Gobin in France, and it is
unnecessary
to mention the well- known white sand from Muckish Mountain, in the county of Donegal.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v1
164, p.
483.
'3 In the year A. D. 508, according to Row- land, in " Mona Antiqua. "
century.
"^ Ussher makes Cadoc flourish so
'* The romantic
history
of
King Arthur, "
early as 500. Then he says, Gildas Albanius
originally written for Macmillan's Maga-
zine," by Herbert Coleridge, is to be found
taught in his school A. D. 508, just four years
before he died. See "Index " Chronologicus,
A. D. D. DViil. DXil. , pp. 524, 525, But he could hardly have flourished so early, or
"
asks, Why
to an old version of " Le English
prefixed
Morte Arthur," edited from the Harleian
MS. 2252 in the British Museum, by F. J. Fumival, A. M. , Camb.
'S Dr. Lanigan observes, that as Hoel was
killed before Gildas died, Ussher was obliged
to antedate King Arthur's death. "But
even admitting that it began in 508, it is
truly strange that he did not give up the
whole hypothesis. For in that year his Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of Albanius was, according to him, 83 years of
age, and Hoel, whom he allowed to be t—he elder brother, must have been still more. "
"Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , sec. x. , n. 164, p. 483.
'^AccordingtoCaradocofLanncarvan,
Even admit- ting that Cadoc's school existed in that year, it is odd that Ussher would fain make us believe that a man of 83 years old, as his Albanius must have been at that time, woul—d
have had a school in 508.
"
pp. 484, 485.
'3 These islands were m the Bntish Channel.
* Situated in the Sabmina, an ancient name for the River Severn.
"sAccordingtoJohnCapgrave. Itissaid
have undertaken such a troublesome task.
Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , sec. x. , n. 165,
January 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 483
pirates obliged them to leave it at last, for they made captives of servants there, and then plundered the monastic establishment. Thence Gildas, in great grief of mind, is said to have taken a boat and to have sought Glastonbury, where he was joyfully received by the abbot. There he taught the monks and other pupils, always planting in their hearts the seed of heavenly doc-
"
Historiae de Regibus Britannise," according to some accounts. ^^ During his residence there, Glastonbury was besieged with a large ^my by King Arthur. This was caused by violence offered to his queen, Guenever. She had been carried off by King Meluas, who ruled over the maritime parts in that district. The abbot and Gildas, with the clergy, persuaded Meluas to restore Guenever to Arthur. Then a pacifica- tion ensued, and so pleased were both kings, that they bestowed large tracts
oflandforthemonasteryatGlastonbury. Theypromised,thatitandthe adjoining territory should be a place of sanctuary, which no man must dare to violate. They also visited the church of St. Mary there, and prayed before its altar, ^7 At length, King Arthur was mortally wovmded in a battle
fought at Camlan, in Cornwall, against his own nephew Modred, who had revolted. His death occurred a. d. 542, at Glastonbury, and there he was buriedintheIsleofAvalon. ^^ Hisqueenseemstohavebetakenherselfto a convent after his death, and to have ended her days in a religious state. ^9 Yetherbodywasafterwardsinterredbesidethatofherhusband. Giraldus Cambrensis relates, that he was present when King Arthur's tomb was opened by order of King Henry II. There the bones and sword of the hero were found, with the remains of his wife, Gwenhouar, a. d. 1179. 3°
While Childeric,3^ son of Meroveus, is incorrectly said to have been King of the Franks,3^ Gildas left Great Britain, and sailed over to Armorica or Little Britain. 33 Here there is an interruption of the narrative, owing to a defect in the manuscript, containing the life of our saint, by the Monk of
trine. There he wrote
that Gildas here slept on a rock, and that
until the well sprang forth, his only drink
was rain-water, lodged in hollows among the cliffs.
"^
See the notices of Caradoc of Lanncar- van and of John Capgrave. " De Excidio Britannice Liber Querulus vfus first printed
at London in
printed —both in England and on the Con- tinent. '' Chambers' "Encyclopedia," vol, iv. , p. 752.
^^ All the foregoing narrative, from Caradoc of Lanncarvan, is applied to Gildas Albanius by Ussher and Colgan. See cap. xiv. , xv. ,
xvi. , xviii. , xix. , xx. xxi. , xxii. , xxiii. Col- gan's "Acta Sanctorum HibemicC," p, 180.
"^
See Chambers' "Encyclopedia," vol. i. , p, 450.
*9 Guinevere's death took place in a nun- nery, when she,
^ See David Powel's •' Historic of Cam-
bria," p. 238.
3i See his reign, described in L, P. Anque-
til's *'Histoire de France. " Premiere Race dite de Merovingiens, sec. i. , pp. 43, 44.
According to Mirseus, he began to reign
A. D. 456, and after a lapse of nine years he
was — a. d. 464, died a. d. deposed, having
""
482. " Chronicon Belgii. Yet, Gordon, in his Annals, Claudius Robert, in his Cata-
loguejof the Kings of Gaul, and other writers, tell us, that he reigned from A. D. 460 to 483. ^2 This is an evident chronological blun- der admitted by the Monk of Ruys. Chil- deric reigned about the middle of the fifth century, and he was succeeded by a son
Clovis, the first Christian king.
