iii. 312.
CHAPTER IX.
THE CONDITION OF THE CHURCH IN THE AGE OF
GERALD DE BARRI.
NEXT to the ambition of Giraldus Cambrensis to be
metropolitan of the Welsh Church was his desire to be a
religious reformer. The most notable evidence of this is
his ' Gemma Ecclesiastica,' which is addressed to the
clergy of his archdeaconry of Brecon, and contains
numerous rules for their guidance in the conduct of
Divine service and their other ministrations, as well as
earnest denunciations of various sins and abuses that
prevailed in the Welsh dioceses. It is one of the most
valuable works of its author, and manifests to us what
might otherwise appear doubtful, that Gerald was not
animated in his actions by personal ambition only, but
had also a genuine zeal for the glory of God. With much
superstition, such as is to be expected from its age, it
contains also much genuine common-sense and evidence
of statesmanlike ability. There was little either in Church
or State that could escape the keen insight of Gerald ; so
much we learn from his other writings, but they scarcely
prepare us for the breadth of view which is often apparent
in this treatise. It was written before its author was
embittered by the failure of his great suit, and when he
could be tolerant as well as outspoken. The precepts are
supported by reasons and doctrinal remarks, interspersed
with a wealth of quotations from the Holy Scriptures and
The Church in the Age of Gerald de Barri 239
the writings of the Fathers, as well as with anecdotes of
all kinds gathered from all manner of sources, which
combine to illustrate not only the text, but also the vast
erudition of its author.1 So rich and diversified are the
contents of the book that it might well have filled the
place of a clerical library to a mediaeval priest. Through
out the work Gerald speaks from the standpoint of a
reformer. We have already seen reason to conclude that
he was no Papist ; but that is in no way remarkable, for
England and Wales have never been Popish ; it is more
noteworthy that he espied corruptions which afterwards
developed further, and that he would have crushed them.
For this we thank and esteem him. But the ' Gemma
Ecclesiastica' is not only interesting and valuable as
raising our estimate of Gerald ; it gives also an insight
into the mind of the thirteenth century, for which we
cannot be sufficiently grateful, and it presents a picture of
the Welsh Church which is unique in that age, and to
which it would be difficult to find an equal in any other.
The central conception of the work is the doctrine of
the Eucharist. The questions which a Welsh clergyman
of the thirteenth century wished to be answered were not
how he should maintain his schools against the aggressive
policy of a hostile Minister of Education, or how he might
best recall ' the bees ' to ' the old hive,' but what he was
to do if by any chance the body or blood of the Lord fell
or were in any way lost ; whether the host might be sent
to the sick by the hands of a layman ; whether the priest
ought to drink of the chalice if a spider or any poison were
therein ; and whether any other liquor might in certain
cases be substituted for the eucharistic wine. Gerald
considers all these and other like questions, and answers
them. Many of the rules which he lays down are of con
siderable interest, showing as they do the customary
1 The quotations from the Fathers are, however, often borrowed
from Peter Lombard.
240 A History of the Welsh Church
usages of the day. He orders that the Eucharist should
be carried to the sick through the streets with all due
honour and reverence. In suitable weather the deacon
was to carry a lighted candle even in broad daylight, and
the priest in his surplice was to follow, carrying the host
in a fair pix, covered with a stole folded in the shape of a
cross. The bystanders were to pay due adoration and
reverence, holding their hands before their eyes.1 These
rules, however, were laid down to guard against slovenly
practices, which seem to have been rather common, for at
times the host was entrusted to the hands of any layman,
or even to a woman, and thereby scandals had arisen.
It is ordered also that mass should be celebrated in a
consecrated church only, except in cases of necessity, and
then only if a consecrated table and the other requisites
could be procured. The body and blood of Christ were
not to be made on board ship, because of the danger of
the sacred elements being spilt ; but the mass of the
catechumens ending with the Gospel might be said. It
was lawful for a deacon to say the mass of the cate
chumens, but not to proceed any further.
' The proper hour of mass,' says Gerald, ' is the third
hour (9 a.m.), because at that hour the Lord was crucified,
and the Holy Ghost descended on the apostles. Yet on
the Nativity of the Lord it is celebrated in the night.
But on festivals, when the faithful have approached, mass
may be celebrated at the first or second hour, or at any
hour, yet so that the mass due at the third hour be not
withdrawn. In Lent and on the vigils of saints at the
ninth hour (3 p.m.). On Saturdays in Ember weeks2
about evening. On Easter Eve3 about the beginning of
the night. Private masses at any hour, that is, before
the third and after the third, provided only the celebra-
1 'Gemma Eccl.,' i. 6 : Op. ii. 20.
2 ' In sabbatis quatuor temporum.'
3 ' In sabbato magno.'
The Church in the Age of Gerald de Barri 241.
tions be not in public, that the people be not withdrawn
from the solemnities.'1
Gerald affirms that these were the usages sanctioned
by the canons ; but he admits that there were other
customs also prevalent, and he does not venture to forbid
them. Evidently, uniformity in ritual was not established
in the Church in Wales at that day, any more than it is
now. His chief desire was to obtain a celebration in all
churches at nine o'clock. A priest was not to consecrate
more than once a day, except that he might in case of
necessity celebrate one mass of the day, and another for
the dead ; and on Christmas Day it was lawful for him, if
he had no colleague, to celebrate three masses : one in the
night, representing the time before the law: a second at
dawn, representing the time under the law ; and the third
at nine o'clock, representing the time of grace.- Bishops
were to celebrate, having with them deacons and sub-
deacons ; and priests were not to celebrate without a clerk.:i
Fasting. is prescribed both for the celebrant and for the
other communicants ; but Gerald adds, ' if, however, any
one should celebrate after breakfast let him nevertheless
consecrate, for the Lord also instituted this sacrament after
the Paschal lamb, and formerly the Church on Maundy
Thursday4 celebrated after meals ; but Paul first ordered
that they should consecrate, and take the body of the
Lord fasting.'5
The rule of fasting might also be relaxed when the
recipient was in imminent danger of death. Gerald
insists strongly that the eucharist ought to be refused to
no sinner on his dying-bed, however wicked his previous
life had been. Nay, even if a man became speechless
1 'G. E.,: i. 7 : Op. ii. 24.
- ' Formerly,' says Gerald, ' they used to consecrate seven or more
times in a day.'
:{ ' Sine responsali.'
4 'In ccena Domini.' Vide Uu Cange, i. 1145.
;> 'G. E.,' i. 7- Op. ii. 25.
16
242 A History of the Welsh Church
before absolution and reconciliation, yet, if his friends
gave their testimony that he had desired the eucharist, it
was not to be denied him. So much seems to have been
allowed by the common usage of the day ; but in another
particular Gerald impugns the ordinary custom of the
Church, and indicates a desire to revert to older direc
tions. He tells us that in his time both the eucharist
and Christian burial were denied to a robber, and his
body was buried underneath the gallows ; but he urges
that neither rite should be refused, and bases his con
tention upon old Canon law. Many, he tells us, were
afraid that the body of Christ might be retained in the
mouth of the robber and so be crucified a second time,
or that the robber might keep it whole in his mouth and
take it out to claim his freedom, as sometimes certainly
had really happened. But he allows neither argument
to weigh against the duty of the priest to save the male
factor's soul.1
But though the charity of Gerald would grant the
eucharist to everyone at his death, he is careful to fence
round the holy rites against profanation by the strong and
hale, and he gives us a glimpse of the terrible prevalence
of wickedness. Few of the laity received oftener than
once a year, at Easter, and this because there were few
who were not guilty of mortal sin.2 He mentions the
rule of reception three times a year, at Christmas, Easter,
and Whitsunday, which the Church has to this day re
tained, and adds to these festivals Maundy Thursday as a
day approved by Church usage ; but he is careful to state
that this applies only to those who are not guilty of
mortal sin, and he most carefully refrains from any ex
pression which might lead to more frequent communion
than was usual. Rather he reproves most severely the
1 'G. E.,' i. 40: Op. ii. 116.
2 * Quoniam rari sunt hodie seculares qui aliquo mortali non invol-
vantur ' (' G. E.,' i. 141 : Op. ii. 117).
Tke ClMirch in the Age of Gerald de Barri 243
parochial clergy for receiving not only on the Lord's
day, as the more perfect, not only thrice in the year or
once as the less perfect, but even every day, or twice in
the day as the most perfect of all. Such frequency
seemed to him to savour of the grossest presumption.1
That there was much slovenliness on the part of the
clergy with respect to the accessories of Divine service is
indicated by the rules which Gerald lays down on this
point. He orders that if the chalice cannot be of gold
or silver, on account of the poverty of the church, it should
be at least of pure and solid tin, and that a fair and
seemly pix and a piscina be everywhere provided. He
points out that the clergy could easily procure what was
necessary, if only they would refrain from superfluity in
eating and drinking, and in riding, and clothing them
selves and their households. Gerald aims here at what
he seems to consider the root of all clerical evils, the
marriage of the clergy ; but possibly the spoliation of
parochial revenues by the founders and benefactors of the
new monasteries may have had much to do with the
miserable condition of the churches to which he refers.
Some churches even appear to have lacked office books,
for a custom prevailed whereby the incumbent left the
church books at his death to his sons or daughters, his
nephews or his nieces. Gerald forbids this, except in
cases where the church had more than one set of books,
when the clergyman might dispose of all but the best set,
which must be retained for the service of the church. He
orders also that if on the decease of an incumbent the
church were found without books or with a defective
supply, or if the roof of the church were ruinated, and
especially the roof of the chancel, the expense of buying
fresh books, and making the needful repairs, should be
paid out of the late incumbent's estate. ' For it is un
worthy,' he adds, ' that we should at our death leave
1 'G. E.,' i. 41 : Op. ii. 117 ; and ibid., i. 9: Op. ii. 29.
244 A History of the Welsh Church
those churches which have supplied us so long with all
the necessities, and even some of the luxuries, of life
naked and without ornaments or covering, behaving as
ungrateful sons who pay not due honour to their mother,
to the grievous scandal of our Order, and to the great
peril also of souls.'1 Such rules and admonitions as these
point to a lamentable state of things in the Welsh dioceses
in his time.
From the subject of the eucharist, Gerald turns to
baptism and other points of clerical duty. The clergy
are ordered to be careful to instruct their people in the
correct formula of baptism, so that they may be able in
case of necessity to perform the rite themselves. They
were also to warn them that marriage between godparents
was unlawful, on account of the spiritual relationship
which the godfather and godmother of a child had con
tracted with each other. To prevent the danger of such
unlawful unions, no male child was to have more than
two godfathers and one godmother, and no female child
more than two godmothers and one godfather. If many
people came to a baptism from respect to the child's
parents, they were not to be admitted as godparents, but
only as witnesses. No clergyman was to charge or receive
aught for baptism, burial, extreme unction, marriage, or
any sacrament, though Gerald adds somewhat incon
sistently that if anyone made a voluntary offering at
these rites, but not on account thereof, such might be
received ; but the greatest caution was to be used, lest
any evasion of the rule might thereby be permitted.'2
Though not a rigorist for uniformity, Gerald was
evidently anxious to establish decency of ritual in his
archdeaconry, and we may infer that had he attained
the chief object of his ambition, the metropolitanship
of Wales, he would not have been slack in pursuing the
1 'G. E.,'i. 10 : Op. ii. 38.
2 Ibid., i. 13: Op. ii. 46.
Tke Church in the Age of Gerald de Barri 245
same end throughout his province. The very caution
with which he states many of his rules, and the number
of exceptions and evasions which he allows, prove more
conclusively than the severest censure could prove how
far the customs of the Welsh dioceses differed from the
established rules of Western Christendom. It is unfor
tunate that he has left no indication which may help us
to decide whether the ritual variations to which he
alludes were survivals of ancient Celtic usage, or merely
instances of local laxity or ignorance. He speaks through
out as an educated and orthodox Latin churchman, broad-
minded and tolerant, anxious to remove scandals, and
desirous, on the ground of culture, to improve away local
peculiarities.
It is pretty evident that there was little of what Gerald
would consider culture to be found among the Welsh
clergy. He apologizes in the ' Gemma Ecclesiastica '
for the plainness of his style and the triteness of his
remarks on the ground that he was addressing the clergy
of his archdeaconry of Brecon ; and he justifies his
copious quotations from the ' Legends of the Saints ' by
the plea that they were little known in Wales, as very
few copies existed there.1 The Welsh clergy were noted
rather for their breeding of cattle and pigs and for the
care of their ' housekeepers ' and children than for their
attention to literature. We may remember that a
dignitary like the Abbot of St. Dogmael's was unable to
read his missal. Doubtless they were attached to their
own customs, which had been handed down to them by
their forefathers, and were little inclined to welcome
the enlightenment which Gerald, as a scholar of the
University of Paris and a Norman possessed of Norman
refinement, was desirous of bestowing. But though
illiterate in his eyes, they may perhaps have had a
culture of their own, to which he was almost a stranger.
1 * Prnemium in r.emmam Ecclesiasticam,' Op. ii. 6.
246 A History of the Welsh Church
Though he speaks of Wales as a ' barbarous district,'1 it
was in possession, at the time when he wrote, of a rich
and varied literature. In the age of Llywelyn ab lorwerth,
who reigned from 1194 to 1240, that literature attained
its acme. There was a feud between the monks and the
bards, but the secular clergy, who loved not the monks,
may have enjoyed the intricate and elaborate muse of
Kynddelw, the bold imagery and martial vigour of
Llywarch, and the varied store of odes, elegies, englynion,
and simple rhymes which the other poets of the age,
Davydd Benvras, Seisyll Bryffwrch, Gwgan Brydydd,
Gwilym Ryvel, Einion Wann, Phylip Brydydd, Gwyn-
vardd Brycheiniog, and others produced. But all this
in the eyes of Gerald would have scarcely merited the
name of literature. Yet it may be inferred that the Welsh
clergy can scarcely have been very ignorant of Latin, as
otherwise it would have been quite useless to address to
them in that tongue the admonitions of the ' Gemma
Ecclesiastical Illiterateness is a charge which Gerald
brings against others than the clergy of Wales, and
against archbishops and abbots, as well as against the
inferior clergy. Its prevalence may be estimated by the
number of good stories to which it gave rise, as of the
priest who, when preaching on St. Barnabas' Day, con
fused the saint with Barabbas, and stated that ' he was a
good man and a saint, but yet had once been a robber ' ;
or of his brother ignoramus who, on announcing the
feast of St. John ante portam Latinam, explained, for the
benefit of his congregation, that ' this John first brought
the Latin language into England,' expounding thus :
' ante, first ; portam, he carried ; Latinam, the Latin
language.' Such were the stories which the wits of the
day loved to repeat, and with many of which Gerald
enlivens the pages of his archidiaconal charge.2 One
1 'In barbaris regionibus.' ' G. E.,' ii. 27 : Op. ii. 293.
a 'G. E.,' ii. 35, 36. Gerald attributes the decay of the knowledge
of Latin to the increasing attention paid to logic.
The Church in the Age of Gerald dc Barri 247
only, or at most two, may be supposed to refer to Wales.
The more likely is that of ttfe unfortunate priest whom
his bishop taxed with the heinous crime of being a
' Catholic.' The ignorant fellow, who knew not the
meaning of the word, denied the charge on oath, where
upon the bishop proved it by witnesses, and condemned
him to a heavy fine.1 Another story, which may be
intended to apply to Wales, is of the priest who by a
blunder promised his bishop 200 sheep (ducentas oves).
What he meant to say was 200 eggs (ducenta ova] ; but
the bishop insisted on having the sheep, and fat ones
too, and the priest was forced to comply.- Gerald's
stories, however mythical they may be, indicate a low
state of education among the clergy in general, in Eng
land as much as in Wales. Wales, too, had at that time
a superior native literature to that of England, so that
the average intelligence of its clergy may have been
greater than that of the English/1 However this may be,
it would certainly appear probable that there were many
among the ranks of the Welsh clergy who were ill-quali
fied for their sacred office, and this indeed was but the
natural result of the plunder of the Welsh Church, for a
pauper clergy could scarcely be well educated. Ignor
ance and slovenliness go together, so that it is not mar
vellous that the Archdeacon of Brecon has to notice so
many instances of clerical laxity and neglect.
But ignorance and slovenliness are by no means all
the charges that Gerald brings against the clergy in
general, and against the clergy of Whales in particular.
Half of the ' Gemma Ecclesiastica ' consists of censures
and admonitions provoked by grievous scandals as well
as by what Gerald considered the greatest scandal of all
1 ' G. E.,' ii. 34 : Op. ii. 331. - Op. ii. 332.
'•'• Gerald's opinion of the English as a race is by no means favour
able, as expressed in reply to Master Andrew, his opponent at Rome,
who, however, it must be acknowledged, had provoked such a retort by
abuse of the Welsh.
248 A His lory of the Welsh Church
— clerical marriage ; and other of the works of our author
deal with the same matters, and at times with even greater
severity. The picture which he draws of the Church is
dark indeed. He himself speaks as an orthodox church
man of his age, who acquiesces in the grossest expression
of the doctrine of Transubstantiation, and who had gazed
with awe-struck veneration upon a blood-stained host.1
But Flanders, where he witnessed this portent, was over
run, as he confesses, with the foul heresy of the Patari,
or Cathari, who made a mock of the most sacred rites of
the Church. While heretics were jeering outside, saints
within the Church were weeping at their inability to
'accept a dogma which outraged their understanding and
-destroyed the nature of a sacrament. Such was Richard
de Aubrey, whom Gerald knew at Paris, and who is
interesting to us because he was not improbably of kin to
Sir Reginald Aubrey, the companion of Bernard New-
march, who, on the conquest of Breconshire, received
the lands of Abercynrig and Slwch as his portion of the
spoil, and founded a family which, from constant inter
marriage with their Welsh neighbours, became at last
thoroughly Welsh.- This Richard de Aubrey was learned
in the liberal arts, and lectured to a large audience on
the Fourth Book of the Sentences respecting the Holy
Eucharist. He seemed, too, to be a mirror of religion
and morality among the clergy, afflicting his body with
fastings and vigils, with much abstinence and earnest
prayers, and spending all his substance in almsgiving.
Yet, when he was seized with his last illness, and the
1 ' G. E.,' i. 1 1 : Op. ii. 40. A woman, to whom a consecrated wafer
had been entrusted to carry it to the sick, had wrapped it up and put
it away. k Inventa est hostia quasi per medium carne existente cruenta,
altera medietate sub specie panis permanente, literis quoque hostias
impressis, ad miraculi majoris et evidentioris ostensionem, tain in carne
quam in panis specie legibiliter extantibus.'
2 The celebrated John Aubrey, author of the * Miscellanies,' was of
this family. So, too, was William Awbrey, Principal of New Inn Hall,
Oxford, and Regius Professor of Civil Law in the reign of Elizabeth ;
also father-iri-law of the poet Donne.
77/6' Church in the Age of Gerald de Barri 249
body of the Lord was brought to him, he could not
receive it. Nay, he even turned away his face, as un
willing to receive, saying that this had happened to him
through the just judgment of God, because he had never
been able to hold this article of the faith. And so he
went the way of all flesh without the viaticum.1
Sad as this picture is, there is one yet sadder, that of
the wretched priest whom reaction from superstition had
driven to infidelity. ' That many persons enter the
priesthood unworthily in this day,' says our author, ' I
will make plain by one solitary example. There was a
priest in our time who knew that another celebrated
Divine service and made the Lord's body with less devo
tion and reverence than was seemly, and so he came to
him in the zeal of charity to reprove him. And when he
had rebuked him in private for many faults, last of all he
reproved him for this especially, that he celebrated so
great a sacrament of the Lord's body and blood in
decorously, for he used for this sacrifice neither clean and
white wafers as was seemly, nor even fresh and fit ones,
but those that were musty and broken. But to all this
the wretched man replied : " What is it that you say ?
You and your religion are hateful. Do you think that this
bread is made flesh and this wine blood ? Nay, do you
think that God, the Creator of all things, took flesh of a
woman ? — that He willed to suffer ? Do you think that
a virgin could conceive, or after conception remain a
virgin ? Do you think that our bodies will rise again
after they are turned into dust ? All these things are
fictions. Men of old time, forsooth, invented such things
as safeguards to strike terror into men and bridle their
unruly passions." Oh ! how many are there like this
man,' adds Gerald, 'at this day lurking secretly among
us ! Though not by their words, yet by their deeds many
are manifestly adversaries of the faith.'2
1 ' G. E.,' i. 9 : Op. ii. 33. - 7<W., ij. 24 : Op. ii. 285.
250 A History of tke Welsh Ckurch
Pictures such as these drawn from the life contrast
curiously with the imaginative sketches which we some
times see of the untroubled peace of the ages of faith.
The descriptions of Gerald are as dark as those of his
fellow-countryman, Gildas. The See of Rome, which
should have been the protector of Western Christendom,
was its tyrant, and set an example of fraud and greed
which many of the higher ecclesiastics only too faithfully
copied, shearing, or rather flaying, the sheep they should
have fed. The inferior clergy were frequently ignorant,
and lax in the performance of their duties ; too often they
led immoral lives,1 and prostituted the sacred mysteries of
the eucharist to the basest purposes for gain. The great
religious corporations of the monasteries plundered the
clergy, and imposed upon the laity, whom yet they scan
dalized by their worldliness, their luxury, and not un-
frequently their licentiousness ; and of the secular laity
few indeed were not living in mortal sin. To heighten
the gloom, heresy of the deadliest and foulest description
was rampant in certain parts of the Continent, while
among those who seemed to be orthodox sons of the
Church some of the most saintly were bewailing in secret
their inability to receive a dogma which shocked alike
their faith and their reason ; and many an unholy priest
was laughing in his sleeve at the rites he celebrated and
the doctrines he taught.
Such is the impression which a first reading of the
works of Gerald leaves upon the mind. Further study
reveals brighter spots in the picture, and, as with Gildas
also, teaches us to make allowance for exaggeration due
to the prejudice and temperament of our author. Gerald
wished to be a religious reformer, and believed this to be
his mission, so he speaks with the fervour of ' a prophet
new inspired ' in denunciation of the enormities of his age.
1 If their neglect of the rule of celibacy be regarded as fornication,
as Gerald regarded it.
The Church in the Age of Gerald de Bar-ri 251
When he wrote the ' Gemma Ecclesiastica ' he could still
be tolerant, but when in later life he wrote his history of
the struggle for St. David's and his ' Speculum Ecclesiae,'
he had thrown moderation to the winds, had allowed
sceva indignatio to tear his heart, and indulged without
stint his bent for invective. Bluff Harry, when he 'broke
into the spence and turned the cowls adrift,' would have
had a warm sympathizer in Gerald had he lived in the
sixteenth century, for no one has lashed the monastic
orders with a more unsparing hand. Latimer and he
might have applauded each other's pungent criticisms of
vice, and Luther in his denunciation of indulgences pro
bably would have found the great Welshman on his side.1
His keen intellect detected abuses around him which were
destined to be fruitful and multiply after he was dead, and
his plain common-sense swept away the evasions whereby
they were excused. His picture of the Church is perhaps
over-dark, but there was substantial justification for most
of his strictures.
If we exclude the heresy of the Cathari, the rest of
Gerald's picture of the Church will apply to the Welsh
dioceses. Nearly the whole can be found in the ' Gemma
Ecclesiastica/ and, although the author has gathered his
anecdotes and illustrations from all sources, they were
gathered for the especial behoof of the Welsh clergy, and
some points which particularly concern Wales are there
especially emphasized. The charges which Gerald in his
various writings brings against the Church in Wales may
be best considered under their three natural divisions, as
relating to the three classes — the alien dignitaries, the
native clergy, and the new monasteries.
Gerald's condemnation of alien bishops is exceedingly
severe. We have already had occasion to notice his
1 ' Sin/ he says, * is remitted in seven ways : by the sacrament,
martyrdom, faith, mercy, charity, prayer, and perhaps by pontifical
indulgence* (' (i. E.,' i. 5 : Op. ii. 17).
252 A History of the Welsh Church
criticisms of Bishop Bernard and his wholesale con
demnation of Peter de Leia, whom he evidently regarded
as the worst of all the Norman prelates, and who, indeed,
if half the stories we read of him in the pages of Gerald
are true, must have richly merited the title he gives him
of ' wild beast.'1 But though Bishop Peter was the worst,
all alike without exception were bad. ' The English
plantation of Wales/ says Gerald, ' was not one of
nature, or adoption, but of violence alone. Wherefore in
the episcopal office it had to all appearance no watering of
Divine grace, nor did it receive growth and increase from
above. All the bishops I have seen in my days transferred
from England into Wales have been covetous, rapacious,
yet always pretending the greatest poverty, perpetually
begging among the abbeys in England, ever haunting the
exchequer to obtain greater emoluments by translation or
addition ; and to make their canvass the more effectual,
they have played the part of buffoons between England
and Wales, to the utter neglect of their pastoral duties,
and for this cause frequently, not to say always, have
thrust themselves forward at court. Consequently all
their authority and the authority of their Church is
becoming contemptible among the great, the honest, and
the discreet.'2
Non-residence and general neglect of their dioceses,
alienation of the episcopal lands, simony and abuse of
patronage, and extortionate oppression of their clergy, are
the main charges against the alien bishops. ' Scarcely
once in seven years do they visit their church,' says
Gerald, ' either in person or by deputy,' and the result
was that youths died by thousands without the grace of
confirmation, and in many places people grew to adult or
to old age, and even then died before the grace was
imparted.3 It must be remembered, however, that in
1 ' Belua' See ' G. E.,' ii. 27 : Op. ii. 294, et passim.
* ' G. E.,' ii. 34: Op. ii. 330, 331.
3 Ibid., ii. 27 : Op. ii. 301.
The Church in the Age of Gerald de Barri 253
some cases the non-residence was not voluntary, but was
enforced by the opposition of the flock to their alien
pastor.
We have already related the dilapidations of Bishops
Bernard, David Fitzgerald, and Peter de Leia, of St.
David's, and it would appear that Geoffrey de Henelawe
followed in the steps of his predecessors. He made grants
of the lands of Landegoph, of the prebend of Brawdy, of
the manor of Llanddewi in Gower, and of the church of
Llangyfelach ; gave away half of the manor of Trallwng to
a powerful man of the district for oxen and cows ;
alienated Llangadoc and Llandygwydd, and lost by his
carelessness other lands in the vale of Towy, which were
seized by neighbouring barons.1 We have seen that the
spoliation of the neighbouring diocese of Llandaff was
due to the powerful Norman nobles, and not to its
bishops, who were at least Welshmen. Probably many
of the alienations charged against the Bishops of St.
David's were in like manner rather the acts of the nobles
than of the bishops themselves, whose complicity was
involuntary and caused by fear and not by favour ; but
Gerald allows no excuse for their conduct. Yet if we
make certain deductions on this ground from his specifi
cation of alienations, it seems impossible to acquit the
Bishops of St. David's altogether from the charge of
shameless dilapidation. It is worthy of remark that
Gerald makes no such charge against the bishops of other
dioceses.
In all ages of the Church complaints have arisen of
the abuse of patronage, and at the end of the twelfth
century these seem to have been exceedingly rife. In
the ' Gemma Ecclesiastica ' our author gives us numerous
anecdotes of such offences, some quite unfit for repetition,
and some ludicrous, but all alike scandalous. Peter de
Leia's joy at the death of the priest of Llangyfelach, and
1 ' De Jure et Statu M. E.,' 7 : Op. iii. 349, 350.
,254 ^ History of the Welsh Church
subsequent sale of the benefice is, of course, mentioned ;
but it is impossible to identify other bishops who are re
ferred to, or to say which had Welsh bishoprics, though
in many of the anecdotes Gerald appears to be hitting at
men who would be recognised by his readers.1
One bishop used to promote his stupid and ignorant
nephews, and neglect the good and worthy, and excused
his policy on the ground that the latter could help them
selves, whereas the stupid ones would starve unless he
helped them — a plea, as Gerald observes, founded on the
Apostolic maxim that ' those members which we think to
be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant
honour.' Another bishop, on hearing that a man had bet
his steward a hundred marks that his son would not get
a vacant prebend, gave it the son, and received the money.
Others gave canonries and churches to the sons of men
who had lent them money, or presented to benefices while
their incumbents were still living. All these and many
other abuses of patronage are mentioned in Gerald's
scandalous chronicle ; and although it would not be fair
to conclude that the stories generally refer to Wales, it
would certainly appear that the readers of the ' Gemma '
were expected to be familiar with such a condition of
affairs as is depicted. The era of the Angevin Kings wras
not distinguished for virtue, and if some of the stories of
Gerald be true, the prevalent corruption of morals must
have led to scarce utterable enormities, even in the ranks
of the episcopate.2
Episcopal avarice was displayed no less in extortions
from the clergy than in simoniacal disposal of patronage.
Peter de Leia and Geoffrey de Henelawe had an evil
reputation among Welsh bishops for their oppressions.
Such prelates sent forth their subordinates, in strange
1 E.g., Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, in ii. 27 : Op. ii. 302 ; cf. Preface,
Iviii.
2 ' G. E.,' ii. 27 : Op. ii. 295.
The Church in the Age of Gerald de Barri 255
contrast to the Apostolic mission, ' as wolves in the midst
of lambs,' to pillage and devour the flock. An archdeacon
one day refused a present of a ram, hoping to get some
thing greater. ' Strange it is,' said a bystander, ' that a
wolf should refuse a sheep.'1
The clergy looked upon archdeacon and archdevil as
synonymous terms, so degraded was the office, in which
no Laurence or Vincent was to be found in that degene
rate age. The bishop's seneschal, ' unmerciful in all his
ways,' was equally detested. One day a clergyman who
had lost all he had at dice, except five shillings, began in
his despair to curse and swear, and promise those five
shillings to anyone who would teach him how to offend
God the more. ' Get some bishop to make you his
seneschal,' one suggested, and all the company agreed
that he had earned the money.2
' From the crown of the head to the sole of the foot,'
from the lowest to the highest office in the Church, ' there
was no soundness in her'; but the whole body was tainted
with the plague of avarice. The inferior clergy had to
take an oath to their bishops that they would carry all
causes from which money could be made to the bishop's
court, and would hush up none, even when they could
easily bring about a peaceable settlement by themselves.
Every device was adopted which would bring gain to the
bishop: one notable means' being the granting of dispensa
tions to marry and divorces, which were used as nets
to catch money. ' Whom we will we join,' says Gerald ;
'and when we will we separate them. But if we stood
by the limits and boundaries placed by the Lord, we
should not so dispense at our will, contrary to the sacra
ment of matrimony.'
Excuses were, of course, pleaded for episcopal rapacity,
and it is amusing to see what short work the critic makes
of them. ' The workman is worthy of his hire.' Aye, if
1 *G. E,,' ii., xxxiii. : Op. ii. 325. 2 Ibid., ii., xxxii : Op. ii. 322.
256 A History of the Welsh Church
he works ; but there is much virtue in that ' if.' * Thou
shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out
the corn.'1 Oh that someone would muzzle the mouths of
our modern preachers, not to prevent their eating, but
their tearing and devouring ! The devil could quote
Scripture for his purpose in the days of Gerald de Barri,
as always. But sometimes the tone adopted was more
apologetic. ' The times are so expensive ; so much has
to be spent on kings and princes, on the court of Rome,
and the cardinals, and their nephews, and on legates sent
to us from Rome, and again on the maintenance of our
households ; on horses and carriages, and in keeping up
a table suitable to our dignity, that when you count up
all, you will find that all our income is scarcely sufficient
for our requirements.'2 The plea itself was their con
demnation : jut the mention of the court of Rome hints
that above the rapacious bishops was a power more
rapacious still, and that possibly in his remark about the
unsoundness of the ' crown of the head ' the archdeacon
may allude to the Supreme Pontiff himself.
One abuse of episcopal powrer which was very keenly
felt in Wales, and which was even aggravated a little later
by the policy of the Papacy, was the constant employment
of excommunication. The petition of the Welsh princes
to Pope Innocent III. set this forward as one of their
chief complaints against the alien bishops; but when the
same Pope took John under his protection, the Papacy
attempted to crush all national movements for indepen
dence by the same weapon. In the ' Gemma Ecclesi-
astica,' Gerald mentions that the Welsh, who formerly
had a greater dread of excommunication than any other
nation, had grown more indifferent to it than any other,
for their bishops fulminated sentence of excommunication
too frequently, rashly, and without sufficient cause, and
then often unwisely took it off without exacting satisfac-
1 'G. E.,' ii., xxxiii. : Op. ii. 328. - Ibid., ii., xxxiv. : Op. ii. 332.
The Church in the Age of Gerald de Barri 257
tion.1 It was natural that what was so lightly imposed
and removed, should be lightly accounted of.
As were the bishops, so were the native clergy. It
could scarcely be otherwise, for the bishops took no
care to choose fit persons ; any illiterate fool could get
ordained ; and when he was ordained there was no one
to set him a good example of life and morals. Many
men sought orders merely for a livelihood, and such
found no difficulty with the bishops. Gerald recommends
to the prelates of his day the example of a bishop of
Amiens, who, when his dean presented to him certain
candidates, saying, ' You can do a good act here, for
they have no other means of subsistence,' rejected them
forthwith, because they sought ordination for that reason.2
But the bishops were generally men who had been thrust
into their sees by royal violence, against the will of the
chapters, and so were careless of their flocks, and passed
their time as hangers-on at Court, and in like manner
their clergy set themselves to court the favour of soldiers
and patrons, to the grievous scandal of the laity. From
the highest to the lowest, all the clergy were tainted with
worldliness and greed, and the sacred mysteries of the
Eucharist were prostituted to purposes of gain. Mass
was celebrated with what, in Gerald's opinion, was in
decent and presumptuous frequency. St. John in the
desert, he says, though he was sanctified from his
mother's womb, did not dare, even at our Lord's invita
tion, to touch the sacred head at which angels trembled ;
yet these unworthy clergy dared to receive whole Christ,
both God and man, in the prison of their polluted bodies. *
St. Mark, rather than consecrate the Eucharist, cut off
his thumb, to prevent his ordination to the priesthood ;
but these presumptuous ones consecrated the body
1 <G. E.,' i., liii.: Op. ii. 159.
2 Ibid., i., xlix. : Op. ii. 136.
;>> Ibid.) i., Ii. : Op. ii. 145.
17
258 A History of the Welsh Church
of Christ as their daily banquet ; nay, even twice a day.1
The canons permitted clergymen in rural districts to
consecrate three times on Christmas Day ; but by the
new fashion of multiplying masses, Christmas was now
kept all the year round. The sacrament became con
temptible from its constant celebration ; for as the Word
of the Lord was precious in the days when it was rare, so
the consecration of the Eucharist was more venerated
when it was less frequent. ' If,' he says, ' one sacrifice
of a lamb in one house, at one time, was offered to the
Lord at the Passover, and was eaten whole and with
haste, how darest thou, O sinner, irreverently and con
stantly duplicate, triplicate, multiply the very truth of the
figure, especially under the brand and appearance of
venality ?'2
That these strictures were not undeserved is proved by
the abuses which Gerald reveals. It might have been
thought that the doctrine of Transubstantiation would
tend to augment reverence for the Eucharist ; but in
that age, at any rate, the outcome was widespread
practical infidelity. One of the chief abuses was con
nected with trentals, which were celebrations of thirty
masses for the dead on thirty several days.3 It was the
custom for confessors to urge their penitents to have
trentals celebrated, in order that thereby they might
make gain. Gerald stigmatizes such profits as simony.
' Judas sold Christ/ he exclaims, ' for thirty pieces of
silver ; these men sell Him for a penny. He sold Him,
thinking He was a mere man, and at a time when his
family was in need ; these sell Him, knowing Him to be
very God and man. He repented, though not with true
penitence, and brought the thirty pieces back and cast
1 CG. E.,' i., xlix. : Op. ii. 130.
2 Ibid.) ii., xxiv. : Op. ii. 284.
3 ' Tricenarium, Tricennale, Trentenarium, Trigintale. Officium 30
Missarum, quod totidem diebus peragitur pro defunctis.' Du Cange,
* Glossarium,' 1316.
The Church in the Age of Gerald de Barri 259
them away ; but in the Church there is no one who
renounces his ill-gotten gain. Then the money was not
put into the treasury, because it was the price of blood ;
now, altars and churches are raised with it. Then Christ
was sold once for all ; now He is sold every day.'1
The result of this practice of compelling the laity to
have trentals celebrated was that almost daily a mass
for the faithful had to be tacked on to the mass for the
day. A synod in France had a little while previously
tried to put a stop to this evil. Some contended that if
one trental were completed it would hold good for two
or three others, or, indeed, for any number whatever
that had been undertaken, a suggestion in favour of
which Gerald recalls our Lord's prohibition of ' vain
repetitions' and censure of those ' who for a pretence
make long prayers ' ; but he would only allow this remedy
to be adopted by those who had taken on themselves
the burden of too many trentals from indiscretion and
in all simplicity of heart, not by those who had erred
from avarice. The laity, too, objected to the ' aggrega
tion ' of trentals. To the question, ' What should a
priest do, when asked by one and another to celebrate
trentals, if he were not able to get through them all ?'
he answers : ' Let him say to his petitioners, " I will
remember your dear ones in so many masses," not " I
will perform a trental for them," unless he intend a
special one.'2
Another abuse was the celebration of ' anniversaries '
for people who were still alive ; but worst of all was the
practice whereby some used the Eucharist for magical
purposes, and celebrated masses over waxen images to
bring down curses on others, singing the Mass of the
Faithful ten or more times in order that those they wished
to curse might die within ten days.3
1 ' G. E.,3 ii., xxiv. : Op. ii. 282. I have somewhat abridged the
passage.
'2 Ibid,, i., xlix. : Op. ii. 133. 3 Op. ii. 137.
260 A History of the Welsh Church
The clergy had numerous devices for getting money
out of their people, and by no means confined themselves
to trentals. Some would repeat the Mass of the Holy
Innocents, or some other commemorative of the slain
in order to attract the offerings of those who had lost
friends in war ; or they tacked on to the proper mass
of the day what were considered by the people lucky
masses, as of the Holy Spirit, of the Trinity, of the
Angels, or of the Epiphany. The last seems to have
been especially popular, as the clergy gave their flocks
the notion that if they heard it devoutly and made
their offerings, they would get rich — this idea being
founded upon the gospel which told about the kings
and their gold. Gerald complains that some priests
would sing the Mass of the Epiphany every day, even
on Easter Day, in defiance of all propriety of season.
Frequently, however, instead of adding a lucky mass,
the clergy multiplied gospels. In France this custom
had been prohibited by synods and bishops, and had
been put down ; but in England (and it would seem in
Wales also) it was flourishing, because soldiers and the
laity in general were wont to make offerings at their
favourite gospels. In France the usage had been to
multiply gospels and introits before the mass; in England
it was done after mass. Gerald tells some curious stories
of scandals which had happened in France in connec
tion with this abuse before it was abolished. ' Once,'
he says, ' a priest began the service and proceeded as far
as the offertory,1 and when a soldier who was present
had made his offering, forthwith he began another mass,
and continued that as far as the offertory, when the
soldier made a second offering. The priest then began
another, but when five masses had thus been begun, the
soldier got tired and told the priest, " You won't beat
1 /.<?., the hymn during which the offerings are made. See Du Cange,
iii. 46, s. v. ' Offertorium.'
The Church in the Age of Gerald de Barri 261
me this way ; I have more pennies than you have
gospels, and if you go on till evening I shan't leave off
offering until you have consecrated the Eucharist." '
The people laughed at this, and the priest, in much con
fusion, proceeded to complete the service.1
At another time a priest, seeing a great number of
people in the church, began three masses in succession,
bringing each down to the offertory. But as none of the
people made an offering either time, he took off his vest
ments and so ended the service.
A third priest, after beginning a mass and continuing
it to the offertory, received the offerings of the soldiers
at whose request he was celebrating, and then turning
to them, informed them that he had already that day
celebrated two Masses of the Virgin, and so could not
say a third. This clever trick was, however, surpassed
by a subdeacon, who happened to be present when a
woman came to be churched. As the priest was away,
she asked him to read at least a gospel, and take her
offerings. As he was only a subdeacon he read her
instead two epistles, and told her that two epistles were
always thought as good as one gospel.
Lucky gospels and masses were sometimes sought for
curious reasons.2 If anyone reproved the crafty priests
who cheated the laity with such gospels, they used to
say, ' It is good medicine, and drives away ghosts, espe
cially the beginning of John.' Gerald sarcastically com
pares the priests who multiplied gospels in the hope of
attracting offerings from those with whom they were
favourites, to singers of fables and gests, who, when
they saw the song of Landeric did not please their
1 ' G. E.,' i.,xlviii. : Op. ii. 127.
' Ttmpore quoque Anglorum regis Henrici primi, puella nobilis
. . . de rege concipere magnopere desiderabat ; quae suggestione
capellani sui, cum singulis diebus anni unius, Missam de Dominica in
Adventu cujus introitus " Rorate cceli desuper" devote audisset et
obtulisset,' etc. ' G. E.,' i., xlviii. : Op. ii. 128.
262 A History of the Welsh Church
hearers, changed it for the song of Wacherius, and if
this failed, changed it again for some other. In France
the fashion had been to multiply faces to the mass, but
in England they multiplied tails ; and when so many
wrong gospels were introduced the old proverb was
applicable, ' This tail does not belong to that calf.'1
But although Gerald censures and sneers at this multi
plication of gospels, it is significant that he cannot
venture to forbid it. He says, ' I neither approve rior
forbid, but I await the prohibition of greater persons.'
In the meanwhile he sought, by various suggestions, to
mitigate the evil.
In truth, our author seems to have been in utter
despair about the corruption of the age. Perhaps he
erred on the side of strictness ; he would seem to con
demn all payments, of whatever nature, for spiritual
work. Many things that are considered harmless at the
present day would have come under his lash ; it would
be interesting, for example, to know what he would have
thought and said about bazaars and fancy fairs for
religious purposes. Paid choirs, we know, he abhorred.
' Those who play and sing in church for money are
idolaters, adoring money more than God, and only sing
to God for money.'2 They were, in his opinion, like the
hired mourners of the Lombards. A certain bishop
whom he had heard of wanted his choir to keep the
Feast of St. Stephen with special honour, but he could
not prevail on them till he promised them an annual
dinner and double pay for the occasion, so that, as
Gerald remarks, they kept the ' feast of double pay,'
rather than the Feast of St. Stephen. Such things are
sometimes heard of even in our enlightened age.
The sentiment of the thirteenth century is not the
sentiment of the nineteenth, and though Gerald speaks
1 ' G. E.,3 ii., xxvi. : Op. ii. 290.
