Saint Tydecho, Relative of King Arthur
Tydecho, usually known as Saint Tydecho, was a religious figure in medieval Wales who appears in some of the Arthurian legends. Although he does not occupy a prominent place in these legends, he is a valuable and important figure in that his appearance does help us to better understand them. With this in mind, what do we know about him, and what connection does he have to King Arthur?
Who Was Saint Tydecho?
We do not have many details about Tydecho. However, what we can say is that he was a religious figure who led a group of missionaries from Brittany to Britain. One of his companions is said to have been Saint Cadfan, a somewhat more prominent religious figure of the era. They and their other companions engaged in preaching work in the southwest of Britain.
Tydecho established several religious communities in different areas. He also came into conflict with at least two rulers, according to the available sources. One of them was the powerful King Maelgwn, while the other was a chieftain named Cynon.
While not a very famous figure, there are a few sources which mention Tydecho. The earliest, it seems, is the Life of St Padarn, which likely dates to c. 1120. He is also mentioned in a document known as the Bonedd y Saint, dating from slightly later. Finally, there is poem by the fifteenth-century poet Dafydd Llwyd which presents an outline of his life. It is entitled Cywydd Tydecho Sant.
Name
The form ‘Tydecho’ is the most common form used in Welsh, but his name is spelt slightly differently in the earliest record in which he appears. In the Life of St Padarn, written in Latin, his name appears as ‘Titechon’.
Family
We receive some information regarding the family of Tydecho in two of the three aforementioned sources. The last of the three, the poem by Dafydd Llwyd, simply states that he was a relative of King Arthur. However, it does not provide any information as to what the exact familial connection was.
Bonedd Y Saint is more informative. According to this source, Tydecho was the son of Annun Ddu ap Emyr Llydaw. The name ‘Emyr Llydaw’ is actually a title which literally means ‘Emperor of Brittany’ (the word ‘Emyr’ can also be used in a slightly lesser sense of ‘king’ or ‘lord’).
Thus, Tydecho was the grandson of the king of Brittany. But which king of Brittany can we identify Emyr Llydaw with, and who was Annun Du?
Tydecho’s Father
According to late tradition, Annun can be identified with Amon, the father of Samson, another sixth century religious figure. While this tradition is late, it is supported by much earlier evidence. The Life of St Paul of Leon, for example, states that Samson and Iudual (a king of Brittany) were cousins. Thus, Samson was apparently closely connected to Breton royalty.
A different record tells us that Iudual’s father, Ionas, was married to an unnamed daughter of Budic, a king of a neighbouring kingdom in Brittany. This was presumably Iudual’s mother. Therefore, since Samson and Iudual were reportedly cousins, it makes a great deal of sense to identify Amon, Samson’s father, as a son of this King Budic.
In other words, King Budic of Brittany, the grandfather of Iudual, can probably be identified with the grandfather of Samson and also, logically, with Emyr Llydaw (‘Emperor of Brittany’), the father of Annun. It is therefore almost certain that Amon and Annun really were the same person, as late tradition claims.
Was Tydecho A Relative of King Arthur through His Father?
As mentioned previously, Tydecho was supposedly a relative of King Arthur. This is what the poet Dafydd Llwyd claimed in his poem about Tydecho’s life. What was the basis for that claim?
Truthfully, we cannot know why Dafydd Llwyd believed that he was Arthur’s relative. However, there is one option that stands out as plausible. As early as the Historia Regum Britanniae, written by Geoffrey of Monmouth in c. 1137, Arthur was believed to have been the brother-in-law of a certain King Budic of Brittany, father of Hoel.
This Budic appears in Welsh versions of this particular legend as ‘Emyr Llydaw’. The facts do not allow us to equate this Budic with the Budic whose daughter married Ionas of Brittany. That Budic was of the generation which preceded Arthur, while Budic the father of Hoel was apparently an exact contemporary of Arthur, and may well have been the nephew of the older Budic.
Nonetheless, it is entirely possible that later writers came to view the two Budics (both of whom were known as Emyr Llydaw, apparently along with Daniel, the father of the older Budic) as the same figure.
