Teliaus

ON ST. TELIAUS, OR ELIUD, BISHOP OF LLANDAFF IN WALES

ABOUT THE YEAR OF CHRIST 560

Preliminary Commentary.

Teliaus, or Eliud, Bishop of Llandaff in Wales (St.)

By I. B.

Section I. The age of St. Teliaus, second Bishop of Llandaff.

[1] The Taffus, or Tafus, is ^a river in that shore of England which, extending to the west and retained by the ancient Britons, is now called Wales: it waters the province of Glamorgan; by Ptolemy it is called Ratostathybius, or (as others read) Ratostabus: which name Camden considers to be formed from the British Traith-Taff, Llandaff, an episcopal city of Wales: (meaning the Sandy estuary of the Taff). On this river Llandaff lies, ^a town small indeed and of humble situation, yet distinguished by ^a cathedral Church, which received its name from this, and also from the river; for Llandaf means, as Giraldus writes in his Itinerary of Wales, book 1, chapter 7, ^a Church situated upon the river Taf.

[2] The first three bishops who are recorded as having presided over this Church, conspicuous for holiness, attained the honors of the Saints; the first, Dubricius, is venerated on November 14, the early chronology of its bishops is obscure, the second, Teliaus, on February 9, the third, Oudoceus, on July 2. But to order their age precisely is very difficult. For ^a great gulf of obscurity has been poured over the history of the British nation, on account of the monstrous fables interwoven in the vernacular Chronicles, which moreover Galfridus of Monmouth, while translating them into Latin, appears to have affirmed. So that accordingly, as of all British Saints, when we review the deeds of the British Saints, we seem to ourselves sometimes to be wandering across an unknown sea in the darkness of night, with neither the Moon nor any of those stars which are accustomed to guide the course of sailors giving light; with no era, I say, reckoned from the birth of Christ, nor any reckoning of times distinguished by the names of Consuls, Caesars, or celebrated Kings. The one authority is Gildas, who mentions some petty kings of his own age, exercising dominion — and that ^a violent one — at the same time in various provinces of western Britain: these very kings, however, others quite ignorantly suppose to have ruled the entire island. Of the Saints (for at least most of their names and public veneration have been handed down to posterity), their Acts composed by contemporary writers are very rare; most are written from tradition, which often attaches frivolous embellishments, or have been corruptly interpolated. But perhaps the difficulty that now entangles us will untangle itself elsewhere. And indeed if we wished to resolve all matters everywhere, we would both undertake immense labor for ourselves and perhaps bring tedium to readers.

[3] Many believe (and it also seems sufficiently probable to us) that St. Dubricius was ordained Bishop by St. Germanus of Auxerre, I. Dubricius consecrated by St. Germanus in the year 449 when about the year 449 he came ^a second time to Britain to extirpate the remnants of the Pelagian heresy, or at least was constituted Priest and Master of Catholic doctrine along with Iltutus. For by the diligence and care of Germanus and Severus, Bishop of Trier, that provision was then made which Bede writes of in book 1 of his Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, chapter 21: namely, that in those places the faith remained inviolate for ^a long time thereafter. For what certain later writers have reported — that that unhappy tare repeatedly sprouted up again with immense growth —

I fear may be fabricated. For the necessity which had earlier compelled the Britons, as Bede testifies, to seek from the Gallic bishops aid in ^a spiritual war, because they were quite unable to refute the cunning of the nefarious persuasion by contending in words — that necessity thereafter no longer existed, since not only religion but also good letters were zealously cultivated. In this matter it is established from the Acts of many British Saints that the industry of Dubricius above all and of his disciples labored assiduously.

[4] He was afterwards appointed Archbishop, with his throne established in the city of Caerleon. This city lies on the Isca, or Osca, river, which intersects the province of Monmouth, then made Archbishop of Caerleon, and pours into the estuary of the Severn; and it is itself called Isca, in British Caer Leon, and Caer Leon ar Wsk, that is, the City of the Legion on the Isca, from the Second Legion, which the Itinerary of Antoninus places there. It was formerly splendid, as is clear from the Itinerary of Giraldus, Wales, book 1, chapter 5, but is now ^a tiny little town. By what process Dubricius was here made Archbishop, no one solidly teaches. Did he, having first held the see at Llandaff, afterwards establish his residence at Caerleon, to comply with the wish of the nobles, or to provide for the convenience of the people? Or had there rather been previously at Caerleon — ^a city of Roman law and construction — ^a bishop, perhaps not the first; and upon his death was Dubricius appointed as his successor, yet unwilling to relinquish his Llandaff, especially since they were not so far apart that they could not easily coalesce into one diocese or be administered by the care of ^a single bishop? For it is not likely that this coast of Britain, ennobled by Roman garrisons and refined by their discipline, lacked bishops. Indeed, some trace the beginnings of the Caerleon bishopric from the times of King Lucius. Most British writers assert that there was at least from ancient times an episcopal see there, as we reported on February 3 in the Life of St. Werburgh, section 2, number 5. There are those who maintain that Llandaff also had bishops before Dubricius, though their memory has been entirely obliterated.

[5] Some suspect that Dubricius, leaving Llandaff and Isca to St. Teliaus, transferred the archiepiscopal throne to Menevia, and relinquished it to St. David. That city is situated in the county of Pembroke, at the promontory which Ptolemy calls Octapitaron Promontory, now commonly called St. David's. It seems more probable that, 2. Teliaus made Bishop of Llandaff, upon the death of Dubricius, or when he became unfit to bear the burden through old age, Teliaus was appointed to govern the Church of Llandaff, and David to the Church of Caerleon; but that David migrated to Menevia, while retaining, however, the title and office of Archbishop: or certainly that he was made Bishop of Menevia while Dubricius was still alive, and upon his death was regarded as Archbishop of Wales, through the favor of King Arthur, whose uncle he is said to have been. Giraldus and others write that in ^a certain synod, by the appointment of Dubricius, David was made Archbishop of Wales, and his own Life of David reports this; but, to omit other matters, it is little worthy of belief in this, that it claims one hundred and eighteen bishops were present at that synod.

