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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 favor 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 an active Christian and 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.

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According to the 12th century Book of Llandaff, Tewdrig was the son of the previous king, either Llywarch or Teithfall, and a supposed benefactor of the church of Llandaff. He abdicated in favour of his son, Meurig, in order to devote himself to religion and contemplation at Tintern (in Monmouthshire today). However, when the Saxons under King Ceolwulf crossed the Severn around the year 630 and pressed hard upon Meurig, the local monasteries were particularly badly hit by their raids and Tewdrig decided to come out of retirement to defend the church and help his son. They repelled the Saxons in a battle at Pont y Saeson (Bridge of the Saxons), near Tintern, but Tewdrig was wounded. An ox-cart was called to take him to Flat Holm (Ynys Echni) in the Bristol Channel for treatment but, on their journey, the oxen stopped at a miraculous spring, now known as St Tewdrig's Well. Here Tewdrig's wounds were cleansed, and he died. The date of his death is commemorated as 3 January.

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 later became the village of Mathern, near the junction of the Rivers Wye and Severn. Modern historians question whether there was in fact a battle at Tintern, and suggest instead that Tewdrig may have fought near Bath, on the eastern side of the Severn, and died on his way back to south Wales.

The alleged bones and relics of Saint Tewdrig, or Theodoric, in the church at Mathern 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.

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

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