Indract of Glastonbury
Encyclopedia
Indract or Indracht was a saint
who, along with his companions, was venerated at Glastonbury Abbey
, a monastery in the county of Somerset
in south-western England
. In the High Middle Ages
Glastonbury tradition held that he had been an Irish pilgrim
— a king's son — on his way back from Rome
who was molested and killed by a local thegn
after he had stopped off to visit the shrine
of St Patrick. This tradition synchronised his life with that of King Ine
(688–726), though historian Michael Lapidge
has argued that he is most likely to represent a 9th century abbot of Iona
named Indrechtach ua Fínnachta.
The cult seems to date from the late 10th or early 11th century, though this is uncertain. There is one main extant account, the anonymous 12th century Passio sancti Indracti. An earlier text written in Old English is said to have existed and been used by the writer of the Passio. There is also evidence that the 12th century historian William of Malmesbury
wrote his own saint's life, and although now lost it may also have used the Old English text. In the 14th century a St Alban's monk added significant new material of probable Cornish
origin, mentioning a sister named Dominica and some miracles.
. The historical identity of the Indract resting in this shrine is obscure, but it is unlikely that he can be identified with any known figure of the 7th or 8th centuries, the period of his life according to later Glastonbury sources.
There is however a strong similarity between the story of the Glastonbury Indract and that of a 9th century abbot of Iona
, Indrechtach ua Fínnachta, whom several contemporary Irish sources report as being "martyred among the English (apud Saxones)" in 854. These sources give his death date as 12 March, which differs from the Canterbury date of 8 May. A plausible explanation is that later monks at Glastonbury, possessing the body and only a bare story, invented the rest. The cult, although never widespread outside Glastonbury, became known in Ireland: the Martyrology of Tallaght
in the 12th century Book of Leinster
has a marginal note about the Glastonbury Indract and also lists his feast day as 8 May.
There is no evidence however that Indract's cult existed at Glastonbury before the 11th century. A calendar
produced at Glastonbury around 970 (from the Leofric Missal
) omits his name, yet in a Leominster
litany
(BL Cotton Galba A xiv) dated by historian Michael Lapidge to the second quarter of the 11th century his name is listed as "confessor", and is placed next to St Patrick's, hinting at a Glastonbury base for the cult. This litany is the earliest evidence of the cult for Indract, in England at least. He is named as a "martyr" in a late 11th century litany from Winchester
.
According to the Passio, Indract was a deacon
and the son of an Irish king. He and his nine companions had gone to Rome on pilgrimage and on their return journey they decided to visit Glastonbury and the shrine of St Patrick there, staying for a night at a place called Huish Episcopi
(Hywisc). As it happened, the ruler of the region, King Ine
, was staying nearby at South Petherton
(Pedred). A king's thegn
named Husa, with some followers, attacked and killed the Irish pilgrims, believing they possessed gold. After a posthumous miracle, King Ine had the bodies of most of the martyrs buried in the church of St Mary. The body of one companion is said not to have been found, but on their feast day, 8 May, a column of light is said to emanate from his place of burial. The text proceeds to recount some more posthumous miracles, including a vision by Guthlac of Glastonbury, a future abbot of Glastonbury.
Indract is however mentioned by William of Malmesbury in three surviving works. Notable "discrepancies" [Lapidge] between the Passio and William's assertions in these works include his failure to associate Indract with Abbot Guthlac (despite making mention of this abbot in other contexts), failure to name the location of the martyring, and giving the number of Indract's companions as seven. Historian Michael Lapidge believed that the source for William of Malmesbury's work was Old English text, and that differences between the Passio and William of Malmesbury can be accounted for by embellishments added by the Passio author.
(Schapwik), not Huish Episcopi (Hywisc), and he follows William of Malmesbury in giving the number of companions as seven. Michael Lapidge suggested, on the basis of similarities with William of Malmesbury, that John Seen had probably consulted William's lost work.
The St Alban's monk John of Tynemouth
, another mid 14th century author, adds information regarding Indract in his Sanctilogium Angliae. Although otherwise summarising the Passio account, he relates a new tradition about Indract and a sister of his named Dominica. Indract with his (nine) companions and his sister Dominica, on their way to Rome, stopped at a place called Tamerunta. There Indract drove his staff into the ground, causing an oak tree to grow, and there he caused a pond to provide a plentiful supply of fish. The place Tamerunta (properly "Tamerton") must lie somewhere along the river Tamar
on the Cornish border, and suggests that this new information came from a Cornish source, perhaps the church of St Germans
.
The chronicler William Worcester
, writing in 1478, claimed that Indract and his companions lay at Shepton Mallet
, five miles from Glastonbury. This may be a misunderstanding, perhaps based on a commemoration stone at Shapwick, which Willliam has confused with Shepton. Indract's relics are listed in two 14th century Glastonbury lists of relics (BL Cotton Titus D vii fols. 2r–13v and Cambridge Trinity College MS R.5.33 (724) fols. 104r–105v).