2 Ibid., ii., xxv. : Op. ii. 289.
The Church in the Age of Gerald de Barri 263
at times like a modern, his ways of thought are not
ours, and here and there in the middle of his most
modern passages, an unfamiliar note is sounded which
reminds us of the essential difference which the gap of
centuries puts between us. All reverent souls can sym
pathize with the indignation which stirred him as he saw
the Church wholly given up to the idolatry of wealth,
and the most sacred rite of the Christian religion pro
faned for greed. But the remedy which he suggests is
almost as startling to a modern reader as the abomina
tions he reveals. It is perhaps even more calculated to
impress his mind with the depth and extent of these
evils than the bitterest denunciation. 4 To expel from
the Church,' he says, ' this manifold disease, I believe
that there can be no other remedy than this : if there
were few churches, few altars in them, few and select
candidates for orders, a selection, too, of those admitted
to orders, above all especially a proper choice of bishops,
and of their subordinates as deans. And the greatest
remedy of all, which Gregory VIII. thought of, would be
the abolition of all offerings, except three times a year,
at Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, and besides on
the feast of the patron saint, and at a burial, and on the
day of each anniversary or of a churching. See how in
the whole of Jerusalem there was only one temple, only
one tabernacle, only one altar of offering in the open air
in the court of the temple. In the Holy Place, indeed,
there was an altar of incense, but nothing was offered
thereon except a little incense, Hosea, in detestation of
a multitude of altars, said : " Because my people have
made many altars to sin, altars shall be made unto them
to sin ; they sacrificed victims, but the Lord has not
accepted them." Therefore, after the example of the
one temple, in each city there ought to be one church
only ; or, if the city be populous, a few, and so that (they
be under one greater church. For the number of chapels
264 A History of the Welsh Church
has caused unlawful gifts, and many other enormities,
and many extraordinary abuses. It would be better, far
better, that churches should be fewer, and service be held
in them less frequently, and then should be conducted
and listened to with more devotion.'1
Such an opinion as this, coming from an orthodox and
enlightened Churchman who had remarkably keen powers
of insight and a statesmanlike grasp of ecclesiastical pro
blems, is an exceedingly significant indication of what
kind of influence the numerous chapels and their needy
clergy had upon the Church and nation. If the times
demanded such a remedy as this 300 years before the
Reformation, it is not wonderful that when the crisis
came, some of the reformers forgot the claims of archae
ology and architecture in a ruthless extirpation of
mediaeval abuses by which rookeries suffered as well as
* rooks.'
The difference in sentiment between the thirteenth
century and our own is perhaps nowhere more evident
than in Gerald's remarks upon the vices of gluttony and
drunkenness, which were not unknown among the clergy.
He says that it were better for the reputation of the
clergy if they put a stop to the feastings and drinkings
which they were accustomed to hold every year, at which
laymen and women were present, with results that were
well known to all,2 but at the same time he allows the
clergy to get drunk in giving hospitality. Such a slip he
considers not only excusable, but even praiseworthy,3
sanctioned as it was by the example of several saints.
Once upon a time, he says, St. Philibert had been enter
taining friends, and had indulged too freely, and as he
1 'G. E.,' i., xlix. : Op. ii. 137, 138.
2 Ibid., ii., xix. : Op. ii. 258. Such a meeting was called ' frater-
nitas,' says Gerald, which may mean a guild-meeting. Probably he
alludes to the annual festival still held on the day of the patron saint
(Old Style generally) in many Welsh parishes, and called Mabsant
Anglict) wake).
3 'Non solum est excusabile, verum etiam non illaudabile.'
The Church in the Age of Gerald de Barri 265
was lying down intoxicated, the devil came to him and,
patting him on the offending part, said, ' Philibert has
done very well to-day.' The saint replied, ' He will do
badly to-morrow,' and the next day fasted on bread and
water. If, remarks Gerald, the enemy thus mocked an
excusable excess, and the saint thus atoned for it by
penance, how much more must our inexcusable offences
be an object of derision to the evil one, and ought to be
a source of contrition to ourselves P1 But on the whole
the clergy of Wales do not appear to have been notable
offenders in this matter, as were the clergy of Ireland,
who fasted every day, and got drunk every night.
The fault which Gerald most largely dwells upon, and
which he was most anxious to correct, was the marriage
of the clergy. In the heyday of his youth, when all the
world was before him, and he felt himself sufficient to
conquer it all, he removed the Archdeacon of Brecon for
this fault and got the post for himself. As he grew
older, he estimated his strength better, and no longer
attempted to deprive the stubborn clergy who adhered
to their national customs ; he rather in the ' Gemma
Ecclesiastica ' sought to cure the custom by advice and
exhortation. But in old age, when his ambitions were
over and he had nothing to gain or lose, when, more
over, he was soured by disappointment, he liberated his
full soul in bitter invective. But neither the decisive
action of his youth, the admonitions of his mature man
hood, nor the invectiye of his age made any impression
upon the prevalent custom ; it was too much for him ;
vice or virtue, it outlived Gerald, yet the protest of the
baffled archdeacon is still vociferous over the gulf of
centuries.
Roman canon law required that priests should not
marry. The Welsh and English clergy2 alike utterly
1 ' G. E.,3 Op. ii. 260.
2 ' Filius autem more sacerdotum parochialium Anglia? fere cunc-
^ damnabili quidem et detestabili, publicam secum habebat
266 A History of the Welsh Church
ignored that law. We have already seen that in Gerald's
own time there were Bishops of Llandaff and St. David's
who were married men. Such marriages were generally
recognised by clergy and laity alike as real marriages,
although the stricter sort, like Gerald, regarded such
wedlock as concubinage. Yet Gerald himself, in com
mon with other thinkers of his day, was aghast at the
utter breakdown of discipline, and longed for the inter
vention of some higher authority to free the clergy from
their restriction. His master, Peter Manducator, in
presence of his whole lecture-room of erudite scholars,
once asserted that the devil had never invented so clever
a device against the Church as the rule of celibacy, and
Gerald evidently agreed with this opinion. He admits
that ' neither in the Old nor the New Testament,
whether in the writings of evangelists or apostles,' was
the marriage of priests forbidden ; and although he main
tains that the rule of celibacy was expedient in times of
fervent charity, yet in ' that evening of the world,' the
thirteenth century, other times demanded other man
ners.1 Even the Papal See itself, he says., had been
shaken in its advocacy of the unpopular rule, and
Alexander III. had proposed to abolish it, but was op
posed by his chancellor, who afterwards was Gregory IV.
' On account of the opposition of this one man so useful
a proposal of so great and so discreet a father was not
carried into effect, though our sins required it.' Gerald
holds out no hope of a remedy for priests, except from a
general council. He asserts, however, that for clergy in
minor orders, who held churches, some high authorities
had suggested that they should hold their churches as
married men, provided only that they should have
comitem individuam, et in foco focariam, et in cubiculo concubinam.'
' Spec. Eccl./ iii. 8 : Op. iv. 170. See also Wright's ' Poems of William
Mapes.'
1 'G. E.,' ii., vi. : Op. ii. 187.
T/ie Clmrch in the Age of Gerald de Barri 267
' honest and discreet vicars, to whom a moderate salary
should be paid out of the altar dues and smaller tithes/
Some rigid folk urged that marriage could never be
allowed in any case, because a man ought not to have
two wives, and the Church was his first bride ; but
Gerald, with his usual common-sense, puts this fallacy
aside with the remark that the Church was the Bride of
Christ, not the bride of the clergyman. He had heard
that even some subdeacons had obtained from the Pope
dispensations to marry, and he advises clergy in minor
orders to apply for dispensations in like manner.1
It must not be inferred, however, that Gerald regarded
marriage as honourable either in clergy or laity. His
regret that the strict rule of prohibition remained in force
flowed merely from the impression that marriage would
be a less evil than what he termed concubinage, and
some of his remarks in the ' Gemma Ecclesiastica ' con
cerning the sacrament itself, savour of the most offensive
form of ' niceness.' His picture of the life of a married
priest is eminently hard and unsympathetic.
' The priest,' he says, ' who has chosen to live a secular
life, to his own destruction and perpetual damnation, and
who has in his house a housekeeper suffocating and mal
treating all his virtues, and has his miserable house
crammed full of infants and cradles, midwives and nurses
—how can he, among all these inconveniences, practise
moderation or avoid the sin of covetousness ? For to
say nothing of dainty suppers and dishes, the woman will
extort from him every market day a skirt with a long tail
draggling in the dust and sweeping the ground, and
costly robes to please many others besides himself — a
pretty nag withal, that walks gently and softly, adorned
with trappings and a saddle gilt with pictures and
sculptures for her pleasure. I will tell you of a priest
who sat behind his domestic (I will not call her his lady,
1 'G. E.,' ii., v. : Op ii. 186.
268 A History of the Welsh Church
or even his mistress), as she rode to market dressed out
for show, for they go to see and to be seen; and this
priest sat on the same horse behind her, and was holding
her up with both arms lest she might sway or totter ever
so little on either side.' Then he tells of another priest
who followed his wife on foot, and did for her the work
of a groom or footman, and whom she afterwards jilted.
' See,' exclaims Gerald in conclusion, 'how precious and
worthy a thing is she for whom miserable man, nay, the
most miserable of all things, who yet ought to be worthier
than all other creatures under heaven, in condition as in
rank, thinks fit to lose reputation, honour, substance, his
own soul, and God Himself, and to give himself over to
the devil and his angels, to be tortured everlastingly.'1
In a later work he abuses the canons of St. David's,
who were nearly all married, for what he regarded as their
incontinence. They attended more to their boys than to
their books, to their families than to their folios, to the
rearing of children than to the reading of books.2 ' What/
he says, ' is fouler and more disgraceful and indecent than
around the mother Church, erst metropolitan — where
holy men once lived, where their sacred relics still repose,
where good angels often came — to find the dwellings of
nurses and midwives, nay, of harlots, and many noisy
cradles of new-born babes and crying boys, the witnesses
to incontinence ? Why should I say more ?'3 Why
indeed ! Yet he does say more, and that in a style of
abuse unfit for transcription in these pages, and probably,
in the opinion of most of his modern readers, far ' fouler,
more disgraceful and indecent ' than the spectacle which
evoked from him such violent language. There can be
no better proof how utterly Roman canon law was dis-
1 ' G. E.,' ii., xxii. : Op. ii. 277, 278.
2 ' Non ergo libris intencurt ted liberis, non foliis sed filiis, non
librorum lectioni sed libtrorum dilectioni pariter et promotion!.'
* De Jure et Statu M. E.,' vii. : Op. iii. 329.
3 ' De Jure et Statu M. E.,' Op. iii. 36$.
The Church in the Age of Gerald de Barri 269
regarded in Wales than these diatribes of Gerald.
Strange it is, too, that in the midst of an easy-going and
somewhat secular -minded clergy, with no Puritanical
leanings, there should have arisen at different epochs of
the history of the Welsh Church such contemners of
the flesh and its snares as Gildas, Gerald, and Rowlands
of Llangeitho.
Closely connected with clerical marriage was the suc
cession system which prevailed in Wales, and which, in
early times, was common to all the Celtic churches. The
custom of dividing benefices by gavel-kind greatly aggra
vated this evil. We have seen that Keri had two rectors ;
another church in Radnorshire had six or seven ; and the
rectory of Hay in Breconshire was divided between two
brothers, one of whom was a layman. ' The churches,'
says Gerald, ' have almost as many parsons and sharers
as there are families of principal men in the parish. Sons
obtain churches also by succession and after their fathers,
not by election ; possessing and polluting by inheritance
the sanctuary of God. And if a prelate should by chance
presume to appoint or institute any other person, the
family would certainly revenge the injury upon the
institutor and the instituted.'1 The same feeling had
also some influence in the election of bishops, as may be
seen in the history of the two southern dioceses. Gerald
himself was not unwilling to avail himself of it as the
nephew of Bishop David Fitzgerald, and he managed to
secure that his nephew, William de Barri, should succeed
him in the archdeaconry of Brecon.
In various places in his works Gerald affords a useful
insight into the religious customs and morals of the
Welsh laity. He inclines to praise them for their
religiousness, but to censure their morals. He attests
their orthodoxy since the time of German and Lupus.
1 ' Descriptio Kambrias/ ii. 6 : Op. vi. 214.
2/o A History of the Welsh Chiirch
Since that time, he says, nothing heretical or contrary to
the true faith was to be found among them.1
Some of their peculiar religious customs were popularly
supposed to be derived from the teaching of the two
saints.2 For example, Gerald says : ' They give the first
piece broken off from every loaf of bread to the poor ;
they sit down to dinner by threes, in honour of the
Trinity. With extended arms and bowed heads they
ask a blessing of every monk or clergyman, or of every
person wearing a religious habit. But they desire above
all other nations, episcopal confirmation and the unction
of chrism by which the grace of the Spirit is given.
They give a tenth of all their property, animals, cattle
and sheep, either when they marry, or go on a pilgrimage,
or, by the counsel of the Church, make some amendment
of life. This partition of their effects they call the great
tithe, two parts of which they give to their baptismal
church, and the third to the bishop of the diocese. But
of all pilgrimages preferring that to Rome, they adore
more zealously with devout minds the thresholds of the
Apostles.'
Gerald also notices, in various places of his ' Itinerary '
and his ' Description,' as also in the ' Gemma Ecclesi-
astica,' the curious superstitions regarding bells, books,
and pastoral staves, which are so characteristic of Celtic
Christianity. ' We observe,' he says, ' that they show
a greater respect than other nations to churches and
ecclesiastical persons, to the relics of saints, staves,
portable bells, books of the gospels,3 and the cross, which
they devoutly revere ; and hence their churches enjoy far
greater peace than elsewhere. For peace is not only
preserved towards all animals feeding in churchyards, but
1 * Nihil haereticum, nihil rectas fidei articulis contrarium sensere.'
' Descriptio Kamb.,' i. 18: Op. vi. 202.
2 Bohn's translation, which is that of Sir R. C. Hoare, is here singu
larly misleading.
3 'Libris textis.' See Da Cange, s. v. 'Textus' (iii. 1230).
The Church in the Age of Gerald de B cirri 271
at a great distance beyond them, where certain boun
daries and ditches have been appointed by the bishops,
for the sake of the peace. But the principal churches to
which antiquity has shown the greater reverence extend
their protection to the herds as far as they can go to feed
in the morning and return in the evening. If, therefore,
any person have incurred the deadly enmity -of his prince,
if he seek the refuge of the church, he and his will
continue to live unmolested ; but many persons abuse
this indemnity, far exceeding the indulgence of the
canons, which in such cases grant only safety to life and
limb, and from these places of refuge even make hostile
irruptions, and harass the whole country on all sides as
well as the prince.'1
Unquestionably pagan survivals had something to do
with some of these superstitions which Gerald mentions.
He says that the people of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales
were alike in holding in veneration portable bells, and
crooked staves, and similar relics, and were much more
afraid of swearing falsely by these than by the gospels.2
The staff of St. Curig at St. Harmon's, near Rhayadr,
in Radnorshire, the portable bell Bangu at Glascwm, a
stone at Llanvaes, the collar of St. Cynawg, the cele
brated Lechlavar, or talking stone, and a miraculous
stone of Anglesey, are all mentioned in the ' Itinerary ' for
their wonderful properties. But the most curious of all
the superstitious usages recorded are those connected
with the festival of St. Elined, which evidently astonished
Gerald himself, and which probably are of pagan origin.3
Gerald accounts as the chief faults of the Welsh
nation4 their inconstancy and instability and want of
1 Gir. Carnb., ' Des. Kamb.,' i. 18 : Op. vi. 202-204.
2 ' Itin. Kamb./ i. 2 : Op. vi. 27. See also ' G. E.,' i., lii : Op. ii. 158 ;
'Top. Hib.,' iii. 33.
3 * Itin. Kamb.,' i. c. 2 : Op. vi. 32. Gerald calls her ^Elivedha.
She is also known as Elevetha, AJed, Almedha. She was a daughter
of Brychan.
4 ' Des. Kamb.,' ii. : Op. vi. 206-218.
272 A History of the Welsh Church
reverence for good faith and oaths ; their living by
plunder, and disregard of the bonds of peace and friend
ship ; their sudden panics in battle at the first repulse ;
their ambitious seizure of lands and dissension between
brothers ; their great exaction and want of moderation ;
the abuse of churches by succession and participation,
and the crime of incest. Of the last he says that it
prevailed among all orders of the people, high and low
alike.1 Some of the marriages censured, as that of
Owen Gwynedd, and those contracted between god
parents, are such as would not be condemned by the
present ecclesiastical or civil laws of England and Wales;
but there are records in the ' Chronicle ' which prove
that Gerald had good cause for his remarks. ' In 1173,'
says the ' Brut y Tywysogion,'2 ' was born Meurig, son of
the lord Rhys, son of Gruffydd, of the daughter of
Maredydd, son of Gruffydd, his niece, the daughter of
his brother.' There is, indeed, no room for doubt that
such sins of the flesh and perjury were exceedingly rife
in Wales.3 Gerald, in the ' Gemma Ecclesiastica,' urges
upon the clergy to reprove their flocks for their prone-
ness to perjury, and elsewhere he lays it to the charge
of the nation in very explicit terms. 'They have,' he
says, ' no oath, no reverence for faith or truth ; for so
lightly are they wont to esteem the covenant of faith,
inviolable by other nations, that they are accustomed to
sacrifice their faith for nothing, by giving the usual
sign, not only in serious and important concerns, but
even on every trifling occasion, and for the confirmation
of almost every common assertion. They never scruple
1 ' Des Kamb.,' c. 6 : Op. vi. 213.
2 P. 221.
:5 Gerald also says : ' Matrimoniorum autem onera, nisi expertis
antea cohabitatione, commixtione, morum qualitate, et praecipue
fecunditate, subire non sclent. Proinde et puellas, sub certo parenti-
bus pecuniae pretio, et resipiscendi pcena statuta, non ducere quidem
in primis sed quasi conducere, antiquus in hac gente mos obtinuit.' —
* Des. Kamb.,' ii. 6 : Op. vi. 213.
The Church in the Age of Gerald de Barri 273
at taking a false oath for the sake of any temporary
emolument or advantage, so that in civil and ecclesi
astical causes each party, being ready to swear whatever
seems expedient to its purpose, endeavours both to
prove and defend, although the venerable laws, by which
oaths are deemed sacred and truth is honoured and
respected, by favouring the accused and throwing an
odium upon the accuser, impose the burden of bringing
proofs upon the latter. But to a people so cunning and
crafty this yoke is pleasant, and this burden is light.'1
' Rare to-day are the secular laity who are not in
volved in some mortal sin/ Such are the few pregnant
words in which Gerald sums up the moral condition of
the laity of Wales and England. Let us hope that his
temperament had led him here, as often elsewhere, into
involuntary exaggeration. It is the peculiarity of some
minds to be so deeply impressed with the sinfulness of
the sins and follies of their age, that they are incapable
of recognising the goodness that nevertheless exists.
Other prophets beside Elijah have exclaimed, ' I, even
I only, am left !' and, perhaps, even in the days of
Giraldus Cambrensis there were the ' seven thousand '
untainted by the prevalent vices. Good men often live
quietly in ' secure repose,' and are unnoticed, while loud-
voiced hypocrisy flaunts itself in the public gaze, and the
world knows nothing of its silent saviours who are the
salt that keeps it from corruption. Still, as in the
earlier ages of the Welsh Church, Wales was noted for
its hermits, of one of whom, his friend Wecheleu, Gerald
has already drawn for us the picture. Of another, the
hermit Caradog, who died at St. Ismael, in Ros, in
1124, he wrote a life, which has perished, and he
endeavoured to procure his canonization from the Pope.
' Hermits and anchorites,' he says, ' more strictly abstinent,
and more spiritual, cannot be found elsewhere ; for this
1 ' Des. Kamb.,' ii. i : Op. vi. 206, 207.
IS
274 A History of the Welsh Church
nation is earnest in all its pursuits, and neither worse
men than the bad, nor better than the good, can be met
with.'1 Doubtless, among the laity, and even in the
ranks of the married clergy, whom he abhorred, many a
one lived the life and served the Master.
But at the same time the existence of two moral
codes in the country could not but be detrimental to its
morality. There was the ancient Scriptural rule of the
Welsh Church, that marriage was honourable for all
men, and there was the new Papal rule that clerical
marriage was no marriage at all, but fornication. It
could not have been beneficial to the laity to be assured
on high authority that their clergy were living in deadly
sin ; it must have tended to lower the tone of the
clergy in course of time to be assured by the leaders of
orthodoxy and culture that the women they loved were
concubines or harlots. It was not the least of the evils
which the Papacy inflicted upon Wales, that by the im
position of the rule of celibacy upon the clergy it attacked
and weakened the national morality.
1 ' Des. Kamb.,' i. 18 : Op. vi. 204.
CHAPTER X.
THE NEW MONASTERIES.
THE olden zeal which in the sixth century drove forth
into the wilderness so many of the noblest sons of Wales,
to live there the life of monks or of hermits, was not
extinct in the age of Gerald de Barri. Still, in the little
island of Priestholm,1 off the coast of Anglesey, there
dwelt hermits who, after the ancient fashion, supported
themselves by the labour of their hands and suffered no
woman to approach their secure retreat. Yet, for all
that, so went the story, discord sometimes arose among
them, and on such occasions they were visited with a
plague of mice, who devoured their food and so punished
them for their infirmity. Bardsey, too, the ancient isle of
saints, was not forsaken, but was still inhabited by ' very
religious monks, called Ccelibes, or Colidei,'2 and thither
in their last hours Welsh patriots turned their thoughts
and desired to be buried in its solitude. Thus prays the
twelfth-century poet, Meilyr, in his ' Death-bed of the
Bard ' :
' On that appointed day, when there shall rise up
Those who are in the grave, I will then look forward,
When I am in my allotted rest,
There waiting for the call,
To strive and win the goal
In time of need —
1 Called then Enislannach (Ynys Glanach), ' the ecclesiastical
island.' ' Itin. Kamb.,' ii. 7 : Op. vi. 131.
2 Ibid., ii. 6: Op. vi. 124.
276 A History of the Welsh Church
1 And let that be a solitude, by passengers not trodden,
And around its walls the bosom of the briny sea ;
The fair isle of Mary,
The holy isle of saints,
The type of renovation.
There to rest in happiness.
' Christ, the predicted Cross,
Will recognise me there,
And guard me from the rage of hell,
A place of exiled beings ;
The Creator who formed me, will give me room among
The community of the inhabitants of Enlli I'1
The old monasteries and the old monastic customs were
still dear to the hearts of patriotic Welshmen.
There was another old monastery too, so Gerald tells
us, at the foot of Snowdon, probably at Beddgelert, which
in his days had to fight for its very existence with the
Cistercian monks of Aberconway, who sought to annex it
as a farm or a subordinate cell, and with this view did
their utmost to procure its destruction or to force its
inhabitants to accept the rule of their order. Eventually,
however, after much trouble and expense the Snowdon
monks obtained letters of protection from the Pope.
1 Stephens, ' Literature of the Kymry,' p. 23.
* Prid y bo cyvnod yn cyvodi
Ysawl y sy 'met, armaa vi,
As bwyv yn adev
Yn aros y llev
Y Hoc a achev,
Aches wrthi : —
' Ac yssi didryv, didraul ebri
Ac am i mynwent mynwes heli :
Ynys Vair Virain,
Ynys glan y glain
Gwrthrych dadwyrain —
Ys cain yndi.
' Crist, croes darogan
A'm gvvyr, a'm gwarthan,
Rac ufern afan
Wahan westi
Creawdyr a'm crewys a'm cynnwys ym plith
Plwyv gwirin gwerin Ennlli.3
The New Monasteries 277
These monks were also Coelibes, or Culdees,1 and are
described as ' clergy, devoted servants of God, living in
common in a holy assembly, and after the apostolic
custom, having nothing of their own, and bound to no
special monastic or canonical rule, given to chastity and
abstinence, and especially conspicuous for works of
charity and for hospitality,' after the manner of other holy
communities which existed before St. Benedict framed
his rule.
So far Gerald has nothing but praise for those monastic
communities of the ancient type which still survived.
But in others of the old monasteries he found corruptions
which moved his indignation. The most conspicuous of
these was Llanbadarn Fawr, which in the reign of
Henry I. was granted to the monks of St. Peter's,
Gloucester, but afterwards was recovered by the Welsh,
and resumed its ancient customs. Gerald tells a story
how in the reign of Stephen a Breton knight came in his
travels to Llanbadarn. ' On a certain feast-day, whilst
both the clergy and people were waiting for the arrival of
the abbot to celebrate mass, he went at last with others
to meet the abbot; he saw a body of young men ap
proaching, about twenty in number, lightly equipped,
according to the custom of their people, and armed ; and
on inquiring which of them was the abbot, they pointed
out to him a man walking foremost, with a long spear in
his hand. Gazing on him with amazement, he asked,
" Has not your abbot another habit, or a different staff,
from that which he now carries before him ?" On their
answering, " No !" he replied, " I have seen, indeed, and
heard this day enough of novelty and marvel," and from
that hour he returned home and finished his labours and
researches.'2 According to Gerald there were other
1 'Tamquam ccelibes sive colidei, hoc est deum colentes, died.'
* Speculum Ecclesire,' iii. 8: Op. iv. 167.
2 Gir. Camb., ' Itin. Kamb.,' ii. 4 : Op. vi. 121.
278 A History of the Welsh Church
churches in Wales with lay abbots, for a custom had
prevailed among the clergy of appointing the most
powerful people of a parish stewards or patrons of their
churches. These in process of time, from a desire of gain,
usurped the whole right, appropriating to their own use
the possession of all the lands, leaving only to the clergy
their altars, with their tenths and oblations, and assigning
even these to their sons and relations in the Church.
When Gerald and Archbishop Baldwin visited Llan-
badarn they found ' a certain old man, waxen old in
iniquity, whose name was Eden Oen, son of Gwaithwod,'1
there as abbot, and his sons were officiating at the altar.
Every great Irish monastery was similarly connected
with some family, either of founder or patron, and in
many cases, at least during the ninth and following
centuries, there was a lineal succession of abbots.2
But the main part of Gerald's criticisms and the
whole of his work entitled ' Speculum Ecclesise ' — ' The
Mirror of the Church ' — are devoted to the Latin mon
astic orders, which were entirely distinct from the Celtic
communities, and did not obtain a footing in Wales until
the coming of the Normans. When a Norman noble
conquered a district, and began to settle his military
colony, his first step was to raise a castle for his pro
tection, and his second was to set apart a share of the
plunder for some Norman or English abbey. This house,
in sign of acceptance of the gift, sent out a few monks
with a prior, who occupied the land given, and founded
a cell, which might be large and beautiful like Brecon
Priory, or small and insignificant like Llangenith, accord
ing as the lands given, or the parochial tithes appropriated,
were considerable or the reverse. Each new party of
monks that came brought with it its Norman or English
1 ' Ethenoweyn filius Withfoit.' Op. vi. 121.
2 Reeves' ' Columba,' 'Hist, of Scot.,' vi., ci. The abbacy of Hy
was, with one or two exceptions, strictly limited to a branch of the
Tir-Conallian family.
The New Monasteries 279
speech and its Latin ritual, and so introduced more and
more of the new leaven that was to work in the old Celtic
lump. In South Wales all but three of the new monas
teries belonged thus to what Gerald calls ' the English
plantation/ and were at first anti-national in character
and influence, a fact which goes far to explain the in
tense hatred felt by many of the bards for ' the false,
luxurious, and gluttonous monks ' — a sentiment which
the monks, for their part, seem to have fully reciprocated.1
But after a little time, when the Cistercian Order took
Europe by storm, the Welsh princes followed the prevail
ing fashion, and themselves came forward as founders and
benefactors of the new monasteries ; and it would seem
also that many of the foundations which were at first
alien in origin, race, language, and feeling, became so
affected by their Celtic surroundings that they, too, were
Celticized. For such has ever been the wondrous glamour
of the Celtic race, that those who have been planted in
its midst have often lost their nationality and been
absorbed. The Cistercian Order, which from its lack
of revenues had to fight its way for itself, and was forced
more or less to adapt itself to the people among whom
it lived, became to a considerable extent identified with
W^elsh national feeling.
The secular clergy were generally hostile to the monks,
for very good and substantial reasons, and Gerald de
Barri shared the antipathy of his class. In two of his
works he relates with evident appreciation the bitter
sarcasm which Richard I. levelled at them when a holy
man, named Fulke, reproved him for his vices. ' You
have three daughters,' said Fulke, ' Pride, Licentiousness,
and Avarice ; and as long as they shall remain with you,
you can never expect to be in favour with God.' Quoth
1 ' Myneich geuawg, gwydawg, gwydus.' — ' Avallaneu.' See
Stephens1 * Literature of the Kymry,' 223, no-Hi. Stephens, how
ever, confounds monks and friars together.
280 A History of the Welsh Church
Richard : * I have already given away those daughters in
marriage ; Pride to the Templars, Licentiousness to the
black monks, and Avarice to the white.'1 Holy men
were very plain-spoken in those days, but they met their
match in the early Angevins.
Gerald fully endorses the language of King Richard,
though, according to him, the Cluniac or black monks
were far worse on the Continent than in England or
Wales. The reverse, however, he says, was true of the
Cistercians.2 It must not be forgotten, in judging the
value of Gerald's estimate of the monastic orders, that
his chief aversion, Peter de Leia, was a ' black-hooded
beast,' or, in other words, a monk of the Cluniac Order ;
that the seducer of the St. David's chapter from his side
during his contest with King and primate was another
monk, the Cistercian Abbot of Whitland ; and that he
had suffered much from the treachery of the infamous
William Wibert, the Cistercian Abbot of Bitlesden. The
monks of Strata Florida, too, another Cistercian founda
tion, had compelled him to sell his books to them when
he wanted money for a journey to Rome. He had put
his whole library, which he had been collecting from his
boyhood, under their care, and they had voluntarily
offered to lend him money upon it, but when the time
came for him to start, and he asked for the loan to be
paid, they pleaded that their 'Book of Uses' suffered
them to buy, but not to lend on security ; and so the
unfortunate archdeacon had, as he expresses it, to part
with his very bowels, and felt himself overreached as
well.3 Gerald was not the man to put these personal
injuries on one side, and form an impartial judgment
upon the general conduct of the monastic orders. He
admits that the conduct of the Abbot of Bitlesden had
1 'Itin. Kamb.,' i. 3: Op. vi. 44; 'Speculum Eccl.,' ii. 12: Op.
iv. 54.
2 'Spec. Eccl.,' ii. 6: Op. iv. 45. 3 Ibid., iii. 5 : Op. iv. 154, 155.
The New Monasteries 281
so affected him that as often as he repeated the Litany he
added a new clause, which he recommended to all his
friends : ' From the malice of the monks, and especially of
the Cistercians, good Lord, deliver us.'1 We get, there
fore, little but the darker traits of the monastic orders in
Gerald's picture, and those painted with all the skill and
vigour of a consummate artist.
The grosser abominations which we hear of seem to
have been especially rife in the cells. There was much
luxury in eating and drinking in the larger houses, as
Gerald found at Canterbury, where he was entertained
by the Prior of Christchurch at a dinner of sixteen
courses, with wines and various kinds of strong drink.
Beer, for which Kent was even then noted, was not
thought worthy of a place at so sumptuous a feast.2
Winebibbing was a common reproach against the monks;
' Golias the Bishop ' speaks of the abbots who ' joyously
chant Wesheil over and over again with their intimate
friends ' ;3 and Gerald tells a scandalous and probably
fictitious story of some nameless abbot who, all unwitting
of the quality of his royal guest, kept it up with Henry II.
with Pril and Wril into the small hours of the morning.
For in that particular abbey, which was Cistercian (and
Gerald hated the Cistercians), it was the custom to say
Pril and Wril, instead of the usual Wesheil and DrincheiL*
Stories like these doubtless had a certain amount of basis
in fact, for the original rule of St. Benedict put no great
restrictions upon food and drink, except in the matter of
flesh meat ; and the number of reformers who appeared
one after another to start modifications of his order with
stricter rules, proves that the tendency of each order in
turn was to grow laxer and laxer, and to become more
1 'Spec. Eccl.,' iii. 6: Op. iv. 160. 'A monachorum malitia,
maxima vero Cisterciensium, libera nos, Domine.'
2 * De Rebus a se Gestis,' ii. 5 ; ' Spec. Eccl./ ii. 4 : Op. iv. 41.
3 ' Goliae Versus de Praelatis ; ; ' Poems of Walter iMapes,' p. 45.
4 ' Spec. Eccl.,' iii. 13 : Op. iv. 213.
282 A History of the Welsh Church
and more conformed to the wicked world around. But
in the larger houses there was some semblance of disci
pline observed, and cases of general and flagrant immo
rality, such as was charged against the Cistercian Abbey
of Strata Marcella by Edward III.,1 were comparatively
rare. Matters were worse in the cells, which were de
pendent upon some mother abbey, and as most of the
monastic foundations in Wales were merely cells, and
some of them very small cells, it is not surprising that
Gerald finds much material for censure. Not unfre-
quently two or three monks only would be sent out to
a cell, and even in some cases one only, with the natural
result that, as they were without any supervision, they
did as they pleased, and, mixing more or less with the
secular world around them, lived as their neighbours did,
or even, as Gerald does not scruple to say, ' lived as
beasts.'2 Scandals consequently arose such as we read
of in connection with Llangenith, a little cell of some
two or three monks in Gower.3 In some of the more
remote cells the poor monks were forced to subsist on
the very meanest fare, very different from the plenty they
had enjoyed in their abbey; and yet, for all this, so sweet
was the liberty they enjoyed, that there was the greatest
desire on their part to be chosen to garrison these out
posts, and the greatest reluctance to quit them. Men
were wont to jeer at them on account of this reluctance,
and put some such words as these in their mouths : ' This
I will never do ; I would rather go down alive into hell ;
nay, sooner and more readily wrould I go back again to
the prison of my cloister.'4 But these lawless monks at
times not only brought down disgrace upon themselves
and their order, and upon the very name of monk, but
proved a pest and a danger to their neighbourhood.
Gerald tells us of a small party of this kind, some three
1 In letters addressed to the Abbots of Clairvaux and Citeaux.
2 Bestialiter. 'Spec. Ecci.,' ii. i : Op. iv. 35.
:J ' Spec. Eccl./ ii. i : Op. iv. 33. 4 Ibid.) p. 37.
T/ie New Monasteries 283
or four in number, whom Prince Rhys ap Gruffydd was
forced to eject and banish because of the frequent com
plaints brought to him by his people of outrages done to
their wives and daughters. So grievous and so frequent
were the wrongs they inflicted, that Rhys asserted to
Gerald that his townsmen had threatened to leave the
place altogether and retire into England if the plague
were not abated.1 Abominations such as these explain
the mediaeval play upon the words ' monk ' and ' de
moniac,'2 and go far to excuse the bitter speech of Walter
Mapes — ' There is no greater devil than a monk.'3 For
though people might perhaps consider these as excep
tional acts of wickedness, if they were confined to the
occupants of small cells, there were at times other cases
which gave their numerous enemies occasion for hinting
that all was not right in the larger houses, and that
gluttony and drunkenness were not the only sins which
they harboured. Recently public confidence had received
a severe shock through the grievous sin of Enoc, the
Cistercian Abbot of Strata Marcella, a man of good re
port among the people for discretion, strictness of life,
and religious zeal. He had been especially active in
founding nunneries in the various provinces of Wales,
until a scandal, which arose in connection with one of
these communities at Llansantfraed, in Elvaen, drove him
to throw aside the religious habit altogether, and return
to the world to live in sin.4
When the Cistercian Order was founded, early in the
twelfth century, men hoped that a better and purer era of
monasticism was dawning, and contemplated with respect
1 'Spec. Eccl.,' ii. 32: Op. iv. 100, 101.
; ' Quisque de monachofit dasmoniacus.' ' Poems of Walter Mapes,'
p. 1 8. See also note.
:! Ibid., p. 19. ' Est nullum monacho majus dasmonium.'
' Spec. Eccl.,' iii. 8 : Op. iv. 169 ; ' Gemma Eccl.,' Op. ii. 248.
He repented afterwards and returned to his monastery, according to
* Itin. Kamb.,' i. 5: Op. vi. 59.
284 A History of the Welsh Church
and veneration the simplicity and austerity of these new
monks. And in very truth, as their enemies allowed, for
some space of time before the fire of their love had grown
feeble, this respect and veneration were not misplaced.
Gerald, who loved them not as he saw them a hundred
years after their first establishment, draws a candid and a
pleasing picture of their early manners. They avoided
all superfluity in dress, shunned coloured garments, and
wore nothing but woollen. In cold weather they put on
them no furs or skins of any kind, and made no use of
fires or hot water. As was their clothing, so was their
food, plain and simple in the extreme, and they never ate
meat either in public or in private, except under pressure
of serious illness. They were conspicuous in charity and
given to hospitality ; their gate was shut against no one,
but stood open at morning, noon, and evening ; so that
in almsgiving they surpassed all other religious orders.
Moreover, seeking out the desert places of the wilderness
and shunning the haunts and noise of crowds, earning
their daily bread by the labour of their hands, and tilling
the waste solitudes, they brought before men's eyes the
primitive life and ancient rule of monastic religion — its
poverty, its spare diet, the meanness and roughness of its
dress, its abstinence and austerity in all things.1
Unfortunately this ideal was not long maintained, and
the distinctive vice of the order, its proverbial avarice,
brought it many enemies. How sharp was the contrast
between Cistercian profession and Cistercian practice
may be inferred from the bitter satire of ' a disciple of
Bishop Golias.' ' Rise,' he exclaims, ' my muse, from
sleep and silence and from the ease of torpor, and be
brief.' Then solemnly he draws, in much the same way
as Gerald, an ideal picture of Cistercian virtue. * The
glorious order adorns the world, it has come down from
heaven to overthrow utterly Babel and Wi of the Chal-
1 'Spec. Eccl.,' ii. 34: Op. iv. 113.
77/6' New Monasteries 285
daeans, and to destroy all slavery to idols. They are of
wondrous continence, of wondrous abstinence, enemies of
vainglory, enemies of vanity ; with cold and hunger they
afflict themselves, if so be they may thus enjoy the sight
of the Deity. Their outer dress is rude and mean ; their
food austere ; their bed neglected ; they are sparing of their
speech ; no order is more holy, none so perfect. They
despise things terrestrial for the sake of the future ; they
receive a hundredfold for their contempt of this world ;
they take by violence the kingdom of heaven ; the joys
of Paradise alone have savour for them. Good Jesu,
ruler of such monks, who art the judge of quick and
dead, make me, I pray Thee, their companion ; join me
with them in the festival of all saints/
Then, suddenly changing his tone, he places another
picture side by side with the ideal. They are a race
deservedly hated by all mankind; wolves in sheep's cloth
ing, full of deceit and given to plunder, exceeding rapa
cious and avaricious, studying in the basest manner to
get gain ; they are false prophets whose spare diet and
mean garments denote an avaricious heart ; they thirst
for nothing but the present world ; they reap where they
have not sown ; they have enriched themselves with the
penury of the poor ; they are Satan's bond-slaves, and ever
will be ; they ravage the world like a fell disease ; their
lusts are not checked by any laws of chastity, and among
all men there are none worse.1
1 ' Continentes minima possunt appellari,
sed rapaces maxima et nimis avari,
r.am student nequissime capere prasclari,
et horto rectissime possunt comparari.
' Tenuis refectio pseudo-prophetarum,
et vestis abjectio notat cor avarum ;
gerunt sub silentio animum amarum,
fucata religio nil valet aut parum.
' Nil nisi praesentia sitiunt aut quaerunt,
farsiunt marsupia, metunt qua^ non serunt,
pauperum penuria sese ditaverunt ;
Satanae mancipia sunt et semper erunt.
286 A History of the Welsh Church
The bitterness of the satire is excessive ; but its truth,
so far as the charge of avarice is concerned, is undeni
able. Perhaps its author, like his exemplar, Walter
Mapes, and like Gerald himself, had suffered from the
rapacity of the order. The other charges may perhaps
be dismissed as rash generalizations from occasional
instances. The number of monks was large ; and it
cannot be held strange if here and there one monk, or
even one abbey, was tainted with the moral corruptions
of an age in which, be it remembered, few indeed of the
secular laity were not involved in the guilt of mortal sin.
But the Cistercians had no cells — each abbey was a
separate community — so that they escaped the dangers
which from this cause beset the other branches of the
order of St. Benedict. Neither were they generally
wealthy, as were the Benedictines, and consequently they
had less temptations than that order to gluttony, wine-
bibbing, and the sins of luxury. Gerald complains that
they indulged themselves in eating and drinking in private,
but he gives little evidence in support of his accusation,1
and there is no reason to believe that it was generally
applicable. Even ' the disciple of Bishop Golias ' admits
that their diet was spare and their garments were mean,
and censures them only for avarice and unchastity. But
the poverty which protected them against the sins of
luxury rendered economy necessary in their monasteries,
and almost forced them to drive hard bargains and prac-
' Pestis animalium, quse shula vocatur,
et Cisterciensium quae sic dilatator :
duplex hoc contagium orbem populatur,
quod sit magis noxiurn prorsus ignoratur.
' Carent femoralibus partes turpiores,
Veneris ut usibus sint paratiores,
castitatis legibus absolutiores ;
in cunctis hominibus nulli sunt pejores.'
'Poems of William Mapes,' pp. 55-57.
1 'Spec. Eccl.,' iii. 13 : Op. iv. 208-219.
The New Monasteries 287
tise little dishonest tricks such as that whereby the monks
of Strata Florida annexed Gerald's books. The common
proverb of the countryside attested their current reputa
tion : ' They are bad neighbours, like the white monks.'1
Undoubtedly they had their good qualities, and these in
no mean degree ; they loved the beautiful in art and
nature; they abounded in deeds of charity and hospitality
even beyond all other monks ; the poor never went away
hungry from their gates, and the weary stranger was
never refused hospitality. The monks of all orders were
generally good landlords and popular with their tenants ;
they were liked by the common people and beloved by the
poor ; they were the benefactors of genius, and many a
clever son of a poor man rose by their patronage to a
position of power and influence ; they operated as a
democratic check upon a dominant aristocracy ; and in
an age of brute force and stupid oppression they kept
alive arts, science, and literature, and handed on the
torches of learning and of liberty to succeeding genera
tions. But they were hated by two classes — the clergy,
whom they robbed, and the landlords, who wanted to rob
them. These noted their vices, and longed for their fall ;
but when they fell the landlords took the spoil, whereas
the clergy were worse off than before, and as for the poor
— their lot was hard indeed.
One thing which eventually contributed to the fall of
the monasteries, but which at the time was the object
of their ambition, was their frequent exemption from
episcopal control and subjection to Rome only. This
made them in a way the first English Roman Catholics,
and the only communities that can be considered in any
way the precursors of the modern Italian schism. In
Wales, however, the only houses which claimed such
exemption were those of the Cistercians. Of all the
orders the Cistercian was the most favoured at Rome,
1 ' Spec. Eccl.,' iii. 12 : Op. iv. 207.
288 A History of the Welsh Church
partly because of its austerity, and partly, as Gerald
plainly says, because of the money which it expended in
promoting its causes before the curia. Whatever privi
leges it sought, it was for these reasons sure to obtain.
Pope Alexander III. was reported to have said that there
were three orders more beloved than the rest, which he
wished especially to protect and guard with privileges :
the Templars, the Hospitallers, and the Cistercians.1 As
such privileges were generally to the prejudice of the
secular clergy, the Cistercians had to bear a greater
burden of ill-will on the part of the clergy than the other
orders. But avarice was their besetting sin. Not only
did the Cistercians add field to field and oppress the less
powerful landowners around them, but they were espe
cially noted in Wales for seizing upon parish churches
and, if they saw fit, destroying the sacred buildings and
profaning the churchyards.'2 Actions such as these can
scarcely be excused by the plea which Gerald condescends
to consider, that as they had no revenues like other monks,
but lived only by the labour of their hands and by prudent
economy, it was needful for them to add to their estates
as much as possible, in order to have wherewith to feed
poor men and travellers.3
Gerald gives numerous instances of oppressive and
avaricious acts of Cistercian abbeys in Wales, some of
which will have to be noticed later on, and several of
which were practised towards other smaller houses. But
the great blot upon all the religious orders in Wales (as
indeed in England, but perhaps in a somewhat less
degree) was that which has been just indicated — the
oppression of the parochial clergy, whose tithes were
seized for their maintenance. How Tewkesbury Abbey
was founded out of the spoils of the parishes in the Vale
1 'Spec. Eccl.,' iii. 12: Op. iv. 205.
