Saint David | |
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| Abbot andBishop | |
| Born | Unknown, estimated atc. 500 Unknown, c.Caerfai,Dyfed, or somewhere inCeredigion |
| Died | 1 March 589 Mynyw, Dyfed |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Anglican Communion |
| Canonized | 1123,Rome,Papal States, byPope Callixtus II (officially recognised) |
| Majorshrine | St David's Cathedral,Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom |
| Feast | 1 March |
| Attributes | Bishop with adove, usually on his shoulder, sometimes standing on a raised hillock |
| Patronage | Wales;Pembrokeshire;Naas;vegetarians; poets |
| Controversy | The earliest of the supposed bones of Saint David andSaint Justinian housed in a casket in theHoly Trinity Chapel ofSt David's Cathedral have beencarbon-dated to the 12th century. |
David (Welsh:Dewi Sant;Latin:Davidus;c. 500 – c. 589) was a Welsh Christianprelate who served asBishop of Mynyw during the 6th century. He is thepatron saint ofWales.
David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a large amount of detail about his life. His birth date, however, is uncertain: suggestions range from 462 to 512.[1] He is traditionally believed to be the son ofNon and the grandson ofCeredig ap Cunedda, king ofCeredigion.[2] TheWelsh annals placed his death 569 years after the birth of Christ,[3] butPhillimore's dating revised this to 601.[4]
Many of the traditional tales about David are found in theBuchedd Dewi ("Life of David"), ahagiography written byRhygyfarch around 1090.[5] Rhygyfarch claimed it was based on documents found in the cathedral archives. Modern historians are sceptical of some of its claims: one of Rhygyfarch's aims was to establish some independence for the Welsh church, which had refused theRoman rite until the 8th century and now sought a metropolitan status equal to that of Canterbury (this may apply to the supposed pilgrimage toJerusalem where he is said to have been anointed as an archbishop by thepatriarch).
The tradition that he was born atHenfynyw (Vetus-Menevia) inCeredigion is not improbable.[1] He became renowned as a teacher and preacher, founding monastic settlements and churches in Wales,Dumnonia, andBrittany.St David's Cathedral stands on the site ofthe monastery he founded in theGlyn Rhosyn valley ofPembrokeshire. Around 550, he attended theSynod of Brefi, where his eloquence in opposingPelagianism caused his fellow monks to elect him primate of the region. As such he presided over the synod ofCaerleon (the "Synod of Victory") around 569.[6]
His best-knownmiracle is said to have taken place when he was preaching in the middle of a large crowd at the Synod of Brefi: the village ofLlanddewi Brefi stands on the spot where the ground on which he stood is reputed to have risen up to form a small hill. A white dove, which became his emblem, was seen settling on his shoulder.John Davies notes that one can scarcely "conceive of any miracle more superfluous" in that part of Wales than the creation of a new hill.[7] David is said to have denouncedPelagianism during this incident and he was declared archbishop by popular acclaim according to Rhygyfarch,[8] bringing about the retirement ofDubricius. St David'smetropolitan status as an archbishopric was later supported byBernard, Bishop of St David's,Geoffrey of Monmouth, andGerald of Wales.
TheMonastic Rule of David prescribed that monks had to pull theplough themselves without draught animals,[6] and must eat only bread with salt and herbs and drink only water[9] getting them the name "watermen".[5] The monks spent their evenings in prayer, reading and writing. No personal possessions were allowed: even to say "my book" was considered an offence. He lived asimple life and practisedasceticism, teaching his followers torefrain from eating meat and drinkingbeer. His symbol, also the symbol of Wales, is theleek (this inspires a reference inShakespeare'sHenry V, Act IV scene 7):
Fluellen: "If your Majesty is remembered of it, the Welshmen did good service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in theirMonmouth caps, which your Majesty knows, to this hour is an honourable badge of the service, and I do believe, your Majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Tavy's day". King Henry: "I wear it for a memorable honour; for I am Welsh, you know, good countryman".
Rhigyfarch countedGlastonbury Abbey among the churches David founded.[10] Around forty years laterWilliam of Malmesbury, believing the Abbey older, said that David visitedGlastonbury only to rededicate the Abbey and to donate a travelling altar including a greatsapphire. He had had a vision ofJesus who said that "the church had been dedicated long ago by Himself in honour of His Mother, and it was not seemly that it should be re-dedicated by human hands". So David instead commissioned an extension to be built to the abbey, east of the Old Church. (The dimensions of this extension given by William were verified archaeologically in 1921.) One manuscript indicates that a sapphire altar was among the itemsHenry VIII of England confiscated from the abbey during theDissolution of the Monasteries a thousand years later.
