The female saints of Cornwall.

This thesis seeks to identify the female saints of Cornwall and their connections to each other and to the saints of other Celtic regions. The aim of the research was to establish if there were common links and themes between these saints, given that so many of them are found and remembered solely in Cornwall and, in the majority of cases, have only one church dedicated to them. Given the lack of contemporaneous written material relating to these saints, much focus was placed on material evidence relating to them in terms of churches and holy wells, many of which I visited. Secondary evidence relating to these saints has also been considered, including the work of both modern scholars and earlier sources. Although much work has been carried out on the saints of Cornwall, little has been done to establish any parallels between the female saints. In many cases, the lack of knowledge about them means that they are all but forgotten outside of their parish boundary. It became clear as I researched more that there were links between them in terms of common themes (in particular, the themes of water and holy wells, and of the virgin martyr). There were also geographical links with other Celtic countries, namely Ireland, Wales and Brittany. These formed a clear pattern of their own, with regard to the location of the saints in Cornwall.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

ma

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Fish, Sarah

• BR Cristnogaeth
• DA Prydain Fawr

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:429