Carantoc

Saint Carantoc (also known in Welsh as Carannog, Irish as Cairnech, Breton as Karanteg, Latin as Carantocus, West Country Dialect as Karntog, corrupted English as Carantock, and other variations) was a confessor and abbot of the early 6th century in Wales and what is now the English West Country. He was the Patron saint of Badon (and also possibly, its successor state The Kingdom of the Hwicce, and by extension the modern Avon region.

File:Flag of Badon.svg

The Flag of Badon, also known as the Cross of Carantoc

His early vita takes the form of a short homily. Many details of his life are obscure or contradictory. Ceredigion is given as his birthplace, sua proprio regio. He was the son of Corwn, grandson of Ceredig, King of Ceredigion. He is credited with founding Llangrannog, Ceredigion, Wales. His name is listed amongst the Cornish Saints, and he is given credit for establishing St Carantoc's Church, Crantock.

To escape being elected king, he fled to Llangrannog. The shavings he produced for lighting a fire there were carried away as soon as they were made by a magpie. Where the bird alighted, Carantoc built the present church. This story is sometimes ascribed to Crantock in Cornwall, where the parish church is dedicated to Saint Carantoc, but according to the primitive life in the Léon Breviary, this was definitely in Wales. He probably moved to Badon and then Cornwall before preaching for some time in Ireland, around Dulane in County Meath and Inis-Baithen in Leinster. According to the 'Vita Carantoci' this was under the instruction of Saint Patrick, but this does not fit chronologically with other aspects of his life. It is also sometimes said that he spent time in Brittany, but the stories set in Brittany replicate those from Britain.

In the most famous incident of Carantoc's life, the saint, having returned to Wales, crossed the Bristol Channel, looking for his portable altar. He arrived on the banks of the River Willett and came into conflict with both King Cado of Dumnonia and King Arthur at Dunster in Somerset; this encounter with Arthur make the life of Carantoc one of only five insular saints' lives and two Breton ones that mention Arthur in contexts that may be independent of Geoffrey of Monmouth's myth-making in Historia Regum Britanniae. Carantoc was eventually obliged to defeat a ferocious dragon in order to retrieve his altar and, in return, was given land at nearby Carhampton to found a monastery.

Carantoc's place of death and burial is disputed between Inis Baithen, Keynsham and Dulane. His feast day is 16 May.

References

• Doble, Gilbert H. (1965). The Saints of Cornwall Part Four. Truro: Dean and Chapter of Truro.
• Lives of the Cambro British saints, William Jenkins Rees, Thomas Wakeman, 1835