2 Ibid., iii. i : Op. iv. 136, 137.
3 Ibid.) iii., Introd. : Op. iv. 120.
The New Monasteries 289
of Glamorgan has been already stated. Gerald, in one
brief but trenchant chapter of his ' Speculum Ecclesiae/
indicates the various ways in which the parochial clergy
of Wales were defrauded of their just dues.
'The whole of the Welsh monasteries/ he says, ' are in
common involved in one and the same vice, which pro
ceeds from the root of wicked covetousness. For as they
were wont to seize the parishes of mother and baptismal
churches, and either wickedly mutilate them of the greater
part, or even wholly appropriate them, the parishioners
being expelled and the churches being empty, deserted, or
even thrown down and destroyed ; so also, to the great
loss and prejudice of churches and parsons, they presume
to carry off the bodies of the dead either by stealth or by
open violence, and to remove them for burial in their own
graveyards, without any respect, but rather with utter
contempt, for the rights of the churches whereof they had
been parishioners. For they send monks or brethren
through the parishes, whether distant or close at hand, as
spies, and wherever they find men of noble birth, or even
mean men, if only they have numerous herds and other
possessions (for they take no heed of the poor), forthwith
they enter their houses and preach to them, and promise
them the kingdom of heaven as by a sure pledge, however
great and grievous be the sins they have committed.
They never afterwards leave the house, but lie day and
night among the servants and the young women, without
regard to their order or to decency, until they carry the
masters away with them alive or dead. And what is more
dreadful and abominable, they bury without delay and
with all due rites in their graveyards men who have been
excommunicated by name by their bishops and laid under
an interdict for plunder, and who have never been ab
solved, in spite of the prohibitions and appeals of the
clergy and deans of the province.'1
1 ' Spec. Eccl.,' iii. 10 : Op. iv. 177, 178.
290 A History of the Welsh Church
The first of all the new orders to obtain a settlement in
Wales were the Benedictines, whose founder had conse
crated labour and taught the world that work was worship,
a strange and startling lesson to his age and to subse
quent ages. In making manual labour a principal part of
his discipline, Benedict agreed with Paulinus and Illtyd
and their fellows, but his rule in other respects was far less
austere than that of the Celtic monks. Its concessions
to the weakness of human nature and its general suita
bility to the age in which it was inaugurated caused it to
spread and wholly to supersede on the Continent the
Celtic rule of Columbanus. But the Celtic customs still
held their ground in Wales even down to the time of the
Norman invasion, although the older asceticism had for
the most part been forgotten, and perhaps not unfre-
quently the salt had. altogether lost its savour. It was in
the reign of William the Conqueror, and somewhere
before 1O7I,1 that William Fitzosberne, who held the
most southerly of the three border earldoms, that of
Hereford,2 gave to his Norman foundation of Corrneilles a
grant of land at Strigul, now called Chepstow, which he
had recently conquered from the Welsh, and where he
built himself a castle. This was the origin of the Bene
dictine Priory of Chepstow, which survived various
vicissitudes and was finally suppressed at the dissolution,
when it had three inmates and was valued at £32 per
annum. In Leland's time it was a cell to Bermondsey
Abbey.3
Another early Benedictine priory in Monmouthshire
was Abergavenny. This owed its foundation to the
Norman, Hamelyn Baladun, who occupied the district
and ousted its native owners. He gave lands at Aber-
1 Earl William was killed in that year,
2 The others were Cheshire and Shropshire.
3 Leland, 'Itin.,' v. 5 (2nd edition). 'The Celle of a Blake Monke
or two of Bermundsey by London was lately there suppressed.' Also
v. 12.
The New Monasteries 291:
gavenny to the Abbey of St. Vincent at Le Mans, and,
dying in the reign of William Rufus, was buried in the
priory which he had founded. William de Braose, a
treacherous monster, whose cruelty was only equalled by
his superstition, endowed the priory further a little later
with the tithes of his castle of Abergavenny, of bread,
wine, beer, and all manner of drink, and of flesh, fish,
salt, honey, wax, and tallow, etc., on condition that the
abbot and convent of the mother house of St. Vincent
should pray daily for the soul of King Henry, and also for
the souls of him, William, and of Matilda his wife.1 The
present fine parish church of Abergavenny was the chapel
of the old priory.
The alien Priory of Monmouth was founded by Wihenoc
de Monrnouth, who obtained the surrounding district after
the forfeiture of the estates of Roger, Earl of Hereford,
son and heir of Earl William, the founder of Chepstow.
Roger had taken a prominent part in the rebellion of
1074, and lost his estates in consequence. Wihenoc
founded the priory about 1095, 2 and built its church in his
castle of Monmouth, and gave it for ever to the monks of
St. Florence of Saumur, a Benedictine abbey in the
diocese of Angers.
Other Benedictine houses in Monmouthshire were
Goldcliff, at the mouth of the Usk ; Bassaleg, also near
the town of Newport on the west, and a nunnery at Usk.
The first of these was founded about 1113 by Robert de
Chandos, and was a cell to the illustrious Abbey of Bee, in
Normandy.3 It was eventually seized by the Crown as an
alien priory, and given to Eton College.4 Bassaleg was a
cell to Glastonbury, founded about mo by Robert de
Haya and his wife Gundreda, and was probably soon
1 Dugdale, ' Monasticon,' pp. 556-558; Leland, ' Itin.,' v. 12.
2 Charter in Dugdale, ' Monasticon,' p. 600.
3 Charter of Edward I. reciting the gift of Robert de Chandos, in
Dugdale's ' Monasticon,' p. 590.
4 Leland, 'Itin.,' v. 7.
292 A History of the Welsh Church
abandoned.1 Usk was a nunnery of five nuns, founded by
the De Clares."2
Close to the Welsh border in Herefordshire, and
anciently within the diocese of St. David's, was founded,
about noo, the Benedictine cell of Ewias Harold, which
was affiliated to the great Abbey of St. Peter's, Gloucester.
Its founder was Harold, Lord of Ewias, and son of Ralph,
Earl of Hereford. Ewias took its name of Ewias Harold
from him, and was thus distinguished from Ewias Lacy.
In 1358 it was found advisable, on account of poverty, to
remove the monks from this cell to the mother abbey at
Gloucester.
All the monasteries hitherto enumerated were founded,
as we have seen, by Normans, and were cells to some
English or foreign abbey. If we turn our glance away
from the border further westward in South Wales, we
shall find the same process going on. After the over
throw of Rhys ap Tewdwr, and the ensuing conquest of
South Wales by the Normans, similar cells were every
where planted in the subdued districts. It is unnecessary
to suppose that this was part of a deep-laid plan to
deprive the Welsh of their language and their national
ritual ; it was the fashion of the Normans so to do, and
they considered it to be part of their religious obligations.
So Bernard Newmarch, a little before noo, founded at
Brecon a cell to the Abbey of Battle ;3 Arnulph de Mont
gomery founded Monkton Priory, and affiliated it to St.
Martin's Abbey at Se'ez, in Normandy ; Maurice de
Londres founded what Gerald calls ' the little cell of
Ewenith,' or Ewenny, the fine church of which still holds
his tomb in a perfect state of preservation ;4 Roger, Bishop
of Salisbury, about 1130, founded Kidwelly Priory, a cell
to the Abbey of Sherborne ; Robert, Earl of Gloucester,
1 Charter in Clark's ' Cartas de Glamorgan,' i. 2.
2 ' On the River side a flite shot from the Caste).' ' Itin.,' v. 12.
3 Charter in Dugdale, ' Monasticon,' p. 320.
4 Charter in Clark's ' Cartae,' i. 14.
The New Monasteries 293
in 1147, established at Cardiff a cell to the grand founda
tion of Tewkesbury, which drew so much of its endow
ments from his estates ; Roger de Bellomont, Earl of
Warwick, founded in the reign of Stephen Llangenith
Priory1 in Gower, as a cell to the Abbey of St. Taurinus at
Evreux in Normandy ; a cell to St. Benoit-sur-Loire was
established at Llangwyn in 1183 ; and at an uncertain
date, but certainly before 1291, a cell to Chertsey was
established at Cardigan. These complete the long list of
Benedictine cells in South Wales, which contrasts in this
respect with North Wales, where there were scarcely any
foundations of this order, a circumstance due to the
longer duration of the power of the native princes.
Bardsey, which in the time of Gerald's journey in com
pany with Baldwin was inhabited by Culdees, became
afterwards the seat of a Benedictine foundation. The
earliest known deed in favour of this priory is dated 1252,
but the name of Laurence, ' an eloquent man, prior of
the Island of Saints,' is found as early as 1202. Glan-
nach, or Penmon, in Anglesey, was richly endowed and
perhaps founded in 1221 by Llywelyn ap lorwerth. But
the native princes, as a rule, were more favourable to the
Cistercians than to the Benedictines.
The Benedictines have left behind them in their
churches permanent memorials of their work in South
Wales. They were pretty generally used both for
parochial and monastic purposes, and, as a result, many
survived the dissolution, and have been handed down
to the present time. Among the most noticeable are
Brecon and Ewenny ; the former as the grandest and
most important of all ; the latter as ' the most perfect
specimen of an early Norman semi-ecclesiastical, semi-
defensive structure to be found throughout the princi-
c, L It was seized as an alien priory, and was afterwards given by
Henry VI. to All Souls' College, Oxford. Tanner's 'Notitia Monastica'
(1744), p. 714.
294 A History of the Welsh Church
pality.' Little Ewenny contrasts greatly with the noble
pile of Brecon, yet, standing as it does on a slight
elevation above the little river, it attracts attention by
its embattled tower and its military peculiarities, which
show that it was originally raised in the midst of a
hostile population as much to be a castle as a church.
Some portions have been destroyed, but what remains
has undergone little alteration since its original con
struction ; and the wall, which from the beginning has
separated the parochial and monastic churches, still
exists, a somewhat unsightly object, blocking up the
western arch under the central tower. There are few
windows ; * all is dark, solemn, almost cavernous ; it is,
indeed, a shrine for men who doubtless performed their
most solemn rites with fear and trembling, amid constant
expectation of hostile inroads.'1
St. John's Priory Church at Brecon, on the other
hand, is the glory of the fair town, which, for the
picturesque beauty of the surrounding scenery, is un
surpassed in Wales. Among Welsh churches, excluding
those in ruins, it comes third, if not second, for although
it must yield to the superior beauty of St. David's, its
grandeur is, at least to some minds, more impressive
than the loveliness of parts of Llandaff.2 The priory
was largely endowed, for Bernard Newmarch's followers
co-operated with him in making gifts to it, and after
wards it received gifts and charters from Roger, Earl
of Hereford, Mahel, Earl of Hereford, William de Braose,
Reginald de Braose, the Herberts, and Humphrey de
Bohun, Earl of Hereford.3 It owned some ten churches
in Breconshire, with Patingham in Staffordshire; Boden-
ham, Burchell, and the tithe of Bruneshope in Hereford-
1 See Mr. Freeman's paper in 'Archaeologia Cambrensis,' 1857 ;
also 'Arch. Camb.,' 1888, pp. 397-399.
2 It is fully described by Mr. Freeman in 'Arch. Camb.,' 1854,
pp. 150, 151, 164-179.
3 Dugdale, ' Monasticon./ pp. 321-323.
The New Monasteries 295
shire, and Hardington in Somerset. It had also an
interest in some other churches, but some of these gifts
were lost. Its connection with Battle was due to Bernard
Newmarch's confessor, Roger, who was a monk of that
abbey. Two priors of Brecon became abbots of Battle
in 1261 and in 1503 respectively.
The next order after the Benedictines to obtain a
footing in Wales was that of the Augustinian canons,
which was constituted in 1061 by Pope Alexander II.
A settlement of these canons was made at Llanthony,
in the unrivalled cloister1 of the Black Mountains, and
was endowed by Hugh de Laci. But, like Walter Savage
Landor in later times, the canons found Llanthony a
very unpleasant and unsafe residence, although Gerald,
in his love of asceticism, praises it as ' a situation truly
calculated for religion, and more adapted to canonical
discipline than all the monasteries of the British isle/
Even at the present day it is rather inaccessible, and
except in sunny weather ' the deep vale of Ewias,' grand
and romantic as it is, is calculated to inspire the visitor
with a feeling of awe. Here a few might live the hermit's
life, as St. David is said to have done in this valley,
and as two companions, William and Ernicius, were
living when Hugh de Laci founded the large Augustinian
house. But it was difficult for forty canons to get sub
sistence in so wild and rough a country, and conse
quently many of them after a few years were removed
to Hereford, of which see their former prior, Robert de
Betun, was bishop, from whence afterwards they removed
in 1136 to another Llanthony, which was founded near
Gloucester. But the original house was not forsaken,
and about I2OO2 there rose another magnificent church,
the ruins of which still add loveliness to the romantic
vale. It was proposed in the reign of Edward IV. to
1 So termed by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury. ' Itin. Kamb.,' i. 3.
2 See Mr. Freeman's paper in 'Arch. Camb.' for 1855, pp. 82-109.
296 A History of the Welsh Church
reduce the number of inmates to a prior and four canons,
and to make the house a cell of the Gloucestershire
Llanthony ; but it is doubtful whether this arrangement
was ever carried out.
There were other houses of this order in Wales at
Haverfordwest, Carmarthen, and Beddgelert. The first
of these was endowed largely by Robert de Haverford,
who may have been its founder. Ruins of it still exist.
The Carmarthen house received gifts from Bishop
Bernard and Peter de Leia. It was burned down in
1435. The Priory of Beddgelert seems to have suc
ceeded an older Celtic foundation, and was accounted,
next to Bardsey, * the oldest religious house in all Wales.'
It received benefactions from Llywelyn ap lorwerth,
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, and other Welsh princes.1
In 1120 Norbert, Archbishop of Magdeburg, founded
a reformed order of canons, who were called Premon-
stratensian, from their first home Premonstre, in Picardy,
or sometimes White Canons, from their habit, which was
white, and distinguished them from the older Augus-
tinians, who wore black. Their dress was a white
cassock, a rochet, a long white cloak, and a white cap.
From Premonstre they came to Liskes, a house in Nor
mandy, and thence, in 1143, they came to Newhouse, in
Lincolnshire. Subsequently Welbeck, in Nottingham
shire, was founded in 1153 by a colony from Newhouse,
and this became the chief house in the island. In
Wales, Talley in Carmarthenshire belonged to this
order,2 and was founded by Rhys ap Gruffydd some
time before 1196. The Premonstratensians, like the
1 Grant of Indulgence to the Convent of Beddgelert in ' H. and S.,'
i. 584.
2 This is the statement of Leland, to which Tanner assents. Dug-
dale thought it was Benedictine, and it is called Cistercian in a
Cambridge MS. But existing documents and the statements of
Gerald prove it was Premonstratensian. See an excellent history of
Talley Abbey by Mr. Edward Owen. 'Arch. Camb.' for 1893, pp.
29-47, 120-128, 226-237, 309-325.
The New Monasteries 297
Cistercians, in accordance with the preference of their
founder, St. Norbert, sought out wild and lonely spots
away from towns and near water, and Talley is situated
in just such a spot at the extremity of two connected
lakes, from which it gets its name, Tal-y-llychau (the
head of the lakes). The gifts to the abbey, which were
numerous, \vere confirmed by a charter of Edward III.,
which is extant, and sets forth in extenso an earlier charter
of Edward II.
Soon after its foundation, Talley suffered from the
greed of the Cistercians of Whitland. According to the
story told by Gerald, there was at that time at the head
of Whitland a young and raw abbot, who wished to
signalize himself, and to enlarge the possessions of his
abbey. Talley was then a poor and meanly endowed
house, and he marked it as his prey. Accordingly he
enticed to Whitland its abbot, with some of his canons
and brethren, and by various and artful flatteries and
bland and deceitful words he persuaded them to lay
aside their canonical habit and assume the cowl of the
monk. Then, going to the principal man of the province
and patron of Talley (by whom Gerald seems to mean
Prince Rhys ap Gruffydd, or his son), he by petition
and by bribery gained from him that he should expel
the canons, and establish there the Cistercian monks.
Accordingly the convent, with the brethren and servants,
were driven out one night by a band of armed men,
and the Abbot of Whitland and his monks took pos
session, and sang Salve Regina with a loud voice to a
lively and joyful tune. The unfortunate canons went to
England and laid their complaint before Archbishop
Hubert, who took up their cause, and restored them to
their house and their possessions. A long and vexatious
lawsuit followed, and after proceedings at Rome, and
before appointed judges in England, Whitland retained
a rich grange called Buthelan (or Ruthelan), which it
298 A History of the Welsh Church
had seized, and gave the canons of Talley in compensa
tion some other lands, together with a sum of money.1
' With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to
you again,' remarks Gerald at the conclusion of this
narrative, a moral which monastic ruins emphatically
endorse.
In 1215, Talley gave a bishop to St. David's in the
person of its abbot, Gervase, or lorwerth, who may per
haps have recommended himself for promotion by zeal
and ability in the contest with Whitland. His election
was regarded as a triumph of the national party in the
Church, as he was a pure Welshman by blood and
language, a fact which shows how the houses which were
founded by native princes and fostered by native support
threw in their lot with the national party. Gervase did
not forget his abbey, but during his episcopacy appro
priated to it the churches of Llandeilo Fawr and
Llanegwad. In after years Talley declined in morals, as
so many of the Welsh monasteries did. The Abbot of
Premonstre wrote to Edward I. to complain that the
' church of Thaleshen had, by the malice of its inmates,
been so turned into the brine of barrenness and dis
honesty, that there was no likelihood of its recovery to
the fruit of religion, unless the corrupt weeds ' were first
plucked out. He had commissioned the Abbots of New-
house and Halesowen to disperse the wicked, and gather
them into other churches of the order, and to let the
vineyard to other husbandmen.
We find that in 1285 Edward I., by a charter, placed
Talley under the jurisdiction of Welbeck, in order that the
various irregularities therein might be amended. Still
later, in 1391, a charter of Richard II. shows that the
revenues of the abbey had been much impaired, and that
1 'Spec. EccL,' Hi. 2 : Op. iv. 143-145. Buthelan in the text ought
probably to be Ruthelan, /.<?., Rhyddlan. Lampeter is divided between
the townships of Rhyddlan Ucha and Rhyddlan Issa.
The New Monasteries 299
matters were generally in a bad state, partly from bad
management on the part of the abbots, and partly from
the lawless condition of the neighbourhood. At the
dissolution the number of canons was eight only, includ
ing the abbot, Roderick Jones.
We have seen that houses of canons were but few in
Wales, whereas the houses belonging to the lay monastic
orders were exceedingly numerous. Besides those of the
Benedictines, which have been already enumerated, there
were many others belonging to the different orders which
sprang from the Benedictine stock ; for a desire for
greater austerity of life, and for more devotion to religion
than was shown by the Benedictines, led to the institu
tion of various reformed orders, which aimed higher,
though they did not always reach the mark. There were
the Cluniacs, founded by Odo, Abbot of Cluny, about
A.D. 912 ; there were the Grandmontines, who took their
name from Grandmont in the Limousin, and were
founded about 1076 by Stephen d'Auvergne ; there were
the Tironians, the foundation of Bernard d'Albeville, who
established them first at Tiron, in the diocese of Chartres,
in 1113; and there were the White Monks, or Cistercians,
who owed their origin to the zeal of the Englishman,
Stephen Harding, and who were originally divided into
Bernardins and the Grey Brothers of Sauvigny. All
these had houses in the Welsh dioceses.
The Cluniacs were not loved in England, and though
Gerald admits that they were better here than on the
Continent, he plainly shows that this was very slight
praise indeed, for, if his picture of the Continental Cluniacs
be at all accurate, it seems remarkable that they were
even tolerated. Much allowance, however, must be made
for his animus — Peter de Leia was a Cluniac — and for
his love of scandal. But the fact that the Cluniacs were
under the supervision of French houses, to which they
paid an annual rent, was not likely to commend them to
300 A History of the Welsh Church
the nation at large. It was not until 1332 that Cluniac
monks were even naturalized in this country. Their
first house in England was at Lewes, in Sussex, and was
established in 1078. In Wales they had cells at Malpas,
near Newport, in Monmouthshire, and at St. Clears, in
Carmarthenshire. There was also a cell in the Marches
at Clifford. Malpas was founded in the twelfth century
by Winewald de Badon, as a cell to Montacute, in
Somersetshire. It had two monks only. St. Clears is
not mentioned until 1291. It was a cell to St. Martin
des Champs, Paris, and had a prior and two monks.1 A
report of a visitation of Cluniac houses in 1279 states
that ' the Prior and his companion ' lived dishonourably
and incontinently, that the buildings were in an exceed
ingly bad state, and the revenues of the priory wasted.
In 1412 the house was reported to be in decent order so
far as was permitted by the condition of the country,
which was very bad. As an alien priory, St. Clears was
suppressed by Henry V., and in 1441 its revenues were
given to All Souls' College, Oxford."2
The only house of the Grandmontines was a cell at
Craswall, near Hay, within the ancient diocese of St.
David's. It was founded about 1216 by Walter de Lacy
for a prior and ten monks. It suffered the lot of the
other alien priories, and was given to Christ's College,
Cambridge. Gerald speaks favourably of this order in his
* Mirror of the Church.'
The Tironian Benedictines had in Wales Llandudoch,
or St. Dogmael's, Pill, and Caldey, all in Pembrokeshire.
These were the only monasteries of the order in England
and Wales. St. Dogmael's, which got its name from the
older monastery near which it stood, was founded by
Martin de Turribus, and completed by his son Robert.
Pill was founded by Adam de la Roche, and was at first a
cell to St. Dogmael's, but afterwards became independent.
1 Dugdale, ' Monasticon,' p. 1026. 2 Leland, * Itin.,' v. 13.
The New Monasteries
Caldey also became a cell to St. Dogmael's. But all these
monasteries seem afterwards to have forsaken the Tironian
order and to have become ordinary Benedictine houses.
The first Cistercians to come to Wales were the Grey
Brothers of Sauvigny, a colony from which abbey was
planted near Neath in 1130 by Richard de Granville and
his wife Constance.1 In the next year Walter de Clare
established at Tintern2 a body of Cistercians from
L'Aumone. A few years later, in 1143, Bishop Bernard
of St. David's performed one of the chief acts of his
notable episcopate by bringing Cistercians to Trefgarn, in
Daugleddau,3 whence they soon removed to Whitland,
of which house nearly all the later Welsh Cistercian
abbeys were daughters.4
Up to this date the native population of Wales had
remained wholly uninfluenced by the plantation of foreign
orders, except in so far as they may have aroused feelings
of antipathy as the allies of their invaders. But Bernard's
foundation of Whitland seems to have attracted their
interest, and before long their admiration. Here, on the
site of one of their ancient monasteries, they beheld men
who by their ascetic life recalled the memories of their
ancient saints, and by their deeds of charity, done alike
to Welshman and Norman, showed in a practical manner
their belief in the precepts of the Divine Master. These
men seemed to them very different from the monks of
Benedictine cells, who lived an easy and somewhat self-
indulgent life, secure in their distance from the dis-
1 ' Annales Cambrise,' p. 39, under 1130: ' Fundata est abbatia de
Neth.' See also Foundation Charter and two charters of confirmation
by King John (A.D. 1207-8) in Francis, 'Charters, etc., of Neath.'
Dugdale, ' Monasticon,' p. 719.
2 Dugdale, ' Monasticon,' p. 731, which contains a charter of William,
Earl Marshal, junior.
3 ' Annales Menevenses,' in Wharton's ' Anglia Sacra,' ii. 649.
4 ' Ome duo quidem sola matrici doinui de Albalonda ca?terarumque
fere cunctarum ordinis hujus matri per Walliam totam non subjiciuntur.'
'Spec. Eccl ,' iii. i : Op. iv. 129. Charter of King John is given by
Dugdale, ' Monasticon,' p. 884.
o
02 A History of the Welsh Church
ciplinary control of the abbot of the mother house in
England or France. The Benedictines, too, lived in the
towns where the English garrisons dwelt, and beneath the
protection of the Norman castles, and mixed but little
with the native population, whereas the Cistercians lived
remote from garrisons and castles, and in the wildest
parts of the country beside the rivers, raised the lofty
fanes which even in desolation and decay excite the
wonder and admiration of later ages by their loveliness,
and in their fresh beauty doubtless stirred the feelings of
a race that has ever loved the beautiful. Whitland, the
home of Paulinus and David ; Tintern, where Tewdrig
the martyr had lived as a hermit and died a patriot ; the
vale of Neath, the sacred retreat of Cadoc ; Margam, an
ancient "home of Celtic piety, were already hallowed to
the Celtic race by old associations, and the order that
inhabited anew these ancient sanctuaries, that put not its
trust in princes or foreign conquerors, but ministered to
the poor Welsh rustics among whom it dwelt, enlisted in
its favour the sympathies of the native population and the
patronage of the native princes.
Cwmhir, in Radnorshire, situated in a lovely and lonely
valley, was founded, very soon after the establishment of
Whitland, by Cadwallon ap Madoc, the owner of the
district, and settled by a colony from Whitland.1 It
received also at a later date large endowments from his
son Howel, and grandson Meredith ap Maelgwn, and
from his brother Einion Clyd, as well as from the
Norman, Roger Mortimer. A few years later, in 1164, as
the Welsh Chronicle relates, ' by the permission of God
and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, a convent of
monks came first to Ystrad Fflur,'2 which is better known
by its Latin name of Strata Florida. This was ' first
1 Dugdale, ' Monasticon,' p. 825 (with charters from Llywelyn ap
lorwerth and Henry III.).
2 'Brut y Tywysogion,' p. 202.
The New Monasteries 303
founded,' according to Gerald, ' by a noble man, Robert
Fitz-Stephen,' and afterwards richly endowed by the
Welsh prince, Rhys ap Gruffydd,1 who, as we have seen,
was the founder of the Premonstratensian Abbey of
Talley, and who was also a benefactor to Whitland and
founder of a Cistercian nunnery. It is worthy of notice
that Talley was an abbey, not a cell, and therefore under
stricter discipline than the Welsh Benedictine priories,
and that it belonged to a reformed and austere order, and
one that chose out the desolate places of the wilderness
to be its homes. In all these respects Talley resembled
the Cistercian houses, and it is easy, therefore, to infer
what were the particular monastic features that attracted
the Welsh. The movement was now fast becoming a
national one, for in 1170 we find the patriotic prince and
bard, Owain Cyfeiliog, founding and endowing the Mont
gomeryshire abbey of Ystrad Marchell, or Strata Mar-
cella. In 1186 a colony from Strata Florida was settled
at Aberconway,2 an abbey which was largely endowed by
Llywelyn ap lorwerth, who was buried there ; Cymmer
1 ' Spec. Eccl.,' iii. 5: Op. iv. 152 : ' Erat autem domus monialium
pauperum in dextralis Wallise parte superior! sita, a Reso Griffini filio
principe regionis illius suis nostrisque diebus egregio fundata, et prasdiis
ac pascuis, quibus vivere juxta modulum suum Deoque servire poterant,
caritative dotata. Erat et domus Cisterciensis ordinis opima sub mon-
tanis Elennith, anobiliviro Roberto Stephani filio in pascuis pinguibus
et amplis primum fundata, nee propinqua tamer) priori quinimmo
remota. Sed postmodum a dicto principe terris fertilibus et grangiis
plurimis abunde ditata, adeo quidem ut tempore procedente, cunctis
domibus ordinis ejusdem Wallias totius armentis et equitiis, pecoribus
ac pecudibus, et opulentiis ex his provenientibus, longe copiosius esset
locupletata.' This Cistercian house is the same as that to which
Gerald pledged his books, and must be Strata Florida. If his state
ment be accepted, this settles the question as to who was the founder
of Strata Florida, and disposes alike of the claims of Rhys ap Tewdvvr
and Rhys ap Gruffydd. For other opinions see Mr. Stephen W.
Williams' valuable monograph on 'The Cistercian Abbey of Strata
Florida,' and papers by Mr. S. W. Williams and Mr. Willis-Bund in
' Arch. Camb.' for 1889, pp. 5-23. The Charter of Rhys ap Gruffydd
(Dugdale, ' Monasticon,' p. 893) states that he began to build the
abbey, loved and cherished it when built, increased its property and
augmented its estates.
2 Charter of Llywelyn ap lorwerth inDugdale's 'Monasticon,' p. 918.
304 A History of the Welsh Church
was settled by a colony from Cwmhir in 1198; and in
1200 the lovely valley of the Dee received the added
loveliness which its rivals, Conway and Mawddach, had
worn before, for in that year, as the Welsh Chronicle
relates, * Madoc, the son of Gruffydd Maelor, founded the
monastery of Llanegwestl near the old cross in lal,'1 or,
to use the more familiar names, the monastery of Valle
Crucis near Eliseg's pillar. There was also a Cistercian
nunnery in North Wales, at Llanllugan in Montgomery
shire, which received a grant of tithes in 1239 from a
Bishop of St. Asaph, and in Leland's time was ' a very poor
little nunnery.' Leland tells us also that Clynog Fawr,
the old seat of St. Beuno's monastery, was made a
monastery of White Monks, which, however, was sup
pressed t many yeres ' before his time.
Meanwhile, in South Whales the Cistercian movement
had been progressing under Norman auspices. Robert of
Gloucester, in 1147, founded what Gerald calls ' the noble
Cistercian monastery' of Margam, which he admired both
for its beauty and for the renown of its charitable deeds.
Another abbey was founded in the same year at Dore, in
Herefordshire, by Robert, youngest son of Harold, the
Lord of Ewias.2 In 1226 John of Monmouth founded
the Abbey of Grace Dieu.3 It was utterly destroyed by
the Welsh in a very short time, but was refounded by the
same benefactor in 1236 in a different place.4 A few ruins
still remain about two miles from Monmouth, and a farm
called Parker's Due preserves a distorted reminiscence of
the name. Caerleon and Llantarnam in the same county
were also Cistercian houses. Llanllyr in Cardiganshire
was a Cistercian nunnery and a cell of Strata Florida.
One monastery in North Wales, that of Basingwerk, must
1 ' Brut y Tywysogion,' p. 256. Charter of Madoc in Dugdale,
' Monasticon/ p. 895, where it is confused with Strata Marcella.
2 Uugdale, * Monasticon,' p. 862.
3 'Annales de Waverleia,' A.D. 1226 ('Annales Monastici,' ii. 302).
4 Ibid.) A.D. 1236 ('Annales Monastici,' ii. 317).
The New Monasteries 305
be added to the list of Norman foundations. About 1131
Ralph, second Earl of Chester, who is sometimes ac
counted the founder,1 gave benefactions to Basingwerk,
but when Archbishop Baldwin and Gerald lodged here in
1188 it was still merely ' a little cell.' The position of the
abbey on rising ground in the immediate vicinity of a
castle seems to indicate that it was not originally a
Cistercian settlement, and it is not improbable that the
order came here very early in the thirteenth century, at
which date, as is indicated by the architecture of its ruins,
the present Cistercian abbey was raised, not by Welsh
men, but by the English.2
Though some of the Cistercian abbeys of Wales must
have been exceedingly beautiful in themselves, as well as
in their surroundings of hills, valleys, and streams,
neither they nor any other of the Welsh monasteries
can be compared to the great English monasteries in
wealth or extent of buildings. Two only, Tintern and
Valle Crucis, possessed at the dissolution a yearly in
come of over £200, and even these are doubtful. Their
estates in some cases were extensive, but the land was
frequently poor and unproductive. This comparative
poverty of the Welsh houses offered temptations to the
vice of avarice, to which they were so generally subject.
Gerald relates other cases besides the oppression of
Talley by Whitland, and of the Snowdon house by
Aberconway. Two neighbouring Cistercian houses near
the coast of South Wrales, possibly Margam and Neath,
had a very long and bitter dispute about their boundaries,
for the richer was ever seeking to rob and harass its
poorer sister. Finally, however, a monk of the poorer
house gathered a band of Welshmen, and organized a
raid upon the lands of the oppressors, and having
1 ; Dugdale, ' Monasticon ' (p. 720), gives a charter of Henry II.,
confirming the grants of Ralph, Earl of Chester. There are charters
also of Llywelyn ap lorwerth and David to this abbey.
2 'Arch. Camb.' for 1891, pp. 126-134.
2O
;o6 A History of the Welsh Church
thoroughly routed them and their allies (for they also
had hired a party of Welshmen), he carried off a
quantity of spoil to the mountains. This exercise of
what Gerald calls ' Welsh law,' wonderful to relate,
restored peace between the rival houses, and thence
forward they managed to live in tolerable concord.1
Cwmhir and Strata Marcella had a similar dispute re
specting rights of pasturage, but in this case ' Welsh
law' does not appear to have been called into requisi
tion, for the matter was settled in 1226 by a compromise.
Gerald mentions also a case in which a Welsh nunnery,
founded in South Wales by Rhys ap Gruffydd, was
oppressed by Strata Florida.2
In spite, however, of the comparative poverty of Welsh
abbeys, the Cistercians had some very fine churches.
That which was planned on the largest scale, Cwmhir,
was never finished. Leland says of it that no Welsh
church ' is seene of such lenght, as the fundation of
walles ther begon doth show ; but the third part of this
worke was never finischid.' Only the nave was completed,
and this was 242 feet in length, the longest in Wales ;
the next, the nave of Strata Marcella, being only 201
feet. Strata Florida comes third with 132^ feet. The
total length of Strata Marcella was 273 feet, and of
Strata Florida 213. The length of the nave of Neath,
which Leland considered ' the fairest abbay of al Wales,'3
and the beauty of which is celebrated by Lewis Morganwg,
the bard, was no feet.
1 ' Spec. Eccl.,' iii. i : Op. iv. 129-133.
- Ibid., iii. 5 : Op. iv. 153.
3 * Itin.,' v. 13.
CHAPTER XL
THE AGE OF THE TWO LLYWELYNS.
THE period of Welsh history which comprises the reigns
of the two Llywelyns (1194-1282) is one of national
glory and of literary brilliancy, but of grievous trouble to
the Welsh Church. This was in part due to the opposing
elements of which that Church was now composed.
There was the old Welsh stock, generally conservative
of old customs and even abuses, and there was ' the
English plantation/ which had great power in the
southern dioceses, and was favourable to modern usages
and reforms. There were, again, the Benedictines, who
were generally English in nationality and sympathies,
and there were their rivals the Cistercians, who, in no
small degree, leaned upon the support of the native
princes, and threw in their lot with the native population.
Both of these orders were objects of dislike to the
secular clergy, whether native or English ; yet clergy
and monks were united in a common jealousy of the
new missionary organizations of the friars. The Church,
therefore, was a house divided against itself, and, so far
as by its leaders it mixed in the life-and-death struggle
of Welsh independence, it played an inglorious part.
But even had it been united it could have done little,
since it was under the yoke of the Papal See, which
first encouraged and then repressed the assertors of
Welsh freedom, gambling away for its own selfish ends
308 A History of the Welsh Church
the lives and liberties of Welshmen. But though the
Church at this time did little for Wales, or for the
general weal of either nation (so far, at least, as con
cerned their political condition), it suffered grievously
alike from English and Welsh, according to the fortune
of war.
King John had attempted to propitiate Llywelyn ap
lorwerth by giving him his daughter in marriage ; but
this had but little influence upon the conduct and policy
of that ambitious and able prince, who, although recog
nised by the English as ' Prince of Aberffraw, and Lord
of Snowdon only,' aspired to the higher dignity of
Prince of an united and independent Wales. Gwen-
wynwyn of Powys, who at first resisted his power, was
forced to submit, and all the princes of Wales, hitherto
so restive and jealous of any semblance of superior
authority, found it expedient to acknowledge Llywelyn
as their lord paramount. John soon discovered that his
son-in-law would not be a very obedient vassal, and was
provoked to reprisals. In 121 11 he made an attack upon
Wales, in consequence of what the Welsh Chronicle
calls Llywelyn's ' cruel attacks upon the English.' He
laid siege to Deganwy Castle, at the mouth of the Con-
way ; but his army was reduced to great straits for lack
•of provisions, so that ' an egg was sold for a penny half
penny, and it was a delicious feast to them to get horse
flesh.' In consequence of this John retired, but returned
in August and burned Bangor, and ' Robert, Bishop of
Bangor, was seized in his church, and was afterwards
ransomed for two hundred hawks.' Llywelyn made
peace, and gave hostages and cattle and horses, and
.gave also ' the midland district2 to the King for ever.'
But the next year Llywelyn reconquered all that he had
1 A.D. 1210 in ' Brut y Tywysogion,' pp. 266-271. But ' Annales
Cambrias,3 p. 67, gives 1211 as the date.
2 Perfeddwlad, the country between Dee and Conway.
The Age of the Two Llywelyns 309
lost, and, as the Chronicle records, Pope Innocent
removed the interdict from the dominions of Llywelyn
ap lorwerth, and Gwenwynwyn, and Maelgwn ap Rhys,
and ' commanded them for the pardon of their sins to
give a sincere pledge of warring against the iniquity of
the King,' an order which forthwith they joyfully obeyed.
In 1215 the Welsh princes combined with the barons
and overran South Wales, capturing the castles of Sen-
ghenydd, Kidwelly, Carmarthen, Llanstephan, St. Clears,
Llaugharne, Newport (Pembrokeshire), Cardigan, and
Cilgerran.J It is not strange that at a time of such con
fusion the chapter of St. David's declined to accept Hugh
Foliot, John's nominee, as their bishop, and elected a
thorough Welshman, lorwerth, Abbot of Talley, whom
the King ultimately accepted.2 But the canons attended
at London, and again at Rochester, for the election, and
the Abbot of Talley was consecrated by the Archbishop
of Canterbury, June 21, 1215. 3 At the same time was
consecrated also Cadwgan, Abbot of Whitland, whom
John had nominated to the See of Bangor, as the see
was vacant through the death of Robert. It is rather
curious that Llywelyn should have permitted this nomi
nation, but perhaps, as the Pope had now taken John
under his protection, he did not care to bring down the
wrath of Rome too severely upon his head. It is notice
able also that John could not venture to nominate an
Englishman.
The tyranny of English kings was now succeeded by
1 ' Brut y Tywysogion ' (Rolls ed.), p. 288.
2 Geoffrey had died in the previous year. ' Annales Cambriae,' p. 72.
' Galfridus Menevensis episcopus obiit, cui successit Gervasius : conse-
cratus est Gervasius Menevensis episcopus.' So MS. C. under 1214.
But Gervase, or lorwerth, was really consecrated in 1215 ('Brut y
Tywysogion,' p. 284).
3 Bishop lorwerth mediated in 1216 or 1217 between Llywelyn ap
lorwerth and the people of Ros. 'Brut y Tywysogion,' A.D. 1217,
p. 301; 'Annales Camb.,' A.D. 1216, p. 72. The latter authority is
angry with lorwerth, or Gervasius, as it calls him : ' Wallensibus magis
nocuit quam profuit.'
3 1 o A History of the Welsh Church
Papal tyranny. In 1215 Llywelyn was excommunicated.
In the following year Wales was placed under an inter
dict by the Papal Legate Gualo, ' for holding with the
barons ' against the young King Henry, but this was
taken off in 1217 or 1218. x However, in 1219 Pandulph,
the Papal Legate, invaded the privileges of the Welsh
Church by issuing a ' provision ' for the See of Llandaff,
on the death of Henry, its bishop. William, Prior of
Goldcliff, was the clergyman thus appointed.2 In 1223
Pope Honorius III. ordered the Archbishop of York to
excommunicate Llywelyn and place his lands under an
interdict. The Bull enumerates five occasions on which
Llywelyn, ' styled Prince of North Wales,' had sworn
to be faithful to the crown of England, and orders that,
inasmuch as he was accustomed to prevarication and
ready to deceive, the archbishop and his suffragans should
place the lands of the prince and his supporters under
the strictest interdict, ' so that besides baptism, penance,
and extreme unction, all the sacraments of the Church
should be there denied, and the bodies of the dead
should not receive Church burial.' If this punishment
did not bring the offenders to their senses, the arch
bishop and his suffragans were further ordered, at the
expiration of six months from the publication of this
interdict, to absolve Llywelyn's subjects from their
allegiance.3 Again, in 1231, a council was held at
Oxford, to which the bishops of the province of Canter
bury, and among them the Bishops of St. David's and
Llandaff, were summoned, and by this Llywelyn was
excommunicated as ' a violator of churches.'
' One thousand, two hundred and forty was the year of
Christ,' says the Welsh chronicler, ' when Llywelyn ap
lorwerth, Prince of Wales, died — the man whose good
1 ' Brut y Tywysogion.'
2 Browne Willis, ' Landaff,' Appendix, pp. 113, 114.
3 Rymer, ' Fcedera,' i. i, 180 (ed. of 1816), where it is placed under
1225 ; H. and S., i. 459-461, where the date is corrected.
The Age of the Two Llywelyns
works it would be difficult to enumerate — and was buried
at Aberconway, after taking the habit of religion.'1 Rarely
has Wales had such a leader as Llywelyn, who has been
worthily styled ' the Great.' Disunion is the besetting
sin of the Celtic race, and Wales has not been without
its share of this quality. But Llywelyn, by his force of
character and his prowess in arms, united for once the
hitherto divided and weakened forces of Wales into one
powerful body, and thereby exposed English supremacy
to imminent danger of extinction. ' Destroy England
and plunder its multitudes/ is the exhortation which one
of his bards2 addresses to him, and the advice was
followed so far as the English towns of South Wales
were concerned, for there were few, or none, that felt not
the power of the allied armies under his command. But
his abilities were not confined to leadership or to war.
Not only ' did he rule his foes with shield and spear,' and
extend his boundaries by warlike achievements, he also
'gave food and clothing to Christ's poor,' he 'bestowed
justice on all according to their merits, with the love and
fear of God ;' he ' bound all men to himself by love,' and
he ' kept peace for the monks.'3 The bards who thronged
his court and flourished under his protection extolled
him not only as the protector of his country, the generous
maintainer of bards, the joy of armies, and a lion in
danger, but withal as ' a tender-hearted prince, wise,
witty, and ingenious.'4 His wisdom was especially
manifested by his willingness to receive under his care
and foster by his protection all the movements and
agencies of his day which seemed most to make for
righteousness. He gave large endowments to the Cister
cian Abbey of Aberconway, though a narrow-minded
Welshman might have organized the total expulsion of
the Latin orders, and he chose this abbey as his burial-
' Brut y Tywysogion,' p. 327. '2 Elidir Sais.
•' ' Annaies Cambrise,' pp. 82, 83. 4 Eineon ap Gwgan.
312 A History of the Welsh Church
place, where he was laid in his grave in the habit of a
monk. He was also a patron of the friars, for he founded
the friary of Llanfaes in Anglesey in memory of his wife,
Joan. But this was not all ; he endowed the Benedic
tines of Penmon, although, as a general rule, the Bene
dictine Order was more closely attached to his opponents,
for most of the English monastic houses in South Wales
were Benedictine. Owau: Glyndwr would not have done
the like. As a good Welshman and a good Churchman
he strongly supported Gerald de Barri in his attempt to
maintain the cause of the chapter of St. David's, offering
to give double to any of the clergy who suffered losses
from the English in the patriotic cause, and a settlement
in his dominions to any who were exiled. The Welsh
element in the National Church of Wales undoubtedly
derived great support from his victories, and the English
element was correspondingly depressed ; but it is certainly
noteworthy that so gallant a supporter of the Welsh cause
was so broad-minded in his sympathies. The interests of
the Welsh Church might have been safely left in the hands
of so enlightened a ruler as Llywelyn the Great.