[6] Yet St. Teliaus himself is found to have been called Archbishop: which is hardly surprising, if, as certain catalogues have it, after the death of St. David, himself also called Archbishop, or even of his successor Kenocus, he assumed the episcopal insignia of Menevia. But those catalogues, recited by Godwin, do not obtain great authority: and one of them in fact lists Eliud and Teliaus as distinct persons, when they were one and the same. Others maintain that when, having returned from Armorica, he consecrated Hismael, his sister's son, as Bishop of Menevia, he retained Caerleon for himself and united it with his see, assuming the title of Archbishop. Elsewhere perhaps we shall inquire whether the person who is called Eliud, Bishop of Menevia, may have been Sampson, who is said to have migrated to Dol in Armorica, taking with him the archiepiscopal Pallium from Menevia. Indeed, just as Teliaus is said below in his Life to have been called Eliud, as if from helios, that is, the sun; so the name of Sampson may perhaps have been formed with the same meaning of the Hebrew word. For that those ancient Britons and Scots affected such names is demonstrated by the island of Hy, later called Iona, which in Hebrew signifies ^a dove, because it was the seat of St. Columba, Apostle of the Picts. We shall treat of St. Sampson on July 28.

[7] But many maintain that St. Teliaus was Archbishop, not however of the Church of Menevia, or of Caerleon, but of Llandaff, and that his successors were accustomed to be installed by the Metropolitan of Canterbury, exempt from all jurisdiction of the Menevians. also by title of the Church of Llandaff, To this point the denunciation made by Urban, Bishop of Llandaff, to Pope Callixtus II at the Council of Reims in the year 1119 is relevant, which James Ussher recites from the Register of Llandaff in his work on the Origins of the British Churches, page 85: From the time of the ancient Fathers (most beloved Father and Lord) as the charter of our holy Patron Teliaus attests, this Church, first founded in honor of St. Peter the Apostle, which was once the principal and mother of the Welsh churches: always stood as the mother of all the Churches of Wales in dignity and in every privilege, etc. The same Ussher shortly afterwards cites ^a certain privilege granted by Mouricus, King of Glamorgan, son of St. Theoderic, to St. Oudoceus, successor of Teliaus, in which mention is made of the family of SS. Dubricius and Teliaus of the Church of Llandaff; and finally the following is stated: Just as the Roman Church surpasses the dignity of all Churches of the Catholic faith, so that Church of Llandaff surpasses all the Churches of the entire right-hand part of Britain in dignity, in privilege, and in preeminence. But that preeminence was afterwards abrogated not only from the Church of Llandaff but also from that of Menevia.

[8] Now we shall speak briefly about the age of St. Teliaus. Some say that St. Dubricius died in the year of the common Era 512: others, more probably, in 522. Ussher in his Chronological Index conjectures that St. Paternus came from Armorica to Wales in the year 516: that he and SS. David and Teliaus then set out for Jerusalem in 518, and were there ordained bishops: ordained in the year 518 that Dubricius died in the year 522; the See of Llandaff was conferred on Teliaus, the See obtained in 522, the See of Caerleon on David, who transferred it to Menevia, or preferred the latter, while retaining the archiepiscopal title: then that he died in the year 544; yet others attribute ^a longer life to him. The same Ussher notes that St. Paternus was appointed to the episcopal insignia of Vannes in Armorica in the year 541, and died in 557: we shall treat of Paternus more fully on April 16.

[9] The same Ussher writes that Teliaus, when an epidemic disease was raging in Wales in the year 588, departed to Armorica with many clerics: that he returned thence in the year 596, accompanied by Oudoceus, son of King Budic: that in the year 597, upon the death of Kenocus, or Cenaucus, successor of St. David, he assumed the Church of Caerleon for himself, and ordained Hismael as bishop for Menevia: and that he finally died in the year 604. But why he should be said to have been so long-lived, we do not see the reason; he does not seem to have lived until the year 604, since it is not reported by the ancient writers, who expressly state this of certain others; and the Armorican writers report King Budic to have been far more ancient than that his son Oudoceus should be believed to have been made bishop in Wales only after the year 600.

[10] Henry Spelman in his British Councils, from ^a very ancient (as he says) manuscript of the Church of Llandaff, records that ^a synod was held at Llandaff about the year of Our Lord 560, in which Bishop Oudoceus excommunicated King Mouricus since he is thought to have been numbered among the Saints much earlier: on account of ^a homicide perpetrated by him, and on account of ^a pact made in his presence, and upon the altar of Peter the Apostle and of SS. Dubricius and Teliaus, that had been violated. If that synod was held at that time, and altars were already dedicated to the honors of St. Teliaus, then he was not still alive forty years later.

[11] The principal reason which leads some to think that Teliaus died later is this: that his successor, the son of his sister who had married King Budic of Armorica, Oudoceus, is said to have been consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who can be none other nor was his successor ordained by St. Augustine of Canterbury: than St. Augustine: but he did not come to England until the year 596. However, the writer, whoever he was, committed this to writing according to the custom of his own age: for since the Bishop of Llandaff acknowledged no authority of the Archbishop of Menevia over himself, and therefore demanded to be inaugurated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, or of Canterbury; he supposed that, just as the one practice, so also the other had originated from the deed of St. Oudoceus. But how could Oudoceus have reached Canterbury through the midst of enemies? How would his countrymen, at deadly enmity with the English, have tolerated it? I think he would rather have gone to Armorica than to Kent for the purpose of ordination. It appears, therefore, as we indicated on February 4 in the Life of St. Liephard, that there was someone in Wales who styled himself Bishop of Canterbury, another who styled himself Bishop of London, another of York, even if on account of the tyranny of the English, neither they themselves nor their flock (at least not all of it) inhabited their ancestral sees, because they nevertheless cherished the hope of returning to them. He was therefore perhaps inaugurated by such an exiled bishop, who still claimed for himself the title of the Bishopric of Canterbury.