33 Ussher believes it was his Gildas Al-
banius who went thither at the age of thirty, Yet, elsewhere, Ussher applies to Badonicus thepassingofseveralyearsinBritanny. On
1525,
and has been often re-
' ' for her
And for the power of ministration in her, And likewise for the high rank she had bome, Was chosen Abbess, there, an Abbess, lived For three brief years, and there, an Abbess,
good
deeds and her
depend for Badonicus, notwithstanding an agreement in so many points with Caradoc, who is thought to have treated solely about Albanius. While the former, according to Ussher, wrote the querulous Epistle, he incorrectly
the Monk of does this writer pure life, Ruys
past
To—wherebeyondthesevoicesthereispeace. complains,that'theMonkofRuysconfounded
"
"
See Alfred Tennyson's "Idylls of the supposed Gildases. See Britan-
the two
King. "—Guinevere, p. 261. nicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," p. 444.
484 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 29.
Ruys. 34 GildaswentintoArmorica,accordingtoanoldchronicle,33soearly as A. D. 520 ;3^ or if we adopt Mabillon's calculation, a. d. 538 ;37 while the
more generally-received opinion refers his voyage thither to about a. d. 550. 2^ However, Ussher brings St, Gildas Badonicus to Lesser Britain, a. d. 554. 29
The saint selected for a monastic site an elevated spot, where some ancient fortification had been constructed,'*° and this position overlooked the sea, at a place called Ruys. Here he chose an insulated position, where he might have leisure to pass the life of a hermit. At this period, he is said to have been about thirty years of age, and he lived for some time there as a solitary. But as light cannot be hidden under a bushel, and is thought to find its fitting rest on a candlestick, so did the fame of Gildas for learning andsanctityspreadabroad; whiletheparentsandguardiansofyouthflocked thither to place them under his direction. Gildas accepted the charge, and grounded them thoroughly, not alone in secular learning, but likewise in spiritual knowledge. In the monastery, which he built, this holy man established a most edifying and salutary rule. So illustrious was his life, that
from all the districts around, the infirm, weak, and lepers came to seek
healing, through his prayers and merits. The Almighty was pleased to work visible miracles through him, not alone during the time he lived there, but even long after his death. '*^
Still the holy man wished to obtain a stricter retirement. He therefore sought a grotto, at some distance from that monastery. This was hollowed in a rock, which was high, and extending from east to west, upon the bank of a river, called Blavet. There Gildas devoted to heavenly contemplation and Divine love many of his solitary hours. *" Not far from this cave, and on its right-hand side, he built an oratory of stone ;<3 and, by a miracle, he produced a fountain from the adjoining rock. While here, Gildas desired to close the eastern window of his oratory with glass,^ which he wanted ; but betaking himself to prayer, he arose, and going to a certain rock, he found there glass of an excellent quality.
3* According to John de Bosco's version of the old manuscript he used. But Gononus, in " Vitis Patrum Occidentis," lib. i. , sup- plies an account of Gildas coming to Ar- morica, and there dwelling in the Island of Hoartha.
35 The "Chronicon Britannicum," pub- lished by Lobineau. This British chronicle has no allusion save to the one Gildas, nor to any circumstances which might serve to indicate a second person of this name.
3* The life by the Monk of Ruys makes him out to have been thirty years of age at the time, and this would place the date of his birth at or about 490.
ing exactly that austere mode of living prac- tised by our early Irish saints.
3 The Monk of Ruys says, "erigensparie-
"
tem congruum, fecit oratorium.
^ The manufacture and use of glass are
referredtotimesremote. Wehavethetesti- mony of Lactantius, a writer who lived at the beginning of the fourth century, that glass was used for windows in his time. See
"
passage.
Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti. "
3T See
tomus i. , lib. vi. , sec. xix. , p. 151.
"
3^ See Chambers' "Encyclopedia," Art. Gildas," vol. iv. , p. 752.
39 See "Index Chronologicus," ad A. D.
DLiv. , p. 531.
<° According to Mabillon, this was the
"
Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti," tomus
former site of a fort,
in monte Reuvisii. "
See
"
i. , lib. vi. , sec. xix. , p. 150.
' The Monk of Ruys affirms that these
wonders were wrought to his own time.
*' This furnishes an illustration represent-
At Ruys he also constructed a mill, for
"De Operibus Dei," cap. v. ,
"
Opera Lac-
tantii. " Paris, A. D. 1748. We can hardly
doubt of its early introduction, and perhaps
of its manufacture in Ireland. A strong in-
ference may be dra\vn from the present
"
In Ireland glass sands of the finest quality are. found in many localities ; for example, near Omagh is found a sand quite as pure as that of St.
Gobin in France, and it is unnecessary to mention the well- known white sand from Muckish Mountain, in the county of Donegal. " See an excellent article on " Glass," in John Sproule's ad- mirable work, "The Resources and Manu- facturing Industry of Ireland,—as illustrated
by the Exhibition of 1853. " Class xxiv. , pp. 395 to 398. The initials, W. K. S. , are sufficient to proclaim the ability of the dis-
tinguished writer.
