Saint Cybi
Encyclopedia
Saint Cybi or Saint Cuby (in Cornish
) was a 6th century Cornish
bishop
, saint
and, briefly, king
, who worked largely in North Wales
: his biography is recorded in two slightly variant medieval
'lives'.
, a 'warrior prince', generally thought to have been a King of Cornwall
. In the 'Bonedd y Saint', his father's name is given the Welsh form, Selyf. He was raised as a Christian
and, in early life, went on a pilgrimage
to Rome
and Jerusalem. He became a priest and was consecrated as a bishop, before he arrived home to find that his father was dead and he was King of Cornwall. Cybi politely declined the throne and, instead, travelled through his kingdom, preaching to the people and building churches at Duloe
, Tregony
, Cubert
and Landulph
.
, founding churches at Llangybi-ar-Wysg
between Usk
and Caerleon
in Monmouthshire
, and Llanddyfrwyr-yn-Edeligion, before spending some time in Ireland
. He eventually sailed for north Wales
, settling at Llangybi
on the Llŷn
peninsula. Off Anglesey
, King Maelgwn Gwynedd
gave him the old Roman
fort at Holyhead
(subsequently known, in Welsh, as Caer Gybi
, "Cybi's Fort") on Holy Island
(thence called Ynys Gybi, "Cybi's Island"). He founded a large and important monastery
there.
Cybi was a great friend of Saint Seiriol
. He would always face the Sun while travelling to meet him and his resulting tanned complexion led to him being known as Cybi Felyn or Cybi the Tanned. He is also said to have attended the Synod of Llanddewi Brefi in Ceredigion
where he advised some pilgrim
s on their journey to Ynys Enlli (Bardsey
). Rhyd-y-Saint railway station
(English: Ford of the Saints railway station) on the Red Wharf Bay branch line
near Pentraeth
, was named so as Cybi and Seiriol are said to have met there.
Cybi died on 8 November 555 and was buried in 'Capel y Bedd' (the Chapel of the Grave) adjoining his monastery at Holyhead
.
Cornish language
Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...
) was a 6th century Cornish
Cornish people
The Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...
bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
, saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
and, briefly, king
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
, who worked largely in North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
: his biography is recorded in two slightly variant medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
'lives'.
Life in Cornwall
According to the 'Life of Saint Cybi', this saint was the son of SalomonSalomon of Cornwall
Salomon was a late 5th century Cornish 'warrior prince', possibly a King of Cornwall.St Levan according to the Life of St Kybi was a Cornishman and the father of Kybi. In the department of Morbihan are four places probably connected to the same saint, who probably lived in the 6th or 7th century...
, a 'warrior prince', generally thought to have been a King of Cornwall
Kingdom of Cornwall
The Kingdom of Cornwall was an independent polity in southwest Britain during the Early Middle Ages, roughly coterminous with the modern English county of Cornwall. During the sub-Roman and early medieval periods Cornwall was evidently part of the kingdom of Dumnonia, which included most of the...
. In the 'Bonedd y Saint', his father's name is given the Welsh form, Selyf. He was raised as a Christian
Celtic Christianity
Celtic Christianity or Insular Christianity refers broadly to certain features of Christianity that were common, or held to be common, across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages...
and, in early life, went on a pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and Jerusalem. He became a priest and was consecrated as a bishop, before he arrived home to find that his father was dead and he was King of Cornwall. Cybi politely declined the throne and, instead, travelled through his kingdom, preaching to the people and building churches at Duloe
Duloe, Cornwall
Duloe is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately four miles south of Liskeard at .-Parish church:...
, Tregony
Tregony
Tregony is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It lies on the River Fal. In the village there is a post office, shop, and two churches. Tregony has bus links to the nearest town, which is Truro. The village is made up from two parishes namely, Tregony and Cuby...
, Cubert
Cubert
Cubert is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated three miles south-southwest of Newquay.Once known as St Cubert, the village is dominated by the spire of its 14th century church which was enlarged by the addition of a south aisle a century later.The village is named...
and Landulph
Landulph
Landulph is a hamlet and a rural civil parish in south-east Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated about 3 miles north of Saltash in the St Germans Registration District....
.
Life in Wales
He then moved on to south WalesSouth Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
, founding churches at Llangybi-ar-Wysg
Llangybi, Monmouthshire
Llangybi is a village in Monmouthshire, in south east Wales, United Kingdom. It is located 3 miles south of the town of Usk and 5 miles north of Caerleon, in the valley of the River Usk.- History and buildings :...
between Usk
Usk
Usk is a small town in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated 10 miles northeast of Newport.The River Usk flows through the town and is spanned by an ancient, arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. A castle above the town overlooks the ancient Anglo-Welsh border crossing - the river can...
and Caerleon
Caerleon
Caerleon is a suburban village and community, situated on the River Usk in the northern outskirts of the city of Newport, South Wales. Caerleon is a site of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman legionary fortress, Isca Augusta, and an Iron Age hill fort...
in Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...
