Saint David

Saint David
Stained glass depiction of Saint David, designed by William Burges, at Castell Coch, Cardiff
Bishop
Born	Unknown, estimated at c. 500 Caerfai, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Died	1 March 589 St David's, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Anglican Communion
Major shrine	St David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, Wales shrine largely extant, controversial bones in casket
Feast	1 March
Attributes	Bishop with a dove, usually on his shoulder, sometimes standing on a raised hillock
Patronage	Wales; Pembrokeshire; Naas; vegetarians; poets
Controversy	The earliest of the supposed bones of Saint David and Saint Justinian housed in a casket in the Holy Trinity Chapel of St David's Cathedral have been carbon-dated to the 12th century.

Saint David (Welsh: Dewi Sant, Latin: Davidus; c. 500 – c. 589) was a Welsh bishop of Mynyw (now St Davids) during the 6th century; he was later regarded as a saint. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and a relatively large amount of information is known about his life. However, his birth date is uncertain: suggestions range from 462 to 512. He is traditionally believed to be the son of Saint Non and the grandson of Ceredig ap Cunedda, king of Ceredigion. The Welsh annals placed his death 569 years after the birth of Christ, but Phillimore's dating revised this to 601.

Many of the traditional tales about David are found in the Buchedd Dewi ("Life of David"), a hagiography written by Rhygyfarch in the late 11th century. Rhygyfarch claimed it was based on documents found in the cathedral archives. Modern historians are sceptical of some of its claims: one of Rhygyfarch's aims was to establish some independence for the Welsh church, which had refused the Roman rite until the 8th century and now sought a metropolitan status equal to that of Canterbury. (This may apply to the supposed pilgrimage to Jerusalem where he is said to have been anointed as an archbishop by the patriarch).

The tradition that he was born at Henfynyw (Vetus-Menevia) in Ceredigion is not improbable. He became renowned as a teacher and preacher, founding monastic settlements and churches in Wales, Dumnonia, and Brittany. St David's Cathedral stands on the site of the monastery he founded in the Glyn Rhosyn valley of Pembrokeshire. Around 550, he attended the Synod of Brefi, where his eloquence in opposing Pelagianism caused his fellow monks to elect him primate of the region. As such he presided over the synod of Caerleon (the "Synod of Victory") around 569.