January 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 485
the purpose of grinding wheat, and this he turned with his own hands/s
While he dwelt in a cell, with some of his brethren, certain guests came to
him. These he received with great benignity. He led them to his oratory,
where, washing their feet and hands, Gildas charitably gave them whatever
he possessed. He even miraculously converted water into wine, which he
deemed necessary for their refreshment. All who witnessed this wonder of
Divine power gave thanks to God, who promised the faithful in his Gospel,
"
he that believeth in Me, the works that I do, he also shall do, and greater than these shall he do. ^^s While in Armorica, then called Letavia, or Le- tania,-*? the saint had enemies and perils to encounter ; but the Lord mira- culously delivered his servant from every evil. Even when he felt a great desire for returning to his native country, Almighty God designed that he should continue among the Britons, who then inhabited Armorica. ^
CHAPTER IV.
ST. GILDAS IS THOUGHT TO HAVE VISITED ROME AND RAVENNA—STATEMENTS RE- GARDING HIM—THE WORKS OF ST. GILDAS—HIS HISTORY OF THE BRITONS— HIS QUERULOUS EPISTLE—VARIOUS OTHER WRITINGS ATTRIBUTED TO HIM.
It is thought, the travels of Gildas extended beyond the limits of Gaul, while he was on the Continent. It has been stated, that he brought from Ireland a remarkable bell, which he destined for the altar of St. Pe—ter in Rome, and
for His H—
The result of an interview as our accounts
oliness the
notice it has been already given. Some writers have pronounced the Bard Aneurin to have been identical with Gildas : but it is more probable, he was brother to Caw, the saint's father. Our saint was thus of bardic family and connexions, and followed that profession himself for a time. Alawn, as we aretold,washisbardicname; andaWelshTriadrankshimamongthethree primary bards. Having preached to the Angles, then he went to Rome and he also visited Ravenna. =» Such at least are the accounts left us.
ing his proceedings, while engaged on this tour, we are furnished with no satisfactoryparticulars. Anotherwriterswouldhaveusbelieve,thatSt. Gildas wasAbbotofBangor,-*inNorthWales; butthisscarcelymeritsseriousat- tention. It is pretended, that he led an eremetical life in the mountains of
*3This mill was still extant, at that time when the Monk of Ruys wrote. He also states, that those infirm persons, who turned it with their hands, were often healed there, through the merits of St. Gildas.
*'John, xix. , 12.
*'^ Colgan tells us that British Armorica was called Leatha by the Irish. He would not undertake to say, however, that the country took its title from the ancient Irish or British word "Leatha," which signifies
"breadth," or "Leathan," which means "broad. " See No. 14, p. 194.
'
Chap. iv. In the life of Gildas by John
Capgrave, he quotes from a life of St. Cadoc, that it was intended to present this bell to Pope Alexander. But as this will not agree
with the Papal chronology, Colgan proposes to substitute Pope Anastasius II. , who sat
Regard-
A. D. 496, when Gildas Albanicus is said to
Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy's Descrip- tive Catalogue of Materials relating to the History of Great Britain and Ireland," vol. L, part i. Lylius Gyraldus says, that the most famous poets of Britannia were Plem- mydius, Oronius, and Gildas ; while the "Welsh Triad, 58, p. 67, enumerates Plennyd, Alawn and Gwron ; which latter in syntax is written Wron. See that truly learned
"
Britannia after the Romans; being an attempt to illustrate the
Colgan's
Religious
Pope. ^
" Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
** See
nias," xxix. Januarii. Vita S. Gildse Ba- donici, cap. x—ii. , xiii. , p. 184.
and Political Revolutions of that Province in the Fifth and Succeeding Cen- turies," vol. i. , Introduction, chap, i. , p. xiv.
"
Martyrologium Angli- canum," at the 29th of January.
^ The beautiful situation of Bangor is fa- miliar to most tourists. It was formerly called " Bangor Monachorum," and the
have flourished. ""
and anonymous work,
3 See Wilson's
486 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 29.
Cornwall. Bishop Forbes is of opinion, that he preached in Scotland,s and he ismentionedbysomeoftheScottishCalendarists'^andwriters. 7 Itisasserted, from passages in certain writings, that Gildas was a contemporary of Aurelius Ambrosius,^ who is said to be undistinguishable from the Welsh celebrated bard and prophet. Merlin. It is thought, likewise, that Gildas spent some time with Nennio in North Britain. 9 There is hardly one of our saints, whose acts have been so confused and misunderstood by writers, as those of this celebrated British abbot.
Gildas is regarded as the earliest British historian, because he placed
upon record the events of ages preceding his own times, and because he
wrote an ^° various historical allusions. While Gildas re- epistle, containing
sided in Armorica, his querulous epistle," it has been stated, was composed ten years after his arrival. " Some good reasons have been advanced to show, that it was written later than his history. *3 It took him ten years to complete this, or some other tract,'* in Little Britain. This should bring the conclusion of his work probably to about the middle of the sixth century. Yet the learned Bellarmin^'s and Jacobus Gualterius"^ state, that its author
parish of Bangor-is-y-Coed lies partly in the being appointed chief of the league did not county of Flint and partly in the county of deprive the other princes of their hereditary Denbigh. No traces of its once celebrated rights. "—" Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
monastery now remain. See " Gazetteer of land," vol. i. , chap, ix. , § x. , n. 168, pp.
the World," vol. ii. , p. 567.
5 See "Kalendars of Scottish
356. •*
486, 487.
See Dempster's "Menologium Sco- tomm," when at this date he enters *' Gildse
Saints," p.