[12] We therefore judge it more probable that St. Teliaus died shortly before the year of Christ 560: St. Teliaus appears to have died about the year 560. and this will become more clearly apparent from what will be said hereafter about the age of Maglocunus and others. Harpsfield writes that he flourished about the year 540: Jerome Porter that he died in the year 563.

Section II. The Life of St. Teliaus: his deeds before the episcopate.

[13] His Life from Capgrave: The Life of St. Teliaus exists in the Legend of John Capgrave, composed by an unskilled writer: which we are nevertheless compelled to give here, because ^a more accurately written one is not available. Ussher cites another, page 83, with these words: There exists ^a Life of his written by Galfridus, brother of Urban, Bishop of Llandaff, another written by Galfridus about 500 years ago. about the year of Our Lord 1120, and inserted, with the writer's name suppressed, in the Register of that Church (which by this bishop, just as the see of Llandaff itself, is called Teilo): where it is reported that he succeeded Dubricius in the Archbishopric of Llandaff; that upon the death of David, he consecrated Ismael, ^a disciple of Dubricius, as Bishop of Menevia in his place, and held the primacy over all the Churches of the entire right-hand part of Britain. So he writes, and promises from the same Register many things which he records concerning St. Teliaus and other Saints, just as Godwin also does — things omitted or carelessly written in Capgrave. It seemed appropriate to note these things here in passing.

[14] Teliaus, says Godwin, is said to have been born of ^a most noble lineage in ^a place anciently called Eccluis Gunniau. Born of illustrious family, His sister Anaumeda was married to Budic, King of the Armorican Britons, and was the mother of SS. Oudoceus, Ismael, and Tyfei. The parents of Anaumeda (and likewise of Teliaus, or at least one of them) were Ensic and Guenhaf, daughter of Linonui, as will be said below. Ussher, page 76, says that Teliaus was born of the sister of St. David of Menevia, though without citing any authority.

[15] As soon as Teliaus was old enough for higher studies, he was entrusted to St. Dubricius, to be instructed in them, but especially in piety. So the Life of St. Dubricius in Ussher, page 445. His fame grew with his knowledge of both the New and Old Law taught sacred letters by St. Dubricius, throughout all Britain, so that scholars came from every part of all Britain. Not only the unlearned, but also wise men and doctors flocked to him for the purpose of studying; foremost among them St. Teliaus, Sampson... And with these he retained ^a thousand clerics for seven continuous years on the hill of Hentlan upon the bank of the Wye, in the study of letters of both divine and human wisdom, offering them an example in himself of religious life and of perfect charity. Moreover, it should be noted that Teliaus is listed first among the wise men and doctors, as though he surpassed the others in age, perhaps even Sampson, or was the first to place himself under the instruction of Dubricius. How incongruous, then, is what the same Ussher writes — that in the year 469 Teliaus studied at that school at Hentlan on the Wye, and that the same man died in the year 604!

[16] After Teliaus had been trained in the knowledge of sacred letters, he seems to have imparted them both to the people from the pulpit and he himself teaches others these things: and to disciples in his school. His zeal for advancing religion is evident from the fact that when his sister was departing to the kingdom from which her husband had been expelled, he persuaded her that if the child she was carrying in her womb were male, she should dedicate it to the Divine worship, just as she had already dedicated two sons, and perhaps entrusted them to the instruction of her brother. Ussher describes this from the same Register, page 561. his sister married to King Budic, There was ^a man Budic, son of Cybsdan, born of Cornouaille; who came into the Demetian region in the time of Aircol Lauhir, King of that kingdom, with his fleet, having been expelled from his homeland. While he was staying in the country, he took ^a wife named Anaumed, daughter of Ensic (her mother was Guenhaf, daughter of Linonui): of which Anaumed were born Ismael and Tyfei the Martyr, who lies at Pennalun. While he was staying in the country, envoys were sent to him from his native region of Cornouaille, that he should come without delay, with his entire family and the aid of the Britons, to receive the kingdom of the Armorican nation: for upon the death of their king, they wished to receive him, born of royal stock, by common counsel and unanimous voice. Having heard and accepted the embassy, he affectionately took his pregnant wife with his entire family, and with his fleet landed in his homeland: and urges her, going with her husband to the kingdom of Armorica, and he reigned throughout the entire land of Armorica. And his wife bore ^a son named Oudoceus: whom after the time of maturity he sent to the study of letters; just as she had previously promised St. Teliaus in Britain, that if she had ^a son, to dedicate her son to the Divine service, as she had two others before, she would commend him to God, just as she had commended both his brothers, whom we mentioned above. And St. Oudoceus from infancy began to be enriched in knowledge and eloquence to such ^a degree that he surpassed his contemporaries and companions alike in character and holiness. So Ussher from the said Register.

[17] It is necessary that Budic remained in Wales for ^a long time, since in the meantime he begot two sons there, and they grew up and dedicated themselves to the Divine worship, before their father was recalled to the kingdom of Armorica. Moreover, the statement that he came from Cornouaille should not be understood of that which the Damnonii formerly held in the island of Britain; but of Armorica, which, just as it was called Britain from the Britons who flocked to it and settled there, so part of it was called Cornwall, which is still called by the language of the Cornish Damnonii. The Demetian region, where Budic lived in exile, is the territory of the ancient Demetae, or Dimetae, now West Wales, or western Wales, and contains the counties of Carmarthen, Pembroke, for Budic had long been an exile in West Wales and Ceredigion. Bertrandus Argentraeus, book 1 of his Breton History, chapter 25, writes that Budic was born of King Audranus, and died in the year of Christ 487, after having reigned for forty-nine years. But if, as we have already related from Ussher, he came to King Arcol Lauhir of Demetia, he does not seem to have returned to Armorica to assume the kingdom before the year 510, or even 520. For he stayed many years in Wales; since he married ^a wife there, fathered children, and they grew up and were dedicated to the service of God there. Moreover, King Aircol, while Teliaus was governing the Church of Llandaff, at the court of King Aircol. which we said did not happen before the year of Christ 522, gave many gifts to that Church, as will be narrated below.

