Fagan (saint)

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Saint Fagan redirects here. For the Welsh village named for him, see St Fagans.

Saint Fagan
Pre-Congregation
FeastUsually unobserved
Patronage

Fagan (

St Deruvian, he was sometimes reckoned as the apostle
of Britain.

King Lucius's letter (in most accounts, to

chieftain
, possibly by Roman emissaries by these names.

Fagan is the patron saint of a number of churches, and gives his name to the village

Orthodox churches in Wales
.

Name

St Fagan's name appears as "Phagan" (

Saint Cadoc.[6]

The entry on Pope Eleutherius in Petrus de Natalibus's late 14th-century collection of saints' lives gives Fagan's name as "Fugatius",[7] an emendation subsequently copied by Platina[8][9] and many others.[10] These names were further misspelled in later sources in a variety of ways.[10]

Sources

The story of

Ecclesiastical History of the English People[11][12] or by the 9th-century History of the Britons traditionally credited to Nennius.[13][14] William of Malmesbury's 'third edition' of the Deeds of the Kings of the English (c. 1140) records of the priests sent to Lucius that "the rust of antiquity may have obliterated their names".[15][16]

However, the work On the Antiquity of the Glastonbury Church,

Iolo Manuscripts collected by Edward Williams,[2] although his many alterations and forgeries render their historicity suspect.[citation needed
]

The discrepancy in William's accounts led

Mullins modify this somewhat: while admitting the general falsehood of the account in Geoffrey, they suggest that the names of Fagan and his companions were probably genuine but that—in the absence of more detailed surviving records—they had been taken up and added to the legendary accounts of King Lucius.[2][26][27]

Legend

Main article: Lucius of Britain

Accounts of St Fagan and his companion

chapel of St Mary erected by Pope Eleutherius's nameless missionaries, which he called "the oldest I am acquainted with in England".[15][16] (The precise antiquity of the church was part of a bitter dispute over seniority between the abbey and Westminster over the primacy of their foundations.)[4]

The current text of On the Antiquity of the Glastonbury Church is rather more florid: Philip is not said to have come himself but to have sent

Archangel Gabriel and joining their names to the Acts of the Apostles. They were said to have provided pilgrims with 40 years of indulgences,[1][4] a wildly anachronistic detail, but one quite profitable for the abbey.[4]

The accounts in Geoffrey and Gerald make no special mention of Glastonbury. Instead, Gerald's letter from the clerics at St David's says that Fagan and "Duvian" were the first apostles of all Britain, baptising its king Lucius and then converting all his subjects after their arrival in 140. It says 27 pagan leaders were replaced by the same number of bishops and 3 archbishops placed over them, including one at

Menevia (St Davids). He states the early archbishops administered twelve suffragans each and each oversaw one of the five Roman provinces of Britain: Britannia Prima (Wales), Britannia Secunda (Kent), Valentia (Scotland), Flavia (Mercia), and Maxima (York). He further concedes, however, his knowledge of the time was mostly based on "common report" and not certain history.[20]

The

Tydenton (present-day Wells).[2]

In the

chorepiscopi.)[2] A fourth lists the following triplet among the "Sayings of the Wise":[32]

Didst thou hear the saying of Fagan
when he had produced his argument?
'Where God is silent, it is wise not to speak.'[33]

Life

Arguing in favor of a partial historicity to these figures, Rees noted that all but Elfan had long-standing associations with parish churches in the area around Llandaff, though he admitted none seemed as grand or preëminent as one might expect were they actually the apostles of Britain.[27] Bartrum replied such dedications must be assumed to post-date Geoffrey's popularity.[25]

Legacy

St Mary the Blessed Virgin in 1180.[34] (This is now a Grade II* listed building.)[35] The 16th-century antiquarian John Leland recorded in his travel notebooks that a nearby chapel remained dedicated to Fagan and was sometimes also used as the parish church,[36] but this was in ruins by the time of the English Civil War a century later.[37] St Fagan's Well was nearby and considered particularly restorative for "the falling sickness".[37]

John Griffith established it as a separate parish from Aberdare's ancient one,[39] which had been dedicated to St John the Baptist prior to the completion of St Elvan's in 1852.[citation needed
]

The

denominations of Wales.[43][44][45]
His feast day is listed, with a link, under Wikipedia's Eastern Orthodox Liturgics for May 26.

References

  1. ^ a b c Gulielmus Malmesburiensis [William of Malmesbury]. De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesiæ. Archived 3 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine 1129–1139. Hosted at the University of Zurich's Corpus Corporum. (in Latin)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. III, pp. 9–10. Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (London), 1911.
  3. ^ a b c d Galfridus Monemutensis [Geoffrey of Monmouth]. Historia Regnum Britanniae [History of the Kings of Britain], Vol. IV, Ch. xix–xx. c. 1136. (in Latin)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Robinson, Joseph Armitage. "William of Malmesbury 'On the Antiquity of Glastonbury'" in Somerset Historical Essays. Oxford University Press (London), 1921. Hosted at Wikisource.
  5. ISBN 9788479085179
    .
  6. ^ Bartrum, Peter C. "Bachan" in A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend up to about A. D. 1000, p. 38. National Library of Wales, 1993. Emended 2009.
  7. ^ Petrus de Natalibus. "Eleutherius Papa" ["Pope Eleutherius"] in Catalogus Sanctorum [Catalog of the Saints], Vol. V, Ch. xlvi. a. 1406, 1st printed (Vicenza), 1493. Reprinted Giacomo Giunta (Lyon), 1543. (in Latin)
  8. ^ Platina. Vitæ Pontificum Platinæ Historici Liber de Vita Christi ac Omnium Pontificum qui Hactenus Ducenti Fuere et XX [Platina the Historian's Lives of the Popes: A Book on the Life of Christ and All the Popes Since who Are Two Hundred and 20], p. 25. Johann von Koln & Johann Manthen von Gerresheim (Venice), 1479. (in Latin)
  9. ^ Platina. Translated by Paul Rycant as Lives of the Popes, from the Time of Our Saviour Jesus Christ to the Reign of Sixtus V. (London), 1685. Edited and reprinted as The Lives of the Popes from the Time of Our Saviour Jesus Christ to the Accession of Gregory VII, Vol. I, pp. 33–34. by Griffith, Farran, Okeden, & Welsh (London), 1888.
  10. ^ a b Jacobus Usserius [James Ussher]. Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, Quibus Inserta Est Pestiferæ Adversus Dei Gratiam a Pelagio Britanno in Ecclesiam Inductæ Hæreseos Historia [Antiquities of the Britannic Churches, into Which Is Inserted a History of the Pestilent Heretics Introduced against the Grace of God by Pelagius the Briton into the Church], Ch. IV. (Dublin), 1639. Reprinted in The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D. D. Lord Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, Vol. V, pp. 74 f. Hodges, Smith, & Co. (Dublin), 1864. (in Latin)
  11. Beda Venerabilis [The Venerable Bede]. Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum [The Ecclesiastical History of the English People], Vol. I, Ch. IV, & Vol. V, Ch. XXIIII. 731. Hosted at Latin Wikisource
    . (in Latin)
  12. ^ Bede. Translated by Lionel Cecil Jane as The Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, Vol. 1, Ch. 4, & Vol. 5, Ch. 24. J.M. Dent & Co. (London), 1903. Hosted at Wikisource.
  13. ^ "Nennius". Edited by Theodor Mommsen. Historia Brittonum, Vol. II, Ch. xxii. c. 830. Hosted at Latin Wikisource. (in Latin)
  14. J.A. Giles & al. as Nennius's History of the Britons, §22, from Six Old English Chronicles of Which Two Are Now First Translated from the Monkish Latin Originals: Ethelwerd's Chronicle, Asser's Life of Alfred, Geoffrey of Monmouth's British History, Gildas, Nennius, and Richard of Cirencester. Henry G. Bohn (London), 1848. Hosted at Wikisource
    .
  15. ^ a b Gulielmus Malmesburiensis [William of Malmesbury]. Gesta Regum Anglorum. c. 1140. (in Latin)
  16. ^
    J.A. Giles as William of Malmesbury's Chronicle of the Kings of England from the Earliest Period to the Reign of King Stephen, p. 21.
    Henry G. Bohn (London), 1847.
  17. ^ Newell, William Wells. "William of Malmesbury on the Antiquity of Glastonbury, with Especial Reference to the Equation of Glastonbury and Avalon" in Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, Vol. XVIII, No. 4. 1903.
  18. ^ a b c Geoffrey of Monmouth. Translated by J.A. Giles & al. as Geoffrey of Monmouth's British History, Vol. IV, Ch. XIX–XX, in Six Old English Chronicles of Which Two Are Now First Translated from the Monkish Latin Originals: Ethelwerd's Chronicle, Asser's Life of Alfred, Geoffrey of Monmouth's British History, Gildas, Nennius, and Richard of Cirencester. Henry G. Bohn (London), 1848. Hosted at Wikisource.
  19. ^ a b Giraldus Cambriensis [Gerald of Wales]. De Inuectionibus [On Invectives], Vol. II, Ch. X, in Y Cymmrodor: The Magazine of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, Vol. XXX, pp. 143–6. George Simpson & Co. (Devizes), 1920. (in Latin)
