Lives Of The Saints
November 6
St. Illtud
Quick answer
At a glance
- What it is
- St. Illtud is remembered as a saint whose exact biography is hard to recover, but whose importance is still real.
- Feast
- November 6
- Source
- Butler's Lives of the Saints, Volume IV (October-November-December), November 6, St Illtud, or Illtyd, Abbot, Christian Classics 1990, pp. 274-275. Read the source standards.
Saint Illtud in Holy Trinity Church, Abergavenny
Brief life
Illtud is one of the most celebrated Welsh saints, but this life gains strength from caution. The surviving Latin life is late and thick with legend, so the stronger approach is not to build everything on embroidered stories. Instead, the earlier references are held fast: Illtud stands behind the great monastic school at Llantwit and behind a major stream of Welsh monastic and intellectual formation.
That alone makes him a serious figure. The exact biography is hard to recover, but the saint's importance is still real, rooted more in teaching, formation, and monastic influence than in miracle-stories.
Historical note
This life is notably cautious about Illtud’s late Latin life and keeps the strongest footing in the earlier references to his role as abbot and teacher.
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