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It鈥檚 around fourteen hundred years since the death of St David or Dewi Sant as he鈥檚 known in Wales but other than wearing a daffodil or leek on St David's Day, what do we really know about our patron saint?
Most of what we know about St David comes from the The Life of Saint David written by Rhygyfarch ap Sulien in 1099 AD, roughly 500 years after St David鈥檚 death.
Rhygyfarch was the son of the then Bishop of St. Davids, so ecclesiastical motives may have influenced his findings and helped create the miracles and myths surrounding St David.
Here are 16 things you might not know about Dewi Sant:
1. St
David was born in the year 500 AD at Mynyw (also known as Menevia by
the Romans) in the area we now know as St Davids in Pembrokeshire.
2. His
mother Non was a nun and gave birth on a dark and stormy night. It was
so intense that she left finger marks in the rocks. A chapel dedicated
to St Non is perched on the cliffs above St Non's Bay.
Sea cliffs above St Non's Bay with St Non's Chapel in the distance. Image by Tarancy
3. During his baptism by St Elvis, the Bishop of Munster, St David
performed his first miracle - curing a blind monk with his baptism
water.
4. David only drank water (still not sparkling) and is sometimes referred to as Dewi Ddyfrwr (David the water drinker).
5. St
David spent a decade studying the scriptures under St Paulinus of Wales
and cured him of blindness by making the sign of the cross.
6. Realising
David was blessed, St Paulinus sent him off to preach and convert the
Pagans along the west coast of Britain to Christianity.
7. During
his travels, David is thought to have established at least 50 churches
and 12 monasteries including those at Bath, Leominster and Glastonbury
where some believe he is buried.
8. St David made several
pilgrimages including one to Jerusalem where he became the Bishop of
Menevia and went on to establish a monastery at St Davids.
St Davids Cathedral. Image by Pete.
10. His monks, fed up of David鈥檚 pious way of life once tried to poison him. Warned by St Scuthyn (who raced over from Ireland on the back of a sea monster) St David then blessed the loaf, ate it and only suffered minor indigestion.
11. His most famous miracle happened during a speech at Llandewi Brefi 鈥� an area not known for its flatness. Nevertheless the ground he stood on rose up so he could be seen and heard by everyone.
12. David is said to have died on Tuesday, 1 March in either 589 AD or 600 AD depending on which book you read.
13. Four visits to the shrine at St Davids Cathedral were considered to be the equivalent of two to Rome and one to Jerusalem.
14. It鈥檚 controversial, but St David is the only British patron saint born in his own country. St Patrick was as Welsh as Tom Jones; St George was Turkish and St Andrew鈥檚 bones only arrived in Scotland from Greece due to a navigational hiccup.
15. St David is said to have had a wonderfully soothing singing voice.
16. Legend states that David advised听King Cadwaladr's soldiers to in their helmets in battle against the Saxons so they could recognise each other.
If you're keen to find out more then I'd recommend the following websites: