St. Illtud, Monk and Founder of Llantwit Major Monastery, Wales,
Cousin of King Arthur
(Illtyd, Iltut, Illtut)
6 November
Died c. 505 (another source says 450-535); feast day formerly on July 7.
Illtud, clearly an outstanding figure and one of the most celebrated
Welsh saints, laboured chiefly in the southeastern part
of the country. His "vita" written circa 1140 has little historical
value; but the
"Life of Saint Samson" (f.d. July 28),
composed
about 500 years earlier, has some important references. This author
names him as a disciple of
Saint Germanus of Auxerre (f.d. July 31),
who
ordained him. It calls Illtud 'the most learned of the Britons in both
Testaments and in all kinds of knowledge,' and speaks of his great
monastic school.
This establishment was Llanilltyd Fawr (Llantwit Major in Glamorgan),
where other prominent saints besides Samson are said to have been
Illtyd's pupils. The monastery of Llantwit survived in one form or
another until the Norman conquest (1066).
The author of Samson's Life also describes Illtud's death, in
illustration of the saint's power of prophecy. The passage is an
impressive one, but it does not state where or when the death took
place.
He was the son of a Briton living in Letavia, Brittany (some scholars
believe Letavia is an area in central Brednock, England, rather than in
Brittany), who came to visit his cousin King Arthur of England about
470.
The later "vita" says that Illtud married Trynihid and then served in
the army of a Glamorgan chieftain. When one of his friends was killed
in a hunting accident,
Saint Cadoc (f.d. September 25)
counselled him to
leave the world behind.
Illtud and Trynihid took Cadoc's advice and lived together as recluses
in a hut by the Nadafan River until he was warned by an angel to
separate from her. He left his wife to become a monk under
Saint Dubricius (f.d. November 14),
but after a time resumed his eremitical
life by a stream called the Hodnant. He attracted many disciples and
organised them into the Llanwit Major monastery, which, according to the
ninth-century
"Life of Saint Paul Aurelian" (f.d. March 12),
was
originally "within the borders of Dyfed, called Pyr," usually identified
as Calder (Caldey) Island off Tenby. The monastery soon developed
into a great foundation and a centre of missionary activity in Wales.
Many miracles were attributed to him (he was fed by heaven when forced
to flee the ire of a local chieftain and take refuge in a cave; he
miraculously restored a collapsed seawall), and he is reputed to have
sent or taken grain to relieve a famine in Brittany, where the place and
church names attest to some connection with Illtud.
His death is reported at Dol, Brittany, where he had retired in his old
age, at Llanwit, and at Defynock. One Welsh tradition has him as one of
the three knights put in charge of the Holy Grail by Arthur, and another
one even identifies him as Galahad
(Attwater,
Benedictines,
Delaney,
Doble,
Walsh).
Troparion of St Illtyd
Tone 6
O wise Illtyd, thou wast noble by birth and noble in mind
and didst train many saints in the way of holiness.
Pray to Christ our God to raise up saints in our days
to His glory and for our salvation.
12th century Life of Saint Illtud
http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/illtud.html
Pictures of Saint Illtud's church and the Celtic crosses
http://www.cymru9.fsnet.co.uk/page14.html
Lives kindly supplied by:
For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/saint_a.shtml
These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints/
content © 2008, Ambrose Mooney
layout © 2008, Kathleen Hanrahan and Mo! Langdon
Page last updated: 01 November 2008
Please send us comments, corrections, etc. -
Kathleen or
Mo!.
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