Pabo Post Prydain
Pabo Post Prydain (supp. fl. before 500) was a king from the Hen Ogledd or Old North of sub-Roman Britain.[1] According to tradition Pabo "the Pillar of Britain" was driven out of the North in 460 and settled in Anglesey.[2] He is said to have been buried in the area.[1] From the 14th century at least, when a stone cross was erected in the ruler's memory in the abbey's churchyard, Pabo has been identified as its founder, having retired, as many Welsh kings are said to have done, to a heremitic retreat.
Family
The
As to his period, Elis Gruffydd's Chronicle says that his daughter married
Llanbabo
A tradition identifies Pabo as the founder of St Pabo's Church, Llanbabo (at Llanbabo, Anglesey). The first author to record it is antiquarian Henry Rowlands (d. 1723), who writes that "Pabo, frequently called Post Prydain, i.e. the Support of Britain, for his great valour against the Picts and Scots, retired here [in Anglesey], and built his church at Llan Babo."[1][6] A stone cross was erected in the ruler's memory in the abbey's churchyard at the same time Bangor Cathedral was being built. Welsh poet Lewis Morris reports that the memorial cross was discovered there around 1650. The monument, dated to the 14th century, bears the carved image of a king and an accompanying inscription. The inscription is in part illegible but the following reading has been suggested;
- Hic iacet Pa[bo] Post Priid Co[nf Gr] … [t]el [i]ma[ginem obtulit]
- "Here lies Pabo the Upholder of Britain, Confessor, Gruffudd ab Ithel offered (this) image"[1]
Some scholars argue, in the absence of early evidence, that the tradition is probably spurious[1] though the identity of the historical Pabo who did give his name to the church remains otherwise unknown.
Notes
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21063. Retrieved 23 September 2009. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ISBN 978-0-7524-4101-6.
- ^ Bromwich, Trioedd Ynys Prydein, p. 496
- ^ Peter C. Bartrum (1993), A Welsh Classical Dictionary, National Library of Wales, pp. 580-581.
- ^ Annals of Tigernach, AT 489.3
- ^ Rowlands, Mona antiqua restaurata, p. 157-8.
References
- Jones, Nerys Ann (2004). "Pabo (supp. fl. c.500)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21063. Retrieved 23 September 2009. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Rowlands, Henry (1723). Mona antiqua restaurata. Printed for J. Knox.