Cross-Channel Intercourse in the Earliest Breton Vitae

In light of the probable travels of the author of Vita I S. Samsonis in order to gather information (written and oral) about his subject, this paper investigates the earliest hagiographical texts from Brittany in terms of their use of information gathered on both sides of the Channel. This is not in order to investigate the historicity of such texts but to consider what their use of sources has to say about the existence of such sources, and about the expectations of hagiographers and their audiences with respect to connections between Wales (and Cornwall) and Brittany. The texts at issue are Vita S. Maglorii, Wrdisten’s Vita S. Winwaloei, Bili’s Vita S. Machutis, Wrmonoc’s Vita S. Pauli Aureliani, and Vita I S. Winnoci, all dating from the Carolingian era, with additional reference to several later texts, Lifris of Llancarfan’s Vita S. Cadoci and Vita S. Gurthierni. It is clear that these texts can indirectly show that information travelled in both directions, and that connections were made between saints and their stories on both sides of the Channel, with Llancarfan and Llanilltud Fawr probably being central to this process.