His favourite son, David, who inherited his dominions,
was a very inferior man in abilities and character, and
Wales under his rule very speedily lost the position that
Llywelyn had gained for it. He was the younger son,
and, in defiance of a solemn compact, kept his elder
brother, Gruffydd, in prison. Richard, Bishop of Bangor,
interfered on behalf of Gruffydd, and excommunicated
David, and in consequence found it advisable to quit
Wales. Gruffydd was wholly a Welshman, by both
parents, whereas David had Angevin blood on the
side of his mother, who was Joan, the daughter of King
John ; but this relationship to the English royal family
did not prevent the interference of Henry III., who
demanded that David should give up his brother into his
hands. In 1241, says the ' Annals/ ' the King of England
The Age of the Two Llywelyns 313
subdued all the Welsh to himself.'1 David was forced to
surrender Gruffydd, and to acknowledge the supremacy of
the King of England. His submission was guaranteed by
the Bishops of Bangor and St. Asaph, who bound them
selves to carry out to the full any sentence of excom
munication or interdict which might be published in the
event of David's failure to keep to his obligations.2 The
unfortunate Gruffydd soon after perished in an attempt to
escape from the Tower of London by letting himself down
by a rope. ' The rope breaking, he fell and broke his
neck.'3 As for David, he found the English yoke so op
pressive that he attempted, in 1244, to secure the protec
tion of Rome, by offering Pope Innocent IV. to hold his
principality in immediate dependence upon the Papal See,
a desperate proposal, which clearly indicates the prince's
utter incapacity for government. He sent messengers to
the Pope for this object, and promised to pay him annu
ally five hundred marks. David's arguments, backed up
by the expenditure of a large sum of money, procured the
appointment by the Pope of the Abbots of Aberconway
and Cyrnmer to investigate the matter.
Armed with the Pope's mandate, the two abbots
summoned King Henry to appear before them at
Caerwys, on January 20, 1245, that they might carry out
the prescribed inquiry. This, however, enraged the
King and his barons, and they refused compliance with
the impudent order, and only hurried on the more their
preparations against Wales. Innocent soon found it
expedient to recall his commission, and issued a some
what apologetic mandate to the Bishops of Ely and
Carlisle to reverse the abbots' proceedings ;4 but, as
Matthew Paris sarcastically notices, he kept David's
1 'Annales Cambriae/ p. 83.
2 Rymer, ' Fcedera,' i. I, 242, 243. (Caley and Holbrooke.)
' Brut y Tywysogion,' p. 330. under A.D. 1244.
4 Rymer, ' Foedera,3 i. i, 255. Dated April 8, 1244.^
314 -^ History of the We Is It Church
money, nevertheless. David was excommunicated at the
end of the year ;T and, in March 1246, he died at Aber,
and was buried with his father at Aberconway.'2
A graphic picture of the state of Wales and its Church
at this disastrous time is presented to us in the pages of
Matthew Paris. ' Wales,' he says, ' was hard pressed in
these days ; for tillage, commerce, and the pastoral care
of flocks ceased ; and they began to be consumed by
hunger, and were (all unwillingly) bowed beneath the
laws of the English. Their ancient, proud nobility
withered away, and even the harp of the men of the
Church was turned to mourning and lamentation. So
the Bishop of Menevia, that is, of St. David's, died,
wasting away from grief. William, Bishop of Llandaff,
is stricken with blindness. The Bishop of St. Asaph, and
the Bishop of Bangor, their sees destroyed by fire and
sword, were compelled to beg, so as to live on alms.'
Gerald has given us copious materials respecting the
Bishops of St. David's who held the see during his life
time, but we know comparatively little of the bishops of
other sees during the period we have been considering,
so that the glimpse which Matthew Paris affords us of
the Welsh bishops in 1247 ^s full °f interest. The un
fortunate Bishop of St. David's whose death he mentions
at that date was Anselm, surnamed Le Gras,3 who had
succeeded lorwerth after a short interval. William of
Llandaff was William de Burgh, who died in 1253, after
having suffered blindness for seven years, which cover
nearly all the period of his episcopacy, for- he was conse
crated in February, 1245. Immediately after his appoint
ment he was excused attendance at the Council of Lyons
by Pope Innocent IV. on the ground that he was
* stripped of all the property of his bishopric by the
1 Rymer, 'Foedera,' i. i, 258 ; H. and S., i. 472.
2 ' Annales Cambria:,' p. 85 ; 'Brut y Tywysogion,' p. 332.
3 ' Anseul Vras.' ' Brut y Tywysogion,' p. 332.
The Age of the Two Llywelyns 3 1 5
King's enemies.'1 He had previously been chaplain to
Henry III.
There had been three bishops between him and
William of Saltmarsh, the first Norman Bishop of Llan-
daff. These were Henry, Prior of Abergavenny, William,
Prior of Goldcliff, and Elias de Radnor. The first-
named divided the lands of the bishop and chapter,
which had never been divided before, and assigned
prebends to fourteen canons.2 He died in 1218. 3 In the
next year the Prior of Goldcliff was consecrated at
Canterbury.4 The troubled condition of the diocese in
his time may be inferred from the short and scanty
notices of the Annalist of the Glamorganshire Abbey of
Margam, who relates ravages committed by the Welsh on
the possessions of his abbey, and the neighbouring abbey
of Neath, and the burning in the year 1226 of the
Glamorganshire towns of St. Nicholas, Newcastle and
Laleston.5 The bishop died in 1229.° Elias de Radnor,
treasurer of Hereford, was elected in the next year,7 and
was consecrated on Advent Sunday at Merton, in spite of
the opposition of the monks of Canterbury, who asserted
that he ought to have been consecrated at Canterbury.8
The Annalist of Margam relates various disasters suffered
by South Wales about this time, especially how, in 1231,
Llywelyn captured Brecon and burned it, but could not
1 Rymer, ' Fcedera,' i. i, 259.
2 'Ad illius usque tempora prassulatus, Episcopalia, et Capitularia
praedia indiscreta permansere. Ouatuordecim Canonicis hie primus
prasbendas assignavit ; et Capitulo elargitus quas nunc possidet ; cactera
sibi successoribusque retinuit.' Godwin, 'De Praesulibus,' p. 605
(Richardson's ed.).
3 ' Annales de Margan ' (' Annales Monastic!,' i. 33).
4 Ibid., i. 33 ; ' Annales de Theokesberia,' in ' Annales Monastic]/
i. 64.
' Annales de Margan ; ('Annales Monastic!/ i. 34, 35).
6 ' Hoc anno obiit Willelmus Landavensis episcopus v. kal. Februarii
"Annales de Margan" (u A. M.," i. 37), "Annales de Theokesberia"
("A. M./M.73).'
7 'Annales de Margan' (kA. M.,' i. 38).
8 ' Annales de Theokesberia ' (' A. M./ i. 77).
o
6 A History of the Welsh Church
take the castle ; afterwards, coming farther south, he
burned Caerleon and its church, but there also failed to
take the castle. He succeeded, however, in capturing
Neath Castle, and forced the Abbey of Margam to pay
him sixty marks of silver.1 The Annalist of Tewkesbury
relates a curious and instructive story respecting the
church of Llanblethian, near Cowlridge, which illustrates
the unsettled character of the times. The Abbey of
Tewkesbury claimed the church, and Bishop Elias, in
1231, allowed the claim, whereupon a monk was sent to
take seisin. However, when he came, he found that
Ralph Mailok, who held the church and had withstood
the claim of the abbey, had caused the key to be carried
off to the mountains. The monk consequently ' took
what seisin he could, namely, the door of the church,'
and appealed on behalf of the privileges of his monastery,
whereupon he was himself carried off to the mountains,
and kept a prisoner for three days. Bishop Elias inter
fered, and excommunicated the offenders, and sent his
sentence up to Hubert de Burgh, the justiciary; and
Abbot Peter, of Tewkesbury, also excommunicated the
leader of the outrage, one John Grant.2
Squabbles of this kind between the abbey and the
Welsh were not unfrequent ; only the year before there
had been a difficulty about Llantwit Major, where,
according to the Welsh custom, the people desired the
appointment of the brother' of the late holder of the
benefice.3 After the death of Elias de Radnor in 1240,*
the see remained vacant for some years, in consequence
of a dispute between the King and the chapter. The
latter elected Maurice, Archdeacon of Llandaff,5 but the
1 ' Annales de Margan' ('A. M.,' i. 38, 39).
- 'Annales de Theokesberia ' ('A. M.,' i. 80, 81).
•! Ibid., p. 75. Landirwit is the name mentioned, supposed by the
editor, with good reason, to be Llantwit Major.
4 Ibid., p. 114.
;' Ibid., p. 116, under date A.D. 1140.
The Age of the Two Llywelyns 317
King quashed the election, probably becaus * he was a
Welshman.1 During this vacancy, difficulties again
arose about Llanblethian. The Archdeacon of Llandaff
nominated one Thomas of Penarth as vicar, but the
Abbot of Tewkesbury forced him to resign, and receive a
fresh appointment from himself.2 One Roger Meylok
also, who was probably of the same family as Ralph
Mailok before-mentioned, gave trouble about the church,
carrying off the corn, and threatening to ravage the
possessions of Tewkesbury, both in England and Wales,
so that the abbot found it advisable to buy him off
by paying him twelve marks annually, until he could
provide him with some benefice either in England or
Wales.3
The troublous nature of the times in Wales and the
borders is further indicated by the statement that, in
1231, the Prior of Leominster paid a large sum of money
to Llywelyn to buy peace from him.4 The confusion in
the diocese of Llandaff was further augmented at times
by the conflicting claims of the Crown and of the De
Clares as lords of Glamorgan. During the vacancy of
the see after the death of Elias de Radnor, Maurice, the
Archdeacon of Llandaff, died, and Richard de Clare
appointed in his stead one Ralph of Newcastle. The
chapter was divided in opinion as to the appointment,
which had been made when the King was away from
England, and finally another archdeacon was appointed
by royal authority, and Ralph was forced to yield — ' being
unwilling to open a controversy on account of his lord,
1 Maurice probably is Meurig. Browne Willis (' Survey of Landaff,
p. 49) inserts a William de Christchurch between Elias de Radnor and
William de Burgh. His name is not mentioned in the list in the ' Book
of Llan Dav,' and the 'Annales de Theokesberia' speaks of the see as
vacant. Yet he seems to have been elected, but there is no record of
his consecration. See also H. and S., i. 467.
2 ' Annales de Theokesberia' ('A. M.,' i. 125).
3 Ibid., p. 126.
4 Ibid., p. 80.
3i8 A History of the Welsh Church
the said Richard de Clare, who had not yet received
seisin of his lands in England.'1
Brief and scanty as are the notices of the Annalists,
they are in their way as valuable to the student as the
finished portraits of Giraldus ; for, although we can form
very little idea respecting the personal qualities of the
bishops of Llandaff during the time of Llywelyn ap
lorwerth and David, we can judge pretty accurately what
was the state of the diocese. Llandaff was the only one
of the four Welsh dioceses in which the English or
Norman episcopate was still maintained. All its bishops
seem to have been English by descent, though three of
the four latest were connected with Wales by family or
position prior to their election. The influence of the
De Clares, and the extent of the English c plantation ' of
Glamorganshire, would account for this in part. Yet
even here the chapter sought to appoint a Welshman in
1240, for Maurice, then elected, was probably Meurig, and
another Maurice, son of Rely Wrgan, whom he appointed
to Llandough, is stated to have been his nephew.2
In North Wales the English episcopate had broken
down, and it would seem that both Richard of Bangor
and Howel ap Ednyfed, whose miserable exile is de
scribed by Matthew Paris, were native-born Welshmen.
Richard had, in 1237, succeeded Cadwgan of Whitland,
for, as the Welsh Chronicle relates, in the previous
year, Pope Gregory IX. released Cadwgan from his
diocese, and ' he was honourably received into the white
religious society in the monastery of Dor, and there he
died and was buried.' Between Reiner of St. Asaph.
who held the see at the time of Baldwin's itinerary, and
Howel ap Ednyfed there had been two Bishops of St.
Asaph of whom little is known ; the first, Abraham, who
1 'Annales de Theokesberia ' ('A. M.,' i. 131, under date 1243).
Browne Willis (' Landaff,' p. 79) says that the King appointed Thomas,
his chaplain, in place of Ralph.
- 'Annales de Theokesberia' ('A. M.,' i. 128, 129).
The Age of the Two Llywelyns 319
was consecrated in 1225 and died in or about 1234,
the other, Hugo, or Howel I. The unfortunate Howel ap
Ednyfed died in 1247 at Oxford, and was there buried.1
The glory of Wales, which had suffered eclipse by the
death of Llywelyn ap lorwerth, was revived again by his
grandson and namesake, Llywelyn, the son of the unfor
tunate Gruffydd, who on the death of his uncle David suc
ceeded to a share of his principality. At first his brother,
Owain the Red, held half of the inheritance, but after his
overthrow Llywelyn became the acknowledged head of
the people against the English, and by his conquest of
Perfeddwlad and other successes, aroused the national
spirit. During the Barons' War he was the undisputed
master of Wales, and after its close he obtained from
England, as the price of his allegiance, an acknowledg
ment of his authority as Prince of Wales — a title which
had never been conceded to his illustrious grandfather. -
Courtly bards sang his achievements, as a few years
before they or their predecessors had sung those of his
grandfather, and old predictions were revived and new
ones invented to animate the race with the hope of throw
ing off for good and all the hated yoke of the false Saxon.
Had Henry III.'s son been as weak as himself the reign
of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd might have been the most
glorious in the annals of Wales, and no melancholy pity
would be blended with the pride which the mention of
his name awakens in the heart of every Welshman.
Unfortunately the Welsh Church suffered even from
Welsh successes, and stood in utmost need of a cessation
of their constant warfare. Yet it produced, in these
troubled times, at least one or two bishops of decided
ability and character. Most of the bishops of the period
were either Welsh by blood and place of birth, or at least
had some connection with Wales and its Church prior to
their election. Thomas Wallensis, who was elected in
1 '.Brut y Tywysogion,' p. 332. - Rymer, ' Focjera,' i. i. 474.
320 A History of the Welsh Church
1247 to the See of St. David's on the death of Anselm,
was a Welshman by descent, as his name implies. He
had been Archdeacon of Lincoln before his appointment,
and is praised by Roger Bacon, in his ' De Utilitate
Scientiarum,' together with Bishop Grosseteste and Adam
Marsh, for his earnest study of languages and science.
The bishopric was considered unworthy of the acceptance
of so distinguished a man, for, as Matthew Paris tells us,
it was 'very poor' and 'slender,'1 but he was led to
accept it by various motives, among which were a natural
love for his country and a desire to be of use to it.
During his tenure of the see a controversy arose with the
royal courts, which sought to deprive the bishop of his
right of jurisdiction regarding questions of patronage, and
Thomas Wallensis appealed to the Pope against the
royal interference, and obtained a Bull from Innocent IV.
in his favour.'2 This good bishop died in 1255, 3 and was
succeeded in the next year by Richard de Carew, or De
Caron, whom the ' Welsh Chronicle ' calls Rhys of Caer
Rhiw,4 and who was elected by the chapter, and conse
crated at Rome by Pope Alexander IV., independently of
the Crown.5 The reason of this consecration is unknown.
Richard seems, from his name, to have been a native of
Pembrokeshire, and when elected was a canon of St.
David's. As he was appointed one of the arbitrators who
settled the Dictum of Kenilworth, he must have been a
man of some weight and character. In the same year as
Richard's consecration, William of Radnor was elected
Bishop of Llandaff on the death of John de la Ware,6 who
had been bishop since the death of the blind WTilliam de
1 Pauperrimus, exilis.
2 Rymer, ' .Pcedera,3 i. I, 283.
3 'Brut y Tywysogion ' (p. 341) gives 1254, but the ' Annales
Cambriae ' (p. 90) 1255, which is right.
4 ' Brut y Tyvvyso^ion/ p. 342, under 1255.
5 Documents in H. and S., i. 481-484.
6 Formerly Abbot of Margam.
The Age of the Two Llywelyns 321
Burgh in 1253. William of Radnor's election was
carried out in opposition to the King's will,1 but the royal
consent was given notwithstanding, and he was duly con
secrated by Archbishop Boniface, 1257. At this time the
Welsh were in arms under Llywelyn and were successful,
and the King had also troubles nearer home, so that it
was scarcely a convenient season to undertake a quarrel
with the clergy of Llandaff. An indication of the dis
turbed state of South Wales is given by a letter of
Richard de Carew to the King, written in 1265, wherein
he asks him to allow his bailiff of Carmarthen to signify
the royal assent to the election of a prior of St. John's,
Carmarthen, in order to spare the canons a second
journey to the King, as the roads were unsafe and they
had not sufficient money, on account of the destruction of
their house.''2 Richard de Carew died in 1280, and was
buried in his cathedral. He was succeeded by Thomas
Beck, of whom more will be said hereafter. William of
Radnor, Bishop of Llandaff, died in 1265, and was suc
ceeded by William de Breuse. It is evident from the
history of the southern dioceses that even in these the
royal authority had little power, and the chapters seem to
have executed their right of election to vacancies without
the King's interference. All the three bishops of Llandaff
after William de Burgh were closely connected with the
diocese : John de la Ware had been abbot of Margam ;
William of Radnor had been treasurer of the diocese, and
William de Breuse had held a cathedral prebend. Thus,
though these bishops were Englishmen, this was not due
to the action of the Crown but to the power of the English
element in the diocese itself, strengthened as it was by the
influence of the De Clares.
In North Wales Llywelyn had to confront a consider-
1 Browne Willis, ' Landaff,' App., 113, 114 ; H. and S., i. 484, 485.
He had previously been treasurer of Llandaff.
* Letter in H. and S., i. 493, 494.
21
322 A History of the Welsh Church
able amount of opposition from the clergy. Richard,
Bishop of Bangor, after staying for some time at St.
Alban's Abbey, had returned to his diocese ; but he seems
to have been a man of a restless and discontented spirit,
for Anian of St. Asaph and certain other arbiters were
called upon in 1261 to make an agreement between him
and Llywelyn respecting a number of civil rights which
were in dispute between them.1 Again we find later on
that he had laid an interdict on Llywelyn's chapel, not for
any ecclesiastical grievances, but for purely civil matters
in which he fancied himself wronged, and in 1265 a royal
order was issued commanding him to withdraw this inter
dict2 Two years later, just before his death, the same
bishop described his position with most piteous rhetoric
in a petition to the Pope to allow him to resign his see.
He was placed in desolation and beset on every hand with
snares, days of affliction possessed him, and, besides the
natural troubles of old age and infirmity, he was distressed
by the malice of his people, who were continually agitated
by blasts of sedition and insolence. He cried, wailed,
shouted, and beat at the doors of his patron that he might
loose that marriage tie whereby he was bound to his
Church, which had now become the chains and fetters of
a prison-house.3 It is a melancholy document, but there
is some reason to think that the shepherd was no less
blameworthy than his flock. Bishop Richard died in the
same year, and was succeeded by Anian, Archdeacon of
Anglesey.
Another Anian had succeeded Howel ap Ednyfed in
1249 as Bishop of St. Asaph. It was he who, as we
have seen, arbitrated between Llywelyn and Richard of
Bangor. He died in 1266, and was succeeded by John,
who was consecrated in the following year by the Arch
bishop of Canterbury. He did not hold the see long, for
1 H. and S., i. 489-493. 2 Ibid., i. 494.
3 Ibid., i. 496, 497.
The Age of the Two Llywelyns 323
in 1268 Anian II., known as Y brawd da o Nanneu, ' the
black brother of Nanneu,' was consecrated to the bishopric
in the church of St. Mary Overies, Southwark, now
known as St. Saviour's, by London Bridge. He was a
Dominican, and was a prelate of a bold temper and
vigorous in action, but quarrelsome and fond of litigation.
He carried on three lawsuits, the first with the Abbot of
Shrewsbury respecting the patronage of the vicarage of
Whitchurch, which was long contested at Rome ; another
with the Abbot of Valle Crucis respecting the vicarages of
Llangollen, Wrexham, Ruabon, Chirk, Llansaintffraid,
and Llandegla ; and a third with Thomas de Cantelupe,
Bishop of Hereford, respecting the jurisdiction of the
territory of Horddor. In the first two suits he was in
the main successful, but the last was decided against
him.1
Anian also had a struggle with Llywelyn ap Gruffydd,
in which he gained his point, although' the seven Cis
tercian abbots of Whitland, Strata Florida, Cwmhir,
Strata Marcella, Aberconway, Cyrnmer, and Valle Crucis,
who disliked this quarrelsome friar, protested to the Pope
that he lied in his assertions that Llywelyn had wronged
any monks or monasteries. In 1276 Anian and his
chapter drew up a formidable list of twenty-nine griev
ances. They stated that Llywelyn did not allow the
Bishops of St. Asaph to make wills, and, if they made
them, treated them as void and seized their goods on
their death ; that any gifts made by them during their
last illness were likewise appropriated ; that the episcopal
manors were wasted during vacancies of the see ; that the
canons were not allowed on a vacancy to elect without
the prince's license ; that bailiffs held courts in the
churchyards, and sometimes even in the churches, on
Sundays and festivals ; that fines due to the Church were
withheld and appropriated by the prince to his own use;
8 Godwin, 'De Praesulibus,' pp. 636, 637.
324 A History of the Welsh Church
that the vassals of the Church were in various ways ill-
treated ; that matters belonging to the Church courts
were taken away from their jurisdiction ; that certain
procurations were violently exacted from clergy and the
vassals of the Church ; and that Llanrwst had been
appropriated by the prince, though it had been Church
property from time immemorial. These encroachments
they confessed had in some degree decreased at the time
of their manifesto, but they feared that Llywelyn was
only waiting a suitable opportunity to renew his tyranny
in its full extent.1 Soon afterwards, however, Llywelyn
ceded all the points demanded in a charter of liberties
granted to the bishop and chapter. Engaged as he was
in a struggle with the most powerful foe that Wales had
yet encountered, he was glad almost at any price to buy
off or to mitigate the enmity of the Church. But the
Bishop and Chapter of St. Asaph, who took advantage of
his difficulties, did not profit much otherwise by the
operations of the English armies. Archbishop Kilwardby
admonished the Earl of Warwick and the other captains
of the English forces at Chester to respect Church pro
perty. ' The men of your army,' he said, ' setting aside
the fear of God, spare not churches, churchyards, or
ecclesiastical possessions and goods ; hostilely attacking
places and things of this kind. Some of them lately
burned a certain manor of the Bishop of St. Asaph,
killing one of his men there, and in different ways in other
places they have committed sacrilege and rapine.'2 This
was probably written in 1277. It would seem that both
in the war referred to by Kilwardby and in that of 1282
great atrocities were perpetrated on both sides. ' The
Welsh are more cruel than Saracens,' wrote Archbishop
Peckham to Llywelyn in 1282, when, in defiance of the
1 H. and S., i. 51 1-516.
2 Letter in H. and S., i. 522, 523; Browne Willis, 'St. Asaph/
App. x., vol. ii., pp. 32, 33 (Edwards' edition).
The Age of the Two Llywelyns 325
King's wishes, he came into Wales to promote the cause
of peace.1 But Llywelyn replied with a lengthy list of
grievances, among which were enumerated 'the robbery
and burning of churches, the slaughter of ecclesiastics —
priests, monks and nuns, and others — the slaughter, too,
of women, of infants at the breast and in the womb ; the
burning of hospitals and other religious houses ; murders
in churchyards, churches, and on the altars, and other
crimes and deeds of sacrilege which even pagans would
shudder to hear/ and in support of these general charges
he added a schedule of particulars, respecting which the
archbishop could make inquiry for himself. At Llangadoc,
for example, the English troops had turned the church
into a stable, and stripped it of its goods, and wounded
the priest before the high altar. Other churches, as those
of Dyngad and Llantredaff, had been despoiled of chalices,
books and ornaments. We find, too, that in 1282 the
English troops burned down St. Asaph's Cathedral, and
the resolute Bishop Anian threatened the offenders with
excommunication.
For a time Anian was under the displeasure of
Edward I., who seems to have considered him too
favourable to Llywelyn in the war, and he was conse
quently removed from his diocese. He showed consider
able obstinacy in refusing to agree to the proposed
transference of the monastery of Aberconway to Maenaii,
which the King had at heart,'2 and this somewhat delayed
his restoration. He was also in disfavour for a time with
Archbishop Peckham, because he alone of the suffragan
bishops had delayed publishing the sentence of excom-
1 See also description of the ravages of the Welsh in 1282 in
' Annales de Waverleia ' (' Ann. Mon.,' ii. 398).
- Letters of Edward I. in Dugdale's ' Monasticon,' p. 921. This
transference was accomplished. The old abbey of Aberconway stood
on the site now occupied by the Castle Hotel at Conway. Maenan
was a short distance up the river, nearly opposite the pretty spa of
Trefriw.
32.6 A History of the WelsJi CJiurch
munication against the Welsh who were in arms. But
after the death of Llywelyn at Cilmery in December, 1282,
Archbishop Peckham set himself to bring about as far
as he could a general amnesty, and through his media
tion Anian was enabled to make his peace with the
King.
During Anian's tenure of his bishopric, and apparently
about 1281, before the burning of the cathedral, an attempt
was made by him, with the support of Edward I., to get
the cathedral transferred from St. Asaph to Rhuddlan, as
a safer place. Somehow this proposal fell through, and
the cathedral was rebuilt after its destruction on its old
site. Even before the war of 1282 the diocese had
been so reduced that certain clergy were sent round to
solicit alms for their church and exhibit the famous
St. Asaph copy of the Gospels, commonly called ' Ereue-
gilthes,' or ' Euaggultheu,' and this device was again
employed in 1284.
With the gallant Llywelyn fell the independence of
Wales. The independence of the Welsh Church may
perhaps be considered as having ended a hundred years
before, when Archbishop Baldwin and Gerald de Barri
went on their celebrated itinerary ; but after Llywelyn's
death even the most sanguine patriot must have aban
doned all hope of reviving it, at least until many years
were past. Many a Welsh clergyman doubtless sorrowed
with the bard1 who lamented the fall of ' the golden-
handed prince, the hero of the red-stained spear ' :
" A lord I have lost, well may I mourn ;
A lord righteous and truthful, listen to me !
A lord victorious until the eighteen were slain ;
A lord who was gentle, whose possession is now the silent earth ;
A lord who was like a lion, ruling the elements.
Lord Christ, how bitterly I grieve for him !
Lord of truth, grant him salvation.' 2
1 Gruffydd ab Yr Ynad Coch.
- Stephens, 'Literature of the Kymry,' p. 388.
The Age of the Two JLlywefyns 327
The great and bitter wrong inflicted upon Llywelyn by
the Church was his excommunication. But this was the
fault of England, rather than of Wales, and, at least,
Anian of St. Asaph would not promulgate the sentence.
It is also to the credit of the Papal See that in 1274 the
Pope inhibited an interdict. But it would seem, from a
Bull of Pope Martin IV.,1 that but little regard was paid
by the clergy to these political excommunications, and
it is said that the dying Llywelyn received the last offices
of the Church from a White Friar. We know, too, from
the statements of Archbishop Peckham and of Edward I.,
that, although some of the Welsh clergy sided with the
King against Llywelyn, others, and it would appear far
the greater number, took the part of their native prince,
so thoroughly, indeed, that many were not content with
stirring up their people to the war, but bore arms them
selves.2
It is to the credit of the conquerors that when once
Llywelyn was slain, and the Welsh resistance crushed,
they showed themselves anxious to act fairly and justly
towards the Welsh people, and especially to the Welsh
Church. Ruthless as Edward I. was to those who op
posed him, he was wise and politic in his measures for
consolidating his kingdom. To conciliate Welsh senti
ment, and to prove his devotion to the Welsh Church,
he and his Queen Eleanor went on pilgrimage to St.
David's.3 His archbishop, the bold and honest ' Friar
John,' was indefatigable in his exertions for the Welsh
Church, which, in spite of the loss of its independence,
he still regarded as the veritable Church of Wales
(Ecclesia Walliae), and wished to maintain with all its
1 Rymer, ' Fcedera,' i. 2, 641,
2 Ibid.j i. 2, 642, 643.
3 ' Annales Ecclesias Menevensis' in Wharton's ' Anglia Sacra'
(1691), ii. 651, under 1284: 'Dominus Rex Edwardus venit causa
peregrinationis apud Sanctum David una cum Domina Regina Anglia;
nomine Elianora die Dominica in crastino B. Katerinae Virginis.'
328 A History of the Welsh Church
ancient rights and liberties. He was instant in season
and out of season in pressing its claims upon the King ;
and one of his letters is so notable that it deserves to be
quoted in full :
' To the perpetual honour and glory of your realm, by
His ordinance, who is King of kings and Lord of lords,
you have subdued the unconquered race of Wales to
your authority by your victorious hand, for which God
be praised. But it cannot be without wrong and offence
to the Majesty of God Himself, if the victory which He
has granted be turned to the shame of His Church.
And although certain ecclesiastics were disloyal to you,
as is said, in this gracious triumph, yet others assisted
your rule with all their might. And, besides, the honour
and reverence due to holy Mother Church ought never
to be diminished or disturbed on account of degenerate
sons ; especially because the disturbers and violators of
ecclesiastical liberty (both that which is general through
out the breadth of the world and that which is special
and varies in innumerable places through custom and
privileges) are undoubtedly involved in the sentence of
excommunication. Wherefore, with humility and with
all the affection we may, we supplicate your Excellency,
that you may foster in its ancient liberties and rights the
Church of Wales (Eccle&iam Wallice], which has been
happily transferred to your immediate dominion, so that
the prosperity which heaven has given you may not be
used to the injury of heaven. For there is one glorious
city of God, whereof part is in pilgrimage on earth, and
another part of its fellow-citizens rules, crowned, in
heaven. We write this to your royal Majesty for this
reason, because the new lords and bailiffs, to whom you
have committed the government of Wales, are wise
carnally, but spiritually foolish, and so divide the afore
said liberty, that whatever things contrary to English
The Age of the Two Llywelyns 329
custom seem to be for their own advantage, these they
claim for themselves with all their power ; but whatever
things for the relief of the Church differ from English
usages, these they destroy and overthrow, not without
peril to their own souls, and the chain of anathema in
which they by the very act entangle themselves. There
fore may your royal Piety deign so far in this respect,
that the increase of your honour (which God augment)
may not turn to the mourning of the Church ; for know
assuredly how greatly an embittered clergy can easily in
process of time stir up the people to bitterness, which
may the Highest avert. May the Lord keep your royal
Excellency in prosperity and joy for longer time. At
Tywyn, July 3, A.D. 1284. J1
This wise and honest letter may give us some idea of
the spirit in which Archbishop Peckham set to work to
repair the waste places of that which he regarded as
being still ' the Church of Wales,' as well as four dioceses
of his own province of Canterbury. By a letter written
from Bangor, on June 15, 1284, he had already urged
upon the King the necessity of making good the damage
which had been done to the churches by the English
troops. He pointed out with outspoken candour that,
although such injuries had been inflicted contrary to the
King's express will, yet he could not for that reason be
altogether excused, because ' if at the beginning of the
war evildoers had been restrained by the terrors of royal
severity and by penal decisions, the greater part of the
Church's grievances which afterwards followed would not
have happened.' Everywhere, as he was passing through
Wales on his visitation, he heard, both from secular
clergy and from monks, of churches and sacred buildings
despoiled and burned ; while laymen complained that
their goods had been sacrilegiously carried off from the
1 Original is in H. and S., i. 569, 570.
330 A History of the Welsh Church
sanctuary of churches and churchyards where they had
placed them for safety.1
Edward, for his part, was quite willing to co-operate
with the archbishop. Ten days before Peckham wrote
this letter he had already issued a writ ordering restitu
tion to be made. A commission was to be appointed to
inquire about depredations, and if they found that eccle
siastical property, such as books, chalices, and general
ornaments had been carried off from the churches, the
spoilers were to make full restitution, which the King
would see to strictly ; or, in case they were unable to do
so from lack of means, the King himself would make
good the loss inflicted. And ' because many ecclesiastics
had borne arms against their lord the King, and had
conducted themselves as enemies against him, if any
property had been taken from these, no restitution was
to be made in their case ' ; but such clergy as had
suffered, although they were innocent, should receive
restitution, and special inquiry was to be made both in
the case of the innocent and of the guilty. If any
churches or chapels or religious houses had been burned,
in a case where the King had ordered the destruction of
any place for military reasons, they were to be restored
from the royal property, and the same was to be done
in the case of the houses of the bishops or of anyone
who had been of the King's party. Intercession was to
be made to the Pope for absolution from excommunica
tions incurred by the spoilers and incendiaries, for by
none other than the Supreme Pontiff could such absolu
tion be granted.2 A commission was issued immediately
afterwards by Archbishop Peckham to the Prior of
Rhuddlan, the Warden of Llanfaes, and Ralph de
Brocton, to make inquiry into the damage done.3
Eventually a hundred pounds sterling was paid to the
1 Rymer, ' Fcedera,' i. 2, 643. 2 Ibid., i. 2, 642.
3 Ibid., i. 2, 644.
The Age of the Two Llywelyns 331
Archdeacon, Dean and Chapter of St. Asaph ; two hun
dred and fifty to the Bishop of Bangor ; seventy-eight
to the monastery of Strata Florida; and seventeen pounds
ten shillings to the Dominican Friars of Rhuddlan.1
Archbishop Peckham, as has been mentioned, went
round Wales in 1284 on a visitation of the four Welsh
dioceses. When he came in turn to St. David's, Bishop
Beck of that diocese formally protested that he would
receive Peckham as primate, but not as archbishop.
Peckham, however, rejected the protest on penalty of
excommunication. This was the last echo of the old
claim. Thomas Beck, who thus endeavoured to pose
as a new Gerald, was a native of Lincolnshire, and was
appointed to his diocese in 1280. He was the first of
an illustrious line of bishops of St. David's, and before
his appointment had held the offices of Lord Treasurer,
and Chancellor of the University of Oxford. He had
also had the custody of the Great Seal, while Edward I.
was away from England in 1279. His episcopate was
notable by his foundation of the two collegiate churches
of Abergwili in 1283, and Llanddewi Brefi in 1287. The
former was first placed at Llangadoc. Beck also founded
a hospital at Llawhaden, dedicated to the blessed Virgin,
St. Thomas, and St. Edward.
Archbishop Peckham was much impressed as he
passed through Wales by what he considered the un
civilized condition of the people. They are ' trop
sauvages,' he wrote to the King, and to improve their
manners he urged that a similar policy should be adopted
to that which the emperors had used towards the Bur-
gundians, that is, to make them live together in towns.
As for their ' Wysshanbighan ' (Gweison Bychain), or
young lads, they ought, he thought, to be sent to Eng
land to be educated, for the Welsh clergy were quite
1 See receipts in Rymer's ' Foedera,' i. 2, 650, 648.
33 2 A History of the Welsh Church
unable to teach them, as they knew scarcely more than
the lay people themselves.1 During his visitation of
the Welsh dioceses he issued injunctions respecting the
matters which seemed to him chiefly to need attention :
Clerical dress and behaviour, the performance of the
proper services of the Church, the reservation of the
Host, tithes of dower and mortuaries, and procurations
of rural deans and officials, were among the points
noticed. The faults which he found most prevalent and
deemed gravest, were the incontinence of the clergy, the
custom of dividing livings into portions, an inclination
to resort to dreamers of dreams and seers of visions, and
idleness. ' The vice of incontinence,' he says, ' is known
to have stained your clergy enormously beyond all bounds
from ancient times.' No doubt the archbishop was
referring to the prevalence of marriage among the clergy,
which was the ancient custom of the Welsh Church,
and we must not too hastily assume that concubinage
prevailed to any large extent. He blames the bishops
of former times for negligence in enforcing ecclesiastical
canons on this matter, and orders that beneficed clergy
should be deprived, unless they sent away their concu
bines on admonition, and that unbeneficed clergy should
be repelled from benefices, unless they were .of approved
chastity. In fixing punishment for this offence, the
bishop was to choose such a one as was most objection
able to the guilty person.
As regards the division of benefices, the archbishop
states that the portions were often so small that the
portionaries could not reside, neither had the vicars
enough stipend for them to bear the parochial burdens.
He quotes in this connection 'the maxim of the Saviour :
" Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to
desolation." ' He orders this evil custom to be wholly
abolished, and adequate provision to be made for vicars
1 See letter written from Newport, July 8, 1284.
The Age of tJie Two Llywelyns 333
where the rectors were non-resident, so that they might
sustain properly their parochial burdens, and maintain
due hospitality, and celebrate the worship of God in
their churches with proper assistance.
Welsh superstition comes under the lash of this censor
in a curious passage of his ' Injunctions for the Diocese
of St. Asaph.' He had heard with grief that the people
were too much given up to dreams and fantastic visions,
following in the track of Brutus, who, coming as a
fugitive from the shame of Troy, having perpetrated the
crime of idolatry through the advice received in a dream
by the whisper of Diana, or rather of a devil, entered
the island of Britain, which formerly was called Albion,
and inhabited by a German race, from which race the
Saxons were believed to spring. Idleness also was to be
blamed ; " it is the life of robbers, not of Christians, to
eat the bread of idleness." Never before had he met
clergy so illiterate, wherefore he ordered that Friars
Preachers, and Minors, ' among whom almost solely in
those parts the doctrine of truth resided,' should be
received and cared for when they went round preaching
the Word of God. He complained that many rectors
and priests were unwilling to receive them, and he cens
ured such as being rather wolves than shepherds.1
The preaching of the friars was already a power for
good in Wales, even before Archbishop Peckham, him
self a friar, urged its acceptance upon the Welsh people.
As has been already said, Llywelyn the Great was one of
the patrons of this great religious movement, and the
Dominican house at Rhuddlan had given a bishop to the
diocese of St. Asaph in the person of the bold and rest
less Anian. Nearly fifty years before the visitation of
Peckham, a certain Friar Anian had preached a Crusade
in West \Yales. The movement spread all over the
country, and we have evidence of settlements of the
1 See ' Injunctions' in H. and S., i. 562-567, 571-574.
334 A History of the Welsh Church
various orders in all parts. The Franciscans, or Grey
Friars, were established at Carmarthen as early as 1209 ;
and the Dominicans, or Black Friars, were at Haverford-
west in 1215. There were Dominicans also in the same
diocese of St. David's, at Brecon and Rhayader ; Car
melites at Tenby ; and Austin Friars at Newport in Pem
brokeshire. In Newport, Monmouthshire, there was in
Leland's time ' a house of religion by the key, beneth the
bridge,' which seems to have been a friary. There were
settlements also both of Franciscans and Dominicans
at Cardiff, and the remains of the latter house have
recently been excavated.1 The Dominicans had houses
in North Wales, at Bangor and Rhuddlan, the Fran
ciscans at Llanfaes, and the Carmelites at Denbigh and
Ruthin.
The criticisms of Archbishop Peckham, taken in con
nection with the description given above of the destitu
tion of the Church from civil turmoil, and of its division
of feeling due to internal jealousies, may perhaps produce
an impression that there was a lack of deep religious
feeling and of spiritual power in the Church of Wales
during the thirteenth century. But this would probably
be an utter misconception of the true state of the case.
The deeper aspirations of man are not on the surface,
and the pages of history which record conflicts and dis
sensions find nothing to chronicle in the little acts of
piety and beneficence which chiefly make up a good
man's life. If the Welsh Church of the days of the two
Llywelyns failed, from its rival jealousies, to do what it
might have done for the Welsh nation, it at least kept
the whole of the country united in allegiance to a
common creed, and thereby did much to mitigate the
results of bitter animosities of race. If the monastic
orders erred from the strictness of their ideal, and at times
fell into sins of self-indulgence, they set an example of
1 'Archaeologia Cambrenis' (1889), pp. 97-105.
The Age of the Two Llywelyns 335
charity and benevolence which should, in our eyes at
least, cover a multitude of sins, and which may well put
modern religious bodies to the blush. If the world and
its snares led men of religion astray then, they do so at
least as often now. Wales at the present day might
well rejoice were it as united or as abounding in the
deeds of charity as it was even in the thirteenth century.
Considerations of this kind may well correct modern
arrogance in judgment ; but it is possible also to refer to
writings which breathe a deeply devotional spirit, and
which were produced in this season of the Church's
tribulation. Such were unknown altogether to Arch
bishop Peckham, who judged of the education of Wales
from a false standard. The popular vehicle of Welsh
thought was the Welsh language, and in this, then as
now, the Welsh people loved especially to utter forth
their sentiments of devotion. The Welsh literature of
this age is not solely martial, but is also, strange to say,
largely devotional. Students of the bardic literature are
surprised at this fact -,1 but the Welshman is naturally a
religious being, and his national literature bears witness
to the needs of his nature, and gives expression thereto.
Many of the religious poems doubtless are conventional
compositions on sacred subjects ; but even these show
how deeply religion entered into the common life of the
people. The same fact is attested by the common invo
cations of God at the beginning of poems on ordinary
subjects and by the conventional endings. Would
Llywarch ab Llywelyn praise Rhys Grug for his victories
over the English, he must begin by invoking * Christ
Creator, Emperor, who owns us, Christ the Mysterious,
1 ' I was not a little surprised in perusing- these to find the bards,
almost to a man, exercising their talents in the composition of a species
of literature which seemed so inconsistent with their practices and
professions, but, on examination, it soon appeared that they had been
judged both harshly and unfairly.' — Stephens, ' Literature of the
Kymry,' p. 392.
,36 A History of t/ie Welsh Church
pillar of peace/ to watch over him ; and he concludes
with a prayer that the prince may have a 'permanent
abiding-place and a summer dwelling in heaven,' and be
' a prince of the kingdom of God above.' These things
are little enough in themselves ; but some of the bards
strike a fuller note. The same bard who wrote the
Elegy on Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, already quoted, Gruffydd
ab Yr Ynad Coch, has written some passages of much
religious feeling :
' The blood is as fresh
As the day He was crucified,
And His hands were spread out
When the deed was done.
And the blood was in streams
About His breast,
And His wounds
Are unhealed.
And the crown of thorns,
And His lifeless body,
And His head encircled
With the thorny ring.
And the mark on His side
Of the scourge
Which took away His life,
And gave Him pain.
And all to purchase the son of man
From the everlasting fire,
By the enemy
In whose hands he was.'
This would be difficult to render adequately in English
verse, but even in bald prose it is full of beauty, and is
plainly animated by religious feeling. Those who know how
the Welsh are inspired by the hymns of their own language
can form an idea of what it would be to a Welshman.
Or take the following lyric, simple as one of Herrick's
and as beautiful, from the Friar Madawc ab Gwallter :
' A son has been given us,
A kind son is born
With great privileges,
A son of glory,
A son to save us,
The best of sons.
The Age of the Two Llywelyns 337
A God, a man,
And the God a man,
With the same faculties ;
A great little giant,
A strong puny potentate
Of pale cheeks.