Section III. The privileges obtained by St. Teliaus for his episcopate from Kings.

[18] Whether Teliaus was already then ^a Bishop when Anaumeda departed for Armorica with her husband is not reported. He was consecrated Bishop at Jerusalem, together with SS. David and Paternus, as is narrated below not without some amplification, St. Teliaus is ordained Bishop at Jerusalem: by what right? and in the Lives of David and Paternus. One might ask how it was permitted for the Archbishop of Jerusalem to consecrate Britons, and indeed (as it appears) to an uncertain see. But it is implied that this was done by angelic revelation: then the Archbishop Dubricius may have consented, without whose instructions it is not credible that they undertook that long pilgrimage: and perhaps he had already designated ^a see for each of them — Llandaff for Teliaus, Menevia for David, Ceredigion for Paternus. What if it was revealed to the Archbishop of Jerusalem (who was John the third of that name), either through an Angel, as is said in the Life of St. David, or through one of the holy anchorites with whom he was most intimate, that God so willed? What if by the hidden impulse of the Divine Spirit he was moved to inaugurate them, and they likewise to obey?

[19] Having now obtained the episcopate, how much benefit Teliaus brought to the Church of Llandaff, the same Ussher narrates from another Life of his, page 560: In his lifetime the Church of Llandaff grew, through his holiness both in morals and in doctrine, in the churches and territories given to him, with all their liberty, dignity, and privilege, from various Kings he obtains possessions, from his contemporary Kings: Theudric son of Teithpall, Idon son of Inir of Gwent, Gurcant Maur, Mailcun, Aircol Lauhir, Catgucaun Tredicil, Rein, and from many other Kings and Princes of right-hand Britain: and so the churches to be named, with their lands and endowments, with the boundaries subscribed, and with legitimate men testifying. and privileges and immunities for his Church;

[20] The privilege of St. Teliaus and of his Church of Llandaff, given to him and to all his successors in

perpetuity by those Kings and Princes of Britain, confirmed by Apostolic authority, with all their laws, full and complete, for himself and his lands, free from all royal service, without Consul, without Proconsul, without assembly, within or without, without military expedition, without watching the country, and with all their justice, concerning thief and theft, concerning robbery, concerning homicide, concerning arson, concerning brawling, concerning bloodshed, concerning violated sanctuary everywhere in the land of the Saint, concerning assault on roads and off roads, concerning the giving and receiving of judgment for all the people of St. Teliaus in the court of Llandaff, concerning the shared use of water and pasture, field and forest, for the people of St. Teliaus, with market and mint at Llandaff, with the free landing of ships everywhere throughout the lands of St. Teliaus, for Kings and all, except for the Church of Llandaff and its Bishops: concerning insult and every injury which King Morcanhuc and his men may have done to the Bishop of St. Teliaus and his men, the same King Morcanhuc and his men shall make amends to the Bishop and his men, and shall submit to judgment in the Court of Llandaff.

[21] Ussher notes that Morganuc is Glamorgan. Camden writes that the name is believed to be derived from Prince Morgan, or from the monastery of Morgan, or perhaps from the sea, since the entire region is maritime. Among the Kings who enriched the Church of Llandaff with privileges and possessions in the time of St. Teliaus is listed Idon, son of Inir, King of Gwent, which is now Monmouthshire: Rein, however, appears to have been King of Brecknock. But the most celebrated is Mailcun, or Mailgo, or Maglocunus, whom specifically from Maglocunus, St. Gildas rebukes in the last place in his Epistle on the Ruin of Britain. Since on January 29 we showed that this epistle seems to have been written in the year 543, we have the age of Maglocunus: whom the same Gildas describes as the remover of many tyrants, greater than many in power, sharply rebuked in Gildas's epistle, and likewise in wickedness, more lavish in giving, more profuse in sinning, strong in arms, but stronger in the destruction of his soul, ... loftier than almost all the leaders of Britain both in kingdom and in the stature of his person, and laments that he wallows stupidly in the ancient ink of his crimes. Then he relates that when in the first years of his youth he had overthrown his uncle the King, ... and the phantom of violent kingship had yielded to his wish, ^a desire was cast into him to return to the right path, and ruminating first much, days and nights, at that time (perhaps with the gnawing of ^a guilty conscience) on the divine commandments and the decrees of monks, who had once embraced the religious life, then putting them forth for the knowledge of the common people, he had vowed as ^a monk before Almighty God, before the faces of Angels and men ... perpetually, without any regard to unfaithfulness, as he said, and had ... salutarily snatched himself away to the safe retreats and refreshments of the Saints, but inconstantly. turning from ^a crow into ^a dove: then returned to his vomit, and heaped crimes upon crimes. At that time, I suppose — when he had set his mind upon the pursuit of virtue — he gave to Teliaus what we have related. He was, moreover, King of Gwynedd, or Venedotia, or North Wales.

Section IV. The seven-year sojourn of St. Teliaus in Armorican Britain.

[22] Under Mailgon, or Maglocunus, the above-mentioned King of Gwynedd, there began to rage that pestilence which is mentioned below in the Life of St. Teliaus. at the time of ^a fierce pestilence Concerning this, Ussher, page 559, from the Register of Llandaff: For it carried off Mailcun, King of Gwynedd, and destroyed his country: and that plague pressed so heavily upon that entire nation that it rendered the country nearly deserted. Therefore St. Teliaus arose, bringing with him certain of his suffragan bishops and men of other orders, with his Clergy and people he flees, together with persons of both sexes, men and women. And he came first to the region of Cornwall: and was well received by King Gerennius of that country, who treated him and his people with all honor. Gildas had sharply castigated in his invective Constantine, King of Cornwall; the Monmouth writer, book 11, chapter 4, writes that he was killed by Conan three years later; the author of the Life of St. David, and others, say he became ^a monk, either in the monastery of David himself or in Ireland, and was finally crowned with martyrdom in Scotland, as we shall indicate on March 11. and comes to King Gerennius of Cornwall, Gerennius appears to have succeeded him.

