Tudwal

Feastday: November 30
Death: 564

Welsh monk and bishop, called Pabu (Father) among the Bretons and sometimes listed as Tugdual. Originally a monk in Wales, he journeyed to Brittany, France, with his mother, sisters, and other relatives. The Celtic language of Brittany was easily understood by Welsh speakers. Tudwal’s cousin, Deroc, was a king of Dumnonia and he worked to promote the faith in his cousin’s domain, founding Lan Paku at Leon, Spain. He eventually became bishop of Treher (Treguier) with King Childebert I (r. 511 -558) as his patron. He is remembered in Wales in several sites in the Leyn Peninsula.

Saint Tudwal (died c. 564), also known as Tual, Tudgual, Tugdual, Tugual, Pabu, Papu, or Tugdualus (Latin), was a Breton monk, considered to be one of the seven founder saints of Brittany.

Life

Tudwal was said to be the son of Hoel Mawr (Hoel I) and a brother of Saint Lenorius. Tudwal travelled to Ireland to learn the scriptures, and then became a hermit on Saint Tudwal's Island East, off the coast of North Wales. Tudwal later immigrated to Brittany, settling in Lan Pabu with 72 followers, where he established a large monastery under the patronage of his cousin, King Deroch of Domnonée. He traveled to Paris to obtain confirmation of the land grant from King Childebert I, who insisted be was Bishop of Tréguier.

Tudwal is shown in iconography as a bishop holding a dragon, now the symbol of Tregor. His feast day is celebrated on 30 November or 1 December.

Tro Breizh (Breton for "Tour of Brittany") is a pilgrimage that links the towns of the seven founding saints of Brittany. These seven saints were Celtic monks from Britain from around the 5th or 6th century who went to Brittany to minister to the Britons who had settled there after the Anglo-Saxon incursions in their homeland. Among the first bishoprics was Tréguier, Saint Tudwal's town.