WELSH
58G
WELSH
DubririiiP, Arrhliisliop of LhindafT, and tlion rainc as
an liuml>lc discijilp to plac.' liiinsclf under the spiritual
direction of Si . Ca<lo(' at Llancarvan. There he per-
fected himself in the science of the saints and acquired
great skill in sacred learning. He was subsequently
ordained priest by St. Gernianus. It was probably by
the advice of St. Cadoc that he left Llancarvan to
found Llaniltyd, which became one of the most
famous religious houses in Britain. Here the saint
presided over a comnitmity of three thousand mem-
bers, including many saints and scholars of note, as
St. David, St. Samson, St. Magloire, St. Gildas, St.
Pol de L6on, the bard Taliesin, and others. Here
according to the Triads, an ancient authority on
Wales, the praises of God never ceased, one hundred
monks being employed in chanting the Divine Office
throughout the day and night. Llaniltyd might
rather be called a monastic university than a monas-
tery or college. The lolo MS. (p. 556) gives us some
idea of its extent: "Here are the names of the cells
[halls or subordinate colleges] of the college [collegi-
ate monastery] of Iltyd, the colleges of St. Matthew,
St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John, of Arthur, Si. David,
Morgan, Eurgain and Amwn. Of these colleges Iltyd
was principal, and the place was named Bangor Iltyd
and there were three thousand Saints [monks]." St.
lit ut while governing his immense commimit y laboured
with his own hands, and exercised himself in much
watching, fasting, and prayer. Out of a love of holy
retirement he passed three years in a lonely cave, in
great austerity and assiduous prayer. Before his
death he took a journey to Brittany to visit his disci-
ples and friends there, and died at Dole in the sixth
century. He is to this day the titular saint of a
church in Glamorganshire.
The monastery of Bangor of the Dee was known also as Bangor-is-Coed, i. e. "the eminent choir imder the wood ". The name Bangor was appUed to sever.al large monasteries, and is said to be derived from "Benedictus Chorus", shortened into Benchor, and subsequently written as Bangor. The monastery on the Dee was distant about ten or twelve miles from Chester, and its ruins witness to its former extent and importance. St. Bede the Venerable (lib. II, c. ii.) says that it was filled with learned men at the coming of St. Augustine into England. Of the founder of this religious hou.se and its history Uttle if anything seems to be known, as all its chronicles, documents, etc. have been lost or destroyed. We know, however, of its tragic extinction about the year 603. While the forces of Cadvan, King of North \\'ales, engaged those of the pagan and usurping Edilfrid of Northumbria, the monks were assembled on an eminence a short distance from the place of conflict. "The two armies", says Lingard, "met in the vicinity of Ches- ter. On the summit of a neighbouring hill, Edilfrid espied an imarmed crowd, the monks of Bangor, who, like Moses in the wilderness, had hoped by their prayers to determine the fate of battle. 'If they pray', exclaimed the |)agan, 'they fight against us'; and he ordered a detachment of his army toput (liem to the sword. . . . Chester wiis taken, and Bangor (monastery) demolished. The scattered ruins dem- onstrated to subsequent generations the extent of that celebrated monastery" (Hist. Engl., II, OO). He adds in a note: "The number of monks slain on the hill is generally said to have been twelve hundred; but St. Bede observes that others besides the monks had as.sembled to pray. He supposes t hat the victory of Edilfrid fulfilled the predictions of Augustine."
The monastery of Bangor (Benchor) near the Menai Straits owed its origin to St. Daniel, the fellow disciple of St. Iltut. The place chosen was near the arm of the sea that divides .\ngle.sey from Wales, where a city was soon afterwards built by King Mailgo, the same who undertook to defray the charges of St. David's funeral. Of the luimber of religious we
have no information; l)ul judging from the other
monasteries of this period in Wales, \o('ations must
have been plentiful. The lolo MS. (p. 556) tells us
that there were ,3000 saints [monks] at Iltyd; 2000 in
St. Dubricius's monastery on the banks of the Wye;
1000 in Llancarvan; 500 in St. David's monastery,
Menevia; 50fX) in 'Tathara monastery in Caerwnt;
1000 in Elvan monastery, Glastonburs'; and 1(XK) in
that of St. Teilo, Llandatf. St. Daniel, the founder
who had been ordained by St. Dubricius, died about
the year 545, and was buried in the Isle of Bardsey
in the Atlantic near the extreme point of Carnarvon-
shire. The soil of this island is hallowed by the
remains of 20,000 saints (monks) biu'ied there. (See
Alban Butler, XI, 246.)
The monastery of Lianelwy (St. Asaph) in the vale of Cl\\'yd was fourided by St. Kentigern, Bishop of Glasgow, who having been forced to quit his see during the usuq^ation of Prince Rydderch's throne by one of the hitter's rebellious nobles, took refuge in Wales, where, after visiting St. David at Menevia, he received from a Welsh prince a grant of land for the erection of a monastery. In the course of time his community numbered about 995. These he divided into three companies; two, who were unlearned, were employed in agriculture and domestic offices; the third, which was made up of the learned, devoted their time to study and apostolic labours, and numbered up- wards of three hundred. These again were divided into two choirs, one of which always entered the church as the others left, so that the praises of "God to all hours resounded in their mouths" (Britannia Sancta, I, 273). On the restoration of Rydderch in 544, St. Kentigern was recalled to his see and left the government of his monastery and school to St. Asaph, his favourite scliolar, whose name was after- wards conferred upon the church and diocese.
St . Dubricius's monast ic schools were at Hentlan and Mochrhes on the River Wye. This saint had been consecrated first Archbishop of LlandaiT by St. Germanus about the year 444, and was afterwards appointed Archbishop of Caerleon, which dignity he resigned to St. David in 522 (.\lban Butler, XI, 245). He erected two great monastic schools, where St. Samson, St. Thelian (Teilo), and many other eminent saints and prelates were trained in virtue and sacred learning. It is said that he had 1000 scholars with liim for years at a time.
St. David, liis successor at Caerleon, founded twelve monasteries, one at Glastonbury, having, according to an ancient MS., a thousand monks. In all these foundations he contrived to combine the hard work of the scholar and the equally hard labours of the monk. Ploughing and grammar succeeded each other by turns.
Tlie course of studies at Llaniltyd (and this also applies to the other monasteries) included Latin, Greek, rhetoric, philosoiihy, th(H)logy, and mathe- matics. These were taught at Llaniltyd with .so much success that it was looked \ipon as the first college in Britain (Cambria Sacra, pj). 436, 437).
The Cambro-British monks led a hard and austere life. "Knowing", says Capgrave (1514), "that secure rest is the nourisher of all vices [the .abbot] subjected t he .shoulders of his monks to hard wearisomeness .... They detested riches and they had no cattle to till their ground, but each one was instead of an ox to himself .and his brethren. When they had done their field work, returning to the cloisters of their mona.s- tery, they spent the rest of the day till evening in reading and writing. .\nd in the evening at the soimd of the bell, |)resently laying aside their work, and le.aving even a letter \mfinishe(l, they went to the church and remained there till the stars appeared, and then all went together to table to eat, but not to ful- ness. Their food was bread with roots or herbs, seasoned with salt, and they quenched their thir.st
