Saint Eigen: Difference between revisions

'''Saint Eigen''', '''Eurgen''', '''Eurgain''' or '''Eurgan''' was the legendary, and possibly historical first female [[Christianity|Christian]] [[saint]] among the Britons. Her name has doubtfully been linked to two Welsh churches and is found in manuscripts from the collection of [[Iolo Morganwg]] making historical evidence of her existence dubious and limited.<ref name="Asaph)Tysilio1811">{{cite book|author1=Geoffrey (of Monmouth, Bishop of St. Asaph)|author2=Saint Tysilio|author3=Gildas|title=The Chronicle of the Kings of Britain|url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleofkings00tysiuoft|accessdate=10 August 2012|year=1811|publisher=E. Williams|pages=[https://archive.org/details/chronicleofkings00tysiuoft/page/294 294]–}}</ref>

[[File:St Eigon, Llanigon - geograph.org.uk - 714248.jpg|thumb|200px|The parish church of Saint Eigon in Llanigon, Wales]]

Eigen is noted as the daughter of [[Caratacus]] in the History of Dunraven Manuscript, a manuscript giving the [[genealogy]] of [[Taliesin]] from the collection of [[Thomas Hopkin of Coychurch]], one from the [[Havod Uchtryd]] collection and in an extract he claimed to have copied from the [[Long Book of Thomas Truman]].<ref name="MorganwgJones1848">{{cite book|author1=Iolo Morganwg|author2=Owen Jones|author3=Society for the Publication of Ancient Welsh Manuscripts, Abergavenny|title=Iolo manuscripts: A selection of ancient Welsh manuscripts, in prose and verse, from the collection made by the late Edward Williams, Iolo Morganwg, for the purpose of forming a continuation of the Myfyrian archaiology; and subsequently proposed as materials for a new history of Wales|url=https://archive.org/details/iolomanuscripts00manugoog|accessdate=10 August 2012|year=1848|publisher=W. Rees; sold by Longman and co., London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/iolomanuscripts00manugoog/page/n366 350]–}}</ref><ref name="Mabinogion1849">{{cite book|author=Mabinogion|title=The Mabinogion, from the Llyfr coch o Hergest, and other ancient Welsh MSS., with an Engl|url=https://archive.org/details/mabinogionfroml00mabigoog|accessdate=10 August 2012|year=1849|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mabinogionfroml00mabigoog/page/n399 391]–}}</ref> This reference can also be found in the family records of [[Iestyn ab Gwrgant]], where it is said of her; ''"She lived in the close of the first century, and was married to [[Sarllog]], who was a lord of [[Caer Sarllog]], or the present [[Old Sarum]]"''.<ref name="Anonymous2004">{{cite book|author=Anonymous|title=The Genealogy Of Iestyn The Son Of Gwrgan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6_0YXFstmRoC&pg=PA513-IA4|accessdate=10 August 2012|date=31 March 2004|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=978-0-7661-8411-4|pages=513–}}</ref> In this manuscript, Eigen is said to have returned from Rome with Caratacus with [[Saint Cyllin]] and [[Joseph of Arimathea|Saint Ilid]] and formed a religious college of twelve named ''Cor Eurgain'' (the choir of Eurgain), suggesting the early entry of [[Christianity]] into [[United Kingdom|Britain]]; ''"the Cymry embraced the faith in Christ through the teaching of the saints of Cor-Eurgain"''.<ref name="Morgan1861">{{cite book|author=Richard Williams Morgan|title=St. Paul in Britain; or, The origin of British as opposed to papal Christianity|url=https://archive.org/details/stpaulinbritain01morggoog|accessdate=8 August 2012|year=1861|pages=[https://archive.org/details/stpaulinbritain01morggoog/page/n173 161]–|publisher=The Marshall Press }}</ref> Attempts have also been made to identify Eigen with the Claudia mentioned by [[Saint Paul]] in the [[Second Epistle to Timothy]], however evidence for this is largely coincidental. Some authors also claim she was called [[Gladys (given name)|Gladys]] on the suggestion that this was a [[Welsh language|Welsh]] word for princess.<ref name="Williams1869">{{cite book|author=Jae Williams|title=A history of Wales: Derived from authentic sources|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7AM-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA42|accessdate=10 August 2012|year=1869|publisher=Longmans, Green & Co|pages=42–}}</ref>

