Mark asks for information on Helen of Caernarvon. A well of St Helen at
Caernarvon (one of several Helen wells in north Wales) has been assigned by
tradition (and a not necessarily very old tradition) to one of the two women
named in medieval Welsh material as wives of the usurper Emperor Magnus Maximus
(383-388). The tradition may rest on the location just outside Caernarvon of a
church of St Peblig - said to be a son of Maximus - and the identification of
Caernarvon in the legendary 'Dream of Macsen' as the home of Maximus' bride
Elen, 'Helen of the Hosts'. Just possibly, the tradition may have been
strengthened by Sulpicius Severus' description of Maximus' (unnamed) empress as
sitting at the feet of St Martin and also insisting on serving him herself when
he dined with Maximus at the palace in Trier.
Not having Butler or Baring-Gould to hand, I should be grateful if someone
could remind us on what grounds May 22 is given as Helen's feast - ditto August
25, given by David Farmer as an alternative. There may be (as doubtless in the
medieval material) some confusion with Helen mother of Constantine,
commemorated in the East together with Constantine on May 21 and in the West on
August 18. Also, Tavistock was said to commemorate a Helen 'regina' on August
25, while the feast day at Dolwyddelan near Caernarvon, where there is or was a
well of Elen or Elan, was August 22. And to confuse matters more, the eve of
the feast of the Invention of the Holy Cross, May 2, was known in the north of
England as St Helen's Day in the Spring; and a Helen 'virgo' was commemorated
on May 22 in Breton and Welsh kalendars; while Helen of Troyes' date is May 4.
I'm sure all that is perfectly clear... :-)
Graham Jones
Leicester
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|