Melangell
Encyclopedia
Saint Melangell, was a Welsh
virgin, , whose Feast Day is celebrated, and originally established on May 27, 590. The daughter of an Irish king, she went to Powys, in central Wales
, to become a hermitess
. Prince Brochwel
, the prince of Powys
, granted her land after meeting her on a hunting trip, and she founded a community of women, serving as abbess
for thirty-seven years. Her shrine remains at Saint Melangell's Church, Pennant Melangell
.
to Melangell as a place of sanctuary, where she became Abbess
of a small religious community. After her death her memory continued to be honoured at her shrine, and Pennant Melangell has been a place of pilgrimage for many centuries. Melangell remains the patron saint
of hare
s. Bones said to be those of the saint have been deposited within the shrine.
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
virgin, , whose Feast Day is celebrated, and originally established on May 27, 590. The daughter of an Irish king, she went to Powys, in central Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, to become a hermitess
Hermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
. Prince Brochwel
Brochwel Ysgithrog
Brochwel ap Cyngen , better known as Brochwel Ysgrithrog, was a king of Powys in Eastern Wales. The unusual nickname Ysgithrog has been translated as ‘of the canine teeth’, ‘the fanged’ or ‘of the tusk’ .-Family:Brochwel was the son of King Cyngen Glodrydd and his wife St...
, the prince of Powys
Powys
Powys is a local-government county and preserved county in Wales.-Geography:Powys covers the historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire , and a small part of Denbighshire — an area of 5,179 km², making it the largest county in Wales by land area.It is...
, granted her land after meeting her on a hunting trip, and she founded a community of women, serving as abbess
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
for thirty-seven years. Her shrine remains at Saint Melangell's Church, Pennant Melangell
Saint Melangell's Church, Pennant Melangell
St Melangell's Church, Pennant Melangell is a small parish church located on a minor road which joins the B4391 near the village of Llangynog, Powys, Wales...
.
Legend
"Her legend relates that she was the daughter of an Irish monarch, who had determined to marry her to a nobleman of his court. The princess had vowed celibacy. She fled from her father's dominions and took refuge in this place, where she lived fifteen years without seeing the face of a man. Brochwel Yscythrog, Prince of Powys, being one day a hare hunting, pursued his game till he came to a great thicket; when he was amazed to find a virgin of surpassing beauty, engaged in deep devotion, with the hare he had been pursuing under her robe, boldly facing the dogs, who retired to a distance howling, notwithstanding all the efforts of the sportsmen to make them seize their prey. Even when the huntsman blew his horn, it stuck to his lips. Brochwel heard her story, and gave to God and her a parcel of lands, to be a sanctuary to all that fled there. He desired her to found an abbey on the spot. She did so, and died abbess at a good old age. She was buried in the neighbouring church, called Pennant, and from, her distinguished by the addition of Melangell. Her hard bed is shown in the cleft of a neighbouring rock. Her tomb was in a little chapel, or oratory, adjoining to the church, and now used as a vestry room. This room is still called ' Cell-y-bedd.' or the Cell of the Grave. Her reliques as well as her image have been long since removed; but 1 think the last is still to be seen in the churchyard. The legend is perpetuated by some rude wooden carving of the Saint, with numbers of hares scuttling to her for protection. She properly became their Patroness. They were called ' Wyn Melangell' (St. Monacella's Lambs.)"
Shrine at Saint Melangell's Church
Brochwel Yscythrog, Prince of Powys awarded the valley near Saint Melangell's Church, Pennant MelangellSaint Melangell's Church, Pennant Melangell
St Melangell's Church, Pennant Melangell is a small parish church located on a minor road which joins the B4391 near the village of Llangynog, Powys, Wales...
to Melangell as a place of sanctuary, where she became Abbess
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
of a small religious community. After her death her memory continued to be honoured at her shrine, and Pennant Melangell has been a place of pilgrimage for many centuries. Melangell remains the patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of hare
Hare
Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...
s. Bones said to be those of the saint have been deposited within the shrine.
Further reading
- Nancy Edwards, "Celtic Saints and Early Medieval Archaeology," in Local saints and local churches in the early medieval West (Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 234ff. online.