Cornwall’s Celtic Saints

In the fifth century a noble and educated knight called Iltud from Brittany in France set off to join the court of King Arthur in South Wales. He sailed to Cornwall, and it is thought he landed at Marazion before crossing Cornwall and sailing to Wales from the Hayle estuary. Iltud reached Wales and joined Arthur’s court. One day Iltud was riding along with fifty other knights when they all sank into a bog. All except Iltud died.

Iltud was very disturbed by this, and went to see a monk called Saint Cadog. Iltud then gave his life to Christ and decided to become a monk like Cadog, building an extremely important monastic university at Llaniltud Vawr on the coast near Cardiff. It was here that Iltud taught arithmetic, grammar, theology and philosophy and trained famous saints such as Samson, Gildas, Paul Aurelian and David. No fewer than 3,000 monks lived at Iltud’s monastery at the height of its fame.

In the fifth and sixth centuries, people in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany were all Celtic in race, mainly Christian in faith, and they spoke a similar Celtic language. They were friendly with one another, and so could move freely between their homelands. However, they could not easily travel through what is now England as the pagan Anglo-Saxons were their enemies at that time. King Arthur led an army of the Celtic peoples and defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Mount Badon in about 550, halting their advance for fifty years.

Many people from Wales migrated to Cornwall and Brittany in the fifth and sixth centuries, a time known as the Age of the Celtic Saints. They were fleeing a terrible disease called the Yellow Plague, and from Irish pirates who were raiding their villages. Because of this, most of Cornwall and Brittany’s Celtic saints are of Welsh origins. Samson and Paul Aurelian, for example, became two of the seven most important saints in Brittany, all of whom were from Wales or Cornwall. They travelled to Brittany across Cornwall, along with many others who would have been trained by Iltud. But some, like Saint Petroc, chose to stay in Cornwall and build up the Church here.

Today the Cornish people still enjoy strong bonds of friendship with the Welsh and Bretons, and our Celtic languages continue to be spoken. While our languages have become somewhat distinct over the centuries, Celts can still celebrate as one people the Celtic saints that we share. Long may this continue!

We hope you will enjoy learning about six of the best of our many Celtic saints!