[23] Ussher assigns to the year of Christ 588 the conversion of that Constantine of Damnonia, or Cornwall, the death of Maglocunus, and the flight of St. Teliaus. But it is more credible that these things occurred much earlier, ^a few years after the writing of Gildas's epistle, perhaps about 547. about the year 547 And besides, Maglocunus was already of quite advanced age, concerning whom the following is found in the Life of St. Paternus, before the latter set out for Jerusalem with SS. David and Teliaus — an event which Ussher, as was related above, reckons to have occurred in the year 518: Meanwhile (that is, about the year 517) Mailgunus, King of the Northern Britons, came with his army to make war on and plunder the Southern Britons: when Maglocunus had reigned in Gwynedd for more than 30 years: and because he was always ^a tempter of the Saints, etc. By these words it seems to be implied that he had not then first seized the reins of government, but had done so some time before. Now if he survived until the year 588, he must have died at more than ^a hundred years old, since men of blood and deceit, which he is known to have been, are not accustomed, as the Prophet declares, to live out half their days. Psalm 54:24

[24] St. Teliaus did not stay long with King Gerennius, either lest he be ^a burden, dragging ^a great multitude of people with him — or rather dragged and torn from his homeland by them — or because the contagion had begun to spread there as well. From there, therefore, as another Life of his from the Register of Llandaff in Ussher, page 559, states, the Saint proceeded with his companions to the Armorican peoples, he lands in Armorica, and was immediately well received by them. There he and St. Sampson planted ^a great grove of fruit-bearing trees, extending about three miles, that is, from Dol to Cai; and those orchards are adorned with their names to this day: for they are called the Orchards of Teliaus and Sampson. where he plants an orchard with St. Sampson, And from that time onwards the Bishopric of Dol is honored and celebrated, upon the testimony of all the Armorican Britons, on account of the presence and reverence of St. Teliaus.

[25] The same from the cited Register, Ussher page 76. When Sampson, Archbishop of the Church of Dol, heard of the arrival of his fellow-brother in his country, he went to meet him with joy. his kinsman and fellow-student: For they had been born from the same region, and were men of one language, and had been taught together under the Blessed Dubricius the Archbishop, by whose imposition of hands St. Sampson was consecrated Bishop, as his Life attests. And he asked St. Teliaus to dwell with him: and he consented, and remained with him for ^a long time. St. Sampson was born on the island of Britain, and was ^a disciple of St. Iltutus (of whom we shall treat on November 6) from his earliest boyhood, yet for ^a time also ^a student, as was said above, of St. Dubricius, and was initiated into sacred orders by him. No mention of St. Teliaus, however, is made in his Life, which we shall give on July 28, nor in that of St. Maglorius, his cousin and successor, on October 24.

[26] Galfridus of Monmouth, book 9, chapter 15, makes Teliaus Bishop of Dol, and introduces other errors, writing thus: The Blessed Dubricius, therefore, yearning for the eremitic life, deposed himself from the archiepiscopal See: in whose place David, uncle of the King, was consecrated, but he does not succeed him: whose life was an example of all goodness to those whom he had instructed in doctrine. In the place, moreover, of St. Sampson, Archbishop of Dol, Teliaus, the distinguished Presbyter of Llandaff, was appointed, with the approval of Hoel, King of the Armorican Britons. So our manuscript codex; in the Heidelberg edition he is called Cheliaus. Teliaus was already ^a Bishop before he came to Armorica: nor did Sampson die at the time when David succeeded Dubricius, since he is read to have subscribed to the third Council of Paris in the year 557 together with St. Paternus: if indeed only one Sampson held the see of Dol; for some posit two or three.

[27] I am not sure whether Giraldus Cambrensis also errs when he writes that Sampson presided over the Church of Menevia as the twenty-fifth after David, and then administered the Church of Dol, nor was he the 25th Bishop of Menevia after St. David. after he had departed from Wales on account of the jaundice plague: for thus he writes in book 2, chapter 1, of the Itinerary of Wales: In the time of this Sampson, the pallium was transferred in the following manner. When ^a certain pestilence raged throughout Wales during his presidency, by which the people died in crowds — which they called the yellow plague,

and which physicians call the jaundice disease — the Bishop, although holy and fearless before death, nevertheless, at the urging of his people, boarding ^a ship, with Circius blowing, received himself with his people unharmed in Armorican Britain: where, the see of Dol then being vacant, he was immediately appointed Bishop there. So he writes: Spelman, following him, places this Sampson at the year 900. But our discourse concerns the elder Sampson, who is listed first in all the Catalogues of the Bishops of Dol. Whether he had previously been Bishop of Menevia, or (as others wish) Archbishop of York, or of some other see; at least in the time of St. Germanus of Paris and of King Childebert, son of Clovis the Great, he attended the Synod of Paris.

[28] Although, moreover, Teliaus was not placed in charge of the Church of Dol, yet Budic the King and Sampson himself worked to bring this about. Teliaus was indeed sought for the episcopate in Armorica, So Ussher, page 76, from the Llandaff manuscript: For the King and the Bishop, with ^a multitude of the people, went out to meet him, in order to conduct him with fitting honor to the bishopric of Dol, that they might elevate him to the pontifical See. That there was ^a close familiarity between Teliaus and Sampson is shown by Spelman from the third synod of Llandaff, where Guidnerth, because he had killed his brother Merchion on account of ^a dispute over the kingdom, was excommunicated by the Blessed Oudoceus ... after three years had passed, he sought pardon from the Blessed Oudoceus: and pardon being granted, he sent him on ^a pilgrimage to the Archbishop of Dol in Cornouaille, and the celebrated friendship between him and St. Sampson. on account of the very ancient friendship and acquaintance which the Holy Fathers, their predecessors, had between themselves — namely, St. Teliaus and St. Sampson, first Archbishop of the city of Dol.