As an indication of the local nature of his cult, his name occurs in only one English calendar of saints, a 15th century manuscript probably written at Glastonbury (Up Holland College, MS 98). A chapel in Cornwall was dedicated to him, though the suggestion that Landrake
was named after him has been deemed "impossible" [Lapidge].
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...
who, along with his companions, was venerated at Glastonbury Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. The ruins are now a grade I listed building, and a Scheduled Ancient Monument and are open as a visitor attraction....
, a monastery in the county 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...
in south-western 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...
. In the High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
Glastonbury tradition held that he had been an Irish pilgrim
Pilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...
— a king's son — on his way back from Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
who was molested and killed by a local thegn
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
after he had stopped off to visit the shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
of St Patrick. This tradition synchronised his life with that of King Ine
Ine of Wessex
Ine was King of Wessex from 688 to 726. He was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor, Cædwalla, who had brought much of southern England under his control and expanded West Saxon territory substantially...
(688–726), though historian Michael Lapidge
Michael Lapidge
Michael Lapidge D.Litt. is a Canadian historical linguist, fellow of Clare College, Cambridge and Fellow of the British Academy A lecturer in Anglo-Saxon studies at Cambridge from 1974 onwards, Lapidge was Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon from 1991 to 1998...
has argued that he is most likely to represent a 9th century abbot of Iona
Abbot of Iona
The Abbot of Iona was the head of Iona Abbey during the Middle Ages and the leader of the monastic community of Iona, as well as the overlord of scores of monasteries in both Scotland and Ireland, including Durrow, Kells and, for a time, Lindisfarne...
named Indrechtach ua Fínnachta.
The cult seems to date from the late 10th or early 11th century, though this is uncertain. There is one main extant account, the anonymous 12th century Passio sancti Indracti. An earlier text written in Old English is said to have existed and been used by the writer of the Passio. There is also evidence that the 12th century historian William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
wrote his own saint's life, and although now lost it may also have used the Old English text. In the 14th century a St Alban's monk added significant new material of probable Cornish
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
origin, mentioning a sister named Dominica and some miracles.
Early evidence
The body of Indract supposedly lay in a stone shrine, with St Patrick's, in the Old Church of St Mary at Glastonbury AbbeyGlastonbury Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. The ruins are now a grade I listed building, and a Scheduled Ancient Monument and are open as a visitor attraction....
. The historical identity of the Indract resting in this shrine is obscure, but it is unlikely that he can be identified with any known figure of the 7th or 8th centuries, the period of his life according to later Glastonbury sources.
There is however a strong similarity between the story of the Glastonbury Indract and that of a 9th century abbot of Iona
Abbot of Iona
The Abbot of Iona was the head of Iona Abbey during the Middle Ages and the leader of the monastic community of Iona, as well as the overlord of scores of monasteries in both Scotland and Ireland, including Durrow, Kells and, for a time, Lindisfarne...
, Indrechtach ua Fínnachta, whom several contemporary Irish sources report as being "martyred among the English (apud Saxones)" in 854. These sources give his death date as 12 March, which differs from the Canterbury date of 8 May. A plausible explanation is that later monks at Glastonbury, possessing the body and only a bare story, invented the rest. The cult, although never widespread outside Glastonbury, became known in Ireland: the Martyrology of Tallaght
Martyrology of Tallaght
The Martyrology of Tallaght, which is closely related to the Félire Oengusso or Martyrology of Óengus the Culdee, is an eighth- or ninth-century martyrology, a list of saints and their feast days assembled by Máel Ruain and/or Óengus the Culdee at Tallaght Monastery, near Dublin...
in the 12th century Book of Leinster
Book of Leinster
The Book of Leinster , is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled ca. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin, under the shelfmark MS H 2.18...
has a marginal note about the Glastonbury Indract and also lists his feast day as 8 May.
There is no evidence however that Indract's cult existed at Glastonbury before the 11th century. A calendar
Calendar of saints
The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the feast day of said saint...
produced at Glastonbury around 970 (from the Leofric Missal
Leofric Missal
The Leofric Missal is an illuminated manuscript, not strictly a conventional missal, from the 10th and 11th century, now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University where it is catalogued as Bodley 579....
) omits his name, yet in a Leominster
Leominster
Leominster is a market town in Herefordshire, England, located approximately north of the city of Hereford and south of Ludlow, at...
litany
Litany
A litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Jewish worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions...
(BL Cotton Galba A xiv) dated by historian Michael Lapidge to the second quarter of the 11th century his name is listed as "confessor", and is placed next to St Patrick's, hinting at a Glastonbury base for the cult. This litany is the earliest evidence of the cult for Indract, in England at least. He is named as a "martyr" in a late 11th century litany from Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
.
Passio sancti Indracti
His story in its earliest form is told in the 12th century Passio sancti Indracti or "Passion of St Indract" (Oxford Bodleian Library MS Digby 112). The Passios anonymous author claims that he used an earlier life in Old English as his source. This earlier work has not survived.According to the Passio, Indract was a deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
and the son of an Irish king. He and his nine companions had gone to Rome on pilgrimage and on their return journey they decided to visit Glastonbury and the shrine of St Patrick there, staying for a night at a place called Huish Episcopi
Huish Episcopi
Huish Episcopi is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the outskirts of Langport, south west of Somerton in the South Somerset district...
