QUIMPER-VANNES

Because the  others were wearing sunglasses! Only three Breton saints are recognized by the Catholic Church: St. Yves (12-13th century); St. Corentin (Bishop of Quimper, 5th century) and St. Clair (the first Bishop of Nantes in the 3rd century).  This is because up to the 10th century there was no specific procedure for canonization and if the Bishop and congregation spontaneously decided to worship a deceased monk or priest, then his relics would be enshrined and he would be made a saint. The Breton saints belonged to a older era which measured and defined their saintly contributions in a different way, and not simply in terms of martyrdom, miracle-working and spiritual perfection. Often the Breton 'saints' were the semi-monastic clergy who supervised the migration from Britain to Brittany from the 6th century onwards  and served their flock in both spiritual and political roles.   Also, the concept of 'saintliness' has changed.  In the early...

Illtud was the founder of the Cor Tewdws seminary at Llanilltud Fawr (Llantwit Major) in the 6th century - one of Britain’s earliest educational establishments. Illtud was the son of Bicanus, a Breton prince, and at first pursued a military career (some say he served with his cousin King Arthur). This explains why he is is sometimes called St. Illtud the Knight. Saint Cadoc persuaded him to turn to the spiritual life after an incident where many of his colleagues disappeared on a hunt by being swallowed by a deep muddy bog. He renounced his wife and became a hermit in the Vale of Hodnant in Glamorgan.  Here he founded his monastery school which at its height had over 1000 pupils and schooled many of the great saints of the age, including Saint Patrick, Saint David, Saint Gildas and Saint Samson. Gildas called him ‘the most refined teacher in the whole of Britain’. When Illtud heard of the plight of his native Brittany during a famine, he organis...

St Budoc at Tregarvan (29) Budoc [Beuzec, Budock] is the patron saint of sailors in Brittany and even has his own maritime Troparion (single verse hymn) celebrating his role as as a saver of souls. The story behind his saintly purpose is one that connects him with four Celtic regions. Troparion of St Budoc Saint Budoc was the son of Princess Azenor [Senara, Zennor] of Brest. Following accusations of infidelity spread by her jealous stepmother, she was put into a cask and thrown out to the sea while pregnant. While she was floating off the westernmost end of Cornwall she was visited by Saint Brigid who gave spiritual guidance when Azenor gave birth to Budoc in the cask.  The princess and child were washed up onto the Cornish coast at Zennor Head where St Senara's church, Zennor village,  Zennor Quoit  and Porthzennor Cove still bear her name .   She then continued to Ireland where Budoc was brought up. They only returned when the evil stepmother fel...

Saint Goeznovius/Gwyddno was a 6th century Cornish-born monk.  He was a disciple of St Paul-Aurélian and later  became Bishop of Léon. He founded a monastery at Langoeznou (now  Gouesnou) in Finist ère and his name also appears at  Saint-Gouéno in C ôtes d'Armor .  Recently he has become famous because his ‘Life’ has an extraordinary Preface which outlines the career of King Arthur .  This is one of the earliest recorded mentions of King Arthur. It comes from the Preface to the 'Life of Saint Goeznovius', written by William, Chaplain to Bishop Eudo of L éon.  It was written in 1019, over 100 years before Geoffrey of Monmouth's  Historia Regum Britanniae ("History of the Kings of Britain"), the book which really fired up the King Arthur Legend [see also: King Arthur Lived in Brittany ].  William claimed ' Ystoria Britannia' was the source of his information - a book which is now lost.  Geoffrey's book too claimed to be based on '...

Happy and joyful seem to be words that crop up in quite a few Breton and Cornish place names, but not in Welsh (it appears). There are a package of Breton place names whose derivation is far from obvious. As is usual when this happens, a saint is wheeled out (or invented) to provide an origin for the place name. Kerlouan, Poullaouen and Tréflaouénan are examples. St. Elouan is proposed as a patron for all three. Suggestions are that he must have been active in these parts (even though he does not seem to have been active in any other parts). His name is stretched to fit his etymological purpose and St. Elouan becomes Elwyn, Eloan, Louen, Luan, Louan, Elven, Elvan and Elonay. The saint in question appears to have had foundations in Cornwall but moved to Brittany where he later died. His tomb is at Saint-Guen (Cotes d'Armor) and his feast day is on the last Sunday in August, but he has no other sure foundations in Brittany. The three places suggested as bein...

