Born c. 520; died c. 570 (some scholars believe he may have died as
early as 554).
Gildas may have been born in the lower valley of Clydeside in Scotland.
He is often called "Badonicus" because he was born in the year the
Britons defeated the Saxons at Bath. His father was of the ruling
family of a small kingdom on the borders of Northumbria with its capital
at Dumbarton but he was sent from the banks of the Clyde to the
monastery of Llaniltut or Llantwit. in southern Wales, where he was
trained by
Saint Illtyd (f.d. November 6)
together with
Saint Samson (f.d. July 28)
and
Saint Paul Aurelian (f.d. March 12),
though he was
much younger. Well-known Irish monks, including
Saint Finnian (f.d. December 12),
became his disciples. He made a pilgrimage to Ireland to
consult with his contemporary saints of that land and wrote letters to
far-off monasteries. He seems to have had considerable influence on the
development of the Irish church.
When Gildas graduated from Llantwit he went to Ireland to continue his
studies, moving from one monastic centre to another. Possibly he was
ordained priest in Ireland and went back to the North of Britain,
teaching and preaching in the land of his nativity. The fame of his
successful ministry made Ainmeric, a King in Ireland, invite him back to
restore the discipline and ordered Liturgy in the monasteries and he
taught for a time in the School of Armagh.
On returning to Britain, he assisted S. Cadoc at Llancarven and
accompanied him when he went to Brittany, or Armorica as it was called
at that time. Gildas also went on pilgrimage to Rome and there is a
story that he visited Cadoc on the way. He brought with him a leather
pouch and when he opened it he produced a bell, shaped like a square
cap. The bell was made of beaten metal, a mixture of silver and copper,
and had a very sweet tone so that Cadoc desired it for the monastery he
was building at that time. Gildas however told him that it was destined
for St Peter's at Rome but when he presented it to the Pope on his
arrival in the Holy City, the bell gave no sound at all. On his way back
he called on Cadoc again and gave him the bell which now sounded as
sweet as ever. From this incident Gildas learnt that his labours should
be among his own people.
He is best remembered in Britain for his history of the church in that
land from the departure of the Romans to the invasion of the Saxons. It
was probably written at Glastonbury about 540 and is entitled
De
Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, The Ruin of Britain, which he says
came upon the British through the decadence of their rulers and clergy.
The work laid bare and severely criticised the lives of Britain's rulers
and clerics, blaming their moral laxity for the triumph of the
Anglo-Saxon invaders. Although the fierceness of its rhetorical
invectives has been criticised the wide scriptural scholarship that it
reveals is
uncontested. It also shows that he was knowledgeable about Virgil and
Ignatius (f.d. October 17).
This work was cited by
Saint Bede (f.d. May 26).
He is considered to be the first English historian. He lived as a hermit
for some time on Flatholm Island in the Bristol Channel, where he copied
a missal for
Saint Cadoc (f.d. September 25)
and may have written
De
excidio. Gildas, upon returning from his pilgrimage to Rome, founded a
monastery on an island near Rhuys (Rhuis or Morbihan) in Brittany, which
became the centre of his veneration. Though he lived for a time on a
tiny island in Morbihan Bay, he gathered disciples around him
and does not seem to have cut himself off entirely from the world; he
did travel to other places in Brittany.
The
De excidio, which very influential in the early Middle Ages, may
not have been written entirely by Gildas. Some of it may have been added
shortly after his time. The work serves as an example of the classical
and early Christian literature that was then available in England.
Gilda's writings were used by
Wulfstan (f.d. January 19),
archbishop of
York, in the 11th century in his "Sermon of the Wolf" to the English
people during the disordered reign of Ethelred the Unready.
He did spend some time as a hermit on the island of Flatholm in the
Bristol Channel but he eventually moved to Brittany where he founded a
monastery at a place which bears his name St Gildas-de-Rhuys which
according to Peter Abelard who was later abbot there was not a very
salubrious spot. His tomb is behind the altar in the present church and
there are relics in the Sacristy.
Some early Irish martyrologies commemorate his feast as does the Leofric
Missal (c. 1050) and Anglo-Saxon calendars of the 9th through 11th
centuries
(
Attwater,
Benedictines,
Bentley,
Gill,
Farmer,
Walsh,
White).
He is portrayed in art with a bell near him
(
White).
Troparion of St Gildas the Wise
Tone 8
Truly thou art surnamed 'The Wise', 0 righteous Gildas,
for in thy
monastic solitude thou didst use thy God-given gift of words for His
greater glory.
Teach us to despise nothing, that all our talents,
however small, may be employed in God's service, for the salvation of
our souls.
Kontakion of St Gildas the Wise
Tone 2
As one learned in the art of writing
0 wise Gildas,
thou didst not
hide thy talent, but brought it forth to glorify thy Creator.
Singing
praise to thee, we pray for grace to follow thee in offering everything
to God for His glory alone.
Medieval Sourcebook
The Works of Gildas:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gildas-full.html