" to the Monk of Fol- According Ruys.
lowing his explanation of the forty-fourth year of Gildas, and his date for the siege of Mount Badon, Ussher says this tract was
Quarti confessoris, Historiae etiam Scrip- WTrittcn A. D. 564. It appears strange, that
tione illustris, VV. " Sttiind. , p. 191. 'See Rev. Thomas Innes' "Civil and
Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," book ii. ,
See Britannia after the Romans," vol. ii. , chap, i. , p. 18.
he should not distinguish between this trea- tise and the history, which is intituled, "Dc Excidio Britannise. "
'3 Dr. Lanigan strongly suspects, that the ten years a—re to be taken, not relatively to
—mposition of which he as- the epistle the co
but to the " De history,
pp. 120 to 124. ^"
9 See Rev. Thomas Innes' "Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," book ii. , p. 154.
to about
" It is stated A. D. 543 or 544, Cystennen ap CadwT being King of Britannia. See
complete tract, and a distinct one, written several years earlier. What is said regard- ing both tracts is founded on the words of Gildas, in his preface to the history. There he says, that for ten years or more before writing it, he had been silent. Then he gives a summary of its contents, without re- ferring to the subject matter of his epistle.
'* Referring these ten years or more to
the history alone, we may suppose it was written not long after A. D. 530, and hence
Ussher's computation of its production the forty-fourth year after the siege of Mount Badon may be adopted, provided we place
''
To get rid of the argument deduced from this title and proving that there was but one Gildas in those days, the sticklers for the pretended Albanius invented a fable concerning his having written a history of the British kings, andthushavegivenus—twoGildaseshis-
"
Britannia after the Romans," Introduction, vol. i. , chap, i. , p. xx.
" The true date for its writing should be
543, according to Matthew of Westminster,
when Constantine murdered the two sons of
Modred or Medrod. These had taken up
arms to avenge their father, slain in the
battle of Camlan, a. d. 542. Ussher admits
that Constantine, King of Cornwall, became
chief king of the Britons, after the death of
King Arthur and many others in this battle,
and that he reigned only three years. See
this latter event ciriter 490.
"
IndexChronologicus,"pp. 529,530. Also
"
History of Wales," p. 79, and Rowland's "Mona Antiqua," p. 181. This admission of Ussher has puzzled him- self, for he thinks that Gildas must have in- veighedagainstanotherConstantine,who was only King of Damnonia or Cornwall, and that therefore Gildas contradicted him- self. But Gildas was not inconsistent in thus alluding to Constantine, or in mention-
Warrington's
other British
ing kings
'' In his "Tabulum Chrono- volume,
graphicum. "
"For,"
adds Dr.
as his Lanigan,
contemporaries. " Constantine's
543
Excidio Britannias," which appears to be a
signs
torians instead of one. " Ibid. , pp. 487, 488.
'5 In his work, " De Scriptoribus Eccle- siasticis. "
January 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 487
flourished a. d, 495. At this period he had probably been only an infant, '7 The History of the Britons by Nennius, and the Destruction of the Britons by Gildas, have been frequently confounded. ^^ The period which the latter embraces in his historic treatise exten—ds from the Incarnation of our Lord to A. D. 56o. '9 It may thus be divided by
*°
in. ituled,
cks of the Scots, and other early Memorials
o Scottish History," we read, in reference
"
Historia Britonum" of Nennius, that the work is attributed by many of the
t» the
"
ilSS. toGildas. " Seep. xxiv.
'9 The treatise " De Excidio Britanniffi"
was written in two books, in the forty-fourth year after the siege of Mount Badon, accord- ing to Mabillon. This writer places that event at A. D. 484, and during that very year when Constantine, King of the Damnonians, transfixed the sides of two royal boys, with their guardians, between the sacred altars. See "Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti," tomus i. , lib. vi. , § xix. , p. 151.
'" For this period, he seems to have taken as authorities, Rufinus' version of the " Ec- clesiastical History" of Eusebius, the "Ec- clesiastical History" of Sulpicius Severus, and the "Epistles" of St. Jerome.
*' This work has been included in the "Bibliotheca Patruum. "
'^
by Gildas have been published viz. :
This contains a preface, with an account of Britain and the disposition of its inhabi- tants, its conquest by the Romans ; its re- bellion and second subjection ; its conversion to Christianity and subsequent persecution ; its military strength withdrawn by Maximus withtheinroadsoftheScotsandPicts. He states, that the Britons asked and received succour from Rome ; that they expelled their enemies, who again returned, when the Roman legions left their island. Fur- ther succour was then sent by the Romans, who again expelled their enemies. A wall was built across the island, while the in-
D. xi. ,
and use of arms. Towns were erected on the sou-
habitants were instructed in the
making
: i. From the Invasion of Britain
the Romans to the revolt of Maximus at the close of the fourth
2. From the revolt of Maximus to the author's own time. This work con- tains, however, but few incidents of original historical interest, and these are conveyedinaveryinflated,declamatory,verboseandconfusedmanner. ^^ It appears from the words of Gildas, that for ten years he had resisted the de- sire of some friends, that he should write a short History of Britain. ^^ He declares, that he learned most of what he had to communicate beyond sea,^3 and that very confusedly,^* while many British documents had been carried away or destroyed. '^s Besides many English translations of this history, we find that between 1201 and 1254,^'^ a version of it in Latin heroic verse had beea composed,-while manuscript exemplars of it are yet extant. *7 The original work appears to have been frequently transcribed, and various read- ings are to be found in the copies hitherto preserved. "^
" See the Bollandists' " Acta Sanctorum," thern coast, when the Romans took their tonus ii.
