TO THE QUESTION ABOUT THE LIFE OF ST. BEUNO FROM THE LIBRARY OF THE STRATA FLORIDA ABBEY, WALES

Despite the abundance of works devoted to the history of Christianity in the British Isles, modern medieval studies still pay little attention to the peculiarities of the formation and evolution of regional British churches. One of the features of the medieval Church of Wales, which largely determined its historical path, was the «involvement» of the saints in the political processes that took place both within the Welsh kingdoms and in relations with their neighbors on the island – the Englishmen, and then the Normans. Often, the current political situation determined the vector of the development of the cult of one or another righteous person: a striking example is the «appearance» of the early medieval saint Beuno in western Wales, in Ceredigion. The earliest surviving copy of his Life comes from there – from the library of Strata Florida Abbey, although this monastery was located far from the main zone of distribution of dedications to the saint – the territories of the kingdoms of Powys and Gwynedd in the north and northeast of Wales. After analyzing the data of narrative, legal and archaeological sources, we assume that the fate of this text was closely connected with the ruling dynasty of the kingdom of Deheubarth, on the territory of which Strata Florida Abbey was located.

history of Wales, medieval Welsh kingdoms, cults of saints, Deheubarth, Ceredigion, Strata Florida Abbey, the Life of St. Beuno, The Book of the Anchorite of Llanddewi Brefi, House of Dinefwr