Saint Gudwal ( fl. 650), was a Welsh bishop and confessor.

Life

Gudwal is said to have been of noble parentage and a native of Wales. At an early age he entered the priesthood, and became a bishop. Afterwards he led a party of 188 monks across the sea to

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

, where they were hospitably received by Mevor, a prince of the country, and Gudwal founded a monastery not far off (according to the

Bollandists The Bollandist Society ( la, Societas Bollandistarum french: Société des Bollandistes) are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century ...

, in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

). After his death his monks carried his body to Montreuil in

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hist ...

, and it eventually, in 955 or 959, found a resting-place in the monastery of Blandinberg at

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest i ...

, where his festival was kept on 6 June. Relics of Gudwal were also preserved at Yèvre-le-Châtel and

Pithiviers Pithiviers () is a commune in the Loiret department, north central France. It is one of the subprefectures of Loiret. It is twinned with Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, England and Burglengenfeld in Bavaria, Germany. Its attractions include ...

in the

Gâtinais Gâtinais () or Gâtine () was a province of France, containing the area around the valley of the Loing, corresponding roughly to the northeastern part of the département of Loiret, and the south of the present department of Seine-et-Marne. Und ...

. Such is briefly the legend as given by the

, but

Surius Laurentius Surius (translating to Lorenz Sauer; Lübeck, 1523 – Cologne, 23 May 1578) was a German Carthusian hagiographer and church historian. Biography Laurentius Surius was born in Lübeck in 1523, to a wealthy and respected family. His ...

and Malbrancq make Mevor a native of Picardy, reading Corminia ( Cormont) for Cornuvia (Cornwall), and say that it was there that Gudwal established his monastery. The parish of Gulval, near

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situ ...

, is dedicated to him, and there is a celebrated holy well there, but the old oratory has been destroyed. Gudwal's life and miracles were written by a monk of Blandinberg in the twelfth century (the writer refers to Abbot Gislebert, who died in 1138), but there seems to have been an older life which has perished. The full life is printed in the '

Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...

,' and abbreviations of it are given by Capgrave and Surius. Gudwal must be distinguished from St. Gudwal or Gurval, an Irish monk and disciple of

St. Brendan Brendan of Clonfert (c. AD 484 - c.577), is one of the early Irish monastic saints and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. He is also referred to as Brendan the Navigator, Brendan the Voyager, Brendan the Anchorite, Brendan the Bold. The ...

, who became second bishop of St. Malo in the seventh century. This saint's festival was also kept on 6 June, though the day is sometimes given as 6 January.

Life

References

Further reading