Saint Melar (Meloir, Melior, Melor, Melorius, Mylor) was a 6th century saint and martyr. His name appears in several place names across Brittany [Ploumilliau, Saint-Meloir-des-Bois (22); Confort-Meilars (29); Saint-Méloir-des-Ondes (35); Pluméliau (56)] and in Cornwall at Mylor and Linkinhorne.  His story is a fabulous one. Holy Well (Saint Melar) - Linkinhorne, Cornwall K ing Budoc I of Cornouaille left two sons, Riwal and Meliau. Riwal stabbed Meliau in order to grab his land and titles. In other representations Miliau is shown as a  cephalore (holding his own after decapitation). Mel ar, Meliau’s only son, would have been murdered too but for the intervention of chiefs.  Saint Meliau following his beheading by Riwal (Gwimiliau Church) Instead Riwal satisfied himself with cutting off Melor’s right hand and left foot (because Celtic laws barred royal succession for those with such disabilities).  Statue of Saint Melar (Plonivel) ...

Who was Saint Maeoc?  [a.k.a.  Fiacc, Méoc , Maëc, Maeoc, Maioc, Mieux, Mayeux, Meheuc, Feoc, Veoc, Mig/Mic, Vio] Breton legends tell the story of Saint Fiacc, Archbishop of Armagh and a contemporary of Saint Patrick, who fled the troubles in 5 th  century Ireland. He landed first in Cornwall where he founded a church: In Cornwall it is not entirely clear if Feock was a man or a woman. The registers suggest a female saint but the stained glass windows at Feock picture the patron saint in a priest’s robes: "In the glass Windows [of Feock church] is the figure of a man in priest's robes, with a radiated or shining circle about his head and face, and under his feet written   S. Feock; beneath whom also in glass were painted kneeling and bending forward, by way of adoration, the figures of a man and woman, and behind them several children'.  [Hals (1750)  'History of Cornwall'  ] He sailed across the Channel on a rock and landed at Penmarc’h....

Did the Yellow Plague cause 6th century Britons to leave for Brittany? Irish invaders, the plague and the bloody Saxons. All of these are suggested causes of the 6th century migration of Britons from Wales, Cornwall, Devon and Dorset in the sixth century to Brittany.  The Saxons are now viewed as an unlikely immediate cause – their settlements were too far east. The Irish were certainly a contributory factor. But the plague – what was all that about? Saint Brioc, on a visit to Cardigan (Ceredigion, Wales) in 526 A.D. , wrote that the whole area had been devastated by the plague. The epidemic in question was called y vad velen (‘the yellow pestilence’) and outbreaks of it occurred in Britain in 526, 537 and 547 C.E. Vad velen is sometimes identified with the ‘Great Plague of Justinian’ of  542 C.E. which arrived in Britain in 547. But Procopius (in 550) called it a bubonic plague - Welsh texts insist on a ‘Yellow Plague’.  Saint Teilo said it was ' call...

In Brittany there are a series of communes which carry the name Noyal:  Noyal Pontivy (Morbihan); Noyal-sous-Bazouges , Noyal-Châtillon-sur-Seiche, La Noë-Blanche (Ille-et-Vilaine); and Noyal (Cotes d'Armor).  Most French and Breton writers assume the name is connected with the Gaulish:  nauda , ‘wetland’, 'marsh'  [Old French: noue ]. Examples elsewhere in France include Nods (Franche-Comté), Noé (Midi-Pyrénées) and Les Noës (Aube). A further group derive the name from Gaulish: novio , 'new' and Gaulish:  ialo , 'clearance, 'clearing'. However, there is a saint whose name fits nicely. St. Newlyn East, Cornwall All these Breton place names could recall a 6th century Cornish saint who appears in the chronicles as Noyal,  Newlyna, Noualuen (Noual Blanche, 'the white'), Noiala and Noal. She also appears as the patron saint of St. Newlyn East in Cornwall. St. Newlyn East Parish Church She is portrayed as carrying her own head...