Richly poor
Our father and brother,
Author of being,
Jesus, He whom
We expect,
King of kings ;
Exalted, lowly,
Emmanuel,
Honey of minds ;
With the ox and ass,
The Lord of life,
Lies in a manger ;
And a heap of straw
As a chair,
Clothed in tatters ;
Velvet He wants not,
Nor white ermine
To cover Him ;
Around His couch
Rags were seen,
Instead of fine linen.'1
The age which produced poems like these may yet rise in
the judgment and condemn us.
It will make matters clearer if we understand, before
passing on, what henceforth were the English King's
possessions in Wales. First, there was his 'Principality/
which had been LJywelyn's ; viz., Anglesey, Carnarvon,
and nearly all Merioneth. Next, there was his ' Dominion,'
including Flint, and most of Cardigan and Carmarthen.
The rest of Wales with an adjacent strip of land in
England formed the Marches, under Lordship Marchers,
of whom the King claimed to be over-lord. Pembroke
and Glamorgan were added later to his ' Dominion ;' the
rest was not annexed till 1536. 2
1 I take the translations from Stephens, ' Literature of the Kymry,'
pp. 401, 402, 406, 407.
2 See Nevins' ' Wales during the Tudor Period,' pp. 68-89.
22
CHAPTER XII.
FROM THE CONQUEST OF WALES TO THE DEATH OF
OWA1N GLYNDWR.
THE strong hand of Edward I., which crushed the inde
pendence of Wales, dealt also a blow at the great power
of the lords of Glamorgan. The ' land of Morgan ' had
passed under the authority of the house of Clare in 1226,
and continued under them until 1314. But the quarrel
which broke out in 1289 between the Earl of Gloucester,
Gilbert de Clare, and his neighbour, the Earl of Here
ford, gave Edward an opportunity of carrying out his
policy of unifying the kingdom. The two earls had a
dispute concerning a castle which Gloucester had built,
and they were carrying on a petty warfare with each
other. Edward intervened, and, as they did not cease
their hostilities, imprisoned them both. Eventually the
lands of both parties were forfeited, but the forfeiture
was limited to the period of their lives.
About the same time a question arose, or, rather, an
old dispute was renewed, respecting the custody of the
temporalities of Llandaff during the vacancy of the see.
The claim of the Crown had been previously put forward
in 1240, during the long period of the vacancy between
the death of Bishop Elias and the election of William
de Burgh. The King had then put in an official to
administer.
In March, 1287, William de Braose, Bishop of Llan-
Conquest of Wales to Death of Owain Glyndwr 339
daff, died. The Chapter of Llandaff met, and elected
Philip de Staunton, precentor, of Wells, and the election
was notified to the King, who signified his approval.
The letter to the King, informing him of the election,
was not sealed with the common seal, which had been
withheld by the chancellor of the diocese, who was a
De Clare, and eventually, owing probably to the opposi
tion of the De Clares, the election fell through, and
Philip de Staunton was not consecrated. The see con
sequently remained vacant for a considerable time, and
the Earl of Gloucester and the other lords of the Marches
took possession of the temporalities during the vacancy.
But in 1290 objection was made to this on behalf of the
King, and the previous action of the Crown in 1240 was
adduced as an argument in favour of the royal claim.
At that time, on the death of Bishop Elias, Henry III.,
it was stated, ' committed the custody of the temporali
ties to ' Walerandus Teutonicus Miles,' who, when his
administration was ended, rendered an account to the
Treasury. . . . And in the same vacancy he conferred
one vacant prebend on Master William de Burgh, at that
time treasurer of his wardrobe, and another prebend on
Alfred de Fescamp, then sub-treasurer of the same ward
robe ; and the archdeaconry of Llandaff on a certain
Thomas, then chaplain of Eleanor,' the Queen. It was
claimed, also, on the King's behalf, that the Bishops of
Llandaff held their barony, lands, and possessions from
the Kings of England, and not from the Earl of Gloucester
and his progenitors, and that, on a vacancy in the
bishopric, the canons sought liberty of election from the
Kings, and not from the earls. It was proposed, there
fore, that Gilbert, Earl of Gloucester, should accept a
life-interest in the temporalities, but acknowledge abso
lutely the King's right therein.1
1 See document in Rymer, Fcedera, i. 2, 742 ; H. and S., i. 590,
591.
340 A History of the Welsh Church
The other lords gave way, but the Earl of Gloucester
held out for what he deemed to be his rights, but he was
non-suited. In 1293, a new case arose in the diocese of
St. Asaph, of which John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey
and Sussex, claimed the temporalities. The case of
De Clare and the other claimants of the temporalities of
Llandaff was cited against him, and he failed to obtain
his petition. In the same year Humphrey de Bohun,
Earl of Hereford and Essex, petitioned for the custody of
the temporalities of St. David's on the death of Bishop
Beck, but was assured that they belonged to the Crown
alone. In the cases of Llandaff and St. David's, the
custody of the temporalities during vacancies was
eventually leased by the Crown to the chapter at an
annual rent.1 As regards Bangor, there was a claim put
forward in 1327 by the dean and chapter to receive half
the profits of the see during a vacancy, and the King's
Escheator in North Wales was ordered to investigate
into the claim, and to satisfy it, if it were rightly made.
The petition in the case of St. Asaph arose through the
death of the resolute and somewhat quarrelsome Anian,
who was succeeded by Llywelyn of Bromfield, whose
election was confirmed by the Prior and Chapter of
Canterbury, the archbishopric being then vacant.
The See of Llandaff remained vacant for several years.
Probably the chapter were unwilling to elect another
clergyman, as their nominee, Philip de Staunton, had
failed to obtain consecration, in spite of the royal
approval. Some time in 1294 or 1295 Philip de Staunton
died, and in October, 1294, Pope Celestine intervened,
and issued a ' provision,' appointing John de Monmouth
to the See of Llandaff. Celestine abdicated before the
end of the year, and consequently a still further delay
was caused until the Papal provision was confirmed by
1 This was fixed in the case of St. David's at ,£190 7s. 6|d., by a royal
order, dated May i, 1377. — Rymer, ' Foedera,' iii. 2, 1076, 1077.
Conquest of Wales to Death of O wain Glyndwr 341
Pope Boniface VIII. Finally, John de Monmouth was
consecrated February 10, 1296. Gilbert de Clare handed
over the temporalities to the new bishop, and admitted
that he and his wife held only a life-interest in them
during a vacancy. The serious diminution of power and
prestige which the Earl had suffered from the resolute
action of Edward in enforcing at all times the royal
authority, may be inferred from the fact that the Prior of
GoldclifT ventured to summon him before his court at
Newport to answer a charge of trespass.
South Wales had suffered grievously during the
troublous reign of Henry III., and Glamorgan had not
been spared. ' The land was wasted, the houses burned,
the cattle driven off, the borough towns and religious
houses sorely bested. The clergy were in arrears with
their tithes, the bishops and monastic bodies with their
dues, and the landlords of all ranks with their rents and
the produce of their demesnes. Treaties and truces
between the English and the Welsh were of no avail.
Each party broke them at pleasure. The King's writ did
not run in the Marches, and would have been but little
respected, if it had had legal sanction ; and the chief lords,
though strong enough to be a thorn in the King's side,
were often unable to preserve peace.'1
In considering the history of Wales and of its Church,
we must bear in mind that since the Norman conquest of
South Wales there had ever been a large Norman and
English population there. Wherever the Norman knight
built a castle and garrisoned it, thither came, in the train
of the soldiers, a body of English artificers and workmen,
who settled down in the neighbourhood ; wherever he
founded a monastery, there he introduced Norman and
English monks. In Glamorgan itself there were at least
thirty castles, and in the whole of Wales nearly one
hundred and fifty, and, as the Norman monasteries were
1 Clark, ' Land of Morgan/ p. 132.
A History of the Welsh Church
also numerous, it may be inferred how large a power the
English element was in Wales, and in its Church, even
before the overthrow of Llywelyn.
The indisposition of the Welsh to manual labour, of
which Archbishop Peckham complained, also aided the
English immigration, for the Welsh themselves seem to
have got their servants and workmen from England. The
English 'are the meanest nation under heaven,' said
Gerald de Barri, with a fine contempt, in which the pride
of his Norman and of his Welsh ancestry was equally
mingled. ' In their own land they are the slaves of the
Normans, and the vilest slaves. In our land we have
none but Englishmen as herdsmen, shepherds, shoe
makers, furriers, mechanical artificers of our drains also,
that I may not say, cleaners of our sewers.'1
Probably English was nearly as commonly spoken in
the plain of South Wales in the reign of Henry III. as it
is now. At HaverfordwTest there was, of course, a Flemish
colony. It was the object of the Welsh leaders in the
wars of independence not merely to harass and subdue, but
in some cases to drive out these alien settlements. In
1217, we are told, Rhys Grng, or the Hoarse, ' destroyed
the castle of Senghenydd, and all the castles of Gower
and their strength. And he expelled the English popula
tion that were in that county entirely, so that they had
no hope ever to return back, taking as much property as
he chose, and placing Welshmen to dwell in the lands.'2
Llywarch ab Llywelyn, in recording the exploits of the
same hero, says that
' His hand taught the bloody-stained blades
To make the Germans move to exile,'
and mentions among the settlements of the foreigners
which he captured, ' the barren courts of Rhos ;' ' Haver-
ford of the surge;' Pembroke, 'the castle of Gwys,' and
1 ' De Invectionibus,' i. 4 : Op. iii. 27.
2 * Brut y Ty wysogion,' p. 303.
Conquest of Wales to Death of Owaiu Glyndwr 343
' Arberth1 of the light gossamer;' 'Carmarthen and its
hosts from France ;' ' St. Clears with its bright white
lands,' and ' Swansea, the strong key of Lloegria/ Long
after the time of Rhys Grug, English settlements were
still marked off from Welsh possession by their divergent
customs. An old document'2 of the age of Elizabeth thus
describes these settlements and their condition in the
time in which it was written :
' The said lords espying out the best and most fertile
parts in each county, builded them castles for themselves,
and towns for their own soldiers and countrymen, which
came with them to remain near about them as their guard,
and to be always ready to keep under such of the country
inhabitants as would offer to rebel. Where the lords parted
the Englishmen that came with them and gave them lands,
the Welsh customs were not used, but they held all their
lands according to the laws of England, and the eldest
son had the whole inheritance, and for this cause in many
lordships there is a Welsh court for the Welshmen by
themselves, where their Welsh customs were observed,
and the Englishmen had another court, in part for them
selves, and in common speech among them. The one
part is yet to this day called Englisherie, and the other
part the Welsherie ;' as examples of which the writer
mentions Gower, Coyty Anglicana and Coyty Wallicana,
Avon Anglicana and Avon W7allicana, English Talgarth
and Welsh Talgarth, ' and in Pembrokeshire is the like ;'
also Kydwely Anglicana and Commota Kydwely Walli
cana ; and in Llanstephan, Dominium Anglicanum and
Dominium Wallicanum, etc.
It may be imagined how gladly the English settlements
would welcome the fall of the national cause, and rejoice
at the prospect of settled peace presented to them by the
1 Viz., Narberth.
' Harleian MS. 1220,' quoted by Mr. Ivor James (' Welsh Language
in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries,' pp. 35, 36).
344 ^ History of the Welsh Church
strong rale of Edward I., who crushed native princes
and restrained lords marchers by the central authority
of the English Court. Glamorgan, Brecon, Carmarthen,
and Pembroke in the south, and Flint, Montgomery
and part of Denbigh in the north, were the parts of
Wales chiefly affected by English colonization and
English influence.
Thus the conquest of Wales, which to one part of the
Welsh Church was a cause of lamentation and mourning,
to another was rather suggestive of exultation and thanks
giving. Doubtless, too, as the previous history has
suggested, there was some diversity of ecclesiastical
usage between the English section and the Welsh
section ; but the union in a common creed prevented the
rise of any religious feud, such as has existed for centuries
in Ireland between the native population and ' the English
garrison.'
Though Llywelyn and David were dead, Wales was
not quieted immediately. In 1295, Madoc was in insur
rection in North Wales, and the Archbishop of Canter
bury ordered the Bishop of St. Asaph to excommunicate
the insurgents, unless they laid down arms within eight
days. All the land of Wales that adhered to their party
was to be laid under an interdict. The letter was
received by the Bishop of St. Asaph on Quinquagesima
Sunday, and duly obeyed.1
In the same year Pembroke and Carmarthen were
exposed to the incursions of another Madoc, and
Glamorgan was occupied by the forces of Morgan of
Avan. Edward I. acted with his usual promptitude.
He left Aberconway in April and went to Anglesea, and
on May 7 came to Bangor. Thence he passed to
Cymmer Abbey, near Dolgelly, and on the i/j-th and
I5th was at Talybont, near Towyn. He passed through
Llanbadarn Fawr, Aberystwith, and Llanddewi Brefi,
1 H. and S., i. 606-609.
Conquest of Wales to Death of Owain Glyndwr 345
and reached Cardigan about June 2, and proceeded by
Drysllwyn Castle to Merthyr Tydfil and Morlais. After
wards he returned to Aberconway by Brecon, Builth,
Clun, Welshpool, and Whitchurch. 'All the Welsh of
the dominion of the Earl of Gloucester,' we are told,
' the King received to his peace, contrary to the will of
the said earl ; and the King gave them a guardian,
namely, the lord Walter Hacklut.'1 The rule of the
De Clares over Glamorgan was practically at an end.
Earl Gilbert died the same year, December 7, 1295 ;
his son, also named Gilbert, died in 1314, and with him
ended the main line of the House of Clare. John of
Monmouth, the contemporary Bishop of Llandaff, who
had been appointed by a Papal provision after the long
vacancy, was a somewhat notable figure in his time.
He was one of the Lords Ordainers in 1310, and in
the latter part of the reign of Edward II. is found
taking the King's side in time of civil war. He died in
1323. The bishopric during his occupancy cannot have
been very valuable pecuniarily, for, on account of its
poverty,2 the Church of All Saints, Newland, was granted
to it as an augmentation in 1308. In 1315 there was
a brief insurrection under Llywelyn Bren, who owned
land by the river TafT in the highland district.
The premier see in Wales at this period was un
questionably the See of St. David's, which had recovered
somewhat from its state of poverty. The period of its
history, from 1280 to 1414, has been called the ' Period
of Illustrious Bishops.'3 ' Of the ten prelates included
in it, one is said to have been a cardinal,4 two became
archbishops, two, perhaps three, held the office of Lord
Chancellor, three that of Lord Treasurer — two of them
1 Continuator of Florence of Worcester. See further Clark, ' Land
of Morgan,' pp. 145, 146.
2 ' Nimis exilis esse dinoscitur.'
3 Bevan, ' St. David's,' p. 120. See Jones and Freeman, p. 298.
4 This, however, is on somewhat doubtful authority.
346 A History of the Welsh Church
more than once — three were keepers of the privy seal,
one was Master of the Rolls, three were Chancellors of
the University of Oxford.'1 It is clear that the bishopric
from some cause or other had completely changed its
reputation since the time when Matthew Paris had
described it as ' a meagre bishopric ' (exilis Episcopatus) .
One bishop, Gilbert, appointed in 1389, had previously
filled the Sees of Bangor and Hereford. Seven of the
ten bishops retained possession of the see until their
deaths. Brian was translated in 1352 to Worcester ;
Thoresby, in 1349, to Worcester, and in 1352 to the
Archbishopric of York ; and Chicheley, in 1414, to
Canterbury. During the period of the great depression
of the see from 1215 to 1280, three of the four bishops,
lorwerth, Anselm le Gros, and Thomas Wallensis, had
been Welshmen, and the fourth, Richard de Carew, or
de Caron, had probably a connection with Pembroke
shire. Of the ' illustrious bishops/ only one, David
Martyn, was of Welsh descent, being a grandson, through
his mother, of the lord Rhys ; but Houghton and Gower
had a connection with Wales.
The first of these bishops, Thomas Beck, has been
already mentioned as the founder of the collegiate
churches of Abergwili and Llanddewi Brefi, and the
assertor of the privileges of his see against Archbishop
Peckham. Upon his death, David Martyn was elected
in May, 1193, and his temporalities were restored to
him by a writ dated October n. But an appeal was
entered against his election ' on behalf, apparently,
of one David of St. Edmund's, who was also elected
and confirmed to the see in 1293. '2 The matter re
mained pending for about three years. On January i,
1295, David Martyn was again elected, and on August 16
1 Jones and Freeman, p. 305.
- So H. and S., i. 617. Jones and Freeman, p. 302, identify David
Murtvn with David of St. Edmund's.
Conquest of Wales to Death of Oivain Glyndwr 347
Edward I. wrote on his behalf to Pope Boniface VIII.
and asked him to favour his candidature.1 In December
of the next year the Pope consecrated David Martyn at
Rome, and on January 24, 1297, his temporalities were
again restored to him, the writ granting them stating
that the Pope had ' provided ' him to the See of St.
David's. David Martyn was a descendant of Martin de
Tours, the conqueror of Cemmaes, and on his mother's
side, as has already been stated, was descended from the
lord Rhys. During his episcopate the present Lady
Chapel was added to St. David's Cathedral.
Henry Gower succeeded in 1328. In various letters
written to the Pope and cardinals, notifying his election,
the King mentions that he had already been Chancellor
of the University of Oxford, and Archdeacon of St.
David's, and praises him for his experience in civil as
well as ecclesiastical affairs, and for his acquaintance
with various languages which, he says, made him ' espe
cially necessary to us and the kingdom.' The See of
St. David's was regarded as ' being placed in greater
danger than the other sees of Wales,' and its people as
' unsubdued, wayward, and silly,'2 English and Welsh
alike.3 Complaints of the ' restless fickleness ' of the
people of Wales are very common in the State papers of
the time ; ' levitas ' was evidently regarded as their beset
ting sin.4
It has been said that Gower ' has left on the whole
more extensive traces of his mind at St. David's than
any bishop who has occupied the see either before or
since/5 He founded the beautiful episcopal palace of
St. David's, which calls forth the enthusiastic praise
1 See document in H. and S., i. 617.
- ' Indomitos, devios et deliros.'
3 Rymer, ' Fcedera,' ii. 2, 747-749.
4 Ibid., ii. 2, 748, levitas; 749, levitas cervicosa ; 913, effrcenata
levitas ; 1218, levitas.
;> Jones and Freeman, p. 302.
348 A History of the Welsh Church
and admiration of the historians of the diocese, and
which is a fine example of the Decorated style. He also
carried out extensive alterations in the cathedral. At
Swansea he founded a hospital, which he endowed with
lands.1 It has been suggested that the chancel of
Swansea Church, and also Carew Church, near the
episcopal residence at Lamphey, may have been his
work.2 He appears, from what he has left to posterity, to
have been a consummate architect. His buildings, say
the historians of St. David's, ' are the more remarkable
and valuable, because the trembling claim of Decorated
architecture to be admitted as a definite style nowhere
finds a nearer approach to a standing place than in his
erections. Gower's buildings are most eminently neither
Early English nor Perpendicular ; not only is their
actual detail quite distinct from both, but there is not
the slightest approach to the character of either. We
miss alike the distinctness of the one, and the continuity
of the other. But the result is that we are presented
with purely negative characteristics, we miss the positive
marks of the earlier and later styles, and find no others
in their stead. There is the marked impress of an
individual mind, but not, as before and after, the expres
sion of an architectural idea.'3
Thoresby, who succeeded Gower in 1347, did not
hold the bishopric long, being transferred to Worcester
in 1349. He was made Lord Chancellor during his
tenure of the See of St. David's ; he was noted for his
learning, and was a vigorous opponent of the friars,
against whom he wrote a treatise. In 1352 he was
advanced to the archbishopric of York, when Reginald
Brian, his successor at St. David's, succeeded him also
in the See of Worcester. Neither Brian nor his suc-
1 Foundation charter (date 1332) in Clarke's ' Cartae de Glamorgan,'
iv. 146.
2 Jones and Freeman, p. 206.
:i Ibid., p. 204.
Conquest of Wales to Death of Owain Glyndwr 349
cessor, Fastolfe, were bishops of any particular note ;
but Adam Houghton, who comes next on the list, was
made Lord Chancellor in 1377, and held the office for
about two years. This bishop, with John of Gaunt,
founded the college, or chantry, of St. Mary close to the
cathedral. Its members were a master, seven chaplains,
and two choristers. The ruins of the beautiful chapel
still add a charm to the cathedral precincts.
Adam Houghton died in 1388, and Richard Mitford
was duly elected to the see. But the Pope interfered,
and set aside the nomination, and, finally, John Gilbert,
a Dominican friar, who had previously held the bishop
rics of Bangor and Hereford, and had also been lord
treasurer, was appointed and consecrated. The Pope's
action was not the first instance of Papal tyranny in
connection with this diocese ; both Brian and Falstolfe
had previously been appointed by Papal ' provision.'
Gilbert was first appointed treasurer at the troublous
period in the reign of Richard II., when Thomas, Duke
of Gloucester, was leading an attack on the King's
ministers and favourites. At that time the King dis
missed his ministers, gave the seals to the Bishop of Ely,
and made Gilbert, then Bishop of Hereford, the treasurer.
Soon afterwards he was appointed one of the commis
sioners to govern the realm during the suspension
of the royal power. When Richard, by a bold stroke,
resumed his authority and asserted his right to be no
longer ' under the control of tutors,' it was from Gilbert
that he required the keys of the exchequer. Gilbert's
chief work at St. David's, so far as is known, was the
reformation of the cathedral statutes. Though an active
politician, he probably resided for some time in his
diocese, for he was buried in the church of the Dominican
friars in Haverfordwest.
The next bishop, Guy de Mone, who succeeded in
1397, seems to have had little to do with his diocese.
350 A History of the Welsh Church
He was much engaged in political life, and was at various
times keeper of the privy seal and lord treasurer. He
also was one of the representatives of the Church of
England at the Council of Pisa. He seems to have
usually resided in Kent, and was buried at Leeds in
that county. He lived occasionally at Llanddew, near
Brecon.1
The history of Chicheley, who succeeded Guy Mone in
1408, belongs rather to the general history of the Church
of England than to that of the See of St. David's. He
was ' provided ' and consecrated by the Pope in spite of
the pretensions of Adam of Usk, who held a prebend in
the collegiate church of Abergwili, but whose local claims
were passed over. Chicheley, as Bishop of St. David's,
succeeded Guy de Mone in his capacity of representative
at the Council of Pisa, which had been summoned with
the purpose of reforming the Church and reuniting it
under one Pope, and which deposed the two rival Popes
and elected another in their place. As the two deposed
Popes refused to obey the Council, the result was that
there were now three instead of two. Chicheley did not
visit his diocese of St. David's until 1411. He brought
about the suppression of the alien priories, and the
revenues of St. Clears and Llangenith were eventually
transferred to his foundation of All Souls College, Oxford.
In 1414 he was translated to the archbishopric of Canter
bury.
But although several of the Bishops of St. David's
during this period must have been much occupied out
side their diocese, we have seen that on the whole very
much was effected for the diocese itself. Only three of
the bishops were promoted to other sees, so that the
post was not selected as merely a stepping-stone to other
preferment. It was otherwise with the neighbouring
diocese of Llandaff during the latter part of the same
1 Bevan, 'St. David's,' p. 137.
Conquest of Wales to Death of O wain Glyndwr 351
period. From 1383 to 1407 there were no less than
seven Bishops of Llandaff. Of these Thomas Rushooke
(who in 1383 had succeeded Roger Cradock, formerly
Bishop of Waterford and Lismore) was translated in
1385 to the English Bishopric of Chichester. William
de Bottisham, his successor, was translated in 1389 to
Rochester. The next bishop, Edmund Bromfield, died
during his occupancy of the see, after a very short
episcopate, in 1391 ; but the next, Tydeman de Winch-
combe, was translated in 1395 to Worcester. Andrew
Barret, who succeeded him, probably missed translation
by his speedy death, for he died in 1396 ; but John Burg-
hill was translated in 1398 to Lichfield, and Thomas
Peverell, his successor, was preferred to Worcester in
1407. Such constant change must have been very pre
judicial to the interests of the diocese, for bishops who
were ever seeking for preferment, were not likely to pay
much attention to the charge of which they hoped soon
to be relieved.
It does not appear, however, that England played the
tyrant in these appointments ; it was generally Rome
that was in fault. On the death of John of Monmouth
in 1323, Alexander de Monmouth, Archdeacon of Llan
daff, was duly elected and approved by the King,1 but
the Pope interfered, and gave the bishopric to John de
Eclescliff, a Dominican, Bishop of Connor in Ireland.
He died in 1346, and was buried in the Dominican church
in Cardiff. The chapter then met, and elected John
Coventry, Archdeacon of Llandaff; but he also was set
aside by the Pope in favour of his nominee, John Pascal,
who is said to have been a very learned and eloquent
man.2 Cradock, who had been Bishop of Waterford
and Lismore, Rushooke, William de Bottisham, Brom
field, and John de la Zouche, were all imposed upon the
1 Browne Willis, 'Survey of Landaff,' p. 53.
- Godwin, ' De Pra^sulibus Angliu?,' p. 607.
35 2 A History of the Welsh Church
see by Papal authority. The last-named bishop suc
ceeded Thomas Peverell in 1408.
The case of Brpmfield was peculiar, and he has the
distinction among the Welsh bishops of evoking from
Parliament a second Statute of Provisors. According to
Godwin,1 who relates the story with some graphic force,
he was a very learned man, a monk of St. Edmund's,
Suffolk, who was envied by his fellow-monks for his
superior qualities. They called him a factious person
and a disturber of the common peace, and, to get rid of
him, they sent him on an honourable mission to Rome ;
but before he started, they made him swear that he would
not get himself made abbot. But when the abbot was
dead, Bromneld preferred to forget his oath, and obtained
the Pope's nomination. The monks were highly dis
gusted, and elected their sub-prior. Bromfield returned
to England, and claimed the abbacy, but the King
apprehended him under the Statute of Provisors passed
in the previous reign, and committed him to the Tower.
The Pope was now in a dilemma \L he did not like to
desert his nominee, but he dared not offend Richard II.,
who might in that case espouse the cause of the anti-
Pope. Accordingly he sought to promote Bromneld to
an Irish bishopric, but, on Rochester falling vacant, he
got out of the difficulty by translating William de Bottis-
ham, Bishop of Llandaff, to Rochester, and presenting
Bromfield to Llandaff, after he had lain in the Tower
several years. Browne Willis calls Bromfield ' a very
learned man, though of a pragmatical humour.'3 He
received the temporalities of his see on December 17,
1389. He held the bishopric a very short time, for he
died in 1391, and was buried in his cathedral.
In North Wales something was done in the interval
1 Godwin, ' De Prassulibus Angliae,' p. 608. See also Lingard,
' History of England,' sixth edition, lii. 171.
'2 ' Lupum jam Pontifex auribus tenebat,' says Godwin.
3 Browne Willis, ' Survey of Landaff,' pp. 55, 56.
Conqiiest of Wales to Death of Owain Glyndwr 353
between the annexation and Glyndwr's rising to repair
the damage that had been wrought during the wars of
independence. The canons of St. Asaph were fairly suc
cessful in their begging expedition, and seem to have
collected annually about £30, or, in the nine years
which they devoted to this purpose, about £9,000 of our
present money. The cathedral was completed about the
end of 1295, and the services were reorganized according
to the injunctions of Archbishop Peckham. It was
ordered in 1296 that 'the Dean and the Prebendaries of
Vaenol and Llanriefydd (the precentor and the chancellor)
should each find a priest, skilled in music, to serve their
cures and attend the daily services with the vicar-
choral ; that the archdeacon should find a priest or a
layman, skilled in vocal or instrumental music ; the Pre
bendaries of Meliden (treasurer) and Llanfair (2) should
find four singing boys or choristers, and the Prebendary
of Meifod (sacristan) should contribute ten shillings per
annum in augmentation of the salary of the waterbearer
to secure his attendance with the other ministers in
the daily services. All the minor clergy (beneficed in
Gwyddelwern) were required to be present at the daily
services at all the canonical hours under penalty of a
penny fine for each absence.'1
In the neighbouring diocese of Bangor a diocesan
synod was held on July 14, 1291, and the following days
in the Church of St. Mary of Garthbranan, which at
that time was the parish church of Bangor. The con
stitutions drawn up by this synod have not been pre
served, but it is clear that the peace consequent upon
the conquest and the admonitions of Archbishop Peck-
ham were productive in this diocese also of an effort
to reorganize matters. Anian was Bishop of Bangor
at this time. Edward I. had intervened between the
unfortunate Llywelyn and Anian in 1278, professing
1 Archdeacon Thomas, ' St. Asaph ' (S.P.C.K.), pp. 52, 53.
23
354 si History of the Welsh Church
to advocate the just claims of the latter, and in the
same year had made a grant of liberties to the Diocese
of Bangor.1 In 1280 a grant was made to the same
Anian of Bangor House, in Shoe Lane, in the parish of
St. Andrew's, Holborn, London. In 1284 a grant was
made by the King to the Bishops of Bangor of certain
civil privileges within their own episcopal lands, such as
that no viscount, bailiff, or servant of the King's should
enter the bishops' lands to exercise any office in them
except on defect of the bishops' bailiffs. In 1286 a grant
was issued confirming to the Bishops of Bangor a third
part of the tithes of the King's demesnes, mills, and lead
mines in ' Englesend,' and in 1288 Bishop Anian petitioned
that the Justiciary of Chester should be compelled to
obey this grant.2
There is in existence a record of a curious grant of
indulgence on the part of this Bishop Anian of Bangor
to those who should help the Augustinian Priory of
Black Canons, situated in the lovely vale of Beddgelert.
The bishop relates that he had inspected various charters
granted to the Prior and Convent of the Valley of
Blessed Mary of Snowdon, namely, a charter of Llywelyn
the Great, three of Llywelyn, the son of Gruffydd, one
of the lord Owen, and another of the lord David. He
had also seen Papal letters, not cancelled, or in any
respect made void. Therefore, he lets all men know
that 'the said house of blessed Mary is the senior
religious house in all Wales, except Bardsey, the Island
of Saints, and of better and more common hospitality
to needy English and Welsh travellers, passing from
England and West Wales to North Wales, and going
from Ireland and North Wales into England.' The
priory, having been accidentally destroyed by fire, had
been restored by King Edward. To those who aided it
1 Documents in H. and S., i. 525, 526.
2 H. and S., pp. 580, 581.
Conquest of Wales to Death of Owain Gtyndwr 355
further by their alms Anian granted an indulgence of
forty days.1
Anian is termed by Browne Willis ' a most excellent
bishop/ praise which is somewhat qualified in the eyes
of sympathizers with the Welsh national movements by
the further statement that he was ' in great favour with
Edward I.'2 He was the bishop who christened Edward II.
He is notable also for drawing up a Missal or Pontifical
for his church and diocese. . This book was lost in the
troubles of Henry IV. 's reign, but restored in 1485 by
Bishop Richard Ednam, or Evyden, and again was
recovered to the see by Bishop Humphrey, after it had
passed into private hands during the Great Rebellion.3
Anian is mentioned as still alive in 1305, but probably
died in that year or the next. He had held the see
since 1268, in a very troublous period, and seems to have
been an able and conscientious prelate.
Both of the northern sees suffered from Papal en
croachments during this period. Llywelyn was suc
ceeded as Bishop of St. Asaph, in 1314, by Dafydd ap
Bleddyn ; but the next bishop, John Trevor, was nomi
nated by the Pope, first in 1344, to the next vacant
canonry or sinecure in the diocese, and afterwards to
the bishopric as soon as it should fall vacant. Con
sequently he succeeded Dafydd in 1352. The first
instance in this diocese of Papal provision was the
appointment by Pope Clement V. of John Toppan to a
canonry in the cathedral, and to the Rectory of Llan-
wyllin4 — probably Llanuwchllyn, at the far more beautiful,
but less frequented, end of Bala Lake. Bishop Llywelyn
ap Madoc, the successor to John Trevor I., was provided
to the see, and consecrated by the Pope at Avignon.
1 Rymer, * Fcedera,' i. 2, p. 664; H. and S., i. 584, 585.
2 Browne Willis, ' Survey of Bangor,3 p. 67.
3 It is described by Browne Willis, 'Bangor,' pp. 70-72, 192-199.
4 Thomas, ' St. Asaph' (S.P.C.K), p. 55.
356 A History of the Welsh Churcli
He had been dean, and on his appointment to the
bishopric a dispute arose as to whether he, the new
bishop, or the Prince of Wales, the custodian of the
temporalities of the see during a vacancy, had the right
of presentation to the deanery. Eventually the bishop
was allowed to nominate a friend of the Prince's, William
de Spridlington, who succeeded to the bishopric after
wards, in 1376. Spridlington was succeeded in 1382 by
Lawrence Child, and he in 1390 by Alexander Bache,
and in 1395 John Trevor II. became bishop, whose
episcopate will require somewhat fuller notice later on.
Bangor seems to have had Welsh bishops for some
years after the death of Anian. In 1306 Gruffydd ap
lorwerth was consecrated at Carlisle to the vacant see,
and in 1309 he was succeeded by Anian Seys, formerly
Canon and Dean of Bangor, and Archdeacon of Anglesey.
This bishop had a difficulty, in 1316, with William
Trumwyn, the King's justice in Carnarvon, because of
the escape of two of the bishop's tenants from prison ;
but on an appeal to the King the bishop was discharged
from any liability, and the grant of Edward I. to the
see, that it should retain all its ancient rights, liberties,
possessions, and customs, was acknowledged as valid and
binding.1 Anian died in 1327, and was buried at Bangor.
Matthew de Englefeild ap Kirid, otherwise called Madoc
ap lorwerth ap Kirid, was the next bishop. He had
been formerly Canon of Bangor and Archdeacon of
Anglesey, and as Welsh Englynion were written in his
favour, may be considered as popular among his people.
The next bishops, Thomas Ringstede and Gervase de
Castro, were Dominicans, and were provided by the
Pope. Ringstede's will proves his dislike of the Welsh
people.2 Gervase has been supposed3 to have received
his education at the Dominican house in Bangor, but
1 Rymer, ' Fcedera,' ii. i, 284.
2 Browne Willis, ' Bangor,' pp. 217-219. 3 Ibid., p. 78.
Conquest of Wales to Death of Owain Glyndwr 357
the Welsh character of the next bishop, Howel, is much
more certain. He was a Canon of Bangor, and on
the death of Gervase was duly elected by the chapter.
Pope Gregory XL, however, was offended by this, which
he regarded as an infringement of his prerogative, for
he had determined to keep the appointment in his own
hands, and, accordingly, he quashed Howel's election as
null and void ; but after a short interval appointed him
of his own authority.1 John Gilbert, the next bishop,
was also provided by the Pope. He was translated to
Hereford, and thence to St. David's. John Swaffham, a
Carmelite, was next advanced from the Irish Bishopric
of Cloyne by a Papal provision, dated July 2, I376.2
He obtained his promotion by his book against Lol-
lardism, and is described as ' a great stickler '3 against
the doctrines of Wickliffe. He was present at a synod
in London, held in 1387, against the Lollards.
In 1399, Richard Young succeeded to the bishopric
of Bangor. The bishopric was now falling wholly into
the hands of Englishmen. Henry IV. sent Young on a
mission into Germany in 1401, and he does not appear
ever to have returned to his diocese. Godwin states
that he spent the time of his episcopate in chains, but
acknowledges that he knew not the cause or place of
his captivity.4 Browne Willis denies the statement
altogether. In 1404, Young was translated to Rochester,
for his see was quite uninhabitable by a bishop of
English race and sympathies. Owain Glyndwr had
raised the cry of Welsh independence, and all Wales
was in arms.
1 Bull in Rymer's ' Fcedera,' iii. 2, 912, 913, dated xi. Kal. Mali,
I37I.
2 Writ ordering that the temporalities of the see should be sur
rendered to him, dated October 28, 1376, in Rymer's ' Fcedera,' iii.
2, 1063.
3 Browne Willis, 'Bangor,' p. 81.
4 Godwin, ' De Prsesulibus Angliae ' (Camb., 1743), p. 623 : 'Agens
in vinculis (captivitatis vel causam vel locum non intellexi).'
358 A History of the Welsh Church
Whatever opinion may be entertained of Glyndwr's
character, or of the purpose which he had in view, it is
impossible to approve the wisdom of his enterprise or to
justify his methods. No one probably, whether Welsh
man. Dane, Norman, or Englishman, had previously
inflicted so much injury upon the Church in Wales as
was done by Owain Glyndwr. He damaged the Church
directly by the devastations which he wrought, and indi
rectly both by the poverty and desolation which he left
behind as his legacy to subsequent generations, and by
the warlike and legal retaliations which his outbreak
provoked. For no other reason, as is stated, than that
John Trevor II. of St. Asaph had pronounced sentence of
deposition upon his patron, Richard II., he burned down
the cathedral of St. Asaph and the canon's houses, as
well as the bishop's houses at St. Asaph, Meliden, and
St. Martin's. Bangor Cathedral suffered the same fate
as St. Asaph's, and the monastery of Cwmhir in Radnor
shire was also destroyed. Henry IV., on his part, plun
dered the Friary of Llanfaes, and either slew or carried
off the friars, and placed Englishmen therein. He also,
in 1401, destroyed Strata Florida. In 1402 Glyndwr
burst into Glamorgan, destroying as he went. Then, as
one of the lolo manuscripts relates, ' he won the Castle
of Cardiff and many more ; he also demolished the
castles of Penlline, Landough, Flemingston, Dunraven
of the Butlers, Tal-y-van, Llanblethian, Llanguian, Male-
fant, and that of Penmark, and burned many of the
villages and churches about them. He burned also
the villages of Llanfrynach and Aberthin, and many
houses at Llantwit Major and other places, the men of
which would not join him. But many of the country
people collected round him with one accord, and they de
molished castles and houses innumerable, laid waste and
quite fenceless the lands, and gave them in common to
all. They took away from the powerful and rich and
Conquest of Wales to Death of Owain Glyndwr 359
distributed the plunder among the weak and poor. Many
of the higher order and chieftains were obliged to flee to
England under the protection and support of the King.'1
It was a revolution, and as such might have justified
itself, had it been successful and permanent ; but the
destruction of cathedrals and churches leaves a stain
upon its leader, and would have laid a burden upon the
restored principality, if Owen had succeeded in perpetu
ating his princedom. When Cardiff was destroyed, the
Benedictine priory and the house of the Black Friars were
destroyed with it, but Glyndwr is said to have spared
Crokerton Street,2 outside the town, in which the house
of the Franciscans was situated. Glyndwr also destroyed
the bishop's castle and the archdeacon's house at Llan-
daff, but spared the cathedral. We find that some of the
Pembrokeshire churches were saved from destruction by
payments of money. ' Great Glendower,' * the light of
Powys,' the hero of Sycharth, the friend of lolo Goch,
would have left a brighter name behind him, had he not
sullied his gallant struggle on behalf of the liberties of his
country by ill deeds done to the Church.
The English Parliament retaliated on the Welsh by
a series of unjust and oppressive laws. They were
rendered incapable of purchasing lands or holding office
in any town ; disputes between Englishmen and Welsh
men were to be decided by English judges and juries ; and
an Englishman who married a Welsh woman was dis
franchised. By these and other severe enactments the
Welsh were put in a much worse position than before.
Bishop Trevor of St. Asaph would seem to have been
a man of a very inconstant temper. He received from
Richard II. permission to hold in commendam with his
bishopric the church of Meifod and the chapels of Pole
1 ' lolo MSS.,' pp. 98, 493.
- Afterwards Crockherbtown, now swallowed up in Queen Street,
Cardiff.
360 A History of the Welsh Church
and Guldeford or Guildsfield, but he afterwards turned
against his benefactor. The Parliament which was
summoned to consider the claim of Bolingbroke and the
crimes of the unfortunate Richard appointed seven com
missioners : ' the Byshop of Seint Assa for Ershbishoppes
and Byshoppes ; the Abbot of Glastenbury for Abbotes
and Priours, and all other men of holy Chirche seculers
and Rewelers ; the Erie of Gloucestre for Dukes and
Erles ; the Lord of Berkeley for Barones and Banerettes ;
Sir Thomas Irpyngham, Chaumberleyn, for all the Bachi-
lers and Commons of this Lond be south ; Sir Thomas
Grey for all the Bachilers and Commons by north ' j1 and
William Thirnyng, the Justiciar. It fell to Bishop Trevor,
as the head of this commission, to pronounce the sentence
of deposition.
Most men would deem one such change of allegiance
enough, and would be constrained by shame, if by
nothing else, to adhere to a cause chosen with such de
cision. But Bishop Trevor acted as if determined to
exemplify in his person the ' fickleness ' charged in those
days against his race. At the beginning of the war he
suffered grievously, as we have seen, from Owain
Glyndwr and the insurgents, and was, on the other hand,
supported by the authority of the King, who issued a
writ on his behalf in 1401,2 because of the trouble caused
him by the wars, and in the next year confirmed the
permission previously granted him to hold in commendam
Meifod, Pole and Guildsfield.3 But very soon afterwards
he joined Glyndwr — a remarkable change, which is attri
buted to his disgust at English tyranny. It is said that
when he remonstrated with the English lords respecting
the unwisdom of their Welsh policy, they replied that
1 Thus specified by William Thirnyng in announcing the sentence
to Richard, and renouncing homage and fealty. ' Rotuli Parlia-
mentorum,' iii. 424, etc.
2 Rymer, ' Fcedera5 (first edition), viii. 222.
3 Ibid., p. 246.
Conquest of Wales to Death of O wain Glyndwr 361
' they cared not for the anger of such a pack of bare
footed blackguards.'1 In a royal document, dated May 16,
1409, ' John, the pretended Bishop of St. Asaph,' is men
tioned among ' traitors and rebels.'2 He was sent on an
embassy to Paris by Glyndwr, and died there, and was
buried at St. Victor's Abbey. Robert de Lancaster suc
ceeded him as bishop in 1411. Possibly Trevor had been
partly influenced in his change of sides by the general feel
ing of his clergy, which was certainly favourable to the
revolution. In 1404 the Archbishop of Canterbury issued
a writ to William Memborough, Archdeacon of Chester,
ordering him to certify to him the names of those who
preached rebellion in the diocese of St. Asaph.
Glyndwr had got rid of the Englishman, Young, from
the diocese of Bangor, and he persuaded the Pope to
acknowledge as Young's successor in the see a nominee
of his own, Llywelyn3 Bifort, or Byforde. Neither
Henry IV. nor the Archbishop of Canterbury would
acknowledge this bishop. His name in found in a list
of outlaws, in 1406, as '' Lewelinus Bifort, vocat. Epis-
copus Bangor.' According to Walsingham, he was taken
prisoner in a battle fought in Yorkshire on February 19,
1408. His life was spared because he had no weapon on
him, but he was deprived of his bishopric. The Pope
provided to the see in his stead one Benedict Nicholls,
who was translated to St. David's in 1417. Owain
Glyndwr himself died in 1415, a defeated and disap
pointed man. He was not without noble ideals — a
university of Wales, an independent Parliament, and a
Church free from the thraldom of England, with an arch
bishopric of its own — but his measures were detestable.
As old Fuller has said, ' being angry with the King, his
1 ' Se de illis scurris nudipedibus non curare.'
2 Rymer, ' Fcedera,' viii. 588.
3 So Browne Willis, 'Bangor,' p. 85. Godwin (' De Praesulibus,'
p. 623) calls him ' Ludovicus.'
