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Saint Tewdrig
Born	sixth century
Died	uncertain near Tintern, Wales
Venerated in	Roman Catholicism
Feast	April 1

Tewdrig or Tewdrig ap Teithfallt (fl. sixth century) was a king of the post-Roman Kingdom of Gwent. He abdicated in favour of his son Meurig and retired to live a hermitical life, but was recalled to lead his son's army against an intruding Saxon force. He won the battle, but was mortally wounded.

The context of the battle is one of Britons versus invading Saxons, without explicit religious overtones. However, since Tewdrig was a Christian and a patron of his Church, whereas the Saxons were pagan, by the standards of that day Tewdrig is considered to be a martyr and a saint. The Latin form of his name is given as Theodoric and his feast day is April 1. Tewdrig's name occurs frequently in the genealogies of South Wales, but the only substantive information about the person comes from the twelveth century Book of Llandaff.

Tewdrig's story

Places related to Tewdrig mentioned in the Book of Llandaff. The modern Anglo-Welsh border is shown for orientation purposes.

While king of Gwent, Tewdrig ap Teithfallt had been a patron of the Church at Llandaff, with a history of success in battle. At some point in his reign, he abdicated in favour of his son Meurig in order to live a hermitical life at Tintern, a rocky place near the ford across the River Wye. However, when a Saxon threat to the kingdom emerged, he returned to lead a defence. He was successful, but at a battle or skirmish at the ford (called Rhyd Tintern), he was mortally wounded. He asked to be taken to Ynys Echni (called Flat Holm in English) for burial, but got no further than Mathern, where he languished briefly and died. King Meurig built a church on the spot and buried his father's body there, giving the surrounding land to the Bishops of Llandaff. The place became known as Merthyr Tewdrig ("the burial-place of Tewdrig"), which evolved into the name Mathern. Tewdrig's defence of his homeland was said to be sufficiently decisive that the Saxons would not dare to invade again for thirty years.

Tintern village, with the River Wye in the foreground.

There is a minor hagiographic element in this story from the Book of Llandaff. On returning to secular service due to military necessity, Tewdrig is given the prophesy that he will be successful but will be mortally wounded; that a vehicle pulled by two stags, yoked, will appear and carry him towards his destination of Ynys Echni, but that he will die in peace three days after the battle.

Background information

The Book of Llandaff

The twelfth century Book of Llandaff was written at a time when the bishopric at Llandaff was struggling against the competing bishoprics at Saint David's and Hereford. The book was written specifically to justify the claims of Llandaff, and while such accounts are usually of suspicious veracity, the Book of Llandaff, in its passing references to relevant but minor characters such as Tewdrig, makes no assertions beyond a telling of "history as we honestly remember it". In balance, it should be noted that Tewdrig's descendants were major contributors to the Bishops of Llandaff, and the Book's very positive account of their ancestor would be considered a compliment to them.

Welsh law

Ancient custom and law held that property was divided among the surviving heirs of a decedent, and this applied no less to royalty than to everyone else. Consequently, on the death of a king, the parcels of land that composed the kingdom would be divided among the king's heirs, and new kingdoms would emerge. This continual rearrangement makes the determination of the scope and borders of ancient kingdoms a speculative effort at best. The Book of Llandaff places Tewdrig in the historical Kingdom of Gwent (the southern part of modern Monmouthshire). That kingdom's ancient history is inextricably intertwined with that of the adjacent Kingdom of Glywysing.

Remains at Mathern

The alleged bones and relics of Saint Tewdrig in the church at Mathern, which is of twelfth century construction, survived the sixteenth century destruction. Francis Godwin, Bishop of Llandaff 1601-1617, discovered by the altar in the church a stone coffin containing the saint's bones, and he was found to have a badly fractured skull. A plaque in the church marks the discovery.

References

Bibliography

• Lloyd, John Edward (1911), A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest, vol. I (2nd ed.), London: Longmans, Green, and Co (published 1912){{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Löffler, Klemens (1912), "Tewdrig", in Herbermann, Charles George (ed.), The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. XIV, New York: The Encyclopedia Press (published 1913), p. 542{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Morris, A. (1907), Glamorgan, Newport: John E. Southall{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Nennius (c. 800), Gunn, W. (ed.), Historia Brittonum, London: John and Arthur Arch (published 1819){{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Rees, Rice (1836), An Essay on the Welsh Saints, London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, Rees{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Rees, William Jenkins (1840), The Liber Landavensis, Llyfr Teilo, Llandovery: William Rees{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) — from MSS. in the Libraries of Hengwrt, and of Jesus College (English translation)
• Williams, Edward (c. 1810), Williams (ab Iolo), Taliesin (ed.), Iolo Manuscripts, Llandovery: William Rees (published 1848){{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)

Citations

Informational notes