Though the exact date of his death is not certain, tradition holds that it was on 1 March, which is the date now marked asSaint David's Day.[11] The two most common years given for his death are 601 and 589. The monastery is said to have been "filled with angels as Christ received his soul". His last words to his followers were in a sermon on the previous Sunday. The Welsh Life of St David gives these as, "Arglwyddi, brodyr, a chwiorydd, Byddwch lawen a chadwch eich ffyd a'ch credd, a gwnewch y petheu bychain a glywsoch ac y welsoch gennyf i. A mwynhau a gerdaf y fford yd aeth an tadeu idi",[12] which translates as, "Lords, brothers and sisters, Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed, and do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. And as for me, I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us." "Do ye the little things in life" ("Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd") is today a very well known phrase in Welsh. The same passage states that he died on a Tuesday, from which attempts have been made to calculate the year of his death.
David was buried atSt David's Cathedral atSt Davids,Pembrokeshire, where hisshrine was a popular place of pilgrimage throughout theMiddle Ages. During the 10th and 11th centuries the Cathedral was regularly raided byVikings, who removed the shrine from the church and stripped off the precious metal adornments. In 1275 a new shrine was constructed, the ruined base of which remains to this day (see photo), which was originally surmounted by an ornamental wooden canopy with murals of David,Patrick andDenis. The relics of David andJustinian of Ramsey Island were kept in a portable casket on the stone base of the shrine. It was at this shrine that Edward I came to pray in 1284. During the reformation Bishop Barlow (1536–48), a staunch Protestant, stripped the shrine of its jewels and confiscated the relics of David and Justinian.
David was officially recognised at theHoly See byPope Callixtus II in 1120, thanks to the work ofBernard, Bishop of St David's. Music for hisLiturgy of the Hours has been edited by O. T. Edwards inMatins, Lauds and Vespers for St David's Day: the Medieval Office of the Welsh Patron Saint in National Library of Wales MS 20541 E (Cambridge, 1990). David was also canonized by theEastern Orthodox Church at an unknown date.
Over 50 churches in South Wales were dedicated to him in pre-Reformation days.[6]
In the 2004 edition of theRoman Martyrology, David is listed under 1 March with the Latin nameDávus. He is recognised as bishop of Menevia in Wales who governed his monastery following the example of theEastern Fathers. Through his leadership, many monks went forth to evangelise Wales, Ireland, Cornwall andArmorica (Brittany and surrounding provinces).[13]
The restored Shrine of Saint David was unveiled and rededicated by theRight ReverendWyn Evans,Bishop of St David's, at aChoral Eucharist on Saint David's Day, 2012.
Abroadside ballad published around 1630 claimed that the Welsh wore aleek in their hats to commemorate a battle fought on St David's Day. So as to recognise friend from foe, the Welsh had pulled up leeks from a garden and put them in their hats, before going on to win the battle.[14]
Saint David is usually represented standing on a hill with a dove on his shoulder.[1]
David isremembered in theChurch of England with aLesser Festival and on theEpiscopal Church liturgical calendar on1 March.[15][16]
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He was not explicitly named by contemporary sources although David may have been criticised without being named byGildas[17] the first explicit reference is in the IrishMartyrology of Tallaght in the early ninth century.[5]
David's popularity in Wales is shown by theArmes Prydein of around 930, a poem which prophesied that in the future, when all might seem lost, theCymry (Welsh people) would unite behind the standard of David[5] to defeat the English; "A lluman glân Dewi a ddyrchafant" ("And they will raise the pure banner of Dewi").
David is said to have played a role in spreading Christianity on the continent, inspiring numerous place names in Brittany includingSaint-Divy,Saint-Yvi andLandivy.
David's life and teachings have inspired a choral work by Welsh composerKarl Jenkins,Dewi Sant. It is a seven-movement work best known for the classical crossover seriesAdiemus, which intersperses movements reflecting the themes of David's last sermon with those drawing from three Psalms. Anoratorio by another Welsh composerArwel Hughes, also entitledDewi Sant, was composed in 1950.
Saint David is also thought to be associated withcorpse candles, lights that would warn of the imminent death of a member of the community. The story goes that David prayed for his people to have some warning of their death, so that they could prepare themselves. In a vision, David's wish was granted and told that from then on, people who lived in the land of Dewi Sant (Saint David) "would be forewarned by the dim light of mysterious tapers when and where the death might be expected". The colour and size of the tapers indicated whether the person to die would be a woman, man, or child.[18]
He was also mentioned in Irish writings in connection with Irish saints.[19]
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