Meriasek
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(January 2010) |
Saint Meriasek(Breton:Meriadeg) was a 6th-century Cornish andBretonsaint.The legends of his life are known throughBeunans Meriasek,aCornish languageplay known from a single surviving manuscript copy dated 1504, and a few other sources. He is thepatron saintofCamborne,and according to his legendary will hisfeast dayis the first Friday in June (although it is celebrated in some places on 7 June).
Sources
[edit]UntilBeunans Kecame to light in 2000, Beunans Meriasek was the only known saint's play in Middle Cornish. It was rediscovered in the 1860s. It was most probably written down at Glasney collegiate church at Penryn by one Radulphus Ton, perhaps under the aegis of Master John Nans, provost of Glasney, who later moved to Camborne and died in 1508.[1][2]
Life
[edit]Meriasek was aBreton[1]from a ducal family.Conan Meriadoc,the legendary king of Brittany at the time, wanted to arrange a political marriage for him, but Meriasek preferred to renounce his inheritance and become a priest. He performed several miraculous cures thereafter. He crossed theChannelto found anoratoryinCamborne,Cornwall.Encountering persecution fromKing Teudar,he returned to Brittany (landing atPlougasnou) to found a chapel inJosselin,in the lands of the Viscounts ofRohan.His reputation for miracles attracted crowds and he decided to withdraw toPontivy,close to the château of Rohan.
He assisted the Viscount in dealing with brigands who infested his lands by bringing down the fire of heaven upon them; in gratitude he founded three fairs at Noyal at the saint's request.
He is reputed to have healed manylepersand disabled people, to have driven off the highwaymen of Josselin through prayer, to have made water spring from solid rock, and to have calmed a storm. He was elevated to becomebishop of Vannesbut continued to wear ahair shirt,practiseasceticism,and minister to the poor. He was buried in Vannes Cathedral. Hissacred wellin Camborne was long thought to have the power of healing the insane.[3]
Legacy
[edit]An open-air performance of an adaptation of "Beurens Mariasek" was performed in Heartlands by well over 100 schoolchildren on 13 July 2012. The performance was the culmination of a project that introduced students to the Cornish language and the tradition of medieval Cornish drama through a series of workshops and rehearsals.[4]
Notes
[edit]
- ^ab"Beunans Meriasek", National Library of WalesArchived2007-06-07 at theWayback Machine
- ^George, Ken J. (30 November 1991), Fife, James; Poppe, Erich (eds.),"Notes on word order in Beunans Meriasek",Studies in Brythonic Word Order,Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, John Benjamins Publishing Company, p. 205,doi:10.1075/cilt.83.06geo,ISBN978-90-272-3580-0,retrieved2 June2023
- ^Doble, G. H.