Saint Dyfan is a highly obscure figure who was presumably the namesake of

Merthyr Dyfan Merthyr Dyfan or Dyfan is a northeastern suburb of Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, in south Wales, formerly an independent medieval village. It is also an ecclesiastical parish and a formal electoral ward of the Vale of Glamorgan. It borders Colc ...

martyrium A martyrium (Latin) or martyrion (Greek), plural ''martyria'', sometimes anglicized martyry (pl. martyries), is a church or shrine built over the tomb of a Christian martyr. It is associated with a specific architectural form, centered on a cent ...

of Dyfan") and therefore an early

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

saint and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...

in southeastern

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

Sub-Roman Britain Sub-Roman Britain is the period of late antiquity in Great Britain between the end of Roman rule and the Anglo-Saxon settlement. The term was originally used to describe archaeological remains found in 5th- and 6th-century AD sites that hin ...

.Bartrum, Peter C
"Dyfan, St.", in ''A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend up to about A. D. 1000'', p. 236.
National Library of Wales, 1993. Emended 2009. He is sometimes styled the

protomartyr A protomartyr (Koine Greek, ''πρότος'' ''prótos'' "first" + ''μάρτυρας'' ''mártyras'' "martyr") is the first Christian martyr in a country or among a particular group, such as a religious order. Similarly, the phrase the Protom ...

of Wales. The erection of his martyrium was credited to the 6th-century St Teilo. In the 19th century, Edward Williams conflated him with St Deruvian, a figure in the legendary accounts of the baptism of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...

Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from L ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. The discovery of Williams's alterations and

forgeries Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbi ...

have since discredited this connection.Bartrum, Peter C
"Duvianus (1)", in ''A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend up to about A. D. 1000'', p. 236.
National Library of Wales, 1993. Emended 2009. Partially based on this connection, however, the church of Merthyr Dyfan dates his martyrdom to . His feast day does not appear in any medieval Welsh

calendar of the saints The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context doe ...

and is not presently observed by the Anglican,

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

, or

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

churches in

Legacy

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activitie ...

is now dedicated jointly to SS Dyfan and Teilo. As late as 2010, it continued to promote itself as the oldest Christian settlement in Wales on the basis of Dyfan's supposed connection to the King Lucius legends. There is a Llandyfan ("St Dyfan's") outside

Ammanford Ammanford ( cy, Rhydaman) is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, with a population of 5,411 at the 2011 census. It is a former coal mining town. The built-up area had a population of 7,945 with the wider urban area even bigger. Acco ...

notable for its importance in the early Welsh Nonconformist movement.Norman, Terry
"Llandyfan Church"
Accessed 3 February 2015. The only structure is a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately b ...

erected for visitors to the

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its gua ...

nearby esteemed for treatment of

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 5 ...

and related illnesses. This was known as Ffynnon Gwyddfaen or Gwyddfân and

Roberts Roberts may refer to: People * Roberts (given name), a Latvian masculine given name * Roberts (surname), a popular surname, especially among the Welsh Places * Roberts (crater), a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon ;United Stat ...

argues against its connection with Dyfan "because the place was always called Llandyfân with the accent on the last syllable", appearing in earlier records as Llanduvaen. Instead, he notes the similarity of the name with

Dyfnan Saint Dyfnan was an obscure Welsh saint. He was sometimes accounted a son of Brychan, the invading Irish king of Brycheiniog. Legacy Llanddyfnan ("St Dyfnan's") was dedicated to him on Anglesey and claimed his relic In religion, a relic is ...

, a supposed son of the invading Irishman

Brychan Brychan Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire, alternatively Breconshire) in Mid Wales. Life According to Celtic hagiography Brychan was born in Ireland, the son of a Prince Anlach, son of Coronac, and ...

Brycheiniog Brycheiniog was an independent kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans ...

. The

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...

of St Dyfan does not appear in any surviving medieval Welsh

,Baring-Gould, Sabine & al
''The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain'', Vol. II, pp. 394–395.
Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (London), 1911. It sometimes appears in places where St Deruvian is clearly intended; in Willis,Willis, Browne. ''Parochiale Anglicanum'' (1733), p. 199. it appears on St Doewan's Day, an apparent confusion of the two. The feast is not currently unobserved by any of the major denominations of Wales.The Church in Wales.
The Book of Common Prayer for Use in the Church in Wales: The New Calendar and the Collects
. 2003. Accessed 18 Nov 2014.The Catholic Church in England and Wales.
Liturgy Office: Liturgical Calendar
. Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, 2014. Accessed 1 February 2015."Saints of the British Isles"
Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain (London), 2015. Accessed 1 February 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DYFAN Welsh Roman Catholic saints

Legacy

See also

References