COMPOSITE LIVES OF ST BEUNO
By Darrell Wolcott
The principal authority for
the history of St Beuno is a short life contained in Llyvr Agkyr Llandewivrevi. Written in Welsh, it was translated
at the end of "Life and Miracles of S. Wenefrede", edited by Bishop Fleetwood in 1713. The genealogy in the portion
known as Buchedd Beuno says Beuno was "ap Bugi ap Gwynlliw ap Tegit ap Kadell drynlluc".[1] His mother is cited
as "Beren ferch Lawdden". Other medieval pedigrees[2] call her "Pherferen ferch Lawdden Llydaw" and further identify
her as a sister of Denyw, mother of St. Kentigern, and Tenoi, wife of Dyngad ap Nudd Hael and mother of St. Eleri.[3]
Each of these citations point
to a date near 515/520 for the birth of Beuno. An immediate chronological problem occurs since the bulk of his life
can be dated to the 570/640 era from the known floruit of men with whom he directly interfaced. Further
research makes it clear this "life" speaks of two different men called St. Beuno. The one in the genealogies was born
in Tegeingl and resided at Holywell. He is the man whose sister, Gwenlo, was married to Tyfid ap Eiludd and bore
a daughter, Gwenfrewi, who is better known as St. Winifred. Those modern biographies which date her to the mid-seventh
century do so incorrectly by associating her with a later St. Beuno. She died in her early thirties while serving with
her mother's cousin, St. Eleri, as abbess of Gwytherin. All the other Saints named in her Vita Sancte Wenfrede were
a generation older than Eleri.[4] She seems to have been sent to St. Beuno for religious training as a maiden of perhaps
12/13 years old; her correct birthdate should be near 535. Except for his association with St. Winifred and his Tegeingl
locale, virtually nothing is known of this St. Beuno. If he lived a full life, it would have ended c. 590.
The other Beuno, whose
pedigree is not given, was first associated with Welshpool in Powys and he ended his life about 640 in Clynnog on the Lleyn
peninsula of Gwynedd. The men with whom he interacted include Mawn and Cynan Garwyn, sons of Brochwel Ysgithrog, the
young sons of Selyf ap Cynan, Cadfan ap Iago of Gwynedd and his son, Cadwallon. The former were the Powys royal family,
while the latter were kings of Gwynedd. Both his place on the timeline and his familiarity with each of these men point
to him being a son of Cynan Garwyn. If so, the fact that Afandreg ferch Cynan was married to Cadfan ap Iago would have
naturally led Beuno to visit his brother-in-law in Gwynedd. His biographer mentions the death of Cadfan, which occurred
c. 620, and a visit with Cadwallon soon after he assumed the kingship. Cadwallon died soon after, falling in battle
in 634.[5]
The other notable event
in Beuno's life concerned a daughter of Ynyr Gwent named Tigiwg. She met a young carpenter from Gwynedd who had come
to Gwent to help build a palace and fell in lust with him; her father "gave her in marriage" to the young man "lest she should
have him in some other way". When the man returned home to Gwynedd, he took his new wife with him but apparently
did not share her passions. Supposedly he killed her on the way home, but more likely he simply took off while she was
asleep. St. Beuno's men found the girl and brought her to the holy man who took her in as a new recruit to his
brand of religion. Sometime later, her brother Iddon came looking for her, apparently having heard the carpenter was
back home with no wife in tow. She chose to stay with Beuno, who then went with Iddon to confront her husband
and secure the return of those wedding gifts he had received in Gwent. This incident clearly did not involve the children
of the Ynyr Gwent who some say married a daughter of Vortimer[6]; if such a Ynyr existed, he would belong to the fifth
century. The father of Tigiwd and Iddon certainly dates to the middle of the sixth century. His ancestry is uncertain,
but he was probably contemporary with Meurig ap Tewdrig of Gwent.
Although the St. Beuno
of Clynnog is the man intended to be honored by the medieval biographer, both the parentage cited for him and the story
of St. Winifred belong to the earlier Beuno of Holywell. We suggest the following chart for the two men:
380 Cadell Ddyrnllwg
___________l_____________
l
l
410 Pasgen
420 Tegid
l
l
440
Maun
450 Gwynlliw
l
l
475 Cyngen
485 Bugi
l
___________l____
l
l
l
510 Brochwel Ysgithrog
St Beuno 515 Gwenlo 520
l of Holywell
l
545 Cynan Garwyn
St Winifred 535
___________l__________
l
l l
580
575 Selyf 575 St Beuno
Afandreg==Cadfan 569
of Clynnog
l
598 Cadwallon
ob 634