If Dafydd Llwyd held this erroneous view, he may have realised that this would make Annun Ddu the nephew of King Arthur. Thus, Tydecho would have been his grandnephew.
While this is a plausible explanation, there is no confirmation of it. The fact that it relies on an assumption that there was a conflation of two different Budics makes this inherently less likely than it would otherwise be. As we will go on to see, there is an alternative possibility.
Siblings
If we can identify Annun ap Emyr Llydaw as Amon, as is almost certainly the case, this would mean that Tydecho was actually the brother of Samson, the famous bishop of the prominent Breton community of Dol.
While there is nothing in the sources which specifically states this, it is consistent with the fact that both of them decided to pursue religious lives. The paucity of information available about Tydecho also helps to explain why there is no known record explicitly recording his close relationship to Samson.
It is also notable that the Life of Saint Samson, dating to perhaps as early as the seventh century, records the fact that Samson had five brothers, although it does not name them. These are said to have ‘surrendered to God’, which is consistent with interpreting one of them as ‘Saint’ Tydecho.
Another sibling of Tydecho (and therefore of Samson) is his sister Tegfedd. The primary source for her is the same poem mentioned previously, composed by Dafydd Llwyd. She lived with Tydecho for a time, but was then kidnapped by a local chieftain, Cynon. Tydecho saved her.
Interestingly, the Life of St Samson also mentions that Samson had a sister, although she is left unnamed. This may well be Tegfedd.
Tydecho’s Mother
The identity of Tydecho’s mother is arguably the most interesting aspect of Tydecho’s family relations, since this may well reveal the true answer to why Tydecho was claimed to have been a relative of King Arthur.
Accepting the likely identity of Annun with Amon the father of Samson, this would mean that Tydecho’s mother was Anna. The Life of St Samson tells us that Anna was from a most noble family, the daughter of a high-ranking court official of the king of Gwent.
Later tradition identifies her as a daughter of King Meurig of Gwent. While this seems to contradict the concept of her father being a court official, this can quite easily be harmonised. Notably, the medieval Welsh tale Geraint and Enid presents Amhar the son of King Arthur as actually being one of the king’s chamberlains, a type of court official.
Therefore, it was evidently not unheard of for princes to serve specific positions within the royal court beyond simply ‘prince’. There is evidence that Tewdrig, the father of Meurig, did not die until he was old. This would allow plenty of time for Anna to have married Amon while Tewdrig was still alive, meaning that Meurig would have still been alive and was thus still a type of court official.
In other words, it is plausible to accept the late tradition that Anna the wife of Amon was a daughter of Meurig of Gwent, albeit before the latter became king.
How This Connects Tydecho to King Arthur
Why might this reveal how Tydecho really was related to King Arthur? The reason is that King Meurig was also the father of a historical figure named Athrwys. He eventually succeeded his father as king of Gwent, also ruling over Glywysing (essentially modern-day Glamorgan) to the west and Ergyng to the east.
Based on his name, the era in which he lived (albeit not according to all scholars), and the location in which he lived, many researchers have argued that Athrwys can be identified as the historical King Arthur. His name, ‘Athrwys’, is interpreted as a corruption of ‘Arthurus’ or something similar.
There is a good argument to be made that Athrwys really was the historical Arthur. However, regardless of whether he was or not, it is very likely that he at least contributed in some ways to the legends of King Arthur. Historians Christopher Gidlow and David Nash Ford, for example, independently argue that some of the Arthurian legends may have derived from Athrwys.
For instance, some of King Arthur’s legendary family members can be seen to have come from the family of Athrwys.
One notable example is Gwrfoddw Hen. He is mentioned in Culhwch and Olwen as a maternal uncle of Arthur. Notably, Athrwys’ mother was from the kingdom of Ergyng. The Book of Llandaff records the fact that the king who came immediately after Gwrgan, Athrwys’ maternal grandfather, was named Gwrfoddw. Although this source does not give his parentage, he was logically the son of the previous king, making him a maternal uncle of Athrwys.