Section V. The return of St. Teliaus to Wales, his death, public veneration, and writings.

[29] When at last the pestilence that had raged for several years was extinguished, St. Teliaus returned to Wales, and arriving most opportunely in Cornwall, attended King Gerennius, his former host, when the plague ceased after 7 years and 7 months, as he lay dying. So Ussher from the Llandaff manuscript: Meanwhile, while these things were being done and discussed, it happened that Christ through his mercy commanded that the aforesaid plague, which was called the yellow plague, should depart and vanish from the entire island of Britain. When this was heard, the faithful leader Teliaus, not ^a little gladdened and prompted by the Holy Spirit, having sent messengers into France and beyond the Alps into Italy and wherever he knew they had fled, having summoned his people, diligently gathered his compatriots together; that all, with the pestilence extinguished and peace granted throughout, might return to their own lands. At length, ^a great ship having been prepared (and seven years and seven months having elapsed, he returns to his homeland: which St. Teliaus had spent in the country of the Armoricans), he entered it with many Doctors and certain other Bishops: and they landed at the port called Dingerein, he administers the Eucharist to the dying King Gerennius: while King Gerennius was at that time at the point of death: who, having received the Body of the Lord from the hand of Teliaus, joyfully departed to the Lord.

[30] Teliaus brought with him to Wales the son of his sister, of whom we spoke above; and Ussher, page 562, from the cited Llandaff manuscript: And after an immense length of time the yellow pestilence came through the greater part of Britain. he brings with him St. Oudoceus, his sister's son: On that occasion, as has been said, St. Teliaus went with his Clerics and people to Cornouaille, which was afterwards called Cerniu-Budic: and there he found his nephew Oudoceus, ^a man illustrious, gentle, and skilled in both Laws, like ^a candle upon ^a candlestick. And after the time of his sojourn, St. Teliaus, Archbishop of the Church of St. Peter the Apostle at Llandaff, returned to his native soil, with his nephew accompanying him: who grew so greatly in goodness and knowledge that, by the election of the Clergy and people, he succeeded him in the episcopate of the Church of Llandaff.

[31] What he did upon returning to his city, the same Ussher narrates from the cited manuscript, page 560: After these things the holy man returned to his episcopal see, accompanied by ^a host of Clergy and people: and he dwelt there until the end of his life. To him came the disciples who had been followers of the Blessed Dubricius: Lunapeius, Gurmaet, Cynmur, he instructed many in letters and piety: Toulidauc, Luhil, Fidelis, Hismael, Tyfhei, Oudoceus, and many other disciples, that they might imitate him in morals and doctrine. Of these he consecrated Hismael as Bishop, sending him to care for the Church of Menevia, which was then also widowed of its Pastor; he ordains Bishops: for St. David had departed to the Lord. And he similarly elevated many other men of the same order to the episcopate, sending them throughout the country, and dividing the parishes among them for the convenience of the Clergy and people. And from this it can be perceived that the catalogues of the Bishops of Menevia — both that which Giraldus composed and that which Godwin drew from the archive of Menevia — are defective, since neither lists Hismael.

[32] At length, full of years and merits, Teliaus died in the place which is called after him Llan-Deilo-fawr, that is, he dies: the church of Teliaus the Great, on the bank of the river Towy, in the Carmarthen district, where he had led ^a solitary life for some time, as Ussher reports on page 560.

[33] What esteem was held for his sanctity was declared by the contention of three peoples to claim his body. These were the people of Llandaff; the inhabitants of the place where he had died, near the city of Carmarthen, or Caer-marden, or, as Capgrave has it, Caermerchin; a dispute over his body is divinely resolved: and finally the inhabitants of the place called Pennalun, where his ancestors had been buried. The dispute is said to have been resolved, after prayers and fasting, by the divine presentation of three bodies, entirely alike, so that each place might have its own. Godwin writes that mention of this miracle was formerly customary in the solemn prayer inserted in the liturgy of his feast: but he adds that by the frequent miracles performed at Llandaff at his tomb, it was clearly established he becomes famous for miracles: that the people of Llandaff had obtained the true body, and the others had been deluded by phantoms. We conjecture that the dispute was resolved in such ^a way that the body perhaps fell to the people of Llandaff, while to the others some pledge of his relics was given, and was honorably enshrined by them in caskets, no differently than if they had possessed the entire body: hence the story was fabricated by posterity, who believed that ^a complete body existed in each place.

[34] temples dedicated to him, Jerome Porter writes that many churches were dedicated to St. Teliaus, especially in South Wales. An altar in honor of SS. Peter, Dubricius, and Teliaus, while his successor St. Oudoceus was still living, and altars not long after his death: was indicated above, section 1, number 10, from the Councils of Spelman: who also reports in the second synod of Llandaff, held under the same Oudoceus, that SS. Dubricius and Teliaus were named several times. In the third synod also, Guidnerth is said to have donated certain possessions to God and SS. Dubricius, Teliaus, and Oudoceus, into the hand of Bishop Berthguinus.

[35] The name of St. Teliaus is inscribed also in foreign Martyrologies, and indeed in the Salisbury Martyrology by Richard Whitford with this eulogy: In England, St. Theliaus, who is called Elios, eulogy from Whitford's Martyrology: and commonly Eliud. Born of ^a noble place, he was devoted from his earliest age to the pursuit of virtue: and having been taught the sacred letters, when he had heard the fame of the learning of St. Paulinus, who was living in Wales, he betook himself to him: where he found St. David, to whom he was thenceforth joined by fraternal love. At that time the pagan Picts burst into England, and wrought great slaughter of men and devastation of places. Their leader, having entered Wales, was converted by St. Teliaus. The same Saint, by heavenly command, set out for Jerusalem with SS. David and Paternus: and in the meantime they preached in the languages of that province and others, of which they had previously been ignorant, in the Apostolic manner. When they had returned home, St. David was made Archbishop of Wales, and Teliaus Bishop. Over the body of this man, now dead, ^a dispute arose among three peoples: who at length, by common counsel and with prayers poured forth, demanded that the matter be decided by Divine arbitration. The next day three bodies were found, so similar that no difference could be discerned. They therefore, praising God, each carried away their own: one to Llandaff, another near Carmarthen, and the third to western Wales. So he writes.