'3 In the year A. D. 508, according to Row- land, in " Mona Antiqua. "
century.
"^ Ussher makes Cadoc flourish so
'* The romantic
history
of
King Arthur, "
early as 500. Then he says, Gildas Albanius
originally written for Macmillan's Maga-
zine," by Herbert Coleridge, is to be found
taught in his school A. D. 508, just four years
before he died. See "Index " Chronologicus,
A. D. D. DViil. DXil. , pp. 524, 525, But he could hardly have flourished so early, or
"
asks, Why
to an old version of " Le English
prefixed
Morte Arthur," edited from the Harleian
MS. 2252 in the British Museum, by F. J. Fumival, A. M. , Camb.
'S Dr. Lanigan observes, that as Hoel was
killed before Gildas died, Ussher was obliged
to antedate King Arthur's death. "But
even admitting that it began in 508, it is
truly strange that he did not give up the
whole hypothesis. For in that year his Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of Albanius was, according to him, 83 years of
age, and Hoel, whom he allowed to be t—he elder brother, must have been still more. "
"Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , sec. x. , n. 164, p. 483.
'^AccordingtoCaradocofLanncarvan,
Even admit- ting that Cadoc's school existed in that year, it is odd that Ussher would fain make us believe that a man of 83 years old, as his Albanius must have been at that time, woul—d
have had a school in 508.
"
pp. 484, 485.
'3 These islands were m the Bntish Channel.
* Situated in the Sabmina, an ancient name for the River Severn.
"sAccordingtoJohnCapgrave. Itissaid
have undertaken such a troublesome task.
Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , sec. x. , n. 165,
January 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 483
pirates obliged them to leave it at last, for they made captives of servants there, and then plundered the monastic establishment. Thence Gildas, in great grief of mind, is said to have taken a boat and to have sought Glastonbury, where he was joyfully received by the abbot. There he taught the monks and other pupils, always planting in their hearts the seed of heavenly doc-
"
Historiae de Regibus Britannise," according to some accounts. ^^ During his residence there, Glastonbury was besieged with a large ^my by King Arthur. This was caused by violence offered to his queen, Guenever. She had been carried off by King Meluas, who ruled over the maritime parts in that district. The abbot and Gildas, with the clergy, persuaded Meluas to restore Guenever to Arthur. Then a pacifica- tion ensued, and so pleased were both kings, that they bestowed large tracts
oflandforthemonasteryatGlastonbury. Theypromised,thatitandthe adjoining territory should be a place of sanctuary, which no man must dare to violate. They also visited the church of St. Mary there, and prayed before its altar, ^7 At length, King Arthur was mortally wovmded in a battle
fought at Camlan, in Cornwall, against his own nephew Modred, who had revolted. His death occurred a. d. 542, at Glastonbury, and there he was buriedintheIsleofAvalon. ^^ Hisqueenseemstohavebetakenherselfto a convent after his death, and to have ended her days in a religious state. ^9 Yetherbodywasafterwardsinterredbesidethatofherhusband. Giraldus Cambrensis relates, that he was present when King Arthur's tomb was opened by order of King Henry II. There the bones and sword of the hero were found, with the remains of his wife, Gwenhouar, a. d. 1179. 3°
While Childeric,3^ son of Meroveus, is incorrectly said to have been King of the Franks,3^ Gildas left Great Britain, and sailed over to Armorica or Little Britain. 33 Here there is an interruption of the narrative, owing to a defect in the manuscript, containing the life of our saint, by the Monk of
trine. There he wrote
that Gildas here slept on a rock, and that
until the well sprang forth, his only drink
was rain-water, lodged in hollows among the cliffs.
"^
See the notices of Caradoc of Lanncar- van and of John Capgrave. " De Excidio Britannice Liber Querulus vfus first printed
at London in
printed —both in England and on the Con- tinent. '' Chambers' "Encyclopedia," vol, iv. , p. 752.
^^ All the foregoing narrative, from Caradoc of Lanncarvan, is applied to Gildas Albanius by Ussher and Colgan. See cap. xiv. , xv. ,
xvi. , xviii. , xix. , xx. xxi. , xxii. , xxiii. Col- gan's "Acta Sanctorum HibemicC," p, 180.
"^
See Chambers' "Encyclopedia," vol. i. , p, 450.
*9 Guinevere's death took place in a nun- nery, when she,
^ See David Powel's •' Historic of Cam-
bria," p. 238.
3i See his reign, described in L, P. Anque-
til's *'Histoire de France. " Premiere Race dite de Merovingiens, sec. i. , pp. 43, 44.
According to Mirseus, he began to reign
A. D. 456, and after a lapse of nine years he
was — a. d. 464, died a. d. deposed, having
""
482. " Chronicon Belgii. Yet, Gordon, in his Annals, Claudius Robert, in his Cata-
loguejof the Kings of Gaul, and other writers, tell us, that he reigned from A. D. 460 to 483. ^2 This is an evident chronological blun- der admitted by the Monk of Ruys. Chil- deric reigned about the middle of the fifth century, and he was succeeded by a son
Clovis, the first Christian king.