Therefore, the idea that another one of King Arthur’s legendary relatives – in this case, Saint Tydecho – was actually a relative of Athrwys is perfectly plausible. If Tydecho really was the son of Anna of Gwent, as seems likely, then Tydecho would have been Athrwys’ nephew.
Since this is a closer connection than a grandnephew, this is arguably preferable over the explanation that Tydecho’s relationship with Arthur was based on his grandfather Emyr Llydaw having married Arthur’s sister.
Associates
Now that we have examined the family of Tydecho, what about his associates? In two out of the three of the sources which mention Tydecho, he is presented as being in a group of fellow religious men rather than being in isolation.
According to the Life of St Padarn, Tydecho is presented as being one of the four leaders of a group of monks who moved from Brittany to Britain. The other three were Padarn, Cadfan and Ketinlau. While the first two are fairly well-known and well-attested figures of the sixth century, the third figure is more obscure. Peter Bartrum suggests that he could be identified as a saint known as Cynllo.
The poem Cywydd Tydecho Sant also presents Tydecho as having associates, although they are different to the ones mentioned in the Life of St Padarn. This is not a contradiction though, since the poem does not deal with Tydecho’s initial arrival into Britain.
The poem tells us that Tydecho dwelt with two other monks at a religious community in Llandudoch, Dyfed. These two companions were named Dogfael and Tegfan. They are known from other records. Both of them were firmly sixth century figures, thus making this consistent with the dates for Tydecho seen from all other evidence so far.
Career
What do we know about the career of Tydecho? None of the sources reveal what happened in the very early part of his life, but there are some things that we can reasonably deduce.
For example, recall that his father Annun is likely to be identified as Amon the father of Samson. The Life of Saint Samson presents Amon’s father as a high-ranking court official of the king of Dyfed. Annun, meanwhile, is described as the son of ‘Emyr Llydaw’, most probably the elder King Budic of Brittany.
Interestingly, the younger King Budic of Brittany is explicitly presented as being exiled from Brittany for a while and residing in Dyfed for some time. He only returned upon the death of the Breton king. This Breton king was likely Maxentius, who had been deposed by King Tewdrig of Gwent many years previously.
Thus, with evidence of Prince Budic being driven out, and the fact that Amon is probably Annun yet is said to have been in Dyfed with his father, it is virtually certain that the elder King Budic had also been driven out of Brittany. Evidently, he was serving as a court official to the king of Dyfed during his sojourn in that country.
Leaving Britain
With this being the case, Tydecho must have been born and raised in South Wales, in Britain, just like his brother Samson is recorded as being. Yet, in the Life of St Padarn, Tydecho is described as leading a group of monks from Brittany on a migration to Britain.
This shows that he must, at some point, have left Britain and travelled to Brittany, the original land of his father. When did this happen, and how old was he?
As mentioned earlier, there is a record of Budic of Brittany (the younger Budic, not the father of Annun), living as an exile in Dyfed for some time. This was surely directly connected to the reason why Annun, or Amon, was living in Dyfed when he married Anna of Gwent.
Hence, we can likely connect Annun’s return to Brittany with Budic’s return to Brittany. According to the Life of St Oudoceus, Budic returned when the previous king of Brittany died, leaving the throne vacant. The people appealed for him to be made their new king.
Most likely, the king who died was Maxentius, the brother of the elder Budic (and thus uncle of Annun). Since it appears that Annun and his father had been expelled in the same event that caused the younger Budic’s exile to Dyfed, it makes sense that they, too, would not have returned to Brittany until after Maxentius died.
When Did Maxentius Die?
The answer to the question of when Maxentius died is directly tied to when Budic fathered Oudoceus, since Budic’s wife Anawfedd is said, in the Life of St Oudoceus, to have been pregnant with their son Oudoceus during their return to Brittany.
Since the birth of the younger Budic must have been in about the year 500, it is unlikely that Oudoceus was born any later than 540. At the same time, he is unlikely to have been born much earlier than that, since the Life of St Oudoceus makes him a contemporary of the Archbishop of Canterbury, which would be right at the end of the sixth century.
