Saint Tathan (also known as Tatheus) is claimed to be a fifth or sixth century Celtic saint, who travelled from

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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

where he founded a Christian church. He is reckoned an early

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of CaerwentHando, F.J., (1958) "Out and About in Monmouthshire", R. H. Johns, Newport and has dedications at Llanvaches, near Caerwent, also known as Llandathan, William Jenkins Rees, ''Lives of the Cambro British Saints'' (1853)
Chapter V 'Life of Saint Tathan', page 591
Retrieved 2012-05-07. and at

St Athan St Athan () is a village and community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. The village and its parish church are dedicated to Saint Tathan. The church dates to the 13th–14th century, though an earlier church was dated t ...

. He is said to have been a teacher of Cadoc and to have brought light to the heathens to undo the work of

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

Origins

William Jenkins Rees, in his book ''Lives of the Cambro British Saints'', describes Tathan as the only son of the Irish King Tathetus. Tathan received a good education and devoted himself to spiritual matters. In preference to succeeding his father as king, Tathan followed the advice of an angel and sailed from Ireland to Britain, taking eight disciples with him. His boat sailed up the

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

and landed in the medieval

Kingdom of Gwent Gwent () was a medieval Welsh kingdom, lying between the Rivers Wye and Usk. It existed from the end of Roman rule in Britain in about the 5th century until the Norman invasion of Wales in the 11th century. Along with its neighbour Glywysin ...

.William Jenkins Rees, "Lives of the Cambro British Saints" (1853)
Chapter V 'Life of Saint Tathan'
reproduced on Celtic Christianity website. Retrieved 2012-05-07. Tathan was feted by King Caradoc and founded a

monastic school Monastic schools () were, along with cathedral schools, the most important institutions of higher learning in the Latin West#Use with regard to Christianity, Latin West from the early Middle Ages until the 12th century. Since Cassiodorus's educatio ...

Venta Silurum Venta Silurum was a town in Roman Britain (''Britannia''). The name ''Venta Silurum'' means "the town of the Silurēs", with the Silurēs being a powerful and warlike tribe. Today, it consists of remains in the village of Caerwent in Monmouthshi ...

(Caerwent). Scholars came from all parts to be instructed there. King Gwynllyw of Gwynllwg sent his seven-year-old son, Cadoc to study under Tathan.Pickering, W., ''Archaeologia Cambrensis'', 1904
/ref> With a donation from Caradoc's son, Ynyr, Tathan then founded a Christian church.

References

Medieval Welsh saints Medieval Irish saints Welsh mythology 6th-century Christian saints St Athan {{saint-stub