  20. ^ a b c Gerald of Wales. Translated by W.S. Davies as The Book of Invectives of Giraldus Cambrensis in Y Cymmrodor: The Magazine of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, Vol. XXX, pp. 17–8. George Simpson & Co. (Devizes), 1920.
  21. ^ Davies (1920), pp. 19–38.
  22. ^
    ISBN 9781843833222
    .
  23. ISBN 9781843833222
    .
  24. Bishop Bernard,[21][22] including the local clerics' identification with the Normans[22] and description of themselves as a convent instead of a chapter.[23]
  25. ^ a b Bartrum (2009), "Ffagan", p. 298.
  26. ^ a b c d Mullins, Daniel J. Early Welsh Saints, p. 30. Carreg-Gwalch Press, 2003.
  27. ^
    Rees, Rice. An Essay on the Welsh Saints or the Primitive Christians Usually Considered to Have Been the Founders of Churches in Wales, pp. 82 ff.
    Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman (London), 1836.
  28. ^ Gildas. De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae [On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain]. Translated by Thomas Habington as The Epistle of Gildas the most ancient British Author: who flourished in the yeere of our Lord, 546. And who by his great erudition, sanctitie, and wisdome, acquired the name of Sapiens. in 8 vols. T. Cotes for William Cooke (London), 1638. Edited and reprinted by John Allen Giles as "The Works of Gildas, Surnamed 'Sapiens,' or the Wise", §VIII, in Six Old English Chronicles of Which Two Are Now First Translated from the Monkish Latin Originals: Ethelwerd's Chronicle, Asser's Life of Alfred, Geoffrey of Monmouth's British History, Gildas, Nennius, and Richard of Cirencester. Henry G. Bohn (London), 1848. Hosted at Wikisource.
  29. ^ "De Primo Statu Landavensis Ecclesiæ, et Vita Archiepiscopi Dubricii" [On the First State of the Llandaffan Church and the Life of its Archbishop Dubric"] in The Liber Landavensis, Llyfr Teilo, or the Ancient Register of the Cathedral Church of Llandaff: From MSS. in the Libraries of Hengwrt, and of Jesus College, Oxford, p. 65. William Rees (Llandovery), 1840. (in Latin)
  30. ^ Translated by William Jenkins Rees. "On the First State of the Church of Llandaff" in The Liber Landavensis, Llyfr Teilo, or the Ancient Register of the Cathedral Church of Llandaff: From MSS. in the Libraries of Hengwrt, and of Jesus College, Oxford, Ch. II, §1, pp. 309 ff. William Rees (Llandovery), 1840.
  31. ^ Bartrum (2009), "Duvianus (1)", p. 236.
  32. ^ a b Williams, John. The Ecclesiastical Antiquities of the Cymry: or the Ancient British Church; Its History, Doctrine, and Rites, p. 73. W.J. Cleaver (London), 1844.
  33. ^ Given by Baring-Gould in Welsh as Lle taw Duw nid doeth yngan.[2]
  34. ^ Mortimer, Dic. Cardiff: The Biography, p. 291. Amberley Publishing (Stroud), 2014.
  35. ^ "Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin, St Fagans". Cadw, 28 January 1963. Hosted at British Listed Buildings. Accessed 1 February 2015.
  36. ^ Leland, John. Edited by Thomas Hearne as The Itinerary of John Leland the Antiquary, 2nd ed., Vol. IV, p. 43. James Fletcher (Oxford), 1744.
  37. ^ a b Rees, William. Cardiff: A History of the City, p. 190. 1969.
  38. ^ a b "St. Fagan's Church, Windsor Street, Trecynon". Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, 20 November 2014. Accessed 1 February 2015.
  39. ^ Archives Wales: "Glamorgan Archives: Aberdare, St. Fagans Ecclesiastical Parish Records" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. National Library of Wales, 2013. Accessed 1 February 2015.
  40. ^ Gillibrand, Christopher (16 July 2014). "+ Blessed john sugar, Priest, 1604". The Site of the Tyburn Tree. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  41. ^ a b Challoner, Richard. A memorial of ancient British piety: or, a British martyrology. W. Needham, 1761. Accessed 14 Mar 2013.
  42. ^ Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome, "May". Accessed 17 October 2012.
  43. ^ The Church in Wales. "The Book of Common Prayer for Use in the Church in Wales: The New Calendar and the Collects Archived 15 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine". 2003. Accessed 18 Nov 2014.
  44. ^ The Catholic Church in England and Wales. "Liturgy Office: Liturgical Calendar". Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, 2014. Accessed 1 February 2015.
  45. ^ "Saints of the British Isles". Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain (London), 2015. Accessed 1 February 2015.

External links

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