Dubricius
Encyclopedia
Saint Dubricius (c. 465 – 550 or 612) was a 6th century Briton
ecclesiastic venerated as a saint
. He was the evangelist of Ergyng
(now Archenfield
) and much of South-East Wales
.
of Ergyng. His grandfather threw his mother into the River Wye
when he discovered she was pregnant, but was unsuccessful in drowning her. Dubricius was born in Madley
in Herefordshire
, England
. He and his mother were reconciled with Peibio when Dubricius kissed him and cured him of his leprosy
.
Dubricius founded a monastery at Hentland
and then one at Moccas
. He became the teacher of many well-known Welsh
saints, including Teilo and Samson
. Dedications at Porlock
and near Luscombe
on the Exmoor
coast of Somerset
may indicate that he also travelled in that area. He later became Bishop of Ergyng
, possibly with his seat at Weston under Penyard, and probably held sway over all of Glamorgan
and Gwent, an area that was later known as the diocese of Llandaff
. However, he may have merely been a bishop for the purpose of ordaining priests, not as administrative head of the church over a geographical area. Dubricius was good friends with Saints Illtud
and Samson
, and attended the Synod of Llanddewi Brefi
in 545, where he is said to have resigned his see in favour of Saint David
. He retired to Bardsey Island
where he was eventually buried before his body was transferred to Llandaff Cathedral
in 1120.
According to legend, Dubricius was made Archbishop of Wales from Caerleon
by Saint Germanus of Auxerre, and later crowned King Arthur
. He appears as a character in Geoffrey of Monmouth
's Historia Regum Britanniae
and Wace
's Roman de Brut
, which was based on it. Much later Alfred, Lord Tennyson featured the saint in his Idylls of the King
.
churches at Ballingham
, Whitechurch
, Hentland
and Hamnish, all in Herefordshire
, Porlock
in Somerset
, and the Church in Wales
churches at Gwenddwr
in Breconshire and at Llanvaches
in Newport
. The Catholic Church at Treforest is also dedicated to Dyfrig.
Britons (historical)
The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...
ecclesiastic venerated as a saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
. He was the evangelist of Ergyng
Ergyng
Ergyng was a Welsh kingdom of the sub-Roman and early medieval period, between the 5th and 7th centuries. It was later referred to by the English as Archenfield.-Location:...
(now Archenfield
Archenfield
Archenfield is the historic English name for an area of southern and western Herefordshire in England. Since the Anglo-Saxons took over the region in the 8th century, it has stretched between the River Monnow and River Wye, but it derives from the once much larger Welsh kingdom of...
) and much of South-East Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
.
Biography
Dubricius was the illegitimate son of Efrddyl, the daughter of King Peibio ClafrogPeibio Clafrog
Peibo Clafrog , was King of Ergyng in south-east Wales in the 5th or 6th century...
of Ergyng. His grandfather threw his mother into the River Wye
River Wye
The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK and for parts of its length forms part of the border between England and Wales. It is important for nature conservation and recreation.-Description:...
when he discovered she was pregnant, but was unsuccessful in drowning her. Dubricius was born in Madley
Madley
Madley is a village and civil parish in the English county of Herefordshire. It is located six miles west of the city of Hereford.-Other settlements:...
in Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He and his mother were reconciled with Peibio when Dubricius kissed him and cured him of his leprosy
Leprosy
Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
.
Dubricius founded a monastery at Hentland
Hentland
Hentland is a hamlet and civil parish in the English county of Herefordshire. It is located five miles north-west of Ross-on-Wye.Hentland itself is very small and often missed off maps of the area...
and then one at Moccas
Moccas
Moccas is a village and civil parish in the English county of Herefordshire. It is located west of Hereford.The parish is mainly farmland with a number of woods, including Woodbury Hill Wood and the Moccas Park Deer Park...
. He became the teacher of many well-known Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
saints, including Teilo and Samson
Samson of Dol
Saint Samson of Dol was a Christian religious figure who is counted among the seven founder saints of Brittany. Born in southern Wales, he died in Dol-de-Bretagne, a small town in north Brittany.-Life:...
. Dedications at Porlock
Porlock
Porlock is a coastal village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated in a deep hollow below Exmoor, west of Minehead. The parish, which includes Hawkcombe and Doverhay, has a population of 1,377....
and near Luscombe
Luscombe
Luscombe aircraft was a United States aircraft manufacturer from 1933 to 1950.Donald A. Luscombe founded the Luscombe aircraft company in 1933, in Kansas City, Missouri. Luscombe had already made his reputation as a winged-aircraft designer with the Monocoupe series of light aircraft, but he felt...
on the Exmoor
Exmoor
Exmoor is an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England, named after the main river that flows out of the district, the River Exe. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and ...
coast of Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
may indicate that he also travelled in that area. He later became Bishop of Ergyng
Bishop of Llandaff
The Bishop of Llandaff is the Ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff.-Area of authority:The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul , in the village of Llandaff, just north-west of the City of...
