Events
We have been sharing the fruits of our research at a series of project events around Wales since 2014, accompanied by a touring exhibition. Members of the project team have represented the project at international conferences and also given talks for local societies.
Vitae Sanctorum Cambriae
Lives of the Welsh Saints
26–7 September 2019
Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, Faculty of English
University of Cambridge
This two-day conference brought together a wide range of scholars to present recent work on Latin and Welsh saints’ Lives.
Speakers: Angela Kinney, Francesco Marzella, Jane Cartwright, Jenny Day, Joshua Byron Smith, Fiona Edmonds, Sarah Waidler, Ben Guy, David Callander, Barry Lewis, Andrew Rabin, Martin Crampin, Karen Jankulak, Thomas Clancy and Paul Russell.
International Conferences
The project organised three full sessions at Leeds International Medieval Congress on 1 July 2019, including papers by past and present members of the project team.
Further papers by the project team that were relevant to the project were also presented at the 16th International Congress of Celtic Studies in Bangor on 25 and 26 July.
Gloucester Abbey and the Lives of the Welsh Saints
Saturday 3 November 2018
Chapter House, Gloucester Cathedral
An afternoon of talks on the connections between Gloucester and the collection of legendary material concerning Welsh saints. A surviving Life of Dyfrig, adopted as co-patron of Llandaff Cathedral, was rewritten in Gloucester, and other Lives of Welsh saints are thought to have been composed in either the priories of Monmouth or Brecon, but arguably based on material compiled at Gloucester. Further saints’ Lives were recorded in a medieval legendary originating in Leominster, the third volume of which is now held in Gloucester Cathedral Library.
Speakers: Paul Russell, Angela Kinney, Francesco Marzella and Martin Crampin.
St Asaph, St Kentigern and the Saints of Wales
Tuesday 4 September 2018
St Asaph Cathedral
An opportunity to meet researchers from the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies and the University of Cambridge at the cathedral who presented their work on Welsh saints. The project exhibition was also installed in the cathedral throughout August.
The Saints of Llandaff
Saturday 11 November 2017
Prebendal House, Llandaff Cathedral
An afternoon of talks presenting work in progress on saints in Wales. The speakers presented new research on the Book of Llandaff, Lives of Welsh saints, including Dyfrig, Teilo and Euddogwy, patrons of Llandaff Cathedral, and stained glass in the building.
Speakers: Paul Russell, David Parsons, Ben Guy and Martin Crampin
Stories of the Saints
Saturday 3 June 2017
Drwm, National Library of Wales
This day conference presented the research from a four-year project editing Welsh Lives, poetry and genealogies of saints in Wales, and launched a new research project on the Latin Lives of Welsh saints.
Speakers: David Parsons, Paul Russell, Alaw Mai Edwards, Jenny Day, Ann Parry Owen, Martin Crampin, J. Wyn Evans
Padarn and the Saints of Wales
Saturday 1 April 2017
Church of St Padarn, Llanbadarn Fawr
An afternoon of talks about St Padarn and the saints of Wales, drawing on evidence from medieval literature, place names and visual culture.
Speakers: Gerald Morgan, Paul Russell, David Parsons, Martin Crampin and Peter Lord
Talks in Welsh and English, simultaneous English translation available
Organised by the ‘Cult of Saints in Wales’ project, University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies in cooperation with St. Padarn’s Church, Llanbadarn Fawr, and the St Padarn Team 517–2017.
Stories of the Saints Exhibition
February – June 2017
A series of talks and events coincided with the ‘Stories of the Saints‘ exhibition at the National Library of Wales. David Parsons gave a lunchtime talk at the Library on 1 March, ‘Chwedlau’r llan: seintiau Cymru o Benfro i’r Fflint’, and both David and Martin Crampin gave gallery talks on 29 March. Martin also delivered a lunchtime lecture on 17 May and a one-day conference was held at the Library on 3 June.
Leeds International Medieval Congress
4 July 2016
The project held a full session at this international conference (Saints in Wales), including papers by Jane Cartwright, Jenny Day and Martin Crampin, chaired by Janet Burton.
St Winefride & Holywell
Saturday 25 June 2016
Church of St James, Holywell
An afternoon of talks on St Winefride and Holywell. Subjects included the medieval Life of Winefride, medieval poetry to the saint, and the importance of the well to visitors in the Romantic period. There was also a talk on St Winefride’s well with an opportunity to visit the site.
Speakers: Jane Cartwright, Mary-Ann Constantine, Tristan Gray Hulse and Eurig Salisbury
St David & Saints in Wales
Monday 29 February 2016
Tŷ’r Pererin, St Davids
An afternoon of talks presenting work in progress on saints in medieval Wales. The subjects included the different Welsh versions of the Life of David and the poem to David by Gwynfardd Brycheiniog, as well as images of David and place-names in Pembrokeshire relating to saints.
Speakers: Martin Crampin, Jenny Day, Ann Parry Owen and David Parsons
Medieval Saints in Glamorgan
Saturday 7 November 2015
Church of St Illtud, Llantwit Major
An afternoon of talks presenting work in progress on saints in medieval Wales. The subjects included the Welsh Life of St Mary Magdalene, the Life of St Illtud, place-names in Glamorgan relating to saints and images of saints in stained glass and sculpture.
Speakers: Jane Cartwright, Martin Crampin, Karen Jankulak and David Parsons
Medieval Saints in Gwynedd
Saturday 12 September 2015
The Diocesan Centre, Bangor
An afternoon of talks presenting work in progress on saints in medieval Wales. The subjects included new research on local saints, the genealogies of the Welsh saints, and a tour of the cathedral to see images of saints in stained glass.
Speakers: Martin Crampin, Alaw Mai Edwards, Barry Lewis and David Parsons
15th International Congress of Celtic Studies
14 July 2015, Glasgow
The project held a full session at this week-long conference (Hagiography and History 2 – The Cult of Saints in Wales), including papers by Eurig Salisbury, Alaw Mai Edwards and Barry Lewis, chaired by David Parsons. Martin Crampin also gave a paper in the following session (Hagiography and History 3).
For more on Martin’s paper, and another for the ‘The Middle Ages in the Modern World‘ conference at the University of Lincoln, see his blog post.
Medieval Breconshire and the Welsh Poets
16 May 2015, Brecon
As part of a day-conference on Medieval Breconshire and the Welsh Poets, Eurig Salisbury asked ‘Sut i gael 42 o seintiau mewn un gerdd? Moliant Huw Cae Llwyd i seintiau Brycheiniog’ (How do you get 42 saints into one poem? Huw Cae Llwyd’s praise for the saints of Brycheiniog).
Conference: The Cult of Saints in Wales – Sources and Contexts
16–19 September 2014, Halliwell Centre, Carmarthen
This conference was held as part of the AHRC-funded ‘The Cult of Saints in Wales: Medieval Welsh-language Sources and their Transmission’. The principal aim of the project is to produce an electronic edition of the poetry addressed to saints, the prose lives, and the saints’ genealogies which make up the Welsh-language hagiographical corpus.
At the conference some of these texts were examined and discussed; the aim being to locate them in a wide range of contexts. At its broadest, the theme encompasses the whole range of local responses to hagiography across Celtic-speaking countries, Britain and Europe.
Click here for the programme.