Fragan was a 5th-century
pre-Congregational saint and
Prince
A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...
of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
.
He is celebrated on 3 October in the Calendar of the Breton Saints,
and shares with Gwen a
feast day on 5 July in the Roman Calendar.
Fragan came from Great Britain, and was a Prince of Albany in Scotland. In the 5th century he left Scotland to evangelize
Armorica
Armorica or Aremorica ( Gaulish: ; br, Arvorig, ) is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire that includes the Brittany Peninsula, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic Co ...
.
Family
He was the
husband
A husband is a male in a marital relationship, who may also be referred to as a spouse. The rights and obligations of a husband regarding his spouse and others, and his status in the community and in law, vary between societies and cultures ...
of
Gwenn and father of the
twin
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy
Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with t ...
s
Jacut Jacut was a 5th-century Cornish Saint who worked in Brittany. He is commemorated liturgically on 6 February.
His father was Fragan, a prince of Dumnonia, and his mother Gwen Teirbron. The young family had fled to Brittany to avoid the plague rag ...
and
Guethenoc,
of
Guénolé, and of
Creirwy
Creirwy () is a figure in the ''Mabinogion'' and the '' Hanes Taliesin'' (the story of Taliesin's life), daughter of the enchantress Ceridwen and Tegid Foel ("Tacitus the Bald"). The Welsh Triads name her one of the three most beautiful maids of ...
,
Winwaloe, son of Prince Fragan (or Fracan) and Teirbron.
[Butler, Alban. ]
The lives of the fathers, martyrs, and other principal saints
', volume 1, p. 275 (Henry & Co. 1857).[Baring-Gould, Sabine and Fisher, John. ]
The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain
', Volume 3, p. 38 (1911). He is also a cousin of
Riwall and stepfather to
Cadfan, son of Eneas Ledewig (or Aeneas of Brittany) and Teirbron.
Biography
He left
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 ...
and moved to
Ploufragan (
Côtes-d'Armor
The Côtes-d'Armor (, ; ; br, Aodoù-an-Arvor, ), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord ( br, Aodoù-an-Hanternoz, link=no, ), are a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582. ) towards the end of the 4th century or perhaps as late as 418
AD. There he settled in the
Sang River valley. He was the founder of the castle of Lesguen, in the present commune of
Plouguin.
Fragan is also known for having amassed a small army in haste to repel a larger force of pagan pirates at the
battle of Lochrist.
[Albert Le Grand, La vie, gestes, mort et miracles des Saints de la Bretagne Armorique, ensemble un catalogue des évêques des neuf eveschés d'icelle, 1659,]
References
{{reflist, 2
5th-century Christian saints
5th-century Scottish people
Scottish saints
Armorica