Diocese of Llandaff

The diocese was reputedly founded in 560 or earlier by Saint Teilo, during the monastic movement initiated by Saint Dubricius who presided over several monasteries in Ergyng, including Hentland and Moccas. Dubricius is said to have made Teilo abbot of this daughter monastery at Llandaff, which after Dubricius' death became a monastic cathedral and the chief monastery in South Wales. Saint Dubricius is usually given as the first bishop.

Places mentioned in the 'Book of Llandaff'

The early history of diocese is, however, highly controversial, because the chief authority, the diocesan charters in the Book of Llandaff, though dating from the late 6th century, were considerably doctored to raise Llandaff's profile when they were copied in the early 12th century. Similarly, the saints' 'lives' therein have little basis in fact. Gilbert Hunter Doble and others have clearly demonstrated that there is no evidence that Saints Dubricius and Teilo had anything to do with Llandaff. Dubricius was only active in Ergyng and Gwent, while Teilo's associations with Llandaff have been transferred from his great abbey at Llandeilo Fawr.

The original church at Llandaff (perhaps a monastery) may well have been an early foundation. However, it is likely to have been founded by Saint Oudoceus rather than Saint Teilo. The early episcopal authority in the area was, indeed, in Ergyng and Gwent, originally under Dubricius and then his disciples. Their base may have been at Welsh Bicknor, Kenderchurch or Glasbury. Teilo's foundation at Llandeilo may have superseded Ergyng in the mid-7th century or, as David Nash Ford suggests, the two may have remained the seats of independent, yet parallel, bishoprics, as late as the mid-9th century. Both had accepted the ways of the Roman Catholic Church in 777.

There certainly seems to have only been a single diocese by the late 9th century, based at Llandeilo. The Bishops were known as 'Bishop of Teilo'. When exactly the bishop's cathedra (and the Teilo traditions) moved to Llandaff, however, is not clear. Ford, again, suggests a date not much later, after the death of Bishop Nobis in 874. However, a date in the early 11th century or even later cannot be ruled out. The bishops of Llandaff long maintained absolute independence within their own territories, and the rights and privileges of the Church of Llandaff were extensive. However, there is a tradition that by 872, the bishops had already, nominally at least, accepted the authority of the English Province of Canterbury. Certainly this was the case by 982. The first Saxon bishop, Wulfrith, had been installed in 930, though he may have been of dual-nationality.

After the Norman Conquest of south-east Wales in the 1090s, the archbishops of Canterbury began to exercise their jurisdiction over Wales, and Saint Anselm placed Bishop Herewald of Llandaff under interdict. Herewald's successor, Urban, was consecrated at Canterbury, after taking an oath of canonical obedience to the archbishop, and from that time Llandaff became a full dependent of Canterbury. Standing difficulties were the admixture of race and language due to the English settlements and the ignorance and incontinence of the Welsh clergy, who had ceased to observe celibacy and gave scandal to the Normans and English alike. A reform was gradually effected, chiefly by the establishment of new monasteries and mendicant houses. The Book of Llandaff, now at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, reflects Urban's territorial ambitions for his diocese. The present cathedral dates substantially from his time, 1120 and later.

Suffragan Bishops of Landaff

incomplete – first centuries lacking

• John de Egglescliffe, Dominican Order (O.P.) (1323.06.20 – death 1347.01.02), previously Bishop of Connor (Ireland) (1322 – 1323.06.20)
• John Paschal, Carmelite Order (O. Carm.) (1347.02.19 – death 1361.10.11)
• Roger Cradock, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (1361.12.15 – death 1382.06.22), previously Bishop of Waterford (Ireland) (1350.03.02 – 1361.12.15)
• Thomas Rushook (Thomas Rushooke), O.P. (1383.05.03 – 1385.11.07), next Bishop of Chichester (England) (1385.11.07 – 1388), Bishop of Brefinnia (Ireland) (1388 – ?retired 1390?), died 1393
• William Bottlesham (1385.12.02 – 1389.08.27), previously Bishop of Bethléem à Clamecy ('Bethelehem' exiled in Burgundy, France) (1383 – 1385.12.02); later Bishop of Rochester (England) (1389.08.27 – death 1400.02)
• Robert Tideman of Winchcombe (1393 – 1395.06.15), next Bishop of Worcester (England) (1395.06.15 – death 1401.06.13)
• John Burghill (1396.04.12 – 1398.07.02), next Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield (England) (1398.07.02 – death 1414.05.20)
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• List of Catholic dioceses in England and Wales