, and Llanddyfrwyr-yn-Edeligion, before spending some time in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. He eventually sailed for north Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
, settling at Llangybi
Llangybi
Llangybi can refer to one of several villages named after Saint Cybi, their reputed founder.In Wales*Llangybi, Ceredigion*Llangybi, Gwynedd*Llangybi, Monmouthshire...
on the Llŷn
Llyn
Llyn is the Welsh word for "lake" or, occasionally, "pond" or "pool". The word and its cognates in other Celtic languages , as well their derivatives—including lyn, lynn and lin—appear in many placenames throughout the current and former Celtic world, as, for example, in Dublin and King's...
peninsula. Off Anglesey
Anglesey
Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
, King Maelgwn Gwynedd
Maelgwn Hir ap Cadwallon
Maelgwn Gwynedd was King of Gwynedd . More formally his name was Maelgwn ap Cadwallon , also known as Maelgwn Hir . He was father of Rhun "Hîr"....
gave him the old Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
fort at Holyhead
Holyhead
Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
(subsequently known, in Welsh, as Caer Gybi
Caer Gybi (fort)
Caer Gybi was a small fortlet in Roman Wales in the Roman province of Britannia Superior. Its name in Latin is unknown. Today it stands at the centre of Holyhead in the Welsh county of Anglesey. Holyhead is named Caergybi in Welsh, after the fort....
, "Cybi's Fort") on Holy Island
Holy Island, Anglesey
Holy Island Cybi') is an island on the western side of the larger Isle of Anglesey, North Wales, from which it is separated by a narrow, winding channel. It is called "Holy" because of the high concentration of standing stones, burial chambers and other religious sites on the small island. The...
(thence called Ynys Gybi, "Cybi's Island"). He founded a large and important monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
there.
Cybi was a great friend of Saint Seiriol
Seiriol
Seiriol was an early 6th century saint, who created a cell at Penmon Priory on Anglesey, off the coast of north Wales. He later moved to Ynys Seiriol . He was a son of King Owain Danwyn of Rhos....
. He would always face the Sun while travelling to meet him and his resulting tanned complexion led to him being known as Cybi Felyn or Cybi the Tanned. He is also said to have attended the Synod of Llanddewi Brefi in Ceredigion
Ceredigion
Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later...
where he advised some pilgrim
Pilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...
s on their journey to Ynys Enlli (Bardsey
Bardsey Island
Bardsey Island , the legendary "Island of 20,000 saints", lies off the Llŷn Peninsula in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The Welsh name means "The Island in the Currents", although its English name refers to the "Island of the Bards", or possibly the island of the Viking chieftan, "Barda". It is ...
). Rhyd-y-Saint railway station
Rhyd-y-Saint railway station
Rhyd-y-Saint railway station was situated on the Red Wharf Bay branch line between Holland Arms railway station and Benllech, the second station after the line branched from the main Anglesey Central Railway...
(English: Ford of the Saints railway station) on the Red Wharf Bay branch line
Red Wharf Bay branch line
The Red Wharf Bay branch line was a standard gauge railway line in Anglesey, Wales, a branch off the Anglesey Central Railway. It opened fully in 1909, but closed to passengers in September 1930...
near Pentraeth
Pentraeth
Pentraeth is a village on the island of Anglesey , north Wales, at . The Royal Mail postcode begins LL75.Its Welsh name means at the end of a beach, and it is located near Traeth Coch . There is a small river, Afon Nodwydd which runs through it. The village's ancient name was Llanfair Betws Geraint...
, was named so as Cybi and Seiriol are said to have met there.
Cybi died on 8 November 555 and was buried in 'Capel y Bedd' (the Chapel of the Grave) adjoining his monastery at Holyhead
Holyhead
Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
.
External links
- http://yba.llgc.org.uk/en/s-CYBI-APS-0490.html?query=Llangibby&field=contentCybi on National Library of Wales Dictionary of Welsh BiographyDictionary of Welsh BiographyThe Dictionary of Welsh Biography is a dictionary of biographies of Welsh men and women who have made a unique contribution to Welsh life over seventeen centuries...
] - The Friends of St. Cybi
- Celtic Literature Collective: Vita Sancti Kebii