St David of Wales: Cult, Church, and Nation (Studies in Celtic History)

The cult of St David has been an enduring symbol of Welsh identity across more than a millennium. This volume, published to commemorate the fourteenth centenary of the death of the saint, traces the evidence for the cult of St. David through archaeological, historical, hagiographical, liturgical, and toponymic evidence, and considers the role of the cult and church of St. David in the history of Welsh society, politics, and landscape. The collection includes a new edition and translation of the Life of St. David by Rhygyfarch, based on the text in British Library Ms. Cotton Vespasian A.xiv, as well as new evidence concerning the relics of the saint enshrined in St Davids Cathedral. J. WYN EVANS is the Dean of St Davids Cathedral. JONATHAN M. WOODING is Director of the Centre for the Study of Religion in Celtic Societies at University of Wales Lampeter. Contributors: JULIA BARROW, JANE CARTWRIGHT, FRED COWLEY, JOHN REUBEN DAVIES, OWAIN TUDOR EDWARDS, J. WYN EVANS, G.R. ISAAC, DANIEL HUWS, DAVID HOWLETT, T.F.G. HIGHAM, HEATHER JAMES, JOHN MORGAN-GUY, L.D.M NOKES, HUW PRYCE, C. BRONK RAMSEY, MARK REDKNAP, RICHARD SHARPE, BERNARD TANGUY, +GLANMOR WILLIAMS, JONATHAN M. WOODING, W.N. YATES. CONTENTS 6 LIST OF ILLUSTRAT IONS 8 PREFACE 10 CONTRIBUTORS 12 ABBREVIATIONS 14 1 The Figure of David 16 2 Transition and survival: St David and St Davids Cathedral 35 3 The geography of the cult of St David: a study of dedication patterns in the medieval diocese 56 4 St Davids and a new link with the Hiberno-Norse world 99 5 Which text is Rhygyfarch’s Life of St David? 105 6 Rhygyfarch's Life of St David 122 7 Some observations on the ‘Nero’, ‘Digby’, and ‘Vespasian’ recensions of Vita S. David 171 8 Armes Prydain Fawr and St David 176 9 The cult of St Non: rape, sanctity and motherhood in Welsh and Breton hagiography 197 10 The cults of SS. Nonne and Divi in Brittany 222 11 St David in the liturgy: a review of sources 235 12 The office of St David in Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, MS lat. 17294 248 13 A triad of texts about Saint David 268 14 The relics of St David: the historical evidence 289 15 AMS radiocarbon dating of bones from St Davids Cathedral 297 16 Shrine and counter-shrine in 1920s and 1930s Dewisland? 301 17 The archbishopric St Davids and the bishops of Clas Cynidr 311 18 The dynasty of Deheubarth and the church of St Davids 320 19 The statutes of St Davids Cathedral 1224–1259 332 20 The crisis of the sixteenth century 345 21 The diocese of St David’s in the early nineteenth century: a reappraisal 354 BIBLIOGRAPHY 366 INDEX 390 All aspects of the cult of St David, patron saint of Wales, are examined in this wide-ranging volume.The cult of St David has been an enduring symbol of Welsh identity across more than a millennium. This volume, published to commemorate the fourteenth centenary of the death of the saint, traces the evidence for the cult of St David through archaeological, historical, hagiographical, liturgical, and toponymic evidence, and considers the role of the cult and church of St David in the history of Welsh society, politics, and landscape. The collection includesa new edition and translation of the Life of St David by Rhygyfarch, based on the text in British Library Ms. Cotton Vespasian A.xiv, as well as new evidence concerning the relics of the saint enshrined in St Davids Cathedral. J. WYN EVANS is the Dean of St Davids Cathedral. JONATHAN M. WOODING is Director of the Centre for the Study of Religion in Celtic Societies at University of Wales Lampeter. Contributors: JULIA BARROW,JANE CARTWRIGHT, FRED COWLEY, JOHN REUBEN DAVIES, OWAIN TUDOR EDWARDS, J. WYN EVANS, G.R. ISAAC, DANIEL HUWS, DAVID HOWLETT, T.F.G. HIGHAM, HEATHER JAMES, JOHN MORGAN-GUY, L.D.M NOKES, HUW PRYCE, C. BRONK RAMSEY, MARK REDKNAP, RICHARD SHARPE, BERNARD TANGUY, +GLANMOR WILLIAMS, JONATHAN M. WOODING, W.N. YATES. Edited By J. Wyn Evans, Jonathan M. Wooding. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 351-373) And Index.