33 Ussher believes it was his Gildas Al-
banius who went thither at the age of thirty, Yet, elsewhere, Ussher applies to Badonicus thepassingofseveralyearsinBritanny. On
1525,
and has been often re-
' ' for her
And for the power of ministration in her, And likewise for the high rank she had bome, Was chosen Abbess, there, an Abbess, lived For three brief years, and there, an Abbess,
good
deeds and her
depend for Badonicus, notwithstanding an agreement in so many points with Caradoc, who is thought to have treated solely about Albanius. While the former, according to Ussher, wrote the querulous Epistle, he incorrectly
the Monk of does this writer pure life, Ruys
past
To—wherebeyondthesevoicesthereispeace. complains,that'theMonkofRuysconfounded
"
"
See Alfred Tennyson's "Idylls of the supposed Gildases. See Britan-
the two
King. "—Guinevere, p. 261. nicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," p. 444.
484 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 29.
Ruys. 34 GildaswentintoArmorica,accordingtoanoldchronicle,33soearly as A. D. 520 ;3^ or if we adopt Mabillon's calculation, a. d. 538 ;37 while the
more generally-received opinion refers his voyage thither to about a. d. 550. 2^ However, Ussher brings St, Gildas Badonicus to Lesser Britain, a. d. 554. 29
The saint selected for a monastic site an elevated spot, where some ancient fortification had been constructed,'*° and this position overlooked the sea, at a place called Ruys. Here he chose an insulated position, where he might have leisure to pass the life of a hermit. At this period, he is said to have been about thirty years of age, and he lived for some time there as a solitary. But as light cannot be hidden under a bushel, and is thought to find its fitting rest on a candlestick, so did the fame of Gildas for learning andsanctityspreadabroad; whiletheparentsandguardiansofyouthflocked thither to place them under his direction. Gildas accepted the charge, and grounded them thoroughly, not alone in secular learning, but likewise in spiritual knowledge. In the monastery, which he built, this holy man established a most edifying and salutary rule. So illustrious was his life, that
from all the districts around, the infirm, weak, and lepers came to seek
healing, through his prayers and merits. The Almighty was pleased to work visible miracles through him, not alone during the time he lived there, but even long after his death. '*^
Still the holy man wished to obtain a stricter retirement. He therefore sought a grotto, at some distance from that monastery. This was hollowed in a rock, which was high, and extending from east to west, upon the bank of a river, called Blavet. There Gildas devoted to heavenly contemplation and Divine love many of his solitary hours. *" Not far from this cave, and on its right-hand side, he built an oratory of stone ;<3 and, by a miracle, he produced a fountain from the adjoining rock. While here, Gildas desired to close the eastern window of his oratory with glass,^ which he wanted ; but betaking himself to prayer, he arose, and going to a certain rock, he found there glass of an excellent quality.
3* According to John de Bosco's version of the old manuscript he used. But Gononus, in " Vitis Patrum Occidentis," lib. i. , sup- plies an account of Gildas coming to Ar- morica, and there dwelling in the Island of Hoartha.
35 The "Chronicon Britannicum," pub- lished by Lobineau. This British chronicle has no allusion save to the one Gildas, nor to any circumstances which might serve to indicate a second person of this name.
3* The life by the Monk of Ruys makes him out to have been thirty years of age at the time, and this would place the date of his birth at or about 490.
ing exactly that austere mode of living prac- tised by our early Irish saints.
3 The Monk of Ruys says, "erigensparie-
"
tem congruum, fecit oratorium.
^ The manufacture and use of glass are
referredtotimesremote. Wehavethetesti- mony of Lactantius, a writer who lived at the beginning of the fourth century, that glass was used for windows in his time. See
"
passage.
Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti. "
3T See
tomus i. , lib. vi. , sec. xix. , p. 151.
"
3^ See Chambers' "Encyclopedia," Art. Gildas," vol. iv. , p. 752.
39 See "Index Chronologicus," ad A. D.
DLiv. , p. 531.
<° According to Mabillon, this was the
"
Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti," tomus
former site of a fort,
in monte Reuvisii. "
See
"
i. , lib. vi. , sec. xix. , p. 150.
' The Monk of Ruys affirms that these
wonders were wrought to his own time.
*' This furnishes an illustration represent-
At Ruys he also constructed a mill, for
"De Operibus Dei," cap. v. ,
"
Opera Lac-
tantii. " Paris, A. D. 1748. We can hardly
doubt of its early introduction, and perhaps
of its manufacture in Ireland. A strong in-
ference may be dra\vn from the present
"
In Ireland glass sands of the finest quality are. found in many localities ; for example, near Omagh is found a sand quite as pure as that of St.
Gobin in France, and it is unnecessary to mention the well- known white sand from Muckish Mountain, in the county of Donegal. " See an excellent article on " Glass," in John Sproule's ad- mirable work, "The Resources and Manu- facturing Industry of Ireland,—as illustrated
by the Exhibition of 1853. " Class xxiv. , pp. 395 to 398. The initials, W. K. S. , are sufficient to proclaim the ability of the dis-
tinguished writer.
January 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 485
the purpose of grinding wheat, and this he turned with his own hands/s
While he dwelt in a cell, with some of his brethren, certain guests came to
him. These he received with great benignity. He led them to his oratory,
where, washing their feet and hands, Gildas charitably gave them whatever
he possessed. He even miraculously converted water into wine, which he
deemed necessary for their refreshment. All who witnessed this wonder of
Divine power gave thanks to God, who promised the faithful in his Gospel,
"
he that believeth in Me, the works that I do, he also shall do, and greater than these shall he do. ^^s While in Armorica, then called Letavia, or Le- tania,-*? the saint had enemies and perils to encounter ; but the Lord mira- culously delivered his servant from every evil. Even when he felt a great desire for returning to his native country, Almighty God designed that he should continue among the Britons, who then inhabited Armorica. ^
CHAPTER IV.
