Clas Merdin: Tales from the Enchanted Island: The Saints

Why write about the Saints?

The ‘the Age of the Saints’ emerged in the Celtic countries after the Roman period in Britain during the 5th and 6th centuries. The Celtic church came into conflict with St Augustine when he arrived in AD 597 intent on converting them to the Roman church. The Celtic Saints in Wales, Cornwall, Cumbria and across the sea in Ireland then played a significant role in the spread of Christianity. Saints' Lives include foundation stories and contain the shoots of many local histories.

The connections between Arthur and the saints is intimately linked to the understanding of the cultural and religious landscape of medieval Britain. Saints with Arthurian connections include SS. Gildas, David, Cadog, Illtud, Petroc and Caradoc, with the legendary king appearing in nine different Saints’ Lives (Vitae) including Cadoc, Carannog, Gildas, Illtud, Padarn and the Breton Saint Goeznovius that are largely independent of Geoffrey of Monmouth.

We then witness the onset of the Cult of the Saints in Anglo-Saxon England with the tradition of royal sanctity, men and women of royal birth who, in the days before papal canonisation, came to be venerated as saints by the regional church. For example, Oswald, King of Northumbria, venerated as a saint and martyr after being killed and his corpse mutilated in 642 at the Battle of Maserfield by the pagan Mercian king Penda.

Finally, we have the story of the Last Abbot of Glastonbury Richard Whiting who was hanged, drawn and quartered on Glastonbury Tor and his abbey wrecked. The religious houses were a absolute treasure trove of ancient literature before the destruction of 16th century Dissolution. We can only wonder how much knowledge has been lost by this senseless act.