, possibly with his seat at Weston under Penyard, and probably held sway over all of Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
and Gwent, an area that was later known as the diocese of Llandaff
Diocese of Llandaff
The Diocese of Llandaff is a Church in Wales diocese. It is headed by the Bishop of Llandaff, whose seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Llandaff, a suburb of Cardiff...
. However, he may have merely been a bishop for the purpose of ordaining priests, not as administrative head of the church over a geographical area. Dubricius was good friends with Saints Illtud
Illtud
Illtyd , was a Welsh saint, founder and abbot of Llanilltud Fawr in the Welsh county of Glamorgan...
and Samson
Samson of Dol
Saint Samson of Dol was a Christian religious figure who is counted among the seven founder saints of Brittany. Born in southern Wales, he died in Dol-de-Bretagne, a small town in north Brittany.-Life:...
, and attended the Synod of Llanddewi Brefi
Synod of Brefi
The Synod of Brefi was a church council held at Llanddewi Brefi in Ceredigion, Wales around 545.The synod was apparently called in order to condemn the heretical teachings of Pelagius, although this is far from certain. It was an important milestone in the rise of Saint David...
in 545, where he is said to have resigned his see in favour of Saint David
Saint David
Saint David was a Welsh Bishop during the 6th century; he was later regarded as a saint and as the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and a relatively large amount of information is known about his life. However, his birth date is still uncertain, as suggestions range from 462 to...
. He retired to Bardsey Island
Bardsey Island
Bardsey Island , the legendary "Island of 20,000 saints", lies off the Llŷn Peninsula in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The Welsh name means "The Island in the Currents", although its English name refers to the "Island of the Bards", or possibly the island of the Viking chieftan, "Barda". It is ...
where he was eventually buried before his body was transferred to Llandaff Cathedral
Llandaff Cathedral
Llandaff Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is situated in the district of Llandaff in the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The current building was constructed in the 12th century over the site of an earlier church...
in 1120.
According to legend, Dubricius was made Archbishop of Wales from Caerleon
Caerleon
Caerleon is a suburban village and community, situated on the River Usk in the northern outskirts of the city of Newport, South Wales. Caerleon is a site of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman legionary fortress, Isca Augusta, and an Iron Age hill fort...
by Saint Germanus of Auxerre, and later crowned King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
. He appears as a character in Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
's Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia Regum Britanniae
The Historia Regum Britanniae is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written c. 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons in a chronological narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the British nation...
and Wace
Wace
Wace was a Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy , ending his career as Canon of Bayeux.-Life:...
's Roman de Brut
Roman de Brut
Roman de Brut or Brut is a verse literary history of Britain by the poet Wace. Written in the Norman language, it consists of 14,866 lines....
, which was based on it. Much later Alfred, Lord Tennyson featured the saint in his Idylls of the King
Idylls of the King
Idylls of the King, published between 1856 and 1885, is a cycle of twelve narrative poems by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson which retells the legend of King Arthur, his knights, his love for Guinevere and her tragic betrayal of him, and the rise and fall of Arthur's kingdom...
.
Church dedications
Churches dedicated to Saint Dubricius include the Church of EnglandChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
churches at Ballingham
Ballingham
Ballingham is a small village of about 140 people in Herefordshire, England, situated in a loop of the River Wye, between Hereford and Ross-on-Wye....
, Whitechurch
Whitchurch, Herefordshire
Whitchurch is a village in Herefordshire named after the church of Saint Dubricius which was originally white in colour.Whitchurch is situated on the A40, connecting nearby Ross-on-Wye to Welsh town Monmouth...
, Hentland
Hentland
Hentland is a hamlet and civil parish in the English county of Herefordshire. It is located five miles north-west of Ross-on-Wye.Hentland itself is very small and often missed off maps of the area...
and Hamnish, all in Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
, Porlock
Porlock
Porlock is a coastal village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated in a deep hollow below Exmoor, west of Minehead. The parish, which includes Hawkcombe and Doverhay, has a population of 1,377....
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, and the Church in Wales
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales is the Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.As with the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The current archbishop is Barry Morgan, the Bishop of Llandaff.In contrast to the...
churches at Gwenddwr
Erwood
Erwood is a village lying along the A470 road, roughly south of Builth Wells, Powys, Wales. It is in the former county of Breconshire and the older cantref of Cantref Selyf. The Clettwr brook runs through Erwood to join the River Wye and separates the village between the parishes of Gwenddwr to...
in Breconshire and at Llanvaches
Llanvaches
Llanvaches is a village and community parish located within the boundaries of the city of Newport, Wales. It lies to the east of the urban area, in the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent.- Location :...
in Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
. The Catholic Church at Treforest is also dedicated to Dyfrig.