ST. GILDAS IS THOUGHT TO HAVE VISITED ROME AND RAVENNA—STATEMENTS RE- GARDING HIM—THE WORKS OF ST. GILDAS—HIS HISTORY OF THE BRITONS— HIS QUERULOUS EPISTLE—VARIOUS OTHER WRITINGS ATTRIBUTED TO HIM.
It is thought, the travels of Gildas extended beyond the limits of Gaul, while he was on the Continent. It has been stated, that he brought from Ireland a remarkable bell, which he destined for the altar of St. Pe—ter in Rome, and
for His H—
The result of an interview as our accounts
oliness the
notice it has been already given. Some writers have pronounced the Bard Aneurin to have been identical with Gildas : but it is more probable, he was brother to Caw, the saint's father. Our saint was thus of bardic family and connexions, and followed that profession himself for a time. Alawn, as we aretold,washisbardicname; andaWelshTriadrankshimamongthethree primary bards. Having preached to the Angles, then he went to Rome and he also visited Ravenna. =» Such at least are the accounts left us.
ing his proceedings, while engaged on this tour, we are furnished with no satisfactoryparticulars. Anotherwriterswouldhaveusbelieve,thatSt. Gildas wasAbbotofBangor,-*inNorthWales; butthisscarcelymeritsseriousat- tention. It is pretended, that he led an eremetical life in the mountains of
*3This mill was still extant, at that time when the Monk of Ruys wrote. He also states, that those infirm persons, who turned it with their hands, were often healed there, through the merits of St. Gildas.
*'John, xix. , 12.
*'^ Colgan tells us that British Armorica was called Leatha by the Irish. He would not undertake to say, however, that the country took its title from the ancient Irish or British word "Leatha," which signifies
"breadth," or "Leathan," which means "broad. " See No. 14, p. 194.
'
Chap. iv. In the life of Gildas by John
Capgrave, he quotes from a life of St. Cadoc, that it was intended to present this bell to Pope Alexander. But as this will not agree
with the Papal chronology, Colgan proposes to substitute Pope Anastasius II. , who sat
Regard-
A. D. 496, when Gildas Albanicus is said to
Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy's Descrip- tive Catalogue of Materials relating to the History of Great Britain and Ireland," vol. L, part i. Lylius Gyraldus says, that the most famous poets of Britannia were Plem- mydius, Oronius, and Gildas ; while the "Welsh Triad, 58, p. 67, enumerates Plennyd, Alawn and Gwron ; which latter in syntax is written Wron. See that truly learned
"
Britannia after the Romans; being an attempt to illustrate the
Colgan's
Religious
Pope. ^
" Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
** See
nias," xxix. Januarii. Vita S. Gildse Ba- donici, cap. x—ii. , xiii. , p. 184.
and Political Revolutions of that Province in the Fifth and Succeeding Cen- turies," vol. i. , Introduction, chap, i. , p. xiv.
"
Martyrologium Angli- canum," at the 29th of January.
^ The beautiful situation of Bangor is fa- miliar to most tourists. It was formerly called " Bangor Monachorum," and the
have flourished. ""
and anonymous work,
3 See Wilson's
486 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 29.
Cornwall. Bishop Forbes is of opinion, that he preached in Scotland,s and he ismentionedbysomeoftheScottishCalendarists'^andwriters. 7 Itisasserted, from passages in certain writings, that Gildas was a contemporary of Aurelius Ambrosius,^ who is said to be undistinguishable from the Welsh celebrated bard and prophet. Merlin. It is thought, likewise, that Gildas spent some time with Nennio in North Britain. 9 There is hardly one of our saints, whose acts have been so confused and misunderstood by writers, as those of this celebrated British abbot.
Gildas is regarded as the earliest British historian, because he placed
upon record the events of ages preceding his own times, and because he
wrote an ^° various historical allusions. While Gildas re- epistle, containing
sided in Armorica, his querulous epistle," it has been stated, was composed ten years after his arrival. " Some good reasons have been advanced to show, that it was written later than his history. *3 It took him ten years to complete this, or some other tract,'* in Little Britain. This should bring the conclusion of his work probably to about the middle of the sixth century. Yet the learned Bellarmin^'s and Jacobus Gualterius"^ state, that its author
parish of Bangor-is-y-Coed lies partly in the being appointed chief of the league did not county of Flint and partly in the county of deprive the other princes of their hereditary Denbigh. No traces of its once celebrated rights. "—" Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
monastery now remain. See " Gazetteer of land," vol. i. , chap, ix. , § x. , n. 168, pp.
the World," vol. ii. , p. 567.
5 See "Kalendars of Scottish
356. •*
486, 487.
See Dempster's "Menologium Sco- tomm," when at this date he enters *' Gildse
Saints," p.
