PETROC (PEDROG), saint, fl. 6th century

The most complete ' Life of S. Petroc ' was recently found at Gotha, Germany. Though he accomplished his main work in Dumnonia and Brittany, Petroc was born in Gwent. According to the ' Life of S. Cadoc ' (Preface) and the genealogy at the end of his own 'Life,' Petroc was one of the sons of Glywys. But ' Bonedd y Saint ' (Wade-Evans, below) makes him son of Clement, a Cornish prince. According to the ' Life of S. Cadoc,' Petroc renounced his hereditary right to a portion of his father's kingdom, and withdrew to Bodmin, Cornwall. The Gotha 'Life' states that he was chosen as sole king to succeed his father, and adopted the monastic life after repelling a foreign invasion. Petroc is said to have visited Ireland before settling in Cornwall. He is one of the chief saints of Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, and his cult is widespread too in Brittany. In Wales, he is the patron saint of Llanbedrog in Caernarfonshire, St Petrox in Pembrokeshire, and Verwick in Cardiganshire. 4 June is his feast-day.

Author

• Hywel David Emanuel, (1921 - 1970)

Sources

• Baring-Gould and John Fisher, The Lives of the British Saints: the saints of Wales and Cornwall and such Irish saints as have dedications in Britain, iv, 94-103
• Horstman, Nova legenda Anglie as collected by John of Tynemouth, John Capgrave, and others, and first printed, with new lives, now re-edited with fresh material from MS and printed sources by C. Horstman (1901), ii, 317-20
• Wade-Evans, Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae et Genealogiae (Cardiff 1944), 24, 322
• G. H. Doble, Saint Petroc, a Cornish Saint (1938) (3rd ed., 1938)
• Antiquity, 1939, 403-15

Further Reading

• Wikipedia Article: Saint Petroc

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q534049

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/