Thus, the approximate year of 540 is a reasonable estimate for when Oudoceus was born. In turn, this is when the younger Budic returned to Brittany. Therefore, this is the most likely year for the return of Annun (whose father, the elder Budic, must have died by this point, hence why he did not become king again).
Tydecho’s Age When He Left Britain
Therefore, we can say with reasonable confidence that Tydecho travelled with his father Annun back to Brittany in approximately 540. How old would he have been at this point? As we saw previously, his father ‘Emyr Llydaw’ (Emperor of Brittany) can most plausibly be identified as King Budic of Brittany – specifically the older of the two sixth-century Breton kings with that name.
This older King Budic must have been born around 480, per Peter Bartrum’s dates. His son Annun is therefore likely to have been born around 500 or a few years after. This fits with him apparently being the first cousin of the younger Budic (father of Oudoceus), whose birth was in c. 500. In turn, Annun’s son Tydecho would have been born another twenty years or so later.
Of course, we do not know if Tydecho was the oldest child or not. He may well have been born much later. In any case, he cannot realistically have been older than twenty when he and his family left Britain. He may well have been quite a bit younger than that.
Returning to Britain
The aforementioned information about Tydecho leaving Britain as a youth is what we can deduce from other information about his family. However, we now arrive at the part of his life which is explicitly described in the sources.
As per the Life of St Padarn, Tydecho eventually became one of three leaders of a group of monks. The other two were Ketinlau (possibly Cynllo) and Cadfan. Padarn was a younger cousin of these three leaders, and he convinced them to let him join them and be made the fourth leader.
We can probably assume that Tydecho was about thirty by the time this happened, meaning it likely happened around 550 or shortly after.
The group of monks in question numbered into the hundreds, or possibly even the thousands. Hence, Tydecho had evidently become an important religious figure by this point.
That same Life describes Padarn as founding a monastery for himself in Ceredigion upon arriving in Britain. This is on the western side of Wales. Thus, it stands to reason that Tydecho, likewise, would have landed somewhere in the west. This is supported by the majority of his dedications in Wales, which are concentrated on the western side.
First and Second Religious Residences
The next piece of information about Tydecho’s life comes from Cywydd Tydecho Sant, the poem by Dafydd Llwyd. This begins by presenting Tydecho as residing at a religious community called Llandudoch. This location is in Dyfed, southwest Wales.
Without any evidence to the contrary, we can assume that this was the first location where Tydecho settled. As well as being the first location mentioned in Dafydd’s account of his career, it is also geographically closer to Brittany than any of Tydecho’s other dedications throughout Wales.
With Tydecho at this place were Dogfael and Tegfan. Here, Tydecho is described as being an abbot.
However, the poem Cywydd Tydecho Sant then notes that Tydecho did not like living by the sea. Thus, he moved far away, to the kingdom of Gwynedd in the north. He moved to Mawddwy, which is in southeast Gwynedd, just next to the border of Powys.
Here, Tydecho is described as founding a ‘temple’ of some kind and living a strict religious life.
Conflict with Maelgwn Gwynedd
The next notable event mentioned by Dafydd is that Tydecho came into conflict with Maelgwn Gwynedd. This figure is most famous for being the king of the kingdom of Gwynedd, although he is not actually called a king in this account.
According to this account, Maelgwn was ‘a wild youth’ when this happened. He is also called ‘that great tormentor of saints’.
For unexplained reasons, Maelgwn wanted to annoy Tydecho, so he sent a herd of white horses to inconvenience him. Tydecho set them loose over the mountainside, causing work for Maelgwn’s men as they tried to recover them.
Once they did, they found that the horses had turned a golden yellow colour. This frustrated Maelgwn, who then sought even more trouble with Tydecho.
Subsequently, Maelgwn stole all of Tydecho’s oxen. However, miraculously, wild deer arrived and started ploughing Tydecho’s land for him.
Maelgwn then set his hounds on the deer. He sat down on a blue stone to watch the chase. However, when he attempted to rise, he found that he was miraculously stuck to the seat. It was only after asking Tydecho to be pardoned that he was released. Thereafter, Maelgwn offered Tydecho the privilege of sanctuary for the rest of his life.
