Texts
Vita sancti Gurthierni
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A Breton Latin Life of St Gurthiern. He is said to have been a Welsh prince, who after inadvertently killing his sister's son, became a hermit, at first in Britain and finally, in Brittany, where he was granted Anaurot, i.e. Quimperlé, and founded its original church. The text is transmitted in the Cartulary of Quimperlé and consists there of three parts: a genealogical section, the Life proper and the story of posthumous miracles attributed to relics of the saint. BHL 3720-3722.
Manuscript witnesses
Text
London, British Library, MS Egerton 2802
context: Cartulary of Quimperlé incipit: Haec est genealogia sancti Gurthierni nobilis genere Three parts are distinguished in the manuscript: part 1, beg. Haec est genealogia sancti Gurthierni nobilis genere, incliti officio, quam quidam laieus fidelis nomine Iuthael filius Aidan demonstravit (f. 4v); part 2, beg. Incipit vero conversatio sancti Gurthierni secundum traditionem eiusdem (f. 5r); and part 3, beg. De inventione reliquiarum sancti Gurthierni aliorumque sanctorum (f. 7r).
ff. 4v–8r
Text
Sources
Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.
[ed.] Tanguy, Bernard, “De la Vie de saint Cadoc à celle de saint Gurtiern”, Études Celtiques 26 (1989): 159–185.
abstract:
[FR] 1) La Vie de saint Cadoc par Lifris (clerc gallois de souche anglo-normande) fait référence au prieuré de l'île Cado dans la rivière d’Étel. Lifris ne semble pas avoir vu lui-même ce qu’il décrit, il aurait tout au plus été à l’abbaye Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé qui reçut ce prieuré peu après 1089. — 2) La Vie de saint Gurthiern transmise dans le Cartulaire de Quimperlé comporte une généalogie empruntée à diverses sources, dont la Vie de saint Cadoc, et la généalogie du roi gallois Vortigern (homonyme du saint). L’auteur avance une hypothèse nouvelle pour expliquer ces contacts entre les hagiographies galloise et bretonne.
[EN] 1) The Life of St. Cadoc by Lifris (a Welsh cleric from Anglo-Norman stock) mentions the priory of Ile Cado, in the Etel estuary. Lifris doesn’t seem to have been an ocular witness for that priory, he might just have stayed at Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé, an abbey which received the donation of Ile Cado shortly after 1089. — 2) The Life of St. Gurthiern, transmitted in the Quimperlé Cartulary, includes a genealogy of the saint borrowed from different sources, particularly the Life of St. Cadoc and the genealogy of the Welsh king Vortigern (an homonym of the saint). The author puts forward a new hypothesis explaining those contacts between Welsh and Breton hagiographies.
[EN] 1) The Life of St. Cadoc by Lifris (a Welsh cleric from Anglo-Norman stock) mentions the priory of Ile Cado, in the Etel estuary. Lifris doesn’t seem to have been an ocular witness for that priory, he might just have stayed at Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé, an abbey which received the donation of Ile Cado shortly after 1089. — 2) The Life of St. Gurthiern, transmitted in the Quimperlé Cartulary, includes a genealogy of the saint borrowed from different sources, particularly the Life of St. Cadoc and the genealogy of the Welsh king Vortigern (an homonym of the saint). The author puts forward a new hypothesis explaining those contacts between Welsh and Breton hagiographies.
Persée: <link>
181–184 The text reproduced from Maître and Berthou.
[ed.] Maître, Léon, and Paul de Berthou, Cartulaire de l’abbaye de Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé, 2nd ed., Bibliothèque bretonne armoricaine, 4, Rennes, Paris: Plihon et Hommay, H. Champion, 1904.
Gallica: <link>
42–46 (text); 46–54 (notes)
[ed.] Le Duc, Dom Placide, Histoire de l’abbaye de Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé, ed. R. F. Le Men, Quimperlé: T. Clairet, 1881.
Gallica: <link>
578–581 Edited from a transcript made by Le Duc in 1728.
[tr.] Jankulak, Karen, “Breton vitae and political need in the Cartulary of Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé”, in: Pamela OʼNeill, and Jonathan M. Wooding (eds), Literature and politics in the Celtic world: papers from the Third Australian Conference of Celtic Studies, 4, Sydney: University of Sydney Celtic Studies Foundation, 2000. 218–247.
Appendix Translation into English.
Secondary sources (select)
Poulin, Joseph-Claude, L’hagiographie bretonne du Haut Moyen Âge. Repertoire raisonné, Beihefte der Francia, 69, Ostfildern: Thorbecke, 2009.
– PDF: <link>
456–457
Jankulak, Karen, “Breton vitae and political need in the Cartulary of Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé”, in: Pamela OʼNeill, and Jonathan M. Wooding (eds), Literature and politics in the Celtic world: papers from the Third Australian Conference of Celtic Studies, 4, Sydney: University of Sydney Celtic Studies Foundation, 2000. 218–247.
Tanguy, Bernard, “De la Vie de saint Cadoc à celle de saint Gurtiern”, Études Celtiques 26 (1989): 159–185.
abstract:
[FR] 1) La Vie de saint Cadoc par Lifris (clerc gallois de souche anglo-normande) fait référence au prieuré de l'île Cado dans la rivière d’Étel. Lifris ne semble pas avoir vu lui-même ce qu’il décrit, il aurait tout au plus été à l’abbaye Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé qui reçut ce prieuré peu après 1089. — 2) La Vie de saint Gurthiern transmise dans le Cartulaire de Quimperlé comporte une généalogie empruntée à diverses sources, dont la Vie de saint Cadoc, et la généalogie du roi gallois Vortigern (homonyme du saint). L’auteur avance une hypothèse nouvelle pour expliquer ces contacts entre les hagiographies galloise et bretonne.
[EN] 1) The Life of St. Cadoc by Lifris (a Welsh cleric from Anglo-Norman stock) mentions the priory of Ile Cado, in the Etel estuary. Lifris doesn’t seem to have been an ocular witness for that priory, he might just have stayed at Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé, an abbey which received the donation of Ile Cado shortly after 1089. — 2) The Life of St. Gurthiern, transmitted in the Quimperlé Cartulary, includes a genealogy of the saint borrowed from different sources, particularly the Life of St. Cadoc and the genealogy of the Welsh king Vortigern (an homonym of the saint). The author puts forward a new hypothesis explaining those contacts between Welsh and Breton hagiographies.
[EN] 1) The Life of St. Cadoc by Lifris (a Welsh cleric from Anglo-Norman stock) mentions the priory of Ile Cado, in the Etel estuary. Lifris doesn’t seem to have been an ocular witness for that priory, he might just have stayed at Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé, an abbey which received the donation of Ile Cado shortly after 1089. — 2) The Life of St. Gurthiern, transmitted in the Quimperlé Cartulary, includes a genealogy of the saint borrowed from different sources, particularly the Life of St. Cadoc and the genealogy of the Welsh king Vortigern (an homonym of the saint). The author puts forward a new hypothesis explaining those contacts between Welsh and Breton hagiographies.
Persée: <link>
Merdrignac, Bernard, Recherches sur l’hagiographie armoricaine du VIIème au XVème siècle, vol. 1: Les saints bretons, témoins de Dieu ou témoins des hommes?, Dossiers du CeRAA, supplément no H, Saint-Malo, 1985.
: <link>
38
Lapidge, Michael, and Richard Sharpe, A bibliography of Celtic-Latin literature, 400-1200, Royal Irish Academy Dictionary of Medieval Latin from Celtic Sources, Ancillary Publications, 1, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1985.
[id. 922; 1000.]
