(ABOUT A.D. 560.)
[Patron of Llandaff. His name occurs in the Salisbury Martyrology of
Wytford, and in the Anglican Mart. of John Wilson, who placed him on
Dec. 26th, and was followed by Ferrarius. The correct day is,
however, certainly Feb. 9th. He is recorded in the Welsh triads as
one of the three canonized Saints of Britain; the two others are S.
David and S. Cadoc. Authorities:--The Life, by Galfredus, of
Llandaff (circ. 1120); another anonymous life in Capgrave; the
Regestum Landavense; and the Liber Landavensis.]
S. Teilo or Theliav was descended from a noble British stock. His
father's name was Enlleu, son of Hydwn Dwn, and the place of his birth
was Eccluis Cunnian, near Tenby. From his infancy he bent his neck
beneath the gentle yoke of Christ, and, despising worldly vanities,
was given to prayer and alms-deeds. He studied first under S.
Dubricius, by whose assistance he attained great proficiency in the
knowledge of the Scriptures; his next instructor was Paulinus, under
whom he pursued the same study, and in whose school he was the
associate of S. David. Under the patronage of Dubricius he opened a
college, at Llandaff, which was called Bangor Deilo, or the great
choir of Teilo; and his settlement at that place may serve to account
for his appointment to fill the See of Llandaff upon the retirement of
his patron to the Isle of Bardsey. The idea that he was made bishop of
Llandaff at the time S. Dubricius was raised to the Archbishopric of
Caerleon, is irreconcilable with chronology. The original diocese
governed by S. Teilo, as ascertained by the absence of churches
founded by S. David, was co-extensive with the ancient lordships of
Glamorgan, containing the present rural deaneries of Croneath,
Llandaff, and Newport. How long he continued to preside over this
limited district is uncertain; but, in the reign of Maelgwn Cwynedd,
the Yellow Plague desolated the Principality. Upon this occasion S.
Teilo, with several others, retired to Cornwall, and thence into
Brittany, where he was honourably received by S. Samson, Bishop of
Dol. After he had remained seven years and as many months in Brittany,
he returned, with several of his disciples, to his native country, and
on his arrival was elected to the Archbishopric of Menevia, vacant by
the death of Cynog. Like S. David, he, however, retained a
predilection for the seat of his original bishopric, and, appointing
Ismael to the situation of Bishop of Menevia, he removed the
archbishopric to Llandaff. In order to maintain his title to the
primacy undisturbed, he appears to have kept under his immediate
government the whole of the diocese held before by S. David, with the
exception of the part north of the river Tivy, which was henceforth
attached to the diocese of Llanbadarn.
There is a story told of his having made a pilgrimage, before all
this, to the Holy Land, in company with S. David and S. Padarn, and of
their having received episcopal consecration from the Patriarch of
Jerusalem; but it is probable that this was a story, borrowed by
Giraldus from one of the lost Triads, and was invented to establish
the independence of the Welsh bishops of the See of Rome.
In the Triads, S. Teilo is called one of the Three Blessed Visitors to
the Isle of Britain, and he is associated with SS. David and Padarn.
"They were so called," says the Triad, "because they went as guests to
the houses of the noble, the plebeian, the native, and the stranger,
without accepting either fee or reward, or victuals, or drink; but
what they did was to teach the faith in Christ to every one without
payment or thanks. Besides which, they gave to the poor and needy,
gifts of their gold and silver, their raiment and provisions." His
companions, or pupils, playing on his name, compared it to _Helios_,
which, in Greek, means the sun; because, by his heavenly doctrine and
example, he illumined the Church in South Wales, and warmed the hearts
of the faithful. Twelve churches in the diocese of S. David's, and six
in that of Llandaff, claim to have been founded by S. Teilo.[29]
A curious, late, and utterly worthless story, save as an example of
the manner in which the popular tongue forges marvels, is related of
his relics. At his death, three priests of different parishes were
present, one from Llandaff, where he had been bishop; one of Llandeilo
Fawr, where he died; and one of Penaly, near Tenby, where his
ancestors had been buried. Each wished to claim the body for his
church. The contention grew sharp between them, and was only
terminated by the oldest of the three exhorting his brethren to leave
the decision to God. Then they retired to rest, and, next morning,
when they entered the room where the dead saint lay, lo! his one body
had become three, perfectly identical in every particular, and each
priest was able to carry off a S. Teilo to his own church. The origin
of this foolish story is self-evident. It is an attempt to account, by
a miracle, for the existence, in three places, of bodies of S. Teilo;
a portion of his relics being probably preserved in each of these
churches, and the popular tongue having magnified each portion into an
entire body.