Eigen is also discussed as the first female saint in the works of [[Rice Rees]], [[Jane Williams]], [[Sabine Baring-Gould]] and [[John Williams (Ab Ithel)]].<ref name="Baring-GouldFisher2005">{{cite book|author1=S. Baring-Gould|author2=John Fisher|title=The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales, Cornwall and Irish Saints|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uE3pXSdZd5gC&pg=PA416|accessdate=10 August 2012|date=30 June 2005|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=978-0-7661-8765-8|pages=416–}}</ref><ref name="Rees1836">{{cite book|author=Rice Rees|title=An essay on the Welsh saints or the primitive Christians, usually considered to have been the founders of the churches in Wales|url=https://archive.org/details/AnEssayOnTheWelshSaints|accessdate=10 August 2012|year=1836|publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman|pages=[https://archive.org/details/AnEssayOnTheWelshSaints/page/n373 355]–}}</ref><ref name="Williams1844">{{cite book|author=John Williams|title=The eccles. Antiquities of the Cymry; or: The ancient British church|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4hoDAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA58|accessdate=10 August 2012|year=1844|publisher=Cleaver|pages=58–}}</ref>

In the annals of [[Tacitus]], a daughter of Caratacus is mentioned appearing in front of the [[Roman Senate]] and Emperor [[Claudius]] in approximately 53 CE. Caratacus' daughter is never named in the record of Tacitus and she is not mentioned with her mother, father and uncles as having been given a pardon from the brutality of a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] execution by the Emperor.<ref>[[Tacitus]], ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ann.+12.33 12:33-38]</ref><ref>[[Tacitus]], ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0078%3Abook%3D13%3Achapter%3D32 13:32]</ref>

Eigen features in a [[cantata]] by [[Edward Elgar]] in 1897-8 devoted to the defeat and capture of the king by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]]. It was first performed at the [[Leeds]] choral festival in 1898. Her name in the Cantana has variously been claimed to be both historical and derived from a neighbour of Elgar's in [[Malvern, Worcestershire|Malvern]] called Eigen Stone.<ref name="ClaytonZon2007">{{cite book|author1=Martin Clayton|author2=Bennett Zon|title=Music and Orientalism in the British Empire, 1780s-1940s: Portrayal of the East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3cRlzq6mAzAC&pg=PA165|accessdate=10 August 2012|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-5604-3|pages=165–}}</ref><ref name="Moore1999">{{cite book|author=Jerrold Northrop Moore|title=Edward Elgar: A Creative Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WRULnIDJRH8C&pg=PA230|accessdate=10 August 2012|date=16 September 1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-816366-4|pages=230–}}</ref> Eigen, spelt as '''Eigon''' is also the subject of a modern, time-slip novel by [[Barbara Erskine]] called The Warrior's Princess, published in 2008.<ref name="Erskine2008">{{cite book|author=Barbara Erskine|title=The Warrior's Princess|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aQf56GHu8iAC|accessdate=10 August 2012|date=28 December 2008|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers|isbn=978-0-00-728720-8}}</ref>

The parish church of [[Llanigon]], [[Wales]] is dedicated to "Saint Eigon", but this almost certainly refers to Eigion, brother of St Cynidr, to whom the parish church in neighbouring [[Glasbury]] was dedicated.<ref name="Baring-Gould">{{cite book|author1=S. Baring-Gould|author2=J. Fisher|title=Lives of the British Saints|volume=2|url=https://archive.org/stream/livesofbritishsa02bariuoft#page/416/mode/2up|accessdate=21 November 2012|year=1908|publisher=Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion|page=417}}</ref>

Another Welsh church in [[Northop]] ([[Welsh language|Welsh]]: Llaneurgain), [[Flintshire]], is dedicated to "Saint Eurgain", said to have been the daughter of Prince [[Maelgwn Gwynedd]] and niece of [[St. Asaph]]. She is said to have lived in Flintshire in the 6th century CE and has a feast day on 30 June. There is evidence that the church of St Eurgain and St Peter has existed since the 6th century.<ref name="England)1931">{{cite book|author=St. Augustine's Abbey (Ramsgate, England)|title=a book of the saints|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Ik9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA79|accessdate=10 August 2012|year=1931|publisher=Taylor & Francis|pages=79–|id=GGKEY:FBQ2KW4XCSB}}</ref><ref name="Hemingway1839">{{cite book|author=Joseph Hemingway|title=Panorama of the beauties, curiosities, and antiquities of North Wales|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27cHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA249|accessdate=10 August 2012|year=1839|pages=249–}}</ref>

*[http://www.cpat.demon.co.uk/projects/longer/churches/brecon/16881.htm Church of Saint Eigon, Llanigon - The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust]

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[[Category:1st-century Christian martyrs]]

[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]