[36] Hermann Greven thus commemorates him on this day: In

Britain, of Teyllianus the Confessor. The manuscript Florarium: In Britain, St. Theillanus. Canisius has the same, and from him Ferrarius. John Wilson, in the second edition of the English Martyrology, adorns him with ^a fuller eulogy on this day. his name in other Martyrologies, and on other days: But in the first edition he had both made him ^a Martyr and placed him on November 25, which Ferrarius followed, writing on that day: At Llandaff in England, St. Teleanus, Bishop and Martyr. The same Ferrarius again records him on December 26, with these words: At Llandaff, St. Theliaus, Bishop. In his Notes he says he was ^a disciple of St. David, which John Pitseus also has; whereas they were fellow-students, both hearers of St. Dubricius.

[37] Perhaps the variety of the name misled some into assigning him to various days. For, as is clear from what has been said above, he who is commonly called Teliaus the name variously expressed: is also written Teliavus, Thelianus, Teleanus, Thelius, Chelianus, Theillanus, Theyllanus, Teyllianus, Teilau, Teilaw, Teylo, Deilo, Helios, Eliud. Besides those already cited, his memory in other writers: Nicolaus Harpsfield honorably commemorates St. Teliaus in his Ecclesiastical History of England, book 1, or On the first six centuries, chapter 27, where, however, it is erroneously written that he died on the Ides of February. Jerome Porter treats of him more extensively in his Flowers of the Lives of the Saints of England.

[38] John Bale, century 1 of the Writers of Britain, number 58, speaks thus of St. Teliaus: He is reported to have composed in elegant diction pious Sermons to the people. did he publish books? Who remembers them? No one doubts that he delivered many sermons to the people and to the Clergy: but it does not immediately follow that he transmitted them in writing to posterity. Pitseus, however, follows Bale at the year 563. Mention is made above, section 1, number 7, of the charter of St. Teliaus. But it is one thing to record ^a matter in public acts, or to describe privileges granted to some Church; another to compose and publish books.

LIFE BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR

from the Legend of the Saints of England by John Capgrave.

Teliaus, or Eliud, Bishop of Llandaff in Wales (St.)

BHL Number: 7998

a

By an Anonymous Author, from Capgrave.

CHAPTER I

The deeds of St. Teliaus before his Episcopate.

[1] For the holy Teliaus, being ^a worshipper of God from infancy, Teliaus holy from boyhood, served God with prayers and vigils, and mortified himself so that he might fatten others: he distributed all that he possessed to the poor, and showed mercy to others, that he might obtain mercy. He was born of noble parents, so that the nobility of his flesh noble, might honor him among men, who was already acceptable to God by the nobility of his soul.

[2] Moreover, after the increase of his age, virtues, and wisdom, he was fittingly called by the name Helios by the wise: called Eliud, for Helios in Greek is interpreted as Sun in Latin. For his teaching shone like the sun, illuminating the hearts of the faithful. But as the laity corruptly pronounced the final part of the word, the custom grew that he was called not Helios, but Eliud.

[3] For he was instructed in the Holy Scriptures by the holy Bishop Dubricius, instructed by SS. Dubricius and Paulinus, until he perceived the boy to be of such great talent that, with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, he perfectly unraveled the knots of the Scriptures. Then the holy boy, having heard the fame of ^a certain wise man Paulinus, went to him, and discussed the secrets of the Scriptures with him: where he associated with himself the holy David, ^a man of perfect life; a friend of St. David: whom so great an affection and the grace of the Holy Spirit joined together, that both desired and rejected the same things.

[4] In the days of these Saints, however, certain peoples, who were called Picts either from their painted garments or on account of the markings on their eyes, came with an innumerable fleet from Scythia to Britain, and, seized with the desire of possessing the land, the Prince of the Picts, who was placing an obstacle before himself, attacked the Britons more by fraud than by force, and for ^a time exercised ^a remarkable tyranny over them. Their Prince, slaughtering the wretched inhabitants, burning dwellings and churches, advancing as far as Menevia,

built ^a palace there. And seeing the holiness of the life and morals of St. David and Eliud and other Saints, he not only envied them, but often heaped many insults upon them: and he commanded his wife to send her handmaids to the Saints, and by immodest movements of their bodies and blandishments to pervert the minds of the Saints from their purpose. he punishes him in his own people, and converts him: But when these women, following the commands of their mistress, pretended to be mad, they became truly mad. When the persecutor saw this, he and his entire household, accepting the faith of Christ, were baptized.

[5] When St. Teliaus, who is also called Eliud, and Madocus were occupied with their readings, ^a servant came saying that wood was lacking with which the supper of the Brethren could be prepared. Grieved at hearing this, they hastened to the forest. And behold, two tame deer met them, he uses deer in place of beasts of burden, as if ready to serve, submitting their necks to the yoke. And when the Saints were returning with the loaded cart, the holy men going far ahead, the deer, with no one urging them, swiftly followed them: and for ^a long time afterwards they carried wood and other necessities to the monastery.

CHAPTER II

St. Teliaus consecrated Bishop at Jerusalem.

[6] The Lord then sent his Angel to SS. David, Teliaus, and Paternus, commanding them to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem [St. Teliaus with SS. David and Paternus goes to Jerusalem: he heals the sick on the way: he pacifies robbers:] and there to receive gifts. Then they, without purse or staff, trusting only in the Lord, set out on their journey, and leaving traces of their holiness through various provinces, they alleviated the pains of the infirm who met them. And when robbers blocked their way, not only did they peacefully yield their spoils to them, but if they themselves forgetfully left behind any plunder, they held it out to the robbers with ^a cheerful countenance. But those men, considering the simplicity of the Saints, returned their spoils, begged pardon for their offenses, and escorted them to safe places.

