Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
Euddogwy [St Euddogwy, Oudoceus]
(supp. fl. late 6th cent.)David E. Thornton
https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/20948
Published in print: 23 September 2004 Published online: 23 September 2004
Euddogwy [St Euddogwy, Oudoceus] (supp. fl. late 6th cent.), holy man and supposed bishop, was founder of the church of Llandogo in Monmouthshire, but by the twelfth century he had been
appropriated by the expanding see of Llandaff and erroneously turned into its third bishop. Euddogwy (from Old Welsh Oudocui), or in the Latin form Oudoceus, is one of the most problematic of the Welsh saints, and may largely be the product of the ecclesiastical propaganda underlying the Book of Llandaff, compiled under Bishop Urban in the twelfth century and intended to provide the episcopal church with a demonstrable early history. The only extant account of the life and deeds of St Euddogwy is the brief Vita sancti Oudocei found in the Book of Llandaff; it is very derivative in content. It states that the saint's parents were Budig, son of Cybrdan of
Cornwall, and Anawfedd, daughter of Ensig of Dyfed and sister of St Teilo (supposedly second bishop of Llandaff). Budig had allegedly promised his sons as disciples to Teilo, and so, following the end of the 'yellow pestilence' (presumably meant to be that which raged in Britain during the 550s), Teilo travelled to Cornwall and brought the young Euddogwy back with him to Llandaff, where he was eventually to succeed Teilo as bishop.
G. H. Doble argued convincingly that the author of this life simply created a series of fictional early bishops of Llandaff by extracting their names, including a 'Eudoce episcopus', from a list of witnesses to charters appended to the life of St Cadog in BL, Cotton MS
Vespasian A.xiv. Furthermore, while much of the life of Euddogwy is concerned with confirming the territorial extent and ecclesiastical privileges of the church of Llandaff, towards its conclusion it shifts rather awkwardly to describe the deeds of Euddogwy as a hermit dwelling on the banks of the Wye, where he founds the church of Llandogo (called Lann Einniaun) in what is now Monmouthshire. The author explains this sudden shift by claiming that Euddogwy had resigned the episcopacy of Llandaff before departing for the Wye, even though elsewhere he claims that Euddogwy would die while still performing his episcopal duties. The feast day is given as 2 July. The patron of Llandogo is probably a very minor Monmouthshire saint, with no connection whatsoever to Llandaff, whom the author of the life has attempted to identify with his subject on account of their onomastic similarity. The Euddogwy of Llandogo has left very little trace of a cult, except for the notice in a document from the
end of the twelfth century of a (Fons Sancti Eudaci'Fountain of St Eudacus') located in the parish of Dixton, near Monmouth. It seems likely, therefore, that St Euddogwy, bishop of Llandaff, was created wholesale during the composition of his life, partly from the name form Eudoce occurring in another twelfth-century life, and partly from Euddogwy, a local Monmouthshire saint of little consequence, in order to furnish the episcopal church of Llandaff with a suitable early bishop. Consequently, any treatment of him as a historical figure is to be suspected.
