Saint Meriasek (Breton:Meriadeg) was a 6th-century Cornish andBretonsaint. The legends of his life are known throughBeunans Meriasek, aCornish language play known from a single surviving manuscript copy dated 1504, and a few other sources. He is thepatron saint ofCamborne,[1] and according to his legendary will hisfeast day is the first Friday in June (although it is celebrated in some places on 7 June).
UntilBeunans Ke came to light in 2000, Beunans Meriasek was the only known saint's play in Middle Cornish. It was rediscovered in the 1860s. It was most probably written down at Glasney collegiate church at Penryn by one Radulphus Ton, perhaps under the aegis of Master John Nans, provost of Glasney, who later moved to Camborne and died in 1508.[2][3]
Meriasek was aBreton[2] from a ducal family.Conan Meriadoc, the legendary king of Brittany at the time, wanted to arrange a political marriage for him, but Meriasek preferred to renounce his inheritance and become a priest. He performed several miraculous cures thereafter. He crossed theChannel to found anoratory inCamborne,Cornwall. Encountering persecution fromKing Teudar, he returned to Brittany (landing atPlougasnou) to found a chapel inJosselin, in the lands of the Viscounts ofRohan. His reputation for miracles attracted crowds and he decided to withdraw toPontivy, close to the château of Rohan.
He assisted the Viscount in dealing with brigands who infested his lands by bringing down the fire of heaven upon them; in gratitude he founded three fairs at Noyal at the saint's request.
He is reputed to have healed manylepers and disabled people, to have driven off the highwaymen of Josselin through prayer, to have made water spring from solid rock, and to have calmed a storm. He was elevated to becomebishop of Vannes[4] but continued to wear ahair shirt, practiseasceticism, and minister to the poor. He was buried in Vannes Cathedral. Hissacred well in Camborne was long thought to have the power of healing the insane.[5]
An open-air performance of an adaptation of "Beurens Mariasek" was performed in Heartlands by well over 100 schoolchildren on 13 July 2012. The performance was the culmination of a project that introduced students to the Cornish language and the tradition of medieval Cornish drama through a series of workshops and rehearsals.[6]
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