Early history near St Non's chapel. Although the surrounding landscape is home to a number of
Palaeolithic,
Bronze Age and
Iron Age sites, documentary and archaeological evidence suggests that Pembrokeshire was not heavily occupied by the
Romans. Following the
Roman withdrawal from Britain, the area that would become St Davids was known in
Ecclesiastical Latin as
Meneva or
Menevia and in
Welsh as
Mynyw. Some medieval texts state that the area was home to a cell, church or monastery founded by
Saint Patrick around the year 470 AD, years before the birth of Saint David.
Age of David in modern times, where Saint David founded his church and monastery David is said to have been born to
Saint Non around 500 AD, at the place where the
Chapel of St Non now stands. He was baptised by
Saint Elvis at
Porthclais, and was brought up by his mother at
Llanon. He may also have been educated at the
"Ty Gwyn", Whitesands by
Saint Paulinus. David is thought to have founded an earlier community somewhere to the west of modern St Davids, before establishing a new church and
monastery at a place then known as "Glyn Rhosyn" on the banks of the
Afon Alun (where the current Cathedral now stands). During his life, David gained great fame throughout the
Celtic church and was a key figure in the fight against the
Pelagian Heresy. At the
Synod of Brefi in 545 AD, Saint
Dubricius (who held two Bishoprics, Caerleon and
Llandaff) is said to have freely given David the ancient
Metropolitan See of Caerleon. It is also implied that in transferring the See from Caerleon, David also transferred an important royal court. The
Welsh Triads name "Mynyw" as the seat of "one of the three Tribal Thrones of the island of Britain" (the other courts being
Celliwig and
Pen Rhionydd). The entry states that the court had
Arthur as Chief Prince, "Dewi" as the Chief Bishop, and "
Maelgwn Gwynedd" as Chief Elder. Indeed,
Geoffrey of Monmouth would describe David as "The pious archbishop of Legions, at the city of Menevia" (Caerleon's name in both Welsh and Latin means "The city of Legions").
Medieval pilgrim site The monastery would become known as
Tyddewi (House of David) and was a famous centre of
pilgrimage early in its history, attracting both foreign pilgrims of status and numerous
Viking attacks by the ninth century. Its scholastic community was also famous throughout the Celtic world and in
Anglo-Saxon England. When
Alfred the Great wanted to establish a centre of learning at his court, he requested
Asserius Menevensis, (Asser of St Davids) to join them. At that time, Asser had lived all his life at St Davids, being raised,
tonsured, trained and ordained there. Yet Alfred's desire to secure his service was such that he acquiesced to a number of delays and requests before finally agreeing that Asser could split his time between Alfred's court and St David's. The cult of Saint David was actively encouraged by the cathedral's pre-Norman Bishops, especially
Sulien and
Rhigyfarch, who would write
Vita sancti Davidis episcopi, the standard
Vita of the saint. As the
Normans advanced into Pembrokeshire, the city became a
marcher borough, and the new
hundred was named "
Dewisland". The cathedral was rebuilt during the Norman era and much of the earliest sections that are still extant, date back to the twelfth century. However, it is thought that this cathedral would have followed the layout of medieval structure and it continued to host its many ancient relics, including the remains of David. At its height, the city was visited by many
pilgrims, including noblemen and kings such as
William the Conqueror in
1081,
Henry II in 1171, and
Edward I and
Queen Eleanor in 1284.
Decline The
Reformation saw both the income and importance of St Davids begin to fade as pilgrimages fell out of favour; this was exacerbated by the appointment of a number of English Bishops who were seemingly less concerned with the welfare of the cathedral or the city. Perhaps most infamously,
Bishop William Barlow sold the lead from the roof of the Bishop's Palace in 1536, beginning a long period of neglect for St Davids. Barlow had the Bishop's chief residence moved to
Abergwili,
Carmarthenshire in 1542 and St Davids continued to decline. In 1603, the antiquarian
George Owen described the city as one of five Pembrokeshire boroughs overseen by a
portreeve. The seventeenth century, saw two separate bishops apply for licences to demolish some of the city's ancient buildings, and the Bishop's palace was now considered "beyond repair". By the 19th century, only the Cathedral itself seemed to retain the city's former glory, as described in the
Penny Cyclopaedia: Many of the ancient buildings, including the
Bishop's Palace, are today maintained by
Cadw and open to the public. ==Geography==