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The earliest known ‘life’ of St David was written by a monk called Rhygyfarch around 1080, five hundred years after David died. It was based on the oral traditions and memories of his sayings and the stories passed down, not always what we would consider ‘facts’.
St. David (born c. 520, near St. Bride’s Bay, Pembrokeshire, Wales—died c. 600, Menevia; feast day March 1) was a 6th-century bishop who is revered as the patron saint of Wales.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
He and his monks led a very simple and austere life living off only leeks and water. They even refused to use oxen to plough their fields, preferring to do it by hand.
St David’s Day is a joyous moment in the Welsh calendar, synonymous with parades, concerts, children in traditional dress, and the proud wearing of daffodils and leeks on lapels. But just who was St David – or Dewi Sant – himself?
- Elinor Evans
- David was born in the 6th century. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but David is said to have been born around the year 520 – some 1,500 years ago.
- He had an unlikely parentage.
- David founded a monastery. As a young man, David became a monk. He is said to have founded a monastery in around the year 560, close to the place where he was born.
- Britain’s smallest city is named after him. The existence of the cathedral means that St Davids is Britain’s smallest city, with a population of roughly 1,600 – compared to an estimated 358,000 in Wales’s capital, Cardiff.
Mar 1, 2023 · What did he do and why is he so important to Wales to this day? Although not much is known about the patron saint, the son of the Bishop of St. Davids - Rhygyfarch, wrote a biography about...
David was buried at St David's Cathedral at St Davids, Pembrokeshire, where his shrine was a popular place of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages. During the 10th and 11th centuries the Cathedral was regularly raided by Vikings, who removed the shrine from the church and stripped off the precious metal adornments.