362 A History of the Welsh Church
revenge fell upon God, burning down the fair cathedrals
of Bangor and St. Asaph. His destructive nature de
lighted in doing mischief to others, though no good to
himself.'1
1 ' Worthies of Wales ' (edition of 1662), p. 39.
CHAPTER XIII.
FROM THE DEATH OF OWAIN GLYNDWR TO THE DISSOLU
TION OF THE MONASTERIES.
' THE light of Powys ' proved to be the scourge of
Wales. Never since the age of its primitive barbarism
was the general condition of the country so gloomy ; the
North was indeed nearly a desert. Wherever Glyndwr
moved, he left desolation and destruction in his wake ;
and the Wars of the Roses which followed seemed likely
to extinguish altogether the expiring civilization. But
for the beneficence of the monks, and the useful labours
of the parish priests, anarchy and barbarism would have
been universal in the north of the principality. Sir John
Wynn, of Gwydir, who is one of our chief authorities for
this obscure period of our history, has depicted the state
of the country in the darkest colours :
' All the whole country ' (of Nantconway), he says, ' then
was but a forest, rough and spacious, as it is still, but then
waste of inhabitants, and all overgrowne with woods ; for
Owen Glyndwr's warres beginning in 1400, continued
fifteen yeares, which brought such a desolation that greene
grasse grew on the market-place in Llanrwst, called Bryn
y botten, and the deere fled into the churchyard, as it is re
ported. This desolation arose from Owen Glyndwr's policie
to bring all things to waste, that the English should find
no strength nor resting place. The countrey being brought
to such a desolation, could not be replanted in haste ;
364 A History of the Welsh Church
and the warres of York and Lancaster happening some
fifteen yeares after, this countrey being the chiefest fast
ness of North Wales, was kept by David ap Jenkin, a
captaine of the Lancastrian faction, fifteen yeares in
Edward the Fourth his time, who sent diverse captaines
to besiege him, who wasted the countrey while he kept
his rocke of Carreg y Walch ; and lastly, by the Earle
Herbert, who brought it to utter desolation. Now you
are to understand that in those dayes the countrey of
Nantconway was not onely wooded, but alsoe all Car
narvon, Merioneth, and Denbigh shires seemed to be but
one forrest haveing few inhabitants, though of all others
Nantconway had the fewest, being the worst then, and
the seat of the warres, to whome the countrey about paid
contribution. From the towne of Conway to Bala, and
from Nantconway to Denbigh (when warres did happen
to cease in Hirwethog, the countrey adjoining to Nant
conway), there was continually fostered a wasp's nest,
which troubled the whole countrey, I mean a lordship
belonging to St. John's of Jerusalem, called Spytty Jevan,
a large thing, which had privilege of sanctuary. This
peculiar jurisdiction, not governed by the King's lawes,
became a receptacle of thieves and murtherers, who safely
being warranted there by law, made the place thoroughly
peopled. Noe spot within twenty miles was safe from
their incursions and robories, and what they got within
their limits was their owne. They had to their backstay
friends and receptors in all the county of Merioneth and
Powisland. These helping the former desolations of
Nantconway, and preying upon that countrey, as their
next neighbours, kept most part of that countrey all
waste and without inhabitants.'1
Such was Nantconway at the beginning of the reign of
Henry VII. ; yet other districts of North Wales were in
little better case. Meredith Wynn, Sir John's uncle, who
1 ' History of the Gwydir Family ' (ed. Askew Roberts), pp. 74-?6.
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 365
lived in Nantconway, and who built the new church of
Dolwyddelan in 1512, ' durst not goe to church on a
Sunday from his house of Penanmen, but he must leave
the same guarded with men, and have the doores sure
barred and boulted, and a watchman to stand at the
Garreg big, during divine service. . . . He durst not,
although he were guarded with twenty tall archers, make
knowne when he went to church or elsewhere, or goe
or come the same way through the woodes and narrow
places, lest he should be layed for.' He told his nephew
also that the reason he demolished the old church, 'which
stood in a thicket,' and built the new one stronger and
greater than before, was ' because the countrey was wild,
and he might be oppressed by his enemies on the
suddaine, in that woodie countrey ; it therefore stood him
in a policie to have diverse places of reatreat.'1 Yet even
so disturbed a district as Nantconway, which was a
veritable den of robbers, was to Meredith, honest man
though he was, a haven of refuge. For when asked why
he had left his home in Carnarvonshire to dwell there, he
replied 'that he should find elbowe roome in that vast
countrey among the bondmen, and that he had rather
fight with outlawes and thieves than with his owne blood
and kindred ; for if I live in mine house in Evioneth, I
must either kill mine owne kinsmen or be killed by them.'
' Wherein,' adds Sir John Wynn, ' he said very truly, as
the people were such in those days there.' For family
feuds prevailed through the district, and men were
constantly killed ' for noe other quarrel, but for the
mastery of the countrey, and for the first good-morrow.''2
Murderers, who were called in Welsh ' Llawrudds,' that
is, red hands, were used to ' resort to the most powerful of
the gentry, where they were kept very choisely.'3 There
was an incessant feud in Chirkeland and Oswaldstreland
1 * History of the Gwydir Family,' p. 82. '- Ibid., p. 76.
3 Ibid., p. 65.
366 A History of the Welsh Church
between the Kyffins and the Trevors. ' These had their
alliance, partisans, and friends in all the countreys round
thereabouts, to whome, as the manner of the time was,
they sent such of their followers as committed murther
or manslaughter, which were safely kept as very precious
Jewells ; and they received the like from their friends/1
One anecdote of these wild times incidentally illustrates
the benevolent hospitality of the parish priests, which
tended to soften the prevalent brutality of manners. It
happened, we are told, ' that the parson of Llanvrothen
tooke a child of Jevan ap Robert's to foster, which sore
grieved Howell Vaughan's wife, her husband having then
more land in that parish than Jevan ap Robert had. In
revenge thereof she plotted the death of the said parson in
this manner. She sent a woman to aske lodgeing of the
parson, who used not to deny any. The woman being in
bed, after midnight began to strike and to rave ; where
upon the parson, thinking that she had been distracted,
awakeing out of his sleepe, and wondering at soe
suddaine a crie in the night, made towards her, and his
household also. Then she said that he would have
ravished her, and soe got out of doores, threatening re
venge to the parson. This woman had her bretheren
three notable rogues of the damn'd crew fit for any
mischiefe, being followers of Howell ap Rys. In a morn
ing these bretheren watched the parson, as he went to
looke to his cattle, in a place in that parish called Gogo
yr Llechwin, being now a tenement of mine, and there
murthered him ; and two of them fled to Chirkeland in
Denbighshire, to some of the Trevors, who were friends,
or of a kinne to Howell ap Rys, or his wife.'2
When to murders such as these, to the ' dayly bicker
ings ' between ' near and hateful neighbours,' of which
Sir John Wynn's short history is full, and to the desola
tions which the rising of Glyndwr and the Wars of the
1 ' History of the Gwydir Family,' p. 61. 2 Ibid., p. 60.
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 367
Roses had caused, is added the terrible visitation of 'the
plague, which commonly followeth warre and desolation/
this awful picture of the condition of North Wales re
ceives its finishing touch.
It is not surprising that amid such conflicts and
desolations no bishop could live in the country. It is to
the credit of the northern bishops that they ventured to
do as much as they did in their dioceses. Their cathedrals
and palaces were destroyed, their revenues almost annihi
lated, and their dioceses turned into a wilderness. It
was impossible for a bishop to hold his see without having
some other benefice in commendam. That the bishops
were generally Englishmen may be matter for regret, but
scarcely for astonishment, seeing that so many of the
Welsh ecclesiastics had recently supported Glyndwr, and
whatever blame is due for these appointments should be
mainly apportioned to the See of Rome, which had now
altogether usurped the patronage. It was, be it remem
bered, the age in which Archbishop Chicheley was
oppressed by the Pope, and the Papacy crushed for a time
the liberties of the Church of England.
Of the two dioceses, that of Bangor was in the worse
condition, with respect to its episcopate. For a long
time, says Godwin, until the reign of Henry VII., 'it
gave its bishop for the most part a mere empty title,
while ambitious men, already enriched with ecclesiastical
promotion, took this bishopric as their title, retaining
by Papal dispensation their former possessions, and con
tent with the name of bishop, they lived in England,
utterly neglecting the episcopal estates, which were left
to the depredation of the neighbours.'1 Yet at least
one of the bishops so censured, John Cliderow, showed
in various ways a certain regard for his see. St. Asaph
had, probably, two Welshmen as its bishops before the
accession of the House of Tudor, Robert de Lancaster
1 ' De Praesulibus,' p. 132.
368 A History of the Welsh Church
and the celebrated Reginald Pecock, and had several
bishops who did good work for their see. Though the
Wars of the Roses, by rendering confusion still more
confounded, postponed the rebuilding of the cathedral
for many years, English bishops had previously done
what they could to prepare the way for this important
work, and had been seconded by the support of the English
King. This is proved by a grant of Henry VI., issued
in 1442, which, as showing the desolation of the diocese,
and the efforts of its English bishops for its welfare,
deserves to be quoted in full :
' Henri by the grace of God Kyng of Englande and of
Fraunce, and Lord of Irland. To the worshipfull Fadre
in God the Bishop of Bath our Chauncellour greeting.
We late you wite that we havying Consideration howe
the Chirch Cathedrall of Saint Assaph, with the Steple,
Bells, Quere, Porch, and Vestiary, with all other Con-
tentis, Bokes, Chaliz, Vestimentis, and other Ornaments,
as the Bokes, Stalles, Deskes, Altres, and all the aparaill
longying to the same Church, was brent and utterly
destroyed, and in likewys the Byshop's Palays and all
his other three Mannoirs no Styk laft in the last werre
tyme of Wales, as we bene enformed by a Supplication
presented unto us in the behalve of the Reverend Fadre
in God our right trusty and well beloved Johan Lowe
now Bishop of the sayd Cathedral Chirche ; and it is so
as it is saide, that both for the exilitee of the endowing
of the sayd Cathedral Chirch, with the indisposition of
the Cuntree there, and also for lack and scarcetee of
Stuffee in all the coste both of free Stone and Tymber,
the sayd Palays and Manoirs be not like to be belded
again withouten grete Costes and Laysence, the which
may not well be borne, withouten our Grace be shewed
in that Partie, notwithstanding that Robert, late Bishop
of the said Chirche Cathedrall and the saide Johan nowe
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 369
Bishop, have putte their great peyne and diligence to
amend suche Parcels of the saide Palays and Manoirs
as be now reparelled. Wherefore we havyng Considera
tion unto the Premisses, have of our grace especiale
graunted unto the sayde Johan now Byshop of the sayde
Cathedral Chirche that he from hensforth be quite and
fully discharged ageinst us and our Heirs of all manour
dismes and quinzismes, and parcells of dismes and
quinzismes that have been and shall be granted unto us
or our Heirs by the Clergie of this our Royaume, and of
paying unto us or our said Heires the saide dismes or
quinzismes, or parcells of dismes and quinzismes of the
which the saide Johan hath, be, or shall be grauntez,.
with other Prelates of this our Royaume. Wherefore
we woll and charge you, that hereupon ye do make
Lettres Patentes under our grete Seal in due Forme.
Geven under cure privie Seal, at oure Castell of WTynde-
sore the XXIII. Day Julyy, the Yere of our Regne
XXL'1
The bishops mentioned in this royal grant are Robert
de Lancaster, Abbot of Valle Crucis,2 who was conse
crated at Lincoln by Archbishop Arundel, in 1411, to
succeed the inconstant John Trevor, and John Lowe,
his successor, an Augustinian canon, of some celebrity
for his learning, who was appointed by Papal provision
in 1433. Both of these bishops would appear to have
made at least some efforts for the improvement of their
diocese ; but in the general history of the Church their
fame is small compared with that of the next bishop,
the celebrated Reginald Pecock, who has been exalted
1 A.D. 1442. Browne Willis, 'St. Asaph,' ii. 116, App. 51, where
this note is added: 'N.B. — This writ was delivered August the 3rd
to the Chancellor to be executed. It is called in the Record remaining
in the White Tower, London, a Privy Seal.'
2 He held the abbacy in commendam with the bishopric.
24
3/o A History of the Welsh Church
by some writers to the rank of a Protestant confessor — a
curious fate for so zealous a Papist.
Pecock was a Welshman, according to the statements
of Leland and others. He seems, in early life, to have
been connected with the southern division of the prin
cipality, for he is styled in a Papal instrument, ' priest
of the diocese of St. David's.' He was educated at
Oriel College, Oxford, and was elected a Fellow in 1417.
His learning gained him a considerable reputation, and
when the See of St. Asaph became vacant by tiie trans
ference of Bishop Lowe to Rochester, Pecock was
appointed by a Papal provision of the date April 22,
1444.
Pecock's intellect appears to have been of the kind
that delights in paradoxes, and his ambition inclined
him to produce sensational effects. At the same time
he was, undoubtedly, a bold and independent thinker.
He was a stanch and uncompromising opponent of the
Lollards, whom as a class he despised, but he was not
willing to cast in his lot wholly with the conventionally
orthodox party of his time. At first he appeared as an
advocate of the most extreme Papal claims, such as the
great bulk of the English clergy detested. In a sermon
preached at St. Paul's Cross, in 1447, he justified Papal
Bulls of provisions, by one of which indeed he had been
himself promoted, maintained the right of the Popes to
exact annates from the clergy, and in all respects adopted
what would now be called an Ultramontane position.
In the same sermon he further boldly met the criticisms
which the Lollard party had levelled at the bishops,
said that preaching was not a necessary episcopal func
tion, and defended non-residence. So bold and out
spoken a pronouncement provoked antagonism from all
quarters, as Pecock doubtless anticipated, and for some
time the sermon formed the subject of lively discussion,
and the bishop gained to the full the notoriety which he
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 371
desired. It does not appear, however, that Pecock was
at all negligent of his own diocese ; his very love of
paradox made the advocate of non-preaching bishops a
zealous preacher at home.
About 1440 Pecock wrote ' Donet,' an introduction
to the chief truths of Christianity, and in 1449 ne Pr°~
duced one of his greatest works, ' The Represser of
Overmuch Blaming the Clergy.' This latter was directed
against the ' Bible-men/ or Lollards. Despite some
blunders and peculiarities, such as are common in
mediaeval literature, it is a great and powerful work.
Though a defender of the orthodox position, according
to the standard of orthodoxy of that age, and also an
advocate of Papal supremacy, the weapons which he
used in the conflict were not orthodox weapons ; but
the Papacy was not inclined to quarrel with its champion,
though others were. Eventually Pecock's political con
nections caused his ruin. In 1450 he was translated to
Chichester by his favourite method of Papal provision ;
but the appointment was due in some measure to the
influence of the unpopular Duke of Suffolk. Suffolk fell
soon afterwards, and Pecock somewhat later fell too.
Some passages in his ' Treatise on Faith,' published in
1456, were deemed to savour of heresy, and, indeed,
were hard to reconcile with conventional orthodoxy, and
the great Welshman was condemned and deprived. In
spite of faults of character which we need not harshly
blame, the intellectual qualities of Pecock claim for him
.a conspicuous niche in the fabric of Welsh greatness.
It has been said of him by an admirer that, ' as the
expositor of the province of reason in matters of religion
in opposition to the absolute dogmatism of the one
party, and the narrow scripturalism of the other, Pecock
stands out prominently as the one great Englishman of
his age, and as the precursor of a still greater English-
372 ^4 History of the Wels/i Church
man in the age following, viz., Richard Hooker.'1 We
must not forget that this great Englishman was also a
Welshman.
But though intellectually great as a thinker and a
divine, Pecock lacked the physical courage and perhaps,
also, the moral conviction of a martyr. He broke down
utterly under the fear of being burned at the stake, and
made a most abject confession, submitting himself as ' a
very contrite and penitent sinner to the correction of the
Church ' and of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and ex
horting that no man hereafter should give credence to
his ' perilous doctrines, heresies, and errors.'2 But the
malice of his enemies, whom he had provoked perhaps
as much by the superiority of his genius as by the rest
lessness of his ambition, was not satisfied by this pitiful
submission ; he was committed to the care of the Abbot
of Thorney, and by him kept in rigorous seclusion until
his death. The instructions given to the abbot by the
Archbishop of Canterbury breathe all the malignity of
petty spite. He was to have ' a secret closed chamber,'
where he might have a sight of some altar, to hear mass ;
one person only, 'that is sad and well-disposed,' was to
attend upon him, ' to make his bedde and to make his
Fyr ' ; he could have no book to look on, ' but only a
Portuos and a Masse Book, a Saulter or Legend, and a
Bible '; worse still, he was to ' have nothing to write
with, no stuff to write upon ' ; finally, he was to have
competent fuel and meat and drink, according to the
discretion of the abbot. Forty pounds were assigned to
the abbot for his maintenance.3 In this close imprison
ment the ' ample spirit ' of Reginald Pecock pined until
his death. Such was the fate of perhaps the greatest
thinker that has filled a Welsh bishopric. The ill-luck
1 Pecock's 'Represser' (Rolls Series), Introd. xxv.
2 Confession in Collier's 'Eccl. Hist.,3 i. 676.
3 Browne Willis, ' St. Asaph,5 i. p. 83, etc., where the instructions
are given in full.
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 373
that waits upon genius has rarely forsaken the great men
of Wales.
Pecock was succeeded in the See of St. Asaph by
Thomas Knight, who held the Priory of Daventry in
conjunction with the bishopric. He was forced to sur
render his bishopric and sue for pardon in 1471, on
account of his political action in opposition to Edward IV.
Richard Redman, who was appointed in his place, held
the see between 1471 and 1495, and did very much for
his diocese, though he, like so many others, held another
benefice in commendam, being also Abbot of Shap, in
Westmoreland. He was the rebuilder of the cathedral,
which for eighty years had lain in ruins. Though it
might have been supposed that the charge of a diocese
with that of an abbey was enough for one man, Redman
found time for political life as an ardent Yorkist, and
served both Edward IV. and Richard III. on embassies.
On the accession of Henry VII. he viewed the triumph
of the Lancastrian party with dislike, and took part in
the imposture of Lambert Simnel, but afterwards made
his peace with the King, and was again employed on
embassies.
The Bishops of Bangor during the same period seem
to have had very little connection with their diocese,
which was indeed more a wilderness than the neighbour
ing diocese of St. Asaph. Benedict Nicholls was trans
lated to St. David's in 1417, and was succeeded by William
Rarrow, who was 'provided ' by the Pope. He had pre
viously been Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and,
after a short episcopate, was translated to Carlisle. John
Cliderow, his successor, is said to have been a man of
influence at court, and he obtained a confirmation of all
charters and privileges of his church.1 He died in 1435,
far away from his diocese, in London. He left to his
cathedral his white mitre, a sacerdotal vestment, three
1 Browne Willis, ' Bangor,' App. xx., p. 224. It is dated 1425.
374 ^ History of the Welsh Church
copes, and some tunicles, besides other benefactions.1
The next bishop, Thomas Cheryton, was a Dominican.
John Stanbery, his successor, was ' provided ' by the
Pope in 1448. He was a Carmelite, and is said by
Browne Willis to have been ' reputed the learnedest man
of his order, if not of the age wherein he lived.' He
was translated to Hereford, and was succeeded by James
Blakedon, who had previously held an Irish bishopric.
In 1468 Richard Evyndon, or Ednam, who was then
bishop, represented to the Pope the great poverty of his
see, arid that its income was not worth more than £100
per annum, and he obtained leave for himself and his
successors to hold some other benefice in commendam.
With the end of the Wars of the Roses, and with the
accession of the House of Tudor, there was at first
promise of much improvement in the condition of the
four Welsh dioceses, especially of Bangor and St. Asaph.
Law and order began to gain ground and anarchy to
recede. The old waste places were repaired — we have
already seen how Redman restored the Cathedral of St.
Asaph — and the close of the century was marked also
in the same diocese by the restoration of the churches
of Wrexham, Mold, Northop, Holywell, Ruthin, Holt,
and Llangollen. Henry Dean, who succeeded Ednam
in the bishopric of Bangor in 1496, is notable as the
rebuilder of the choir of his cathedral, and as taking
vigorous measures for asserting the claims of his see to
possessions which had become alienated, owing to the
carelessness, or more probably the powerlessness, of
former bishops. Dean had been Prior of the Monmouth
shire Llanthony, so that he had a previous connection
with Wales, and he continued to hold the priory in com
mendam after his appointment as bishop. He was a man
of much political note and ability, and received the
bishopric of Bangor as a reward for his services as
1 Browne Willis, ' Bangor,' App. xxi. Will of Bishop John Cliderow.
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 375
chancellor in Ireland, where he put down the movement
in favour of Perkin Warbeck.1 The same activity and
vigour which he had shown in Ireland were apparent also
in the measures which he adopted for enforcing his rights
in the anarchical condition of North Wales. As he was
unable by peaceful means to gain possession of the Isle
of Seals, off Anglesey, he used what Gerald would have
called ' Welsh law/ and at the head of an armed force
drove out the illegal occupants.2 Dean was promoted to
Salisbury, and eventually, on the death of Morton, was
made Archbishop of Canterbury. He showed attach
ment to his Welsh diocese, on his translation, by leaving
his crozier and mitre, which were of considerable value,
to his successor, on condition that he would finish his
work at the cathedral.3 Thomas Pigott (1500-1504), the
next Bishop of Bangor, was Abbot of Chertsey, in Surrey,
and seems to have lived there. He is said by Wood to
have been ' a Denbighshire man born.'4 After his death,
in 1504, on the visitation of Archbishop Warham, forty-
four priests in this diocese were found to be keeping
1 concubines ' publicly, that is, very probably, were found
to be living as the majority of the clergy had lived in the
days of Giraldus Cambrensis, for the Welsh Church never
altogether recognised as binding the arbitrary decrees of
the Papal See respecting clerical celibacy.
John Penny (1505-1508), the next Bishop of Bangor,
held the Abbey of Leicester in commendam, and after a
short tenure of the see was translated to Carlisle. He
had the reputation of being an eminent canonist.5
Thomas Pace, alias Skeffington, who was provided by
the Pope in 1508, and was consecrated in 1509, held the
Abbey of Beaulieu in commendam, and usually resided
1 Wood, ' Athense Oxonienses ' (ed. 1691), p. 551.
2 Godwin, 'De Praesulibus/ p. 132.
3 Browne Willis, ' Bangor,' p. 95.
4 'Athenae Oxonienses/ i. 553.
6 Ibid., p. 561.
376 A History of the Welsh Church
there. But it must be mentioned, to his credit, that he
built the steeple and the entire body of the cathedral of
his see, from the choir westward, and also rebuilt a great
part of the episcopal palace. His divided affections may
be argued from the fact that his body was buried at
Beaulieu and his heart at Bangor. Of the next bishop,
John Salcot, or Capon (1534-1539), we know little, either
bad or good, so far as his see was concerned. He was
one of Henry VIII. 's bishops, and was elected in 1533
for his subserviency to that tyrant, whose divorce from
Queen Catherine he did his best to promote. He was
translated to Salisbury in 1539.
Two of the first three bishops appointed to St. Asaph
during the Tudor Period were Welshmen. Redman was
succeeded in 1495 by Michael Diacon, and he in 1500 by
a Welshman, Dafydd ap lorwerth, Abbot of Valle Crucis,
who probably lived at his abbey within the diocese. The
other Welshman, Dafydd ap Owen, who succeeded
Dafydd ap lorwerth in 1503, was also an abbot of a
Welsh monastery — but whether of Strata Marcella or
Valle Crucis is uncertain — and afterwards Abbot of Aber-
conway. His episcopacy was rendered notable by the
rebuilding of the Episcopal Palace, destroyed by
Glyndwr ; and by the erection, in 1507, of what used
to be reckoned as one of * the seven wonders of Wales,'
the fine tower of Wrexham church. The building of
this church was greatly forwarded by Dafydd ap Owen's
successor, Edward Birkhead, who was appointed by
Papal provision in 1513. On the death of Birkhead,
Henry Standish was provided to the see by a Bull of
Pope Leo, dated May 28, 1518, and was consecrated at
the Franciscan Church at Oxford.
Standish, who occupied the see from 1518 to 1535, was
a noted controversialist. He was a Lancashire man, a
Franciscan, and provincial of his order, and shortly
before his appointment had been proceeded against for
Death of Glynctwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 377
the part he took in an ecclesiastical controversy. He
was a stanch opponent of the Reformation, and wrote
against Dean Colet and against Erasmus's translation of
the New Testament. He also assisted Queen Catherine
against Henry VIII. during the divorce suit. But, as
regards his work for his diocese, very little can be said ;
perhaps his other occupations left him but little time.
He left, however, a sum of money to pave the choir of
his cathedral, and it is said that with this the organ was
bought. His executors were sued, because they had not
carried out his will in this respect to the letter.1
Standish died on July 9, 1535, and on the i6th of the
following January a man of very different views was
elected in his place. This was William Barlow, an
Augustinian canon, who had been at St. Osyth, in Essex,
and had been thence preferred by the favour of Anne
Boleyn to the priory of Haverfordwest. Barlow was one
of those men, common enough in times of religious re
form or revolution, who, to a genuine conviction of the
iniquity of use and wont, unite a total disregard of the
rights of property and a lack of comprehension of the
very meaning of sacrilege, and who, if any part of
the tithe and offering of which God has been robbed
come by any chance into their possession, consider it
to be a providential dispensation in their favour. Such
men were the spots and blemishes of the English Refor
mation, though they are sometimes accounted among
the ornaments of the Puritan Revolution. Fortunately
for the See of St. Asaph, it escaped from his authority
very soon after his appointment, and before he had time
to work any of the evil to which his disposition inclined
him, for on April 21 he was translated to St. David's. It
is even doubtful whether he was consecrated to St. Asaph.
His confirmation was on February 23,2 and, according to
1 Browne Willis, ' St. Asaph,' i. 92, 93.
2 Godwin (' De Praesulibus,' p. 642) says, ' Consecratus est vicesimo
A History of the Welsh Church
the Act of 1534, consecration should have taken place
within twenty days after this date. It also appears that
he received the possession of the see, as he appointed to
the Rectory of Whitford and the sixth cursal canonry.
This would seem to establish the fact of his consecration.
But, on the other hand, he was on his way to Scotland
on an embassy on February i, and remained there during
March; so that it is difficult to find a date for his conse
cration, which could hardly have taken place in Scotland,
and also he is called ' Bishop-elect of St. Asaph ' after
he vacated that see. On the whole, it would seem most
probable that he was not consecrated until after his ap
pointment to St. David's. The Roman theory that he
was never consecrated at all is sufficiently refuted by the
fact that during his lifetime he was recognised as bishop
not merely by the Reformers, but by leading men on the
other side, as Gardiner and Lee. That no record of his
consecration exists is no disproof of his consecration,
as the same is true of various other contemporary bishops
of both parties.
Barlow was not long at St. David's before he raised up
to himself enemies there, on account of his extreme and
heterodox opinions. In the January following his ap
pointment articles1 were exhibited against him by one
Roger Lewis, bachelor of law, before the Lord President
of Wales. One Talley, preaching before him, had said
' that in times past there was none that did preach or
secundo Februarii, 1535,' viz., February 22, 1536, as we now reckon.
Wharton ('Anglia Sacra') says he was consecrated on February 23.
These statements seem to have arisen from confusion with his con
firmation. The commission to confirm is dated February 22, the
certificate of confirmation February 23.
1 See the articles in Collier's ' Eccl. Hist.,' ii. 135 (ed. A.D. 1708-
1714). Bevan (' St. David's,' p. 168) seems to consider this accusation
as prior to his appointment to St. David's, and puts it in January,
1536. The date given by Collier is January 11, 1536. But the year
began then on March 25,' and January 11, 1536, would be January u,
1537, as we now reckon.
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 379
declare the Word of God truly, nor the Truth was never
known till now of late.' Bishop Barlow himself was
charged, not only with denying the existence of purga
tory and the advantage of auricular confession, but also
with the following statements : ' that wheresoever two or
three simple persons, as two Coblers or Weavers, were
in Company, and elected in the Name of God, that there
was the true Church of God/ and ' that if the King's
grace, being Supreme Head of the Church of England,
did chuse, denominate, and elect any Layman ' (being
learned) 'to be a Bishop, that he, so chosen ' (without
mention made of any orders) ' shou'd be as good a Bishop
as he is, or the best in England.' These accusations
seem to have been true, and not malicious distortions of
innocent speeches ; for Barlow afterwards, in his answers
to certain questions put to various bishops and divines
touching the sacraments, asserted that no consecration
of bishops and priests was required by the New Testa
ment, but only appointing to the office ; and maintained,
further, that at the beginning bishops and priests were
all one ; that laymen have sometimes made priests ; and
that ' bishops have no authority to make priests unless
they be authorized of the Christian Prince.'1 Evidently
Barlow, whom even the zealous Burnet censures as ' not
very discreet,'2 had much of the Puritan in his composi
tion. But the charges of Roger Lewis incidentally
establish also the fact of his consecration, wherever it
may have taken place, for had he not been consecrated,
the words attributed to him respecting his own title to
be bishop would have been absolutely void of meaning.
That he had the Puritan taste for spoliation is evident
from the subsequent history of his episcopate, which lies
beyond our present view. His successor at St. Asaph,
1 'Resolutions of several bishops and divines,' in Burnet's ' History
of the Reformation,' Book iii., App. xxi., vol. i., pp. 225, 228, 230 (ed.
A.D. 1679).
2 (Hist.,'i., p. 255.
380 A History of the Welsh Church
Robert Parfew, or Warton, Abbot of Bermondsey, who
was allowed to hold his abbacy in commendam until the
dissolution of the monasteries, has been accused of
despoiling his see, but apparently without sufficient
grounds.
South Wales had suffered grievously from the incur
sions of Owain Glyndwr, but both its cathedrals had
escaped destruction, and it was not left at the end
of the war a waste, howling wilderness, as was part,
at least, of the north. The gate-house of the old Epis
copal Palace of the Bishops of Llandaff still stands on
the rising ground to the south-east of the cathedral, re
calling the devastations of the ruthless Prince of Wales,
who in some parts of Pembrokeshire exacted money pay
ments as the price of his sparing the churches. Not
far away from Llandaff, near Cardiff Castle, may be
seen the site of the priory and church of the Black
Friars, which were burned down in 1404 by the same
prince as a sacrifice to the cause of Welsh liberty. The
English King, on his part, in 1401 used the church and
choir of the monastery of Strata Florida as a stable,
even up to the high altar, and plundered the whole build
ing. But it would appear that in the very next year
compunction seized him, and he sought to make repara
tion by the following order :
' Whereas the Abbey of Strata Florida, by the frequent
aggressions of Welsh rebels, and also by raids of the
King's lieges for the castigation of the same rebels, is
greatly impoverished, and its lands devastated, so that
the dispersion of the Abbot and monks is to be feared, the
King has taken the Abbey and its appurtenances, with all
annuities, pensions, leases, etc., granted by its abbots,
into his hand, and has committed the custody of the
Abbey and its lands, etc.. to Thomas de Percy, Earl of
Worcester, and John Belyng, clerk, to dispose thereof to
the Abbey's best advantage, and for its relief; all issues
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 38 1
to be devoted to the support of the abbots and monks, for
the succour and relief of the said place ; and until this is
effected, all annuities, pensions, etc., are to cease ; none
of its corn, cattle, etc., are to be taken by purveyors for
the household of the King or of the Prince of Wales.
Dated Westminster, April i, A.D. 1402. By the Council.'1
Spoilers of Church and monastic revenues had fre
quently in those days the grace to confess their fault, and
in some degree to make amends, and Henry IV., though
he lacked the politic skill of Edward I., did not desire
that the Church of Wales should suffer injury at his
hands.
South Wales suffered in some degree in the ensuing
reign from the suppression of alien priories, a measure
which, however justifiable in itself, set an example of
confiscation which subsequent generations copied. But
the possessions of these priories were not diverted, as by
subsequent legislators, to secular purposes, but were used
for good and religious objects. Wales, however, had
good ground of complaint, as the revenues of the Welsh
priories were bestowed upon colleges and other institu
tions in England, and so were lost to the principality.
The revenues of Llangenith, which were derived from the
churches of Llangenith and Pennard, were transferred to
Archbishop Chicheley's foundation of All Souls' College,
Oxford, as were also those of St. Clears, Carmarthen
shire.
Those of Craswall, near Hay, in the same diocese of
St. David's, were given to Christ's College, Cambridge.
Monkton, near Pembroke, had been previously confis
cated for a time by Edward III., and Henry VI. after
wards gave it to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who,
however, transferred it to St. Alban's Abbey, so that it
escaped suppression. Goldcliff, in the diocese of Llan-
daff, was granted by Henry VI. to Eton College, which
1 'Arch. Camb.,' A.D. 1889, p. 48.
382 A History of the Welsh C /lurch
grant, after a transfer to Tewkesbury, was again restored
to Eton by Edward IV. Llankywan, or Llangwin, near
Gresmond, was bestowed upon Shene, in Surrey.
One of the most noticeable features of the literature of
this period is the extinction of the old feud between bard
and monk, and the growing feeling of amity between the
two classes. Gytto'r Glynn writes to Tryhaearn of
Waunllwg a complimentary poem begging him to lend
' the goodly Greal — the Book of the Blood, the Book of
the Heroes, where they fell in the court of Arthur,' to his
friend, Abbot Dafydd of Valle Crucis, whom he likewise
extols in high terms. Perhaps friendship between a bard
and a North Wales abbot, whose sentiments might be
presumed to be national, is not unnatural, though it did
not universally exist in earlier days; but it is certainly a
new feature both in the history of the mediaeval monasti-
cism of Wales and of Welsh literature, to find Neath and
its abbots extolled by Welsh bards. Yet Black leuan of
the Billhook, in the fifteenth century, writes in some
what grandiose style a poem to Abbot Lewis, of Neath,
extolling him in no measured terms, and begging of him
the same Welsh book that Gytto'r Glynn had begged of
Tryhaearn. The extravagance of the laudation bestowed
upon the abbot may suggest that the bard expected to
receive a liberal return in the shape of benefactions :
' Grammar, he is as firm in the faith,
With the strength of forty grammarians ;
In Art, he is fully matured ;
In Civil Law, he is a perfect surety ;
In Sophistry, he brightly effervesces ;
In Music, he has no limit.
There is no one scholar, nor even two,
In the world of equal knowledge.
Learning is in his possession.
He is also, if required, a mirror to distant countries.
He would determine every disputation.
Precious in his judgment, solid is his sentence,
In purity like the Pope's, of ancient pure descent,
Superior to Oxford arid its devices.'1
Translation in ' lolo MSS.,' p. 707.
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 383
This is nonsense undoubtedly, but it is very significant
nonsense. The abbots filled now the position towards
the bards that the Welsh princes had formerly occupied ;
they were the patrons, and the bards gave them flattery
without stint. They sang no longer the olden strains of
liberty and freedom. Dafydd ap Gwilym, Rhys Goch,
and their tuneful brotherhood, had already, in the four
teenth century, tuned the Cambrian lyre to softer strains,
and carolled lightly of love and beauty ; of Gwen reclining
mid the trefoils ; or of the thrush pouring forth an englyn
in the woodland vale ; or of summer in lovely Glamorgan.
But Dafydd enjoyed the patronage of Ivor the Liberal,
of Maesaleg, and probably had little to do with monas
teries and monks, except for occasional intercourse, until
he came to be laid in his grave at Talley Abbey. Others,
smaller bards than he, were glad to purchase favours of
the abbots by paying court to them, and towards the end
of the fifteenth century such a practice would seem not
to have been rare. Guttyn Owain passed his time at the
abbeys of Basingwerk and of Strata Florida alternately.
Occasionally, however, mercenary bards were dis
appointed. One, Deio ab leuan Ddu, visited Bardsey,
carrying with him a poem in praise of Madoc, the abbot,
which he hoped would procure for him a favourable re
ception and lavish hospitality. But, unfortunately for
the bard's anticipations, the abbot lived as an ascetic in
rigorous mortification of the body, and had either no
means or no inclination to provide sumptuous feasts for
itinerant bards. Deio was entertained with musty bread,
maggoty cheese, and sour buttermilk, and in revenge
burned his ode of praise, and indicted a satire upon his
niggardly host.1
Neath Abbey seems, in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries until its dissolution, to have been entirely Welsh
in sentiment, a remarkable change from the time of
1 Wilkins, ' Literature of Wales,' pp. 96, 97.
384 A History of the Welsh Church
Richard de Grenville, its founder. Abbot Lewis, whom
Black leuan celebrated, is said to have been the son of
Dafydd Ddu Offeiriad of Glyn Neath, who translated
the Service of the Virgin into Welsh.1 As the poem
of Black leuan contains an implied sneer at the Saxons,
and an assertion that the abbot was not of their stock,
it may be taken for granted that Abbot Lewis con
sidered himself a thorough Welshman o waed cochcyfan.
How this transformation of a South Wales abbey had
been effected is not easy to trace, but it probably merely
illustrates a change which had become pretty general
by the beginning of the sixteenth century. In the period
of depression after Glyndwr's rising, Englishmen and
Welshmen in South Wales seem to have drawn closer
together, and the Celtic race had in great measure
absorbed the Saxon. Undoubtedly the process had been
going on ever since the conquest of Wales by Edward I.,
nay, it had commenced even earlier, for was not it the
proudest boast of Gerald de Barri, the Norman, that he
was above all Gerald the Welshman ? It has ever been
the peculiar power of the Celtic race that it absorbs
alien elements, and infuses into them a double portion
of its Celtic spirit. The original English plantation in
Ireland eventually became more Irish than the Irish,
and Abbot Lewis of Neath, notwithstanding his boast
of Welsh descent, and his love of the Welsh language,
may very probably have had in his veins a goodly inter
mixture of English or Norman blood.
Those who regard the mediaeval monasteries of Wales
as centres of English influence, and who would main
tain that it was to a large extent the mission of monk
and priest to teach English, have much to justify their
position, at least, with regard to the monks, in the
history of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. But
although connection with culture, such as the monasteries
1 ' lolo MSS.,' p. 706, note.
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 385
enjoyed, would go far to modify narrowness, and we
need scarcely look to a South Wales monastery to pro
vide advocates of the policy of Glyndwr, the most im
portant of the Norman foundations seem to have been
imbued, in the fifteenth century at least, with a strong
feeling of true Welsh patriotism, and a keen sympathy
with Welsh literature. The northern monasteries, which
were generally the creation of Welsh princes, and the
Abbey of Talley (and perhaps that of Whitland), seem
to have been Welsh in feeling almost from the first. It
would be interesting to discover whether the Benedic
tines, who lived in the English towns, were similarly
affected by Celtic influence as was the Cistercian Abbey
of Neath, which evidently found the neighbourhood of
the town, only about a mile away, no check upon its
Welsh proclivities. By the end of the fifteenth century,
however, even the townsmen of English extraction had
probably more than half forgotten their difference of
race from their Welsh neighbours, and wholly forgotten
their ancient enmity. Some Norrnan families, we know,
as the Aubreys, had altogether identified themselves with
the race among which they had settled.1
Margam, another Cistercian abbey within a few miles
of Neath, and also situate in the plain of Glamorgan,
within the most especial sphere of English influence, had
also in the fifteenth century a bard of its own, named
lorwerth. But, judging from the poems extant, Neath
would seem to have been by far the most notable abbey
in South Wales for the nationality of its sentiments and
its patronage of Welsh literature. The poem of a
second-rate bard like Black leuan might by itself be
1 Jones, ' History of Breconshire,' ii. pp. 563-568, and 603-608.
Saunders de Alberico came over with the Conqueror. Reginald was
one of the chief companions of Bernard Newmarch. Thorn is, grand
son of Reginald, married Joan, daughter of Trahaern ap Einon ; and
his son, Thomas Awbrey Goch, married Nest, daughter of Owen
Gethin.
25
386 A History of the Welsh Church
thought to supply but scanty evidence of such a position,
containing, as it does, much gross flattery, which sug
gests that the appetite of Abbot Lewis for such tributes
must have been of the coarsest. But a much more im
portant poet, Lewis Morganwg, at a slightly later date,
lauds Abbot Lleision of Neath in a more polished strain,
though with flattery not much more delicate. He is
' a true son of Nonn,' which is as much as to say that
he is a second St. David ; he is ' the chief of every
abbot, fruit of heavenly culture, fragrant as Jerome, of
the sweetness of Augustine ; a goodly churchman of
Divine mission ; an apostle of the race of lestyn ; a
second Daniel of the blood of Einion, the key of learn
ing, another blessed Lleuddad ' ; ' another paternal
Dunawd,' ' a Bernard,' ' the shepherd of the faith, the
support and staff of the pastoral office, and the rod of
Aaron ; like balm to this palace of Mary, as when the
fulfilment of Simeon's blessing came to the Virgin's
abode.' Neath, over which he presided, is styled ' the
sanctuary of our language.' ' The university of Neath,'
says the bard, carried away, surely, by his enthusiasm —
Mo ! it is the admiration of England ; the lamp of
France and Ireland ; a school greatly resorted to by
scholars, for every science, as if it were Sion itself.'1
If it be true, as has been stated, that this ode was
composed for an Eisteddfod, held at Neath Abbey under
the patronage and presidency of Abbot Lleision, the
identification of the Norman abbey with Welsh national
sentiment is complete.
We have, then, abundant reason to conclude that the
Church in Wales was completely W'elsh in sentiment
at the end of the fifteenth century as much in the
southern dioceses as in the northern. The bishops,
indeed, were Englishmen, until the accession of a Welsh-
1 Translation in Francis's ' Charters of Neath.' See, further, the
Appendix to this chapter.
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 387
man to the throne of England caused a pleasant variation
to be made from the monotony of constant English
appointments, for two Welsh bishops were soon afterwards
appointed to St. David's. But as the English bishops
were frequently non-resident, they had far less influence
upon the tone of their dioceses than might have been ex
pected, except in so far as deterioration must have set in
through their neglect. Bishops, too, do not by them
selves make up a church — a fact which has been fre
quently forgotten — for the appointment of English bishops
constitutes the chief basis for the common ignorant
reproach as to the alien character of the Welsh Church.
The paucity of known facts respecting the ordinary
work of the Welsh clergy causes of necessity a dis
proportionate space to be given to the history of the
Welsh episcopate, just as in English history the social
condition of the people has often been ignored or lightly
treated of in comparison with the records of battles and
treaties. Yet we know that even in the past ages of
conflict men did something else besides fighting, and so
in Wales the inferior clergy and the godly laity had a
religious life of their own, which is little known, and is,
therefore, difficult to pourtray.
It is, of course, possible to regard the religious life of
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries from opposite points
of view. The zealous, but * not very discreet/ Barlow,
whose zeal for God was compatible with an overweening
regard for self, considered the state of the diocese of
St. David's, when he became its bishop, exceedingly
lamentable. According to his statements, the clergy
were ' all utter enemyes ' to God's Word ; and ' Welsch
rudenesse,' 'ydolatrous infidelytie and papisticall prac-
tyses ' prevailed. At Haverfordwest there was a holy
taper, much reverenced, and at Cardigan an image of the
Virgin with a taper in her hand, which was believed to
have burned nine years, until, one forswearing himself upon
388 A History of the Welsh Church
it, it went out. The cathedral and all about it he
found so full of superstition, that his only hope of
amending matters was to remove the see from St. David's
to Carmarthen.1 That there was much superstition in
Wales cannot be disputed. There were various holy
places to which pilgrimages were made by those in
search of healing, whether of body or soul. St. Winifred's
Well was in much requisition, and from thence to
Bardsey there are holy wells on the pilgrims' road, where
devotions might be paid. Bardsey itself, the ' Isle of
Saints,' where the bodies of twenty thousand holy men
were buried, was a place which every devout man in
North Wales sought to visit, although the passage from
Aberdaron is at times rough enough to deter any but
earnest pilgrims; and, if Deio's satire is to be credited,
the hospitality therein afforded was not such as would
tempt anyone who was in search of creature comforts.