Conflict with Cynon
The next event mentioned in Cywydd Tydecho Sant is a conflict involving Tydecho’s sister Tegfedd. She was residing with Tydecho. It is evident that Tydecho was still living in the district of Mawddwy at this point in his life.
While living here, a chieftain named Cynon arrived and kidnapped Tegfedd.
Again, the conflict was resolved by miraculous means according to this medieval account. Cynon and his men were all struck blind. They only way to end their affliction was to restore Tegfedd, utterly unharmed, to her brother Tydecho. Furthermore, Cynon had to give a grant of land to Tydecho, which land was the area of Garthbeibio in northwest Powys.
It seems likely that the Cynon of this account can be identified with Cynan Garwyn. He was a king of Powys in the late-sixth century. The poem Cywydd Tydecho Sant does not give us any indication as to how much time passed between Tydecho’s conflict with Maelgwn and his conflict with Cynon.
Nevertheless, there is no more information about what happened next in Tydecho’s life. This is the end of the account. Therefore, it could well have happened much later in his life. Since Cynan Garwyn was born in approximately 540, this event would have only needed to have occurred less than ten years after the conflict with Maelgwn (which was likely in c. 550 or shortly thereafter) for Cynan Garwyn to be a realistic candidate for the Cynon of the account.
In any case, no other sixth-century Cynan or Cynon of Powys is known, so this is surely the most plausible identification.
How Tydecho Sheds Light on the Arthurian Legends
As we can see, Tydecho does not have a large part to play in the Arthurian legends. His main role in those legends is the simple fact, recorded by Dafydd Llwyd, that he was King Arthur’s relative.
However, Tydecho does shed some light on the Arthurian legends in a number of ways, particularly in a chronological sense.
For example, recall the fact that Maelgwn was described as being a ‘wild youth’ at the time of his conflict with Tydecho.
Following on from the previous estimates about when Tydecho was likely born and when he returned to Britain, this event may have taken place in the early 550s. It cannot realistically have occurred earlier than that, given the other information about Tydecho’s life that we have already considered.
The fact that Maelgwn is described as a youth at this time is most interesting. While this does not fit with the traditional dates assigned to Maelgwn (which have him die in 547), it does fit well with modern research by Rachel Bromwich and others, which suggests that he was actually a late-sixth century king rather than an early-sixth century king.
This would allow Maelgwn to have been born in the early 520s and still be classed as a ‘wild youth’ when this event occurred in the early 550s.
The reason that this is so significant for the Arthurian legends is that the dating of Maelgwn is profoundly linked to the dating of King Arthur himself. Maelgwn was reigning as king when Gildas wrote De Excidio, at which point it had been forty-three years since the Battle of Badon, later credited as Arthur’s great victory over the Saxons.
Therefore, if Maelgwn was still a youth in the early 550s, this supports the suggested late chronology for Maelgwn’s life. As a consequence, this would bring forward the date of Arthur’s victory at the Battle of Badon to near the middle of the sixth century.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Tydecho was a religious figure who was allegedly related to King Arthur. He was the son of Annun ap Emyr Llydaw, most likely identifiable as Amon the father of Samson of Dol. Thus, Tydecho was apparently the brother of the famous Samson. He was likely born shortly after 520, left Britain for Brittany in c. 540, and then returned to Britain in perhaps c. 550.
After returning to Britain, Tydecho established a number of religious communities. He also found himself in conflict with Maelgwn Gwynedd and a chieftain named Cynon of Powys, possibly King Cynan Garwyn.
The basis for his relationship to Arthur is uncertain, but it may well be due to the fact that his likely mother, Anna of Gwent, is believed to have been the sister of Athrwys, one of the most prominent candidates for the historical King Arthur.
Sources
Bartrum, Peter, A Welsh Classical Dictionary, 1993
Bromwich, Rachel, Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain, 2014
Howells, Caleb, King Arthur: The Man Who Conquered Europe, 2019
Farmer, David, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints: Fifth Edition Revised, 2011