Tewdrig

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Saint Tewdrig (alternatively Saint Tewdric, Tewdrig ap Llywarch, or Theodoric) (Latin: Theodoricius) (c. 580 - c. 630) was King of Gwent and Glywysing in South Wales, who was martyred fighting the Anglo-Saxons.

According to the 12th century Book of Llandaff, Tewdrig was the son of the previous king, either Llywarch or Teithfall, and a supposed benefactor of the church of Llandaff. He abdicated in favour of his son, Meurig, in order to devote himself to religion and contemplation at Tintern (in Monmouthshire today). However, when the Saxons under King Ceolwulf crossed the Severn around the year 630 and pressed hard upon Meurig, the local monasteries were particularly badly hit by their raids and Tewdrig decided to come out of retirement to defend the church and help his son. They repelled the Saxons in a battle at Pont y Saeson (Bridge of the Saxons), near Tintern, but Tewdrig was wounded. An ox-cart was called to take him to Flat Holm (Ynys Echni) in the Bristol Channel for treatment but, on their journey, the oxen stopped at a miraculous spring, now known as St Tewdrig's Well. Here Tewdrig's wounds were cleansed, and he died. The date of his death is commemorated as 3 January.

King Meurig built a church on the spot and buried his father's body there, giving the surrounding land to the Bishops of Llandaff. The place became known as Merthyr Tewdrig ("the burial-place of Tewdrig"), which later became the village of Mathern, near the junction of the Rivers Wye and Severn.^[1] Modern historians^[2] question whether there was in fact a battle at Tintern, and suggest instead that Tewdrig may have fought near Bath, on the eastern side of the Severn, and died on his way back to south Wales.

The alleged bones and relics of Saint Tewdrig, or Theodoric, in the church at Mathern survived the sixteenth century destruction. Francis Godwin, Bishop of Llandaff 1601-1617, discovered by the altar in the church a stone coffin containing the saint's bones, and he was found to have a badly fractured skull. A plaque in the church marks the discovery.

Saint Tewdrig was the grandfather of Athrwys ap Meurig.