But piety lingered long about the place, even to the
last century, for when Pennant crossed from Aberdaron,
the rowers offered a prayer upon the way. The Parish
Church of Aberdaron2 on the shore was a customary
place of devotion for the pilgrims.
At Llandderfel, near Bala, was the celebrated image
of Derfel Gadarn, or Derfel the Mighty, which was
famed to possess wondrous power. Ellis Price, the
visitor of the diocese of St. Asaph, reported concern
ing it on April 6, 1538, that the people came daily on
pilgrimage, ' some withe kyne, other with oxen or horsis,
and the reste with money,' so that the day before he
wrote there were five or six hundred pilgrims. There
was a saying among them ' that whosoever will offer
1 'Letters relating to the Suppression,' pp. 77-80, 183-189.
- Lelana's ' ltin.,J v. 51 (I quote here Hearne's, the third edition, as I
have not the second by me) : 'The paroche chirch is above almoste a
mile on the shor, as the salt water cumpasith aboute with a hedde.
The chirche is caullid in Walsch Llanengan Brening, id est, Fanum
Niniani Reguli, where was of late a great pilgrimage.^
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 389
anie thinge to the saide image of Darvellgadarn, he hathe
power to fatche hym or them that so offers oute of hell
when they be dampned.'1 Concerning this image, we
are told that the story went that it would one day burn
down a forest, a tradition which was supposed to be
fulfilled when it was brought to London and used to
feed the fire in which honest Friar Forrest was burned.
Then, again, the good people of North Wales had
their favourite saints, and as we read in a poem of
Lewis Glyn Cothi, the friars would carry about with
them the images of such saints, and exchange them for
cheese, bacon, and corn among their simple devotees.
The images of Seiriol and of Curig were found the
most acceptable, for Seiriol was held in reverence as a
healer of certain disorders, and the image of Curig drove
away evil spirits from farm-houses. All over Wales were
the holy wells, some of which, like Ffynnon Elian, the
well of cursing, were put to exceedingly wicked uses,
and at none of which the devotions paid savoured
of the truly religious. Such customs as these were
essentially Pagan, however much they may have been
interpreted in Christian fashion by the clergy. But this
worship of wells and streams, which Gildas had deemed
extinct in his day, survived the Reformation, as it had
survived the establishment of Christianity, and may not
be altogether extinct at the present day ; nay, even now
we hear of the miracles wrought at the wondrous well
of St. Winifred. In South Wales men went on pilgrim
age to the shrine of St. David's, and so great was the
efficacy attributed to this devotion, that it was con
sidered that two pilgrimages to St. David's were fully
equivalent to one pilgrimage to Rome, and three to a
pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre2 — a belief which was
not likely to die away as long as English Kings approved
1 ' Letters relating to the Suppression,' pp. 190, 191.
- ' Llyma Cyvvydd Dewi Sant,' by Thomas ap leuan, ' lolo MSS.,'
p. 300-
390 A History of the Welsh Church
it by their practice, as did Henry II. and Edward I.,
with his wife, Eleanor. There was also the shrine of
the Virgin at Penrhys, in Glamorgan, where was the
image which Latimer called ' the Devyl's instrument,'
but of which Lewis Morganwg sang with much devotion:
' There are nine heavens in one island, this grace is at
Penrhys. Here are men who are drawn over land and
sea by thy miracle, O Mary ! Hither didst thou come,
bestowing great blessings to this place, from heaven to
earth. Thine image, which they see every day, was
received of yore alive from heaven. Great is the number
in writing, great is the number of thy miracles, holy
Mary.' Again, ' If the cry of the humble blind come to
thee, the blind shall see the light of day. . . . Should a
deaf man come in addition to another, he will hear a
cry from the wound of that other. Were a sick man to
visit it upon crutches, he would not thus be brought
from the Church of Mary. Thine is the image to heal
sickness ; thou dost heal aches and pains.'
Much of this, no doubt, is utterly bad, nearly as bad
in its way, perhaps, as nineteenth-century agnosticism,
which is itself false worship of another kind. There
was, probably, little Lollardism in Wales, although in
the south Sir John Oldcastle must have been pretty
well known. Walter Brute, the Lollard, avowed himself
a Welshman, having his ' offspring of the Britons, both
by father's and mother's side,'1 and Thomas ap leuan,
the bard, was imprisoned in Kenfig Castle for his Lollard
opinions. Lollardism, too, has been detected in the
poems of Sion Cent, but little indeed is known about
the personality of that poet. Certainly, when the
Reformation began, Wales was far from ripe for it. It
had at first very few supporters, and was thrust generally
by English bishops upon an unwilling people, who seem
to have resented the acts of their superiors, if we may
1 Fuller, ' Worthies of Wales,' p. 8.
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 391
judge from the stories, some quite untrue, which were
spread abroad to the discredit of such bishops. But
though there was little Lollardism, there may have been
genuine piety nevertheless. The people of those days
had the sun as well as we ; we have but added the
glare of gas and the cold electric light. Though the
Bible had not been translated into Welsh, passages of
Scripture were undoubtedly contained in popular manuals,
such as the Welsh translation of an Office of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, which may be found in the ' Myvyrian
Archaeology,' and which is attributed to Davydd Ddu
Hirraddug, a Vicar of Tremeirchion in the middle of
the fourteenth century. Here and there, too, we find
in the poetical literature of the age a strong, full note,
as in Sion Cent's death-song of penitence and prayer ;
but it must be confessed that the favourite devotional
tribute of the bards, a cywydd to some popular saint,
such as David, Illtyd, or Teilo, does not commend itself
to modern taste as any evidence of religious earnestness.
Such poems were generally mere versifications of the
current legends of the saints, and are chiefly remark
able for their extravagance. Superstition, gross, absurd,
and abominable, undoubtedly abounded in Wales ; but
though it obscured, it did not necessarily destroy genuine
piety. The faults of men and of churches vary in different
ages, and each age is inclined to judge leniently its own
weaknesses, and to magnify those of others. If we our
selves are inclined to regard with scorn the false beliefs
of the Christians of the fifteenth century, we may be
well assured that they would recoil in horror from the
spectacle presented by Christian Wales at the present
day.
Undoubtedly, however, there was much sin in Wales
then, as now. The wild and lawless condition of North
Wales during the period has been made clearly apparent ;
life and property were held on the most uncertain tenure,
392 A History of the Welsh Church
and deeds of violence were of daily occurrence. Yet the
picture we have seen, exhibited at least one spot of bright
ness in the priest who was ' given to hospitality,' and
whose virtues caused his death. However false beliefs
obscured the true faith, and however human failings
weakened the ministerial power, priest and monk showed
forth a light that illuminated the darkness around, and
the Church and the monastery sheltered the kindlier and
gentler virtues that might otherwise have taken flight
from a realm of violence and anarchy. There are
indeed indications which may be taken to signify that
the light which was in that dark world was itself dark
ness. We have noticed already that forty-four priests
in the diocese of Bangor were found, in 1504, to be keep
ing ' concubines ' publicly. We are told also that in the
diocese of St. David's, during the episcopate of John
de la Bere, between the years 1447 and 1460, certain of
the clergy petitioned him for leave to put away their
' concubines; alleging that they feared the vengeance of
the relations of these women if they acted without his
orders. The bishop rejected the petition, because the
licences granted to the clergy to keep these women
brought him in a considerable revenue. Statements
such as these might lead to the conclusion that corrup
tion of morals was widely prevalent in the ranks of the
clergy themselves. But it would probably be rash to
infer this. The clergy of Wales had never generally
accepted the Papal and unscriptural rule of celibacy as
binding. Whether we ought to consider these women
concubines, or, in point of fact, wives, is a doubtful
matter. It would task a skilful casuist to determine the
amount of moral culpability involved in these unions,
which were licensed by the bishops, if not blessed by the
Church, and which were recognised by the laity as bind
ing and indissoluble, if not acknowledged by the law.
Where the boundary-line between right and wrong was
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 393
so doubtfully marked, it is not surprising that men inter
preted it as suited their own inclinations, and even at
times ventured far into forbidden ground. Such is ever
the result of artificial rules of morality which are not
grounded upon the law of God.
It is to be feared that the clergy of St. David's would
not receive much aid or godly admonition from the
majority of the bishops of this period, though few, if
any, were so utterly bad as was John de la Bere. The
see had a succession of ' small ' bishops, and suffered, as
Llandaff had previously suffered, from constant transla
tions. John Catterick, or Keterich, Archdeacon of
Surrey, appointed by Papal provision to succeed
Chicheley in April, 1414, and consecrated at the end of
June, was translated by the Pope to the See of Coventry
and Lichfield in February of the next year.1 Stephen
Patrington, his successor, who is styled ' a very learned
man,' can have done little to enlighten his diocese by
his scholarship. In 1417 he was away at the Council of
Constance, and before the end of the year the Pope pro
moted him to Chichester ; but he seems to have died
before he entered upon his new see.2 The next bishop
was Benedict Nicholls, formerly of Bangor, appointed
by Papal provision in December, 1417, who seems to
have paid some attention to his diocese, for he was the
author of a code of statutes regulating the services of the
cathedral. He was one of the judges who condemned
Lord Cobham to death. He held the see till his death in
1433. Thomas Rodburne, his successor, is styled 'a
great theologian and a distinguished mathematician.'
He had been Chancellor of the University of Oxford and
Provost of Merton, of which college he built the gate-
tower. For his diocese, however, he did nothing, as he
1 Richardson's Godwin, ' De Praesulibus,' pp. 322, 582.
'2 (iodwin, pp. 509, 582. J. and F., p. 307. Bevan (p. 143) says that
he was translated to Lhester, possibly a misprint.
394 <d History of the Welsh Church
lived in Wiltshire during his episcopate, and left his
duties to be discharged by David Cherbury, who, one
would think, had sufficient on his hands already, for,
besides being Bishop of Dromore, in Ireland, he held
also the archdeaconry of Brecon. Rodburne was suc
ceeded, in 1442, by one of the most distinguished of the
bishops of this period, the canonist, William Lyndwood.
John Langton, the next bishop, provided by the Pope in
1447, died on the fifth day after his consecration. His
successor was the ' bishop of abominable fame,'1 De la
Bere, who, ' notwithstanding he was made Bishop of St.
David's, never saw it, but committed the care of his
bishopric to one Griffin Nicolas, son2 to Richard Fitz-
Thomas, a stout knight.'3 Possibly De la Bere was un
able to fulfil his duties, from physical weakness, for we
find that in 1458 he was excused from attending Parlia
ment, as he was ' detained by divers infirmities of body
and by old age.' He had been previously heavily fined
for non-attendance.4 There is some reason to suspect
that the See of St. David's was not only used as a
stepping-stone to richer and more dignified preferment,
but also as a post for old or decrepit clergy, whose failing
powers were unequal to the discharge of its duties.
John Langton was not the only bishop who died very
soon after consecration. As all these appointments were
made by Papal provision, they are to be reckoned among
the many wrongs inflicted by the See of Rome upon the
Church of Wales.
De la Bere was provided by Pope Nicholas, on
September 15, 1447. He na<^ previously, in 1446, been
provided by Pope Eugenius to the deanery of Wells, but
was never installed. As he had been deposed from the
position of King's Almoner, it is possible that his failure
1 So Gascoigne calls him.
2 Really _/#//?£>•, as J. and F. point out, p. 307.
'•'> Browne Willis, ' St. David's,' p. 113, quoting Leland.
4 Rymer, ' Foedera ' (first edition), xi. 386.
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 395
to secure the deanery of Wells was in some way due to
his evil reputation. If this be so, the guilt of appoint
ing such a man to a bishopric is all the greater. The one
good deed recorded of him is his building of Dorchester
bridge, in Oxfordshire, in which county he seems to have
spent the years of his episcopate. He was finally de
posed from his see, and imprisoned, the reason being,
probably, that he had obtained Bulls from Rome, and so
violated the statutes of praemunire and provisors. His
pardon is dated February 5, 1460,* and he is therein
styled 'John, late Bishop of St. David's, otherwise called
John de la Beare, late Bishop of St. David's."2
Robert Tully, appointed in 1460, was a man of much
superior type to his predecessor. He is said to have been
deprived of the temporalities of his see by Edward IV.,
probably for Lancastrian proclivities ; but, nevertheless,
he did good work for the cathedral, contributing from his
own means to its completion. The stalls and the desks
were erected by him, and the roof of the choir and the
upper east window contain his arms and those of his suc
cessor, Richard Martyn, which, in conjunction with other
evidence, points to the conclusion that they were put up
from funds partially derived from legacies left by these
bishops.
Richard Martyn's episcopate was one of the briefest.
Provided by the Pope by a Bull dated April 26, 1482, 3 he
died in a few months.
His successor, Thomas Langton, was an able and dis
tinguished man, who afterwards, at Winchester, showed
himself, according to Anthony Wood, a ' Mecaenas of
learning,'4 but, unfortunately, he was not long enough in
possession of St. David's to benefit that see. He was
1 1461, new style.
2 Rymer, ' Fcedera' (first edition), xi. 469.
3 Temporalities were restored to him July I, 1482. Rymer, 'Fcedera'
(first edition), xii. 159.
4 'Athena.' Oxomenses3 (ed. 1691), p. 549.
,96 A History of the Welsh Church
appointed by the Pope in July, 1483. and was translated
to Salisbury by the same authority in February, 1485.
The next two bishops, Hugh Pavy (I485-I4Q61) and
John Morgan, alias Young (i4g6-i5O42), though neither
held the bishopric for a very long period, seem to have
paid attention to their diocese. The former urged his
clergy to admonish all persons to visit St. David's once a
year, or at least to give something to the proctors who
went round yearly with relics. Morgan was a native of
Wales, and had been for some years before his appoint
ment Archdeacon of Carmarthen, in addition to which
office he held the deanery of Windsor and various
other rich English benefices ; for, with the accession of
the Tudors. there was a movement of Welshmen into
England, where they rapidly gained preferment. Morgan
made provision for the support of the choristers of St.
David's, and raised their number from four to six.
Robert Sherborne, appointed to succeed Morgan in
1505, was preferred to Chichester in 1508. He was suc
ceeded by Edward Vaughan, another Welshman, who
built the chapel in the cathedral which bears his name,
and the roof of the Lady Chapel and its ante-chapel.3
To him, also, Leland ascribes St. Justinian's Chapel, the
chapel of Llawhaden Castle, with general repairs at the
same place, and a great barn at Lamphey. The chapel
at Lamphey also, from internal evidence, has been sup
posed to be his work. The historians of the cathedral
assign to him ' the most prominent place among the
prelates who occupied the See of St. David's during the
closing days of the ante-Reformation era.'
1 Temporalities restored to him September 19, 1485. Rymer,
'Foedera' (first edition), xii. 275.
- Temporalities restored November 23. Rymer, ' Foedera,' xii. 646.
'•' J. and F., pp. 164-168, 309. The roof of the nave also is thought
by these writers to belong to his period. 'Perhaps the porch' (as it
appears at present) 'and the upper stage of the tower may be attri
buted to him, though neither would confer immortality on his taste in
architecture ' (p. 309).
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 397
The appointments of Morgan and of Vaughan mark
also a new era in the episcopate of St. David's, inasmuch
as Morgan was the first bishop of Welsh blood ap
pointed to that see since at least the time of Thomas
Wallensis.
The next two bishops, Richard Rawlins (1523-1536) and
William Barlow, were no particular credit to the see.
The former had a reputation as a learned man, and had
filled various important positions in England. He enjoyed
the favour of Henry VIII., and accompanied him on his
expedition into France, and afterwards succeeded Wolsey
as King's almoner. But, in 1521, he was deprived by
the Archbishop of Canterbury of his Wardenship of
Merton College, Oxford, which he had held for thirteen
years, as he was found guilty of ' many unworthy misde
meanours ' ; and ' soon after, because he should not be
a looser, had the Bishoprick of St. David confer'd upon
him';1 surely the most extraordinary reason for prefer
ment that was ever given, and one that shows how low
the bishopric had fallen in public estimation since it was
filled by Beck, Thoresby, and Chicheley.
The causes of the sudden rise and of the sudden decline
of the fortunes of the see are alike undiscovered, but it is
extremely probable that in some way the insurrection of
Glyndwr was responsible for the decline. Never before
had Wales been so prostrated, and it was natural that the
premier see should share the low estate of the principality.
It may be that its previous exaltation was due in some
measure to the policy of the first Edward, who, though
the conqueror of Wales, behaved wisely and justly towards
his conquest, and spared the submissive, while he crushed
the proud.
Of the See of Llandaff and its bishops during this period
there is nothing of importance to chronicle. The bishopric
seems to have been considered rich,2 and although in the
1 ' Athenae Oxonienses,' p. 573. - Ibid., p. 560.
398 A History of the Welsh Church
previous period five bishops had been translated from it,
none was so translated in this period, for Holgate's ad
vancement to York falls a few years later. But the bishops
were generally undistinguished men, and did little that
might serve to perpetuate their memory.
John de la Zouche (1407-1423) was succeeded by John
Fulford, a man so insignificant that Godwin omits his
name altogether. The next bishops were John Wells, a
Friar Minor (1425-1440), Nicholas Assheby, Prior of
Westminster (1441-1458), and John Hunden, a Minorite,
Prior of King's Langley, who probably became involved
in the political troubles of the day, for he was pardoned
by Edward IV. in 1473. J He resigned the see in 1476,
and John Smith (1476-1478) succeeded. The next bishop,
John Marshall (1478-1496), is a man of some little note as
a benefactor to his cathedral, in which his fine monument
still stands. John Ingleby, Prior of Shene, succeeded?
but held the see for a very short time, for in 1500 Miles
Salley, who had been Almoner of Abingdon Abbey, and
afterwards Abbot of Eynsham, was appointed. By his
will he directed that his heart and bowels should be
buried 'at the high altar of the church at Matherne before
the image of St. Theodorick,' and his body on the north
side of our Lady's chapel before the image of St. Andrew
in St. Mark's Church, Bristol.2 According to tradition
he was a great benefactor to the episcopal palace at
Matherne, and built the chapel, hall, dining-room, an
adjoining tower, and the kitchen.8 He left by his will
twenty pounds to Matherne and his mitre to his cathe
dral, and directed that a solemn Mass and a dirige
should be kept up for his soul at his Abbey of Eynsham,
which he had continued to hold in commendam with his
bishopric.
1 Rymer, ' Fcedera,' xi. 734.
2 ' Athenas Oxonienses/ p. 560. Browne Willis, ' Landaff,' p. 61.
So Godwin had heard from old men (p. 611).
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 399
The next appointment to the bishopric was a rather
extraordinary one. Pope Leo thought so little of the
claims of Welsh nationality that he chose as the fittest
man to fill the see a certain Spanish Dominican, George
de Attica, or Athegua, the chaplain of Katherine of Arragon.
The Bull appointing him bore date February n, 1517.
He was succeeded in 1537 by Robert Holgate, a Yorkshire-
man, and Prior of Walton, in Yorkshire, which appoint
ment he held in commendam with his bishopric. Holgate's
services at the time of the dissolution of the monas
teries gained him further, in 1544, the Archbishopric of
York.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XIII.
TRANSLATION OF
AN ODE BY LEWIS MORGANWG,
TO LLEISION, ABBOT OF NEATH, CIRCA A.D. 1500.
(From ' Original Charters, elc,, of Neath and its Abbey J
by G. G. Francis, F.S.A., Swansea, 1835.)
Everlasting courts of Lleision, Abbot of Neath : famed
insulated retreats ! May a golden crown adorn his head
— true son of Nonn.1
An Abbot, the chief of every Abbot ; fruit of heavenly
culture ; fragrant as Jerome ; of the sweetness of Augus
tine.
A goodly churchman of divine mission ;2 an apostle of
the race of lestyn ; a second Daniel of the blood of
Einion ; the key of learning ; another blessed Lleuddad.3
1 Nonn, the mother of St. David.
2 Leision is a name of the divinity, and appears to be a contraction
of Kyrie-eleeson. It is found in this meaning in the Awdl Fraith, and
elsewhere.
3 St. Lleuddad, an ancient British saint.
4OO A History of the Welsh Church
The temple of Neath, with its many new-built dwellings ;
God is glorified in this temple. He [Lleision] is another
paternal Dunawd.1 An Abbot of ready answers, a Bernard,-
the arbitrator of religionists.
The shepherd of the faith, the support and staff of the
pastoral office, and the rod of Aaron : like balm to this
palace of Mary, as when the fulfilment of Simeon's bless
ing came to the Virgin's abode.3
We now present to the Virgin a petition, that the one
God above, for the blood that flowed from his breast,
intercede for a long life to Lleision ; that there may be
here sages of eminence, ardent men of learning, men of
piety, humble and beneficent. May the protection of
God be over this sanctuary of our language, holy and
venerable amidst its verdant meadows.
Like the sky of the vale of Ebron4 is the covering of
this monastery : weighty is the lead that roofs this
abode — the dark blue canopy of the dwellings of the
godly.
Every colour is seen in the crystal windows, every fair
and high-wrought form beams forth through them like
the rays of the sun. — Portals of radiant guardians !
Pure and empyreal, here is every dignified language and
every well-skilled preceptor. Here are seen the graceful
robes of prelates, here may be found gold and jewels, the
tribute of the wealthy.
Here also is the gold-adorned choir, the nave, the gilded
tabernacle work, the pinnacles, worthy of the Three Foun
tains.5 Distinctly may be seen on the glass, imperial
arms ; a ceiling resplendent with kingly bearings, and on
1 St. Dunawd, an ancient British saint.
2 St. Bernard.
3 The abbey was dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
4 The Vale of Ebron is celebrated as the scene of Adam's creation.
' Ar lawr Glyn Ebron/ etc. — Awdl Fraith.
" The three mystical fountains are described by Taliesin, * Tair
ffynnon y sydd,' etc., and also in Merlin's Prophecy.
Death of Glyndwr to Dissolution of Monasteries 401
the surrounding border the shields of princes ; the arms
of Neath of a hundred ages ; there is the white freestone
and the arms of the best men under the crown of Harry ;
and the church walls of gray marble.
The vast and lofty roof is like the sparkling heavens on
high ; above are seen archangels' forms ; the floor beneath
is for the people of earth, all the tribes of Babel, for them
it is wrought of variegated stone. The bells, the benedic
tions, and the peaceful songs of praise, proclaim the fre
quent thanksgivings of the white monks.1
Here, on the banks of the river, is a court resembling
the temple of Solomon, or the edifices of Rome ; this
monastery and court of Lleision is equal to those, and its
priests'2 more exalted than the Patriarch of India.3
Never was there such a fabric of mortal erection, nor
roofed walls, nor vast habitation ; never was there such a
foundation, nor splendid palace, nor oak of earthly growth ;
never was there, and never will there be, such workman
ship in wood as this, which will not perish whilst the day
and the wave continue.
Here are the flowing streams of the grape ; the anima
tion of the multitudes ; the three colours of wine, and the
ready service ; the abode of evening conviviality, as in the
dwellings of Kings, for the congregated hosts. A temple
of masterly construction, through gracious co-operation
from the heavenly mansions. A building of regular con
struction through skilful workmanship, a house of piety
for the fathers.
Chief of schools ; heaven-arrayed benefactor ; noble
founder of honours ; the gentle occupier has been to St.
Mary, the dedicator of gracious votaries. Golden ceilings
are over their heads ; goodly canopies, in these splendid
1 The abbey being Cistercian, the monks were robed in white.
2 The original word is phreutur, but whether it is the plural of/rater,
a friar, or pretre, a priest, is not quite clear.
3 Prester John, of the Indies. Presbyter Johannes.
26
4O2 A History of the Welsh Church
dwellings ; also masses, together with writings in books ;
all dignified and complete.
Sacred is this dwelling by the cheerful sea.
Such are the benefits conferred by Lleision.
In this compact retreat will be found the warmth of
hospitality and welcome banquets, and deer from the
parks of yonder hill above,1 and salmon from the ocean,
and wheat and every kind of wine — these from the
bounteous land and sea.
The university of Neath,2 lo ! it is the admiration of
England ; the lamp of France and Ireland ; a school
greatly resorted to by scholars, for every science, as if it
were Sion itself. With organs for the men attired in
white, and great applause of contending disputants ;
arithmetic, music, logic, rhetoric, civil and canon law.
As the Bernard of courts let Lleision decide; the palace
of Asa3 be to the Abbot Lleision, as that of St. Beuno,4
chief of the venerable sages, be the speech of Lleision ;
long be the life of Abbot Lleision.
May he receive a gift to his satisfaction in this Caer-
baddon5 of Wales — be it from the hand of Jesus to the
Abbot Lleision.
1 Fron literally signifies a hillside, but is often a proper name of a
hilly slope.
2 It is said that the Abbot Lleision had obtained from Jaspar Tudor,
Lord of Glamorgan, a charter for founding a university at Neath,
but that the death of that nobleman took place before it was signed.
The Reformation occurring soon after, the abbey lands were confis
cated, and the whole design frustrated. See ' Cyfrinach y Beirdd.'
3 St. Asav, an ancient British saint.
4 St. Beuno, an ancient British saint.
5 Badon Mount was the scene of one of Arthur's victories. As
Caerbaddon is the British name of Bath, was that city at this time
celebrated enough to be here intended ?
N.B. — I quote the notes to the above, as found in Francis' ' Charters
of Neath,' but I do not necessarily endorse them. — E. J. N.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES.
THE accession of the House of Tudor raised Wales to
some extent from the depression which had been caused
by the insurrection of Glyndwr. Welshmen were no
longer content to mumble the dry bones of an effete and
false nationalism, or to abide in sullen resentment at
oppression within the gloomy barrier of their mountains ;
the nobler spirits had risen to the broader conception of
a true nationalism, which found nothing in the love of
country inimical to the love of one's fellow-men, and
which shared in the hopes and ambitions of the kingdom
at large. They had given a King of their own * red
blood ' to the land of the Saxons, and for a time they
hoped that his successor would be an Arthur, in whom
the old dim traditions about the return of their ancient
hero, and the revival of the glories of their race, would
have their fulfilment. Though Arthur died ere his time,
and another Henry succeeded, who united to the Tudor
shrewdness and tact a double portion of the licentious
ness of his Plantagenet grandfather, yet neither in his
reign nor in those of his children did Welshmen find
themselves forgotten by their sovereigns. Henry VIII.'s
Act of Union1 showed that he was not unmindful of the
land of his fathers, but bore towards his subjects therein
1 27 Henry VIII., c. xxvi.
404 A History of the Welsh Church
'a singular zeal, love, and favour.'1 The Welsh, for
their part, flocked into England and asserted their right
to take their place in the government and in the various
institutions of the kingdom to which they belonged, and
soon won by the natural force of the brilliant Celtic
genius, no longer cribbed, cabined, and confined by
native prejudice or alien oppression, distinguished places
in the ranks of statesmen, scholars, lawyers, and divines.
To trace in detail this Welsh renascence is beyond our
present scope, and beyond the limits of our period. It
had begun, however, before the dissolution of the
monasteries, and the pages of the ' Athense Oxonienses,'
to mention but one work in illustration, bear witness to
the celebrity of many of the sons of Wales.
In general, however, the Welsh leaders, as well as the
commonalty, were opposed to the great movement of
the Reformation. Its pioneers in Wales were, for the
most part, Englishmen, and frequently men not qualified
by their moral equipment for such a work. During the
reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI., the new move
ment made no progress among the Welsh people. One
cause of this, perhaps, was the ruthless and wicked
policy of Henry VIII. in carrying out the dissolution of
the monasteries — a measure of spoliation, from the effects
of which the Church of Wales has not yet recovered.
That all monks were saintly and devout men cannot
be affirmed ; that greed, worldliness, and even at times
unchastity, were present within the pale of the cloister
cannot be denied. Such sins are not peculiar to the
monastic system, nor even to the pre-Reformation period.
Gerald de Barri's description of the monastic orders
1 'His Highness, therefore, of a singular zeal, love and favour, that
he beareth to his subjects of the said " Dominion" of Wales, minding
to extirp all the sinister usages, and to bring his subjects to a
amicable unity, hath enacted that his said Dominion of Wales sha 1
be for ever hereafter incorporated and annexed to this his Realm ot
England.'
The Dissolution of the Monasteries 405
may be overcharged, but must have had a substantial
basis of truth ; the literature of the Middle Ages teems
with jest and satire respecting monkish gluttony and
monkish greed, and it would be rash to dismiss all this
as mere unfounded slander. As regards Wales, we
know enough of Strata Marcella and Talley to assure
us that the monasteries were not always untainted by
the licentiousness of the times. But popular gossip
multiplied such evils and magnified them tenfold, and
many stories were current that we cannot now test.
The landowners envied abbots who lived in more luxury
and with more pomp and show than themselves, who
had the management of broader lands, and who (greatest
crimes of all) were better landlords, and gave alms
liberally to the poor. The parochial clergy, starving on
their paltry pittances, credited the monks, who took the
greater tithes of their parishes, with all manner of luxury,
and while they prided themselves on their apostolic
poverty, sighed for the pleasures of the cloister. Earnest
men, who grieved over the superstitions by which the
people were bound, blamed the monks as the main
fosterers of such delusions, and contrasted what seemed
to them the careless indolence of their lives with their
own restless desire of action. Few men, indeed, were
the friends of the monks save the peasantry, and the
peasantry then were scarcely reckoned as a political
force. If they felt strongly on a question, they might
indeed rise in insurrection, but they were soon put down
by force, and the machinery of the State went on as
usual, unchecked by the temporary resistance.
The day of retribution for the monks' plunder of the
parochial clergy, for their worldliness and greed, for all
their sins and all their unfashionable virtues, had now
come. The King, to whom virtue and chastity were
but empty names, sent out visitors (one of them, Ap
Rice, being a Welshman) to investigate into the lives
406 A History of the Welsh Church
and morals of the monks, and was shocked by the record
of abominations which they laid before him. It is not
worth while to discuss the credibility of this report ; the
commissioners were sent to discover wickedness, and it
would have gone hard with them if they had blessed and
not cursed ; they wrere men worthy of their mission, and
of the master they served ; they brought back what they
knew would please him, and they had their reward.1
One in particular, Dr. London, was, as Fuller says truly,
' no saint,' and was afterwards convicted of perjury.
In 1536 the measure for the suppression of the smaller
monasteries, ' not above the clear yearly value of two
hundred pounds,' was carried through Parliament, the
King stimulating the Commons by the remark : ' I will
have it passed, or I will have some of your heads.'
The preamble states that ' manifest sin, vicious, and
abominable living is daily used and committed commonly
in such littel and small abbayes and priories of monks,
chanons, and nonns, where the congregation of such
religious persons is under the number of twelve persons,
whereby the governours of such religious houses, and
their convents, spoil, destroy, consume, and utterly waste
as well these churches, monasteries, priories, principal
houses, ferms, granges, lands, tenements, hereditaments,
as the ornament of their churches, as their goods and
cattails, to the high displeasure of Almighty God, slander
of good religion, and the great infamy of the King's
highness, and the realm, if redress should not be had
thereof.' But while the smaller houses are thus censured,
and ordered to be utterly suppressed for their ' unthriftey,
carnal, and abominable living,' the preamble expressly
states that in the ' great solemn monasteries ' of this
realm ' religion is well kept and observed.' As Gerald
1 Richard, Bishop of Dover, visited the Welsh monasteries. He
sent Cromwell the holiest relic in North Wales, which with another
image was worth to the friars in Bangor ' xx markes by yere.'
1 Letters,' p. 212.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries 407
de Barri testified in the thirteenth century, it was in
the smaller houses, and especially in the cells, that dis
orders were most rife, and that discipline was of necessity
less strictly enforced, and from these chiefly arose those
scandals which brought discredit upon the monastic
communities. It was ordered, therefore, by this act,
which in profession was a measure of temperate reform,
brought forward for the improvement of the monastic
life, that the monks of the smaller houses should be
' commytted to great and honourable monasteries of
religion in this realm, where they may be compelled to
live religiously, for reformation of their lyves.' How
ever, even among the smaller monasteries there were
some found of sufficient virtue, or sufficient wealth, to
escape suppression for a while. No less than fifty-two
monasteries were immediately refounded in perpetuity
under a new charter. Among these we find the three
Welsh monasteries, Alba Landa, Nethe, and Strathfloure,
or Whitland, Neath, and Strata Florida. The first
received its grant on April 25, 1537, and paid for it no
less a sum than £400, the highest amount given, only
equalled by Pollesloe in Devon, and equivalent to nearly
three times its annual revenue. Neath and Strata
Florida received their grants on the same day, January
30, 1537, the former paying £150, and the latter £66
135. 4d.x But when the King and his favourites had
once begun to taste the sweets of plunder, they were
hard to satisfy, and so ' the great solemn monasteries '
were likewise discovered to be guilty of divers abomina
tions, and both they and the fifty-two smaller monasteries
that had been refounded ' in perpetuity ' were swept
away in a common destruction by the Act of 1539.
Honest Latimer, earnest reformer as he was, begged
that some houses might be allowed to stand, two or
1 Gasquet, 'Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries,' ii. ; App.,
pp. 529, 530.
408 A History of the Welsh Church
three in every shire, ' not in monkery, but so as to be
converted to preaching, study, and prayer'; but the
King and his creatures were too eager for the prey, and,
as usually happens in measures of disendowment, the
revenues were wasted, and the ' porealty ' were robbed.
' A great part of this treasure/ says one earnest reformer,
' was turned to the upholding of dice-playing, masking,
and banqueting ; yea (I would I could not by just occa
sion speak), bribing, whoring, and swearing.'
By far the greater part of the monastic property was
alienated from religious uses, and fell into the hands of
laymen. At times the monastic church was spared, and
thenceforth was used wholly for parochial purposes, as
happened in Wales, at Brecon, Usk, Abergavenny, Kid-
welly, Ewenny, and Penmon. But some of the fairest
churches and buildings in Wales were destroyed or suffered
to fall into ruin and decay, and some became eventually
profaned in a manner repulsive to all devout persons.
At Abergavenny, the people interposed to save the three
bells of the priory from falling into private hands, say
ing that the money for these bells had been collected
by their ancestors, and that they had always been re
garded as parochial property.1
The Welsh monasteries were not generally rich founda
tions. Tintern, Valle Crucis, Margam, Slebach, Maenan,
Basingwerk, Carmarthen, Talley, Whitland, and Neath,
were the only houses that exceeded one hundred and
fifty pounds in annual value. But though comparatively
poor, they were numerous, and the Church and princi
pality of Wales suffered grievously in after years from the
manner of their suppression. Had the parochial tithes,
which had been appropriated to the monasteries, been re
stored to the parishes from which they were derived, the
parochial clergy might ever afterwards have held the name
of Henry VIII. in grateful and honoured remembrance,
1 Gasquet, ii. 430.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries 409
and posterity might generally have excused and palliated
the hardships inflicted by a measure, the main results of
which had been so eminently beneficial. But as these
tithes fell into private hands, the parochial clergy were
benefited no whit, and various circumstances combined
to make their position even worse than it was before.
The lay impropriators, into whose hands the tithes came,
merely continued to the curates of the parishes thus
robbed the exact sum that used to be paid by the monas
teries without any regard to the decreasing value of
money, and no appeals or remonstrances were of any
avail in stimulating them to do their duty.
Again, where the income of prebendal churches was
leased out, if there was no vicarage, the curate was paid
by the lessee, who gave the smallest pittance possible.
The results of this lay oppression were consequently more
serious even than those of monastic oppression, and the
poor parochial clergy found that new impropriator was
but old abbot writ large.
The whole matter constitutes a valuable object-lesson
in disendowment, which it would be well for the present
age to note and lay to heart. The subsequent depression
of the Welsh Church, from which it is only now recover
ing, was more largely due to this cause than to the
Anglicizing policy of prime ministers, or to the sloth and
neglect of the parochial clergy, to which it has been
fashionable to ascribe it. Those who, in positions of
ease and comfort, carelessly deal wholesale censure to the
struggling Welsh clergy of the eighteenth century, or
invite their present successors, in an inhospitable age and
a northern clime, to seek in Apostolic poverty a stimulus
to Apostolic zeal, cannot do better than ponder the moral
of the disendowment of the monasteries. The bounty of
Queen Anne, and the labours of the Ecclesiastical Com
missioners have, in great measure, repaired the injuries
inflicted, and have caused their memory to pass out of the
4io A History of the Welsh CJntrch
minds of men. But in the eighteenth century, when they
were plain for all men to see, they were thus described in
the preface to his ' Thesaurus Rerum Ecclesiasticarum,' by
John Ecton, who had been receiver-general of the tenths
of the clergy, and who had studied the subject and knew
it in all its bearings :
' What abundantly adds to the hardship of the case of
many incumbents of impropriate cures, is that the dis
cretionary power, which before the Reformation was
lodged in the bishops, of augmenting (as they should see
occasion) the incomes of vicars and curates ; this power,
I say, which in the Popish times though in many cases
put in execution with very good effect, yet (by some
means or other) after the Reformation became of little
effect. The lay impropriators of many large cures
became empowered to receive and enjoy £300 or £400 per
annum in tithes and other spiritual revenues, which were
torn from the clergy without any manner of default or
forfeiture committed, or possible to be committed, by
them, or on their part ; and their new proprietors have
ever since contented themselves to this very day with
paying only the poor pecuniary stipend or pittance that
was antiently allowed to the vicar or curate before the
Reformation. This makes the case of such poor vicars
and curates worse (now) than it was even in the times of
Popery, when money was of such a value, as that £10 or
£12 were reckoned a competency equal to £90 or £100
now ; and the power of augmenting the income of such
vicarage or curacy out of the spiritual revenues of one
place having been disused, that stipend is now all that
the poor incumbent can legally claim.
* Besides, in many cases the officiating clergy hold
their benefices upon such a precarious tenure, that the
incumbent is obliged to be satisfied with any small arbi
trary allowance that shall be made him by his impro-
priator, otherwise he will displace his poor minister, and
Dissolution of the Monasteries 411
put. another, who will come into a more servile com
pliance, in his room. In such a case it is not hard to
guess what a poor, necessitous curate must do, who has
no other choice but to comply or starve. This grievance
arises chiefly from such places as are exempt from all
jurisdiction of the ordinary, and subject only to the
visitation of the impropriator or donor himself. Of this
sort are many livings formerly held, and now claimed,
under a title derived from the Priory of St. John of
Jerusalem ; and many others there are that claim exemp
tion of the like kind, which in some parts of the kingdom
are so numerous, that it is needless to give examples of
them.
' Can it otherwise be expected than that (as the case
now stands) there should be diverse mean and stipen
diary preachers in many places entertained to serve the
cures and officiate there, who, depending for their
necessary maintenance upon the goodwill and liking of
their hearers, should be under the temptation of suiting
their doctrines and teaching to the humours, rather than
the good of their hearers? . . . Can we suppose doctrines
and instruction, though ever so faithfully delivered or
zealously urged, to have their due influence in such a
case ?
1 But when a man is to appear as a teacher and in
structor of multitudes, if, besides other qualifications, he
makes a suitable figure and appearance ; if in his habit
and mien he appears grave and decent, without the
marks of meanness and poverty ; if he lives among his
neighbours with credit, free from the pressure of debts
and other manifold misfortunes — the constant attendants
upon want and narrowness of circumstances — his admoni
tions will certainly have the greater weight, his doctrines
make the deeper impressions, and all his labours may, in
a great measure, have their desired effect. On the
contrary, what fruit is to be expected from the labours of
412 A History of the Welsh Church
a pastor, who (we will suppose) is willing to do all the
good he can, is contented to drudge on with his little
allowance, in hopes of seeing some good effect from his
labours among his parishioners, but, notwithstanding his
best endeavours, falls into contempt of the meanest of
them, which his poverty alone, without any personal
demerit of his own to add to it, is sufficient to bring upon
him ? In such a case it is no wonder that all his
endeavours to do good in his profession are rendered vain
and ineffectual.
' Instances of this kind are (God knows) too many in
this kingdom, no country being free from some examples
of them, and in some countries, as Wales, Yorkshire, and
many others, they are very numerous.'1
Particular instances may be adduced in plenty to prove
these general statements. The evil, as will be seen from
the words of Ecton, began at the epoch of the dissolution
of the monasteries, and increased as years went on, and
the value of money became more and more depreciated,
until at the beginning of the eighteenth century the
Church in Wales was in large measure a disendowed
Church, and was suffering from all the proverbial evils of
the voluntary system. In order for the clergy to have a
decent subsistence, it became absolutely necessary for
one priest to have charge of several parishes, as their
combined incomes only made up a decent stipend, and
many of the poorer sort were scarcely able to keep body
and soul together upon the scanty pittances that they re
ceived. Even of the money which was devoted to church
purposes, Wales received very little ; the bishopric of
Gloucester received the tithes formerly appropriated to
St. Peter's Abbey, Gloucester, and the bishopric of
Chester those appropriated to St. Mary's Nunnery,
Chester. Thus the tithes of the important parish of St.
1 Preface to Ecton's ' Thesaurus/ iv., v., third edition, with additions
by Browne Willis, 1763.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries 413
Woolos, Newport, Monmouthshire, of Glasbury, Radnor
shire,1 with part of those of Defynock and its chapel of
Ystradfellte, in Breconshire, and Ewias Harold in Here
fordshire, were appropriated to the bishopric of Gloucester.
The living of St. Woolos in Ecton's time was among
those discharged from paying firstfruits and tenths on
account of the smallness of their income, and is stated by
him to have been of the clear yearly value of £20. 2
In the diocese of St. David's the whole amount of the
tithes held by the monasteries is represented in the
present day by about £35,000 tithe-rent charge. None
of this was restored to the diocese on the dissolution,
though part was granted to the Church in English
dioceses. ' Some of the tithes appropriated to St.
John's Priory, Carmarthen, fell into the possession of the
See of Lincoln and the Royal Chapel of Windsor, and
the latter also acquired the tithes of Talgarth from
Brecon Priory. Altogether, about £3,300 of tithe-rent
charge, as commuted, was by these grants secured to the
Church, and has in part reverted to the diocese under the
arrangements of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The
vicarages (about sixty), whence the £35,000 is drawn,
have retained only £9,000 a year of tithe-rent charge, an
average of £150 each.'3
One special loss to this diocese occurred through the
appropriation of Llanbadarn Fawr to the monastery of
Vale Royal in Cheshire, which had taken place in 1360.
' The parish was of very large area (about 125,000
acres) and contained at that time, in addition to the
mother-church, three chapelries, described under the
names Castel Walter (now Llanvihangel Geneu'r Glyn),
Llanilar, and Gelyndrod (now Llanvihangel y Creuddin).
It is now broken up into seventeen ecclesiastical dis-
1 The church has been since rebuilt across the river in Brecknock
shire.
2 'Thesaurus,' p. 514.
3 Bevan, ' St. David's,' pp. 163, 164.
414 A History of the Welsh Church
tricts, with twenty churches ; but the whole of the tithe,
to the present value of about £5,000 a year, has been
alienated, and only some trifling pensions are paid out
of it to the incumbents of the mother-church, and a
few of the dependent churches.'1 Inasmuch as the
Welsh Church had first been plundered largely for the
benefit of English institutions, and afterwards was in
great measure further disendowed by the dissolution ol
the monasteries, it is not wonderful that many even of
the benefices in important towns had mere starvation
salaries ; that small county chapelries frequently had
stipends of less than ten pounds attached to them ; and
that not a few churches were deserted, and fell altogether
into ruins.
In the diocese of St. David's, which we have been
just considering, we find the following given by Ecton
as the clear yearly values of the churches and chapels
which had formerly belonged to the Priory of Haver-
fordwest : Camrose Vicarage, £40 ; Llanstadwell, £30 ;
St. Mary's, Haverfordwest, £19 los. ; Ros-Market, £ 15 ;
Dale Curacy, £6 ; East-Haroldston Curacy, £5 ; Lamb-
ston Curacy, £5 ; St. Martin's in Haverfordwest Curacy,
£6. The following are the values of churches and chapels
in the same diocese, which formerly belonged to the
Priory of Llanthony : Cwmyoy Curacy, £11 ; Llanthony
Curacy, £5 ; Old Castle Curacy, £3 ; Llanwenno Chapel,
£6 los. : Longtown Chapel, £16 ; Dulas Curacy, £4 ;
Llancilloe Curacy, £3 ; St. Margaret's Curacy, £6 ;
Michael Church Eskley Curacy, £j ; Rowlston Curacy,
£4 ; Walterstone Curacy, £3.
The Church in the Vale of Glamorgan still suffers
from the benefactions which Fitzhamon bestowed on
his foundation of Tewkesbury. Though much has been
done of recent years to improve matters, the enormous
increase of population which has taken place in some parts
1 Bevan, ' St. David's,' P- 103.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries 415
makes the contrast between the meanness of the endow
ments and the stupendous amount of work to be accom
plished remarkable. The population of St. Margaret's
Roath, from which St. German's is now severed, accord
ing to the latest return, is 23,096. It is at the present
time served by eight clergy. Its patron is the Marquis
of Bute, and the particulars of its revenue are as follows,
according to Crockford's 'Clerical Directory': Tithe-Rent
Charge — Impropriated, £212 ; Vicarial, £100 ; average
£76 with glebe, value £25 ; fees, £35 ; Queen Anne's
Bounty, £80; gross income, £216; net, £193. In
Ecton's ' Thesaurus ' it is classed among the smallest
livings, those not in charge, and its value was so small
that it is not specified. This was one of the churches
belonging to the Abbey of Tewkesbury, the revenues of
which, at the dissolution, were not restored to the
Church in Wales, but were appropriated to the Dean
and Chapter of Gloucester. Llantrisant, Penmark, St.
John's and St. Mary's, Cardiff, Llysfaen, Llanishen,
Llanblethian, with its Chapel of Cowbridge, Llantwit
Major, and Lisworney, were churches and chapels so
appropriated. The clear yearly value of St. John's,
Cardiff, in Ecton's ' List,' was £30, and of St. Mary's,
Cardiff, £28. It is not surprising to find that the latter
church, which had become ruined, was not rebuilt.
Ystradyfodwg, which has now a population of 35,523, is
still subordinate to Llantrisant, and is entered by Ecton
as a chapel of the certified value of £ 10. If the tithes,
of which the Welsh Church was robbed, first by Fitz-
hamon, and afterwards by Henry VIII., had remained
in its possession, or had been restored, it might in these
latter days have been better able to do its duty to the
vast population which has recently settled in these
despoiled districts. Other churches of the diocese of
Llandaff had been appropriated to the monasteries of
Margam, Ewenny, Neath, Abergavenny, Monmouth,
41 6 A History of the Welsh Church
Llanthony, Tintern, Chepstow, Goldcliff, Usk, and St.
Kinemark ; one to the Knights Templars ; one to the
Order of St. John of Jerusalem; and five, Penarth, Marsh-
field, St. Melons, Rumney, Peterston-Wentlog, to the
Abbey of St. Augustine's, Bristol. Most of the last-
named passed at the dissolution to the Dean and Chapter
of Bristol. The result of all these appropriations was
that the clergy in this diocese were, as a rule, miserably
paid, and that even in the present day the endowments
are utterly inadequate.
There was some show made at the dissolution of a
desire for justice in the distribution of the revenues, even
of those derived from Wales, but little indeed was really
done. The new bishoprics founded had nothing to do
with Wales, except that Wales had to contribute to
wards two of them, the bishoprics of Chester and
Gloucester. At first the income of Brecon Priory was
granted to the bishopric of St. David's. A year after
wards, however, it was diverted to John ap Rice. The
College of Abergwili was removed to Brecon in 1542,
and the buildings of the Black Friars were given to it.
It was called Christ's College, and provision was made
for a school under a master, an usher, and a lecturer in
theology. The Friary at Bangor also was changed into
a free school.
Such was the scanty atonement made to Wales for the
policy of robbery, which was inaugurated by Henry VIII.,
and was not wholly abandoned by his children. The
hardship inflicted upon the monks by their dispersion
was but a small matter compared to that under which
a large part of the parochial clergy laboured for many
generations. ' But the robbery of Christ's Church in
volved also then, as always, the robbery of Christ's poor,
who suffered not merely from the lack of the monastic
alms, but also from the spiritual destitution caused by
the inadequate number of clergy. For the scanty funds
The Dissolution of the Monasteries 4 1 7
would not support a large body of clergy, and of those
who were content to starve on paltry salaries, many
unfortunately sprang from the class of * mechanics,' who
were ignorant, and not qualified to discharge their sacred
office. The poor could not support their pastors them
selves, and in many districts had few opportunities of
receiving the ministry of the Word and the Sacraments.
This evil of the policy of disendowment continued until
recently, nay, is not yet wholly ended. ' Within my own
recollection,' says a recent writer, ' the vicar of a parish
in South Wales, in which for a time my family was
residing, held three " livings " at the same time. They
were twenty miles apart, and the only means of going
from one to another was on horseback across mountain
roads — if the weather or the floods would permit of this
— and the total value of the three was £80 a year.'1
******
We have now traced the history of the Church of
Wales from its first small and obscure beginnings in
the second century to the great act of wrong done to it
in the sixteenth. The story has been one of much sore
tribulation, yet lighted up by gleams of supernatural
glory. The Roman tried to destroy the Church, and
the heroes of Caerleon signalized their faithfulness to the
cause of the Crucified, and won the starry crown of
martyrdom. The pagan English assaulted it next, and
from the very valley of destruction rose up the exceeding
great army of its saints, whose holy lives and labours not
only consecrated the whole of Wales, but also restored
the declining Christianity of Ireland, and lit the flame
that was carried by Columba to lona, and by Columba's
successors from lona to Northumbria. Enriched by the
piety of its sons with the endowments necessary, under
1 ' Picture of Wales during the Tudor Period,' by J. Birkbeck
Nevins (1893), p. 31, note.
27
4i 8 A History of the Welsh Church
mundane conditions, to carry on its sacred mission, it
was plundered by Norman invaders, who strove to de
nationalize it, and who planted on the borders and in the
heart of the Principality an alien population. But the
Celtic genius conquered by its spell the hearts of the
conquerors, and the Norman strongholds became the
educational centres of Celtic freedom. English oppres
sion, native strife, and Papal tyranny could not crush
the Church, nor quench its fire of devotion and love to
its Lord, which burnt bright even amid the mists of
mediaeval superstition. The great measure of disendow-
ment, carried out in the sixteenth century by a King of
the Welsh House of Tudor, crippled it just at the moment
when it bade fair to rise to new heights of glory and use
fulness, and for three centuries hindered it in its benefi
cent career. How this prostration was intensified by the
Puritan oppression of the seventeenth century may, per
haps, be told in a future volume. Yet even the days of
greatest gloom for Wales have not been without their
gleams of splendour, as in its own mountain districts,
though the day may be dark and stormy, it happens now
and then that the sun shines in its majesty through the
clouds, and mountain, lake and valley are filled with the
glory of its beams.
The Church of Wales has of late years been recovering
from Henry VIII.'s scheme of disendowment The
policy of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and the
benefactions of its sons and daughters, have done much
to furnish it with the means necessary to send forth
clergy to do its work ; for in this northern clime and
inhospitable age it is useless to weave fanciful dreams of
carrying on work without funds. Clergymen are not
exempted by their sacred office from the ordinary neces
sities of humanity, and even a celibate ministry would
need food and clothing, and some amount of shelter for
their heads.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries 419
It has been proposed to repeat the act of the infamous
Henry VIII. ; and those who profess to dread the inter
ference of the State in religion, with strange incon
sistency call upon the State to despoil the Church of
the scanty remainder of those pious gifts which were
offered by men of old time to God and His saints. If
the policy of Norman plunderers and of Tudor tyrant be
repeated in the nineteenth century, the Church of Wales,
according to all human probability, will again be crippled
for centuries. But even though man may injure, he
cannot destroy the Church of God. Still, as ever, the
Welsh Churchman will remember the promise of his
Lord : ' In the world ye shall have tribulation ; but be of
good cheer : I have overcome the world.'
APPENDICES TO CHAPTER XIV.
A.
ANNUAL VALUE OF THE WELSH MONASTERIES AT THE
DISSOLUTION.
(From Tanner's ' Notitia Monasticaj 1744 ; l¥ales,pp. 699-721 ; Mon
mouthshire, pp. 327-332.)
£ s- d-
1. Holyhead, College of Prebendaries 24 o o
2. Glannach, Priestholme, St. Cyriol,
Praestol, or Penmon ... ... 47 15 3 gross.
40 17 g net.
3. Brecknock... ... ... ... 112 14 2 (D.)1
134 ii 4 (S.)2
4. Black Friars, Brecknock. Con
verted into College of Christ
Church, and College of Aber-
gwili joined with it.
1 (D.) Dugdale. * (S.) Speed.
420
y2 History of the Welsh L
.nur
en
£
s.
d.
5-
Kidwelly ...
38
0
o
gross.
29
10
o
net.
6.
Whitland, or Alba Landa
135
3
6
(D.)
153
17
2
(S.)
7-
Talley
136
9
7
(D.)
153
i
4
(S.)
Had 8 canons at dissolution.
8.
Carmarthen
174
8
8
gross.
164
o
4
net.
Had 6 Black canons.
9-
Abergwili College ...
42
0
o
(Annexed to Brecon College.)
IO.
Bardsey
46
i
4
(D.)
56
6
2
(S.)
T T
RpHrlp-plprt
70
3
8
(D.)
JL JL*
/
<J
69
3
8
(S.)
12.
Bangor Friary. Made a free school.
13-
Strata Florida
118
7
3
(D.)
122
6
8
(S.)
T /I
Carrf- an
32
o
0
gross.
1/f.
13
4
9
net.
T lanllvr • • •
57
5
4
J *
16.
Llanddewi Brevi ...
40
0
o
gross.
38
ii
o
net.
J7-
Valle Crucis
188
8
0
(D.)
214
3
5
(S.)
18
162
J5
o
(D.)
J.O.
179
IO
10
(S.)
19.
Ruthin College. (No valuation
given.)
20.
Basingwerk
I5°
7
3
(D.)
157
15
2
(S.)
78
0
8
gross.
^w -L •
/
59
4
0
net.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries 421
£
s.
d.
22.
Margam
181
7
4
(D.)
188
14
o
(S.)
23-
Neath
132
7
7
(D.)
150
4
9
(S.)
(8 monks at dissolution.)
24.
Swansea hospital ...
20
o
o
25-
Cymmer
5i
13
4
(D.)
58
15
4
(S.)
26.
Strata Marcella ...
64
14
2
(D.)
73
7
3
(S.)
27.
Llanllugan...
22
14
8
(D.)
22
13
8
(S.)
28.
St. Dogmael
96
o
2
gross.
87
8
6
net.
29.
Monkton ...
H3
2
6
(S.)
57
9
3
(D.)
30.
Haverford ...
133
ii
i
(D.)
135
6
i
(S.)
31.
Pill
67
15
3
gross.
52
2
5
net.
32.
Caldey
5
10
ii
33.
Slebach
211
9
ii
gross.
I84
10
ii
net.
34.
St. Mary's College, St. David's...
III
16
4
gross
106
3
6
net.
35-
Pembroke Hospital
i
6
8
36.
Tenby Hospital, or Lazar-house
2
0
0
37-
„ Free Chapel of St. John
the Baptist
6
o
o
38.
Cwmhir
28
17
4
gross.
24
19
4
net.
(3 monks at dissolution.)
39-
Abergavenny
129
5
8
(D.)
59
4
0
(S.)
(Prior and 4 monks at dissolution.)
422 A History of the Welsh Church
£ s. d.
40. Llanthony... 87 g 5 (MS.
of Corpus Christi
College, Cam
bridge.)
99 19 o (D.)
71 3 2 (S.)
41. Goldcliff (previously granted to
Eton College) ... ... ... 144 18 i
42. Monmouth ... ... ... 56 i u
43. Tintern 192 i 4 (D.)
256 ii 6 (S.)
(13 religious at dissolution.)
44. Malpas ... ... ... ... 14 9 ii net.
15 6 8 gross.
45. Striguil ... ... ... ... 32 o o (D.)
32 4 o (S.)
(3 monks at dissolution.)
46. Grace Dieu, or Stow ... ... 19 4 4 net.
26 i 4 gross.
(2 monks at dissolution.)
47. Usk Nunnery 55 4 5 (D.)
69 9 8 (S.)
48. Llantarnam ... ... ... 71 3 2
49. St. Kinemark Priory ... ... 848
The alien priories had been previously suppressed.
The friars had no endowments, but their churches were
appropriated frequently as parochial churches. There
were various hospitals besides, the value of which is not
mentioned.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries 423
B.
The tone and temper of the party of plunder and of private
gain towards Wales, the Welsh people, and ancient Welsh
traditions may be accurately gauged by a perusal of the
following letter written by Bishop Barlow to Cromwell, just
as the visitors of the monasteries were entering Wales,
The writer himself, though undoubtedly sincere in his
' Puritanism,' was not of the stuff of which martyrs are
made, and not long before, in 1533, had humbled himself
to the dust in a letter to the King, wherein he professed
that he had been in ' darcknes ' and ' deadly ignoraunce/
through the ' fendes instygacyon and fals perswasyones '
in his treatises, erring ' agaynst the blyssed sacrament of
the altare, dysalowyne the masse and denyenge purga-
torye, with slawnderous infamye of the pope and my
lorde cardynall, and owtragious raylyng agaynst the
clergye, which I have forsaken and utterly renownced.'
To such pitiful poltroons did Henry VIII. commit the
policy of oppression and disendowment of the national
Church of Wales, a policy which the following letter
shows was then, as now, utterly anti-national.
From * Three Chapters of Letters relating to the
Suppression of Monasteries,' edited from the originals in
the British Museum by Thomas Wright, Esq., M.A.,
F.S.A., etc. London : Printed for the Camden Society,
by John Bowyer Nichols and Son, Parliament Street,
1843. Pp. 206-210.
ci.
BISHOP BARLOW TO CROMWELL.
(From MS. Cotton. Cleop., E. IV., fol. 260.)
After my right humble commendacions, I considere
my dutie tadvertise your lordship, that accordinge to the
purporte of your lettres latly receaved, signifienge the
424 A History of the Welsh Church
kynges highnes pleasour for the removynge of ydolotrous
abused ymages, wherewith this contrey horribly dyd
abounde, in satisfyenge of the same I have diligently done
myne endevour, and that quyetly every where withyn my
diocesse unresisted, without tumulte, commotion, or dis
turbance, with no frustrate expectacion (as I trust) of
forther effectuall redresse, yn all causes of Christen re-
ligyon and godly purposes of the kynges most honorable
and no lesse profitable proceadinges. The people now
sensibly seinge the longe obscured veryte manyfestly to
displaye her brightnesse, wherby their inveterate accus
tomed supersticion apparantly detected, all popish delu
sions shall sone be defaced, so that erudityon, the parente
of vertue and unfallible foundacion of all ordinate pollecye,
which by the kynges most renowmed fortherance beawty-
fully florisheth yn all other his royall domynions, might
also be planted here in his graces principalyte of Wales,
where knowlege utterly unknowen, scyence ys litle re
garded, barberouse ignorance pyteously pleatinge in
possession, notwithstandinge wolde easely be redressed,
without hyndraunce of the kynges advauntage, yee with
notable augmentacion of his most worthy honour, small
expences therto requysite of any partie, with moch
commodytie of many, to the incommodotie of none that
preferre an unyversall weale before a private sensuall
pleasure. In case my peticion thorow your good lord
ships medyacion maye be attayned of the kynges highnes,
for the translacion of the see to Kermerddyn, and trans-
posinge of Abergwilly college to Brecknok, the princypall
townes of Sowthwales, where provision had for lernynge
as well yn gramer as yn other scyences and knowlege of
Scripture, the Welsch rudenesse wolde sone be framed
to English cyvilitie, and their corrupte capacyties easely
reformed with godly intelligens, which moveth me to be
so instante a suter and a contynuall peticyoner, especy-
ally for the translacion of the see, beinge sytuated in soch
The Dissolution of the Monasteries 425
a desolate angle and in so rare a frequented place (excepte
of vacabounde pilgremes), that evill disposed persons,
unwillinge to do good, maye lurke there at lybertye in
secrete withowt restraynte, and they that wolde fayne do
well can have no convenyente oportunyte profitablie to
utter their well doinge to the commodytie of the comon
weale. Which, yf there were no nother causes, as ther
be ynfmyte more reasonable then maye be justly dis-
alowed, and so evydente that they can not be shadowed,
yet yt mighte seme sufficient necessarylie to persuade a
translacion of the see. But forthermoare, yt hath be
allwayes estemed a delycate doughter of Rome, naturally
resemblinge her mother in shamelesse confucion, and
lyke qualified with other perverse properties of execrable
malignitie, as ungodly ymage service, abhomynable
ydolatrye, and lycentiouse lybertie of dishonest lyvinge,
popish pilgremages, disceatefull pardons, and fayned
indulgences, in whose lawde yt ys written,
Roma semel quantum dat bis Menevia tantum.
And as the bisshop of Rome crepte up by policye, and
rayninge by tyranny was more then man, little lesse then
God, whose authorytie never knowen was contynually
obeyed, no reason admitted to aske why, but as he wold
so did yt avayle, even thus hath our Welsh David byn
avaunced to be patrone of Wales, as he that had signiory
not only in erth, by lawles pryveleged exempcions, but
power also in heven to geve it whom he wold, to discharge
hell, to emptie purgatory, to pardon synne, to release
payne, yee to save his beneficiall frendes, to curse and
kyll his unfavourable adversaries, whose legende ys so
uncerten of trueth, and certenly full of lyes, that not only
his sayntly holynesse ys to be suspected, but rather to be
dowted whether any soch person was ever bisshop there,
as ys surmysed, experyence in semblable cases latly tryed
owte by Dervelgadern, Conoch, and soch other Welsch
426 A History of the Welsh Church
godes, antique gargels of ydolatry. And verely, yf
credence ought to be geven to the most auntyente
writinges that can be exhibited, whereof I have certain
pamflettes testifyengantiquitie, both in barbarouse letters
and incongrue Latyne, agreable to the maners of that
season, also mencyonynge soch enormyous faschion, that
scarsly Rome myght be comparable with saynte Davids
terrytorye concernynge presumptuous usurpacyon apon
their princes, crafty yncrochinge of possessions, subtyle
defeatinge of enherytances, extorcion, brybery, symonye,
heresie, ydolatrye, supersticion, etc. Wherfore, con-
sideringe that where Rome with all her popish pageantes
(praysed be God !) thorow the kynges most prudente
provysyon ys exiled forth of England, the unfayned
fydelitie of myne allegeaunce enforseth me to wysh all
memoryall monymentes of her popetry yn lyke maner to
be banyshed owt of Wales, which hytherto remaynynge
yn the terrytory of S. David, unneth maye be extincte
without translacion of the see. For excepte the many-
folde occasions of ydolatrous infidelytie and papisticall
practyses (notwithstandynge compulsory inhibycions
and tongue professions) be clerely abolyshed, shall
allwayes renovate new fangled ymaginacions to contre-
fayte the olde exercysed wickednes. Wherein reducynge
to remembraunce the prysed memoryes and perpetuall re
nowned factes of the famouse princes of Israel, which did
not only abarre ydolatrye and other ungodlynesse, but
utterly abolished all occasyons of the same, lykewise
notifyenge their terreble reproches and aggravated punysh-
mentes that were neglygent, I dowte not but that my
supplyante sute shall seme reasonable. And though
peraventure some will objecte the contrarye, the causes
not prepensed, which partly I have uttered yn these and
other my former letters, omittinge the resydew, lest I
shud molest your lordship ; yet havinge the kynges most
benynge and gracyous favour with your assistente sup-
The Dissolution of the Monasteries 427
portacion, I trust so to justifie the equytie of my peticion
that no adversarye shalbe able to emblemish yt. And
yf urgente ymportunytie of hasty sute shall neade excuse
in this behalfe, I have sufficiently to allege the importable
charge and costly expences of a sumptuous buyldynge (a
comorthe latlye graunted for the same), which bestowed
yn Kermerddyn or some other frequented place, myght
be pleasante, profitable, and commodyous for the kynges
subjectes, whereas other wyse yt shalbe wasted yn vayne
and unprofitably perysh in a barbarous desolate corner,
as knoweth our Lorde, who have you in his tuicion.
From Lantfey, the xvjth daye of August.1
Your lordeshyppes to commaund,
W. MENEVEN.
1 A.D. 1538.
-£"-'7 -? "?/+*»', *> A fcZWJWSf fc&~£> fe**^***^
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,
INDEX.
AARON, 17, 1 8, 21
Aberconway, 219, 276, 303, 305,
jii, 313, 314, 323, 325, 344,
345, 376, 408, 420
Abergavenny Priory, 290, 291,
315,408,415,421
Abergwili College, 331, 416, 419,
420, 424
Act of Union, 403
Adam, Bishop, 191, 197, 204-
207
Adelfius, 1 8, 39
Afan, 58
Alan, 236
Aldhelm, 55, 126-131, 134, 135
Alexander de Monmouth, 351
Alfred the Great, 155-159
Alleluia Victory, 34-36, 38
Anatolius, 15
Anian, Friar, 333
Anian I. (of St. Asaph), 322
Anian II., 323-327, 340
Anian I. (of Bangor), 322, 353-
355
Anian Seys, 356
Anselm, 165, 166, 168
Anselm le Gras, 314, 346
Ap Rice, 405
Archbishops of Welsh sees, 225,
226
Ariminum, Council of, 19
Aristobulus, 4, 5
Aries, Council of, 18, 98, in,
13?
Arminius, 18, 20, 21
Arthur, King, 15
Asaph, 21, 57, 79
Asaph, St., bishopric founded, 57 ;
cathedral burned, 358, 362, 368 ;
rebuilt, 373 ; its bishops, etc.,
79-81, 153, 154, 190, 191, 194,
196, 197, 204-208, 219, 313, 314,
318, 319, 322-327, 331, 333, 340,
344, 353, 355, 356, 359*36i, 3^7-
373, 376-38o
Asser, 155-159, 161, 162, 226
Assheby, Nicholas, 398
Aubrey, Richard de, 248
Augustine, 17, 61, 107, 111-113,
117, 125, 136, 137
Augustinian canons in Wales, 295,
296
Bache, Alexander, 356
Baldwin, Archbishop, 189, 193-
195, 216-220, 278, 326
Bangor bishopric founded, 56 ;
cathedral burned, 358, 362 ; re
built, 374-376; its bishops, 79,
132, 1 66, 169, 189, 190, 192-197,
218, 236, 308, 309, 312-314,318,
322, 353-357, 361, 367, 373-376
Bangor Deilo, 77
Bangor Friary, 334, 406, 416, 420
Bangor Iscoed, 61, 78, 79, iio,
115, 118, 119, 124
Baptism, British, 136, 137
Baptism, rules respecting, 244
Bardsey, 75, 79, 83, 275, 293, 296,
354, 383, 388, 420
Barlow, William, 377-379, 387 •
397, 423
Barret, Andrew, 351
Barrow, William, 373
430
Index
Basingwerk Abbey, 304, 305, 383,
408, 420
Bassaleg Priory, 291
Beck, Thoma=, 321, 331, 340, 346,
397
Becket, Archbishop, 192
Beddgelert, 276, 296, 354, 420
Bedwd, 190
Bells, Celtic, 144, 145, 270, 271
Benedictines, 290-295, 307
Bernard, Bishop, 167-169, 181-
185, 190, 191, 301
Beuno, 64, 83, 84, 138, 402
Birkhead, Edward, 376
Bishops, consecration of, 139
Blakedon, James, 374
Bledri, 165
Bleduc, 165
Boia, 64
Boniface, 123
Bottisham, William de, 351, 352
Bran, 5-7/13
Branwen, Mabinogi of, 6, 7
Brecon Friary, 334, 416, 419
Brecon Priory, 292-294, 408, 413,
416, 419
Bretoria, See of, 107, 108
Brian, Bishop, 346, 348, 349
Brittany, 52, 70, 73, 77, 82, 101-
107, 116, 130, 133, 146-149,
196
Bromfield, 351, 352
Brute, Walter, 390
Brychan, 41, 64, 103, 143
Brynach, 44
Burghill, John, 351
Cadfan, 82, 83, 142, 143
Cadfrawd, 39
Cadoc, 15, 38, 43-46, 52, S6, 61,
62, 6;,^ij 73, 79, 80, 86, 103-
105, 105,1 10, 116, 140, 147
Cadwgan, Bishop, 309, 318
Caergybi, 58, 83
Caeiieon, 17-20, 74, 125, 225, 304,
3i6
Caerwent, 85
Caldey Priory, 300, 301, 421
Calixtus II., Pope, 180, 181, 184
Cameleac. See Cyfeiliawg
Caradog, 169, 273
Caratacus, 5-7, 13
Cardiff, 176, 187, 415
Cardiff Friaries, 359, 380
Cardiff Priory, 293, 359, 380
Cardigan Priory, 293, 420
Carmarthen Friary, 334
Carmarthen Priory, 296, 321, 408,
413,^420
Catterick, John, 393
Ceneu, 39, 145
Chad, 119, 121
Chepstow Priory, 290, 416, 422
Cherbury, David, 394
Cheryton, Thomas, 374
! Chester, Battle of, 78, 118
j Chicheley, 346, 350, 381, 393,
397
Child, Lawrence, 356
Churches, Early Celtic, 23, 36, 39,
40, 138, 140, 145-148
Cistercians in Wales, 279-289, 297,
299, 307
Claudia, 4, 5
Cliderow, 366, 373
Cluniacs, 280, 299
Clynog Fawr, 64, 304
Columba, 30, 56, 61, 97, 109, 116,
119, 120
Columbanus, 15, 109, 11 11
117 .^u^c^JU^. fl CLu
Conoch, 425
Cornwall, Church in, 146-148
Coventry, John, 351
Cradock, 351
Craswall Priory, 300, 381
Cuhelm, 169
Culdees, 275, 277
Cunedda, 101
Curig, 389
Cuthbert, 120, 125
Cwmhir Abbey, 302, 304, 306, 323
358,421
Cybi, 15, 58, 83, 84, 138, 147
Cydifor, 172
Cyfeiliawg, 160-162, 169
Cymmer Abbey, 303, 313
344, 42i
23,
Dafydd ap Bleddyn, 355
Dafydd ap lorwerth, 376
Dafydd ap Owen, 376
Dafydd Dhu Hiraddug, 391
Danes, the, 159, 160, 169, 173,
T74
Daniel ab Sulien, 167-169
<¥
Index
,
:
David, St., 15, 21, 46, 51, 52, 57,
58, 61, 62, 64, 67, 73-77, 79, 80,
85, 87, 101, 108-110, 116, 119,
139, 140, 143,146,147,184,225,
39.1, 425
David's, St., bishopric founded,
57 ; cathedral, 209, 347-349- 393>
395? 39^ ; its bishops, etc., 73,
74, 153, 155, !56, l6l-!63, 165-
170, 181-189, I97) 202-204, 208-
217, 222-237, 252-254, 280, 301,
309, 314,319-321, 331, 345-350,
3?8, 379, 392-397, 413, 4H, 423-
427. See also Menevia.
David (of Bangor), 189
David Fitzgerald, 185-187, 195,
198, 203
Dean, Henry, 374, 375
De Attica, George, 391
Deiniol, 56, 78, 79, 100
De la Bere, 392-395
De la Zouche, 398
Denbigh Friary, 334
Deorham, Battle of, 118
Derfel Gadarn, 388, 389, 42;
Diacon. Michael, 376
Docwinnus, 85
Dore Abbey, 304
Dubricius. See Dyfrig
Dunawd, 78, 100, 126, 226, 400
Dyfan, 13, 14, 225
Dyfrig, 38, 40, 44, 56, 57, 67, 68,
?o, 74, 75, 77, 126, 225
Easter controversy, 99, 112, 113,
116, 117, 120-122, 134, 135,
151
Ednam, Richard, 355, 374
Edward I., 325-327, 33', 337, 33$,
344, 347, 390
Elbod, 132, 152, 169, 226
Eleuthenus, 11, 12, 225
Elfod (of St. David's), 165
Elias de Radnor, 315-317, 338
Eliseg's Pillar, 173, 304
Elvanusr 12
Euaggultheu, 326
Eugenius III., Pope, 185, 190
Evaristus, n
Ewenny Priory, 292-294, 408, 415,
420
Ewias Harold, 292
Fastolfe, Bishop, 349
Ffagan, 12-14, 225
Fitzhamon, 176, 179, 414, 415
Foliot, Reginald, 222, 229
Friars, 333, 334
Gall, St., 131
'Gemma Ecclesiastica,' 235, 238-
268
Genealogies, Welsh, 40-42
Geoffrey de Henelawe, 223, 224,
229, 237, 253, 254
Geoffrey of Monmouth, 191, 196
\ Gerald de Barri, 17, 18, 47, 57, 70,
188, 195, 197-289, 295, 297-300,
303, 305, 306, 314
j German, 27, 33-39, 66, 67, 99,
269, 270
; Geruntius, 126, 129
Gervase de Castro, 356, 357
Gilbert, Bishop ot St. Asaph,
191
Gilbert, Bishop of St. David's,
346, 349, 357
! Gildas, i, 2, 9, 17, 27, 39, 40, 46-
56, 61-64, 67, 73, 100, 103, 105,
108, no, 116, 131, 137-140,
389
Giraldus Cambrensis. See Gerald
de Barri
I Gloucester, St. Peter's, 176, 412
Gloucester bishopric, 412, 413,
415, 416
Glyndwr, Owain, 312, 353, 357-
36l> 363, 367, 376, 380, 397
Godfrey, Bishop, 191
Lroairey, r>isnop, 191
Goldcliff Priory, 291, 310, 315, 381, X' ,
416, 422
' Golias the Bishop,' 2,34, 281, 284,
286
Golven, 104 /Ot fy
Gower, Bishop, 346-348 l&n-L \jAJL4foA'
Grace Dieu, 304, 422 v (
Grandmontines, 299 /^.^/ ,
Gruffydd ab Yr Ynad Coch, 326,
336
Gruffydd ap lorwerth, 356
Guy de Mone, 349, 350
Guy Rufus, 218, 236
Gweslan, 58
Gwynlliw, 71
Gytto'r Glynn, 382
432
Index
Haverfordwest Friary, 334
Haverfordwest Priory, 296, 377,
414,421
Henllan, 74
Henry, Bishop, 315
Herve^ 1 66
Herwald, 165, 166, 179, 196
Holgate, Robert, 398, 399
Holyhead, 419
Honorius II., Pope, 180, 181
Honorius III., Pope, 310
Houghton, Bishop, 346, 349
Howel I., Bishop, 319
Howel ap Ednyfed, 318, 319,
322
Hubert Walter, 222, 223, 226-229,
236, 297
Hunden, John, 398
Hywel Dda, 154, 162, 163
Illtyd, 38, 45, 61, 67-71, 73, 85, 86,
92, 116, 143, 146, 147, 391
Incest in Wales, 272
Ingleby, John, 398
Innocent II., Pope, 182, 185, 190
Innocent III., Pope, 225-236
lorwerth, Bishop, 298, 309, 346
Ireland, Church of, 23, 28, 29, 31,
60-64, 66, 67, 82, 86, 87, 90, 108-
__ no- US, II5-II7, H9, 121-123,
130, 132, 133, 136-138, 140, 141,
144, 145, 151, 170-173, 192,
193
Irenasus, 16
Ismael, 21
John IV., Pope, 123
John, Bishop of St. Asaph, 322
John de Eclescliff, 351
John de Monmouth, 340, 341,
35i
John de la Ware, 320, 321
John de la Zouche, 351
Jones, Roderick, 299
Jordan, Archdeacon, 203
Joseph, 165, 166
Julius, 17, 18, 21
Juvencus Manuscript, 172
Kenfig, 173, 177
Kentigern, 22, 44, 53, 57, 64, 79,
80, 85, 119, 126, 139
Keri, 170, 204, 207
Kidwelly Priory, 292, 408, 420
Kinsi, 1 66
Knight, Thomas, 373
Laleston, 177, 315
Lampeter, 218
Landevennec, 102, 116, 130
Langton, John, 394
Langton, Thomas, 395
Laurence, Archbishop, 113, 114
Lay Abbots, 277, 278
Legends of Saints, 42-47
Leonorius, 105
Lewis, Abbot, 382, 384, 386
Lewis Glyn Cothi, 389
Lewis M organ wg, 306, 386, 390,
.399
Libiau, 161
Lifris, 179, 197
Llan, 145-147
Llanafan Fawr, 58
Llanbadarn Fawr, 57, 59, 218,
277, 278, 413
Llanblethian, 36, 177, 316, 317
Llancarfan, 38, 43, 52, 62, 71, 79,
80, 85, 86, 105, 172, 174-176,
179
Llandaff, bishopric founded, 56 ;
its limits settled, 162, 163, 179-
182 ; its bishops, etc., 74-77,
153, 160, 161, 164-166, 168, 169,
179-183, 196, 197,217, 220, 310,
3i4-3i8, 338-341, 351, 352, 397-
399,415,416
Llandaff, Book of, 10-13, 4°
Llandaff Cathedral, 75, 182, 183
Llandaff, church founded at, 13
Llanddewi Brefi, 58, 67, 74, 143,
218, 331, 420
Llandough, 85, 96, 177
Llanelwy. See Asaph, St.
Llanfaes, 312, 330, 334, 358
Llangenith, 282, 293, 350, 381
Llangwyn, 293, 382
Llanllugan Nunnery, 304, 421
Llanllyr Nunnery, 304, 420
Llansantfraed, 283
Llantarnam Abbey, 304, 422
Llanthony Abbey, 295, 374, 416,
422
Llantwit Major, 5, 23, 38, 53, 61,
68-71, 85, 86, 90-96, 105, 140,
I73-J76, 179, 3J6
Index
433
Lleision, 386, 397, 400-402
Lleurwg. See Lucius
Llunwerth, 161, 162
Llywarch ab Llywelyn, 335, 342
Llywelyn Bifort, 361
Llywelyn, Bishop of St. Asaph,
355
Llywelyn of Bromfield, 340
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, 296, 319,
321-327, 337, 353
Llywelyn ap lorwerth, 195, 231,
246, 296, 303, 308-312,315, 317-
319, 333
Llywelyn ap Madoc, 355
Lollardism, 371, 390
London, Dr., 406
London, Council of, 187
Lowe, John, 368-370
Lucius, 10-14, 4°
Lupus, 27, 33-36, 38, 66, 67, 269,
270
Lyndwood, William, 394
Maclovius, 105
Madawc ab Gwallter, 336
Maelgwn Gwynedd, 42-45, 49, 53,
56, 77, 79, 80
Maenan. See Aberconway
Maen Llythyrog, 142
Maglorius, 105
Malpas Priory, 300, 422
Mapes, Walter, 234, 286
Margam Abbey, 173, 182, 304, 305,
315,316,408,415,421
Marriage of clergy, 169, 170, 197,
203, 209, 243, 265-269, 274,
375
Marshal], John, 398
Martin, St., 66
Martyn, David, 346, 347
Martyn, Richard, 395
Mass, rules respecting the, 239-
243 ; scepticism, 249 ; abuses,
257-262
Matthew de Englefeild, 356
Medwy, 12-14
Meilyr, 275
Melanus, 154, 190
Menevia, 52, 57, 59, 62, 64, 74.
See also David's, St.
Merthyr Mawr, 173
Meurig, Bishop, 184, 190, 192
Meurig, King, 56, 105
Mevanius, 103, 104
Mitford, Bishop, 349
Mochros, 74
! Monkton Priory, 292, 381, 421
| Monmouth Priory, 291, 415, 422
Mor, 39
1 Morgan Hen, 162, 164
, Morgan, John, 396, 397
Morgeneu, 85, 169
Neath Abbey, 301, 305, 306, 315,
382, 383, 385, 386, 399-402, 407,
408, 415, 421
Newcastle (Bridgend), 177, 315
Newport Friary, 334
Nice, Council of, 19
! Nicholas, Bishop, 175, 176, 178,
197
Nicholls, Benedict, 361, 373, 393
Non, 74, 147, 386, 399
Novis, 155, 226
Origen, 8
Osbert, 229
Oswiu, 120, 123
Oudoceus, 40, 45, 77, 105, 126,
153
Owen Gwynedd, 190-194
Pace, Thomas, 375
Padarn, 57, 58, 67, 76-78, 139,
146, 147
Padarn, Bishop of LlandarT, 164
Paganism, 24-32, 65, 271, 389
Parfew, Robert, 380
I Paris, Council of, 70
I Pascal, Bishop, 351
; Patrick, St., 22-25, 27-29, 42, 46,
60, 63, 64, 66, 68, 72, 86, 109,
1 10, 136, 138, 139, 145
i Patrington, Stephen, 393
; Paul, St., 3-5
Paul Aurelian, 104
Paulinus, 58, 67
Pavy, Hugh, 396
Peblig, 39
Peckham, Archbishop, 324-334,
342, 353
Pecock, Reginald, 369-373
Pedilavium, The, 137
Pelagian heresy, 28, 33, 34, 99, 122
Pelagius, 33
Pembroke Hospital, 421
28
434
Index
Penitentials, 51, 52, 110, 121, 122
Penmon, 83, 293, 408, 419
Penny, John, 375
Penrhys, 390
Peter de Leia, 188, 189, 208-217,
229, 252-254, 280
Peter Manducator, 266
Petroc, 147
Peverell, Bishop, 351, 352
Phaganus. See Ffagan.
Philip de Staunton, 339, 340
Pigott, Thomas, 375
Pill Priory, 300, 421
Piro, 53, 70, 96
Portionary churches, 170, 204,
269, 332
Premonstratensians, 296
Price, Ellis, 388
Priestholm, 275, 419
Provisions, Papal, 310, 340, 343,
347, 349, 351, 352,355-357,369-
37i, 373-376, 393-396, 399
Pudens, 4, 5
Rawlins, Richard, 397
Redman, Richard, 373, 376
Reiner, Bishop, 191, 318
'Represser,3 Pecock's, 371
Rhayader Friary, 334
Rhuddlan, 219, 330, 331, 333
Rhygyfarch, 169, 172
Richard, Archbishop, 193, 208,
209
Richard, Bishop of St. Asaph,
191
Richard, Bishop of Bangor, 312,
318, 322
Richard de Carew, 320, 321, 346
Ringstede, Thomas, 356
Roath, 176, 415
Robert, Bishop, 308
Robert, Bishop of Dover, 406
Robert de Chandos, 291
Robert de Haya, 291
Robert de Lancaster, 361, 367-
369
Robert of Gloucester, 181, 292
Robert of Shrewsbury, 236
Rodburne, Thomas, 393, 394
Rum map Urbgen, 132
Rushooke, Bishop, 351
Ruthin College, 420
Ruthin Friary, 334
Sacerdos, 18
Sadyrnin, 169
St. Clears, 300, 350, 381
St. Dogmael's Priory, 218, 228,
, '-229, 233, 300, 421
St. Kinemark's Priory, 416, 422
St. Mary's College, St. David's,
421
St. Winifred's Well, 65, 388, 389
St. Woolos, Newport, 413
Salcot, John, 376
Salley, Miles, 398
Samson, 21, 46, 52, 53, 58, 70, 86,
104, 105, 116, 147, 225
Samson, Abbot, 69
Sardica, Council of, 19
Sawyl Benuchel, 79
Seiriol, 83, 84, 100, 389
Sherborne, Robert, 396
Sion Cent, 390, 391
Slebach, 408, 421
Smith, John, 398
' Speculum Ecclesias,' 278-289
Spytty Jevan, 364
Stanbery, John, 374
Standish, Henry, 376, 377
Stones, monumental, etc., 20, 67-
69, 140-144, 172, 173, 270, 271
Stowe Missal, 137
Strata Florida, 218, 280, 287, 302-
304, 306, 323, 331, 358, 380, 383,
407, 420
Strata Marcella, 282, 283, 303,
306, 323, 376, 405, 421
Striguil Priory. See Chepstovv
Succession system, 170, 269
Sulien, 169, 172, 174
Sulien, son of Rhygyfarch, 169
SwarTham, John, 357
Swansea Hospital, 421
Talley Abbey, 296-298, 303, 305,
383, 385, 405, 408, 420
Teilo, 15, 40, 44, 54, 57-59, 67, 75-
77, 101, 105, 126, 139, 146, 147,
39i
Teilo Churches, 179
Tenby Friary, 334
Tenby Free Chapel, 421
Tenby Hospital, 421
Tertullian, 7, 9, 10
Tewkesbury Abbey, 176-178, 414,
415
Index
435
Thenew, 22 Vaughan, Edward, 396, 397
Theodore, Archbishop, 121, 122, Verulam, Council of^ 34
124, 125
Thomas ap leuan, 390
Thomas Wallensis, 319, 320, 346,
397
Thoresby, Bishop, 346, 348, 397
Tintern Abbey, 301, 305, 408, 416,
422
Tironians, 299
Toledo, Council of, 108
Tonsure, Celtic, 127, 135, 151
Tours, Council of, 107
Tremerin, 165
Trentals, 258, 259
Trevor I., John, 355
Viriconium, 20
Yortigern, 37, 38
Wecheleu, 220, 22 [
Wells, Holy, 65. 388, 389
Wells, John, 398
Whitby, Synod of, 15, 120
Whitland, 67, 297, 301-303. 305,
309, 323, 385, 407, 408, 420
Wilfrid, 15
Wilfrid, Bishop of St. David's 166,
I67
William, Prior of Goldclift, 310,
35Z "" K, 3% % 68, „. *«•*»• de Bottisham, 35 -
79
Tully, Robert, 395
Tydeman de Winchcombe, 351
Tyfei, 54
TV Gwyn, 58
William de Breuse, 321, 338
William de Burgh, 314, 320, 321,
33.8
William de Spridlington, 356
William of Radnor, 320, 321
William of Saltmarsh, 197, 217,
, 40, 168, ,79.84,
Usk Nunnery, 291, 292, 408, 416,
t' Thomas ; hls theones' 2'
» 9
Wynn, Meredith, 365
Valle Crucis, 304, 305, 323, 369,
376, 382, 408, 420 Young, Richard, 357, 36
THE END.
Elliot Stock, Paternoster Row, London.
'
SMC
NEWELL, E. J, (EBENEZER
JOSIAH), B, 1853,
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