[7] When they entered Jerusalem, the entire people came to meet them, singing psalms and hymns, conducting them to the temple of the Lord. he prays for three days: For having continued their prayers there for three days, they were so absorbed in the contemplation of heavenly things that they were entirely forgetful of earthly matters. Meanwhile the entire Clergy was waiting, attentively observing which of the Saints would choose which seat for himself when prayer was concluded, he sits in the lowest seat, so that, just as they had been taught from heaven through an Angel, they might note by the choice of seats whom they should appoint as prelate over the others. There were in the temple three chairs established by the ancients for the elders, of which Teliaus, choosing the lowest and most humble, left the nobler ones to his brothers out of reverence. When they saw this, all who were present fell prone upon their faces before the man of God, and said: Hail, O holy Teliaus of God, and graciously grant that your prayers may avail for us before the Lord, because today you have been exalted above your other fellow-brothers, having sat in the seat which was said to have been Christ the Lord's; of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in which he preached the Kingdom of God to our fathers. Hearing this, the man of God rose with great astonishment and prostrated himself on the ground, saying: Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the chair of pestilence. And blessed be the Savior, who chose to make his seat of wood, who through wood willed to succor ^a perishing world.

[8] Therefore all asked him to speak ^a parable to them about Christ for the instruction of virtues, so that just as he had imitated him by sitting in the chair, he might imitate him by preaching the word of God. When he saw the love of the divine word burning in their hearts, preaching in his own language, he is understood by the people; since he was entirely ignorant of their language, concern and anxiety pressed upon him in ^a wonderful way. Nevertheless, in order to satisfy the entreaty of the people and their desire, he began to expound the Sacred Scriptures; and each of those standing by heard him speaking in his own language. And when all were so affected by the sweetness of his sermon that the longer they heard him, the more they desired to hear him, lest he should seem to presume upon the office of preaching if he alone had preached, he said to the people: Hear now from my brothers the words of life, who are more perfect than I in life and more diligent in doctrine. as also his companions: Therefore St. David and Paternus arose and preached to the people, all understanding them perfectly in their own language.

[9] After these things, by angelic admonition, elected by the Clergy and people, they are consecrated Bishops: they were raised to the pontifical dignity: and as ^a testimony of the grace which they had there received from the bountiful Lord, three precious gifts were given to them, as was fitting for each: they are honored with sacred gifts: to Paternus ^a staff and ^a choral cope woven of precious silk, because they saw him to be an excellent cantor: to the holy David ^a wondrous altar, well known to none as to what material it was made of; for he celebrated more joyfully than the others. To the blessed Teliaus they gave ^a cymbal, more famous Teliaus receives ^a miraculous cymbal. than it is large; more precious than beautiful: because with its sweet sound it seems to surpass every instrument; it condemns perjurers, heals the infirm; and at every hour it sounded without anyone striking it, until, because the sins of men required it — those who recklessly handled it with polluted hands — it ceased from so sweet ^a service. For just as the cymbal summons all from the torpor of sleep and idleness to church, so St. Teliaus, made ^a herald of Christ, by ceaseless preaching incited his subjects to heaven by word and example.

CHAPTER III

The journey of St. Teliaus to Armorica, his death, and burial.

[10] The Saints of God, therefore, having prosperously returned to their own region, on account of the pestilence which had destroyed nearly the entire nation, were unable to remain longer in the land. That pestilence was called the yellow plague, because it rendered all whom it attacked the plague raging in Wales yellow and bloodless. It appeared to people in ^a column of ^a watery cloud, turning one head along the ground and drawing the other upward through the air, and coursing through the entire region. Whatever living creatures it touched with its pestilential breath incurable, either died immediately or fell sick unto death. If anyone attempted to apply ^a remedy to the sick, the black plague dragged the healer together with the patient to destruction, without any effect of the medicine.

[11] When that pestilence was raging among both men and cattle,

St. Teliaus cried out to the Lord in fasting and lamentation, saying: Spare, O Lord, spare thy people, thou who desirest not the death of the sinner but life, and give not thy inheritance over to destruction. When the wrath of God was at last lulled for ^a time by his prayer and that of other Saints, he prays for his people: being admonished from heaven, he departed with those who remained of the nation to distant regions, until God should deign to signal their return to their homeland. But God, with them he withdraws elsewhere: whose mercy fills all things, looking with favor not only upon the misery of the nation at last, but upon the Saint interceding for the nation, granted them to return from exile and to be entirely freed from danger. The man of God, then, gathering the remnants of the nation, he returns home: returned to his native soil, and held the primacy over all the Churches of western Britain until the end of his life.

[12] At last the holy Teliaus, full of virtues and all holiness, he dies. in ^a good old age, on the fifth day before the Ides of February, leaving this world, departed to heaven. On the night of his burial, ^a great dissension arose among the three Clergies of three of his Churches, a dispute over his body, each advancing their own claims and privileges for possessing his body. At length, however, having taken the counsel of the discreet, they agreed to persist in prayers and fasting, after prayers and fasting, that the supreme arbiter Christ, who is the true authority and privilege of the Saints, might deign to show to whom the body of the Saint should more worthily be entrusted. When morning came, ^a certain elder, looking and examining where the body of the Saint had been placed, cried out in ^a loud voice, saying: it is divinely resolved, Our prayer has been heard by the Lord, my brethren. Rise and behold what has been done by Christ the Lord to settle your discord: that just as in the most holy life of the blessed Confessor Teliaus, so also in his death, miracles might be wrought to the honor and praise of God. And behold, they see there three bodies, which had equal size of body, the same color of face, three bodies being given, and in no respect did the features of the entire frame or the garments show any discrepancy. And so, the dispute being settled, each party returned with its body with joy, which are honored in three places. and buried them in different places with the utmost reverence: one body in the church of Llandaff, another not far from the city of Carmarthen, and the third in West Wales, held in great honor.