(Hywisc). As it happened, the ruler of the region, King Ine
Ine of Wessex
Ine was King of Wessex from 688 to 726. He was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor, Cædwalla, who had brought much of southern England under his control and expanded West Saxon territory substantially...
, was staying nearby at South Petherton
South Petherton
South Petherton is a small country town and civil parish on the River Parrett in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England. It is east of Ilminster and north west of Crewkerne. It had a population of approximately 3,200 in 2002...
(Pedred). A king's thegn
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
named Husa, with some followers, attacked and killed the Irish pilgrims, believing they possessed gold. After a posthumous miracle, King Ine had the bodies of most of the martyrs buried in the church of St Mary. The body of one companion is said not to have been found, but on their feast day, 8 May, a column of light is said to emanate from his place of burial. The text proceeds to recount some more posthumous miracles, including a vision by Guthlac of Glastonbury, a future abbot of Glastonbury.
William of Malmesbury
The 16th century antiquarian John Leland wrote that among the various saint lives at Glastonbury was a Vita Indracti by William of Malmesbury. William of Malmesbury, in his De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesiae, claimed to have discussed the saint in another work. William's Vita Indracti, though once believed to have been the Passio, has not survived.Indract is however mentioned by William of Malmesbury in three surviving works. Notable "discrepancies" [Lapidge] between the Passio and William's assertions in these works include his failure to associate Indract with Abbot Guthlac (despite making mention of this abbot in other contexts), failure to name the location of the martyring, and giving the number of Indract's companions as seven. Historian Michael Lapidge believed that the source for William of Malmesbury's work was Old English text, and that differences between the Passio and William of Malmesbury can be accounted for by embellishments added by the Passio author.
Later evidence
John Seen of Glastonbury, writing around 1342, is the next important source of information about Indract and his cult. He repeats more or less the same story as the Passio, but his account differs in various details. The martyrdom takes place at ShapwickShapwick, Somerset
Shapwick is a village on the Somerset Levels, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. It is situated to the west of Glastonbury.-History:Shapwick is the site of one end of the Sweet Track, an ancient causeway dating from the 39th century BC....
(Schapwik), not Huish Episcopi (Hywisc), and he follows William of Malmesbury in giving the number of companions as seven. Michael Lapidge suggested, on the basis of similarities with William of Malmesbury, that John Seen had probably consulted William's lost work.
The St Alban's monk John of Tynemouth
John of Tynemouth (chronicler)
John of Tynemouth was a medieval English chronicler who flourished in the mid 14th-century.Little is known of his background. According to medieval accounts, he was claimed to have been the vicar of the parish of Tynemouth in Northumberland...
, another mid 14th century author, adds information regarding Indract in his Sanctilogium Angliae. Although otherwise summarising the Passio account, he relates a new tradition about Indract and a sister of his named Dominica. Indract with his (nine) companions and his sister Dominica, on their way to Rome, stopped at a place called Tamerunta. There Indract drove his staff into the ground, causing an oak tree to grow, and there he caused a pond to provide a plentiful supply of fish. The place Tamerunta (properly "Tamerton") must lie somewhere along the river Tamar
River Tamar
The Tamar is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . It is one of several British rivers whose ancient name is assumed to be derived from a prehistoric river word apparently meaning "dark flowing" and which it shares with the River Thames.The...
on the Cornish border, and suggests that this new information came from a Cornish source, perhaps the church of St Germans
St German's Priory
St German's Priory is a large Norman church in the village of St Germans in south-east Cornwall, in the United Kingdom.-History:According to a credible tradition the church here was founded by St Germanus himself ca. 430 AD. The first written record however is of Conan being made Bishop in the...
.
The chronicler William Worcester
William Worcester
William Worcester , was an English chronicler and antiquary.-Life:He was a son of William of Worcester, a Bristol citizen, and is sometimes called William Botoner, his mother being a daughter of Thomas Botoner from Catalonia....
, writing in 1478, claimed that Indract and his companions lay at Shepton Mallet
Shepton Mallet
Shepton Mallet is a small rural town and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset in South West England. Situated approximately south of Bristol and east of Wells, the town is estimated to have a population of 9,700. It contains the administrative headquarters of Mendip District Council...
, five miles from Glastonbury. This may be a misunderstanding, perhaps based on a commemoration stone at Shapwick, which Willliam has confused with Shepton. Indract's relics are listed in two 14th century Glastonbury lists of relics (BL Cotton Titus D vii fols. 2r–13v and Cambridge Trinity College MS R.5.33 (724) fols. 104r–105v).
As an indication of the local nature of his cult, his name occurs in only one English calendar of saints, a 15th century manuscript probably written at Glastonbury (Up Holland College, MS 98). A chapel in Cornwall was dedicated to him, though the suggestion that Landrake
Landrake
Landrake is a village in southeast Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately three miles west of Saltash in the civil parish of Landrake with St Erney...
was named after him has been deemed "impossible" [Lapidge].