" to the Monk of Fol- According Ruys.
lowing his explanation of the forty-fourth year of Gildas, and his date for the siege of Mount Badon, Ussher says this tract was
Quarti confessoris, Historiae etiam Scrip- WTrittcn A. D. 564. It appears strange, that
tione illustris, VV. " Sttiind. , p. 191. 'See Rev. Thomas Innes' "Civil and
Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," book ii. ,
See Britannia after the Romans," vol. ii. , chap, i. , p. 18.
he should not distinguish between this trea- tise and the history, which is intituled, "Dc Excidio Britannise. "
'3 Dr. Lanigan strongly suspects, that the ten years a—re to be taken, not relatively to
—mposition of which he as- the epistle the co
but to the " De history,
pp. 120 to 124. ^"
9 See Rev. Thomas Innes' "Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," book ii. , p. 154.
to about
" It is stated A. D. 543 or 544, Cystennen ap CadwT being King of Britannia. See
complete tract, and a distinct one, written several years earlier. What is said regard- ing both tracts is founded on the words of Gildas, in his preface to the history. There he says, that for ten years or more before writing it, he had been silent. Then he gives a summary of its contents, without re- ferring to the subject matter of his epistle.
'* Referring these ten years or more to
the history alone, we may suppose it was written not long after A. D. 530, and hence
Ussher's computation of its production the forty-fourth year after the siege of Mount Badon may be adopted, provided we place
''
To get rid of the argument deduced from this title and proving that there was but one Gildas in those days, the sticklers for the pretended Albanius invented a fable concerning his having written a history of the British kings, andthushavegivenus—twoGildaseshis-
"
Britannia after the Romans," Introduction, vol. i. , chap, i. , p. xx.
" The true date for its writing should be
543, according to Matthew of Westminster,
when Constantine murdered the two sons of
Modred or Medrod. These had taken up
arms to avenge their father, slain in the
battle of Camlan, a. d. 542. Ussher admits
that Constantine, King of Cornwall, became
chief king of the Britons, after the death of
King Arthur and many others in this battle,
and that he reigned only three years. See
this latter event ciriter 490.
"
IndexChronologicus,"pp. 529,530. Also
"
History of Wales," p. 79, and Rowland's "Mona Antiqua," p. 181. This admission of Ussher has puzzled him- self, for he thinks that Gildas must have in- veighedagainstanotherConstantine,who was only King of Damnonia or Cornwall, and that therefore Gildas contradicted him- self. But Gildas was not inconsistent in thus alluding to Constantine, or in mention-
Warrington's
other British
ing kings
'' In his "Tabulum Chrono- volume,
graphicum. "
"For,"
adds Dr.
as his Lanigan,
contemporaries. " Constantine's
543
Excidio Britannias," which appears to be a
signs
torians instead of one. " Ibid. , pp. 487, 488.
'5 In his work, " De Scriptoribus Eccle- siasticis. "
January 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 487
flourished a. d, 495. At this period he had probably been only an infant, '7 The History of the Britons by Nennius, and the Destruction of the Britons by Gildas, have been frequently confounded. ^^ The period which the latter embraces in his historic treatise exten—ds from the Incarnation of our Lord to A. D. 56o. '9 It may thus be divided by
*°
in. ituled,
cks of the Scots, and other early Memorials
o Scottish History," we read, in reference
"
Historia Britonum" of Nennius, that the work is attributed by many of the
t» the
"
ilSS. toGildas. " Seep. xxiv.
'9 The treatise " De Excidio Britanniffi"
was written in two books, in the forty-fourth year after the siege of Mount Badon, accord- ing to Mabillon. This writer places that event at A. D. 484, and during that very year when Constantine, King of the Damnonians, transfixed the sides of two royal boys, with their guardians, between the sacred altars. See "Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti," tomus i. , lib. vi. , § xix. , p. 151.
'" For this period, he seems to have taken as authorities, Rufinus' version of the " Ec- clesiastical History" of Eusebius, the "Ec- clesiastical History" of Sulpicius Severus, and the "Epistles" of St. Jerome.
*' This work has been included in the "Bibliotheca Patruum. "
'^
by Gildas have been published viz. :
This contains a preface, with an account of Britain and the disposition of its inhabi- tants, its conquest by the Romans ; its re- bellion and second subjection ; its conversion to Christianity and subsequent persecution ; its military strength withdrawn by Maximus withtheinroadsoftheScotsandPicts. He states, that the Britons asked and received succour from Rome ; that they expelled their enemies, who again returned, when the Roman legions left their island. Fur- ther succour was then sent by the Romans, who again expelled their enemies. A wall was built across the island, while the in-
D. xi. ,
and use of arms. Towns were erected on the sou-
habitants were instructed in the
making
: i. From the Invasion of Britain
the Romans to the revolt of Maximus at the close of the fourth
2. From the revolt of Maximus to the author's own time. This work con- tains, however, but few incidents of original historical interest, and these are conveyedinaveryinflated,declamatory,verboseandconfusedmanner. ^^ It appears from the words of Gildas, that for ten years he had resisted the de- sire of some friends, that he should write a short History of Britain. ^^ He declares, that he learned most of what he had to communicate beyond sea,^3 and that very confusedly,^* while many British documents had been carried away or destroyed. '^s Besides many English translations of this history, we find that between 1201 and 1254,^'^ a version of it in Latin heroic verse had beea composed,-while manuscript exemplars of it are yet extant. *7 The original work appears to have been frequently transcribed, and various read- ings are to be found in the copies hitherto preserved. "^
" See the Bollandists' " Acta Sanctorum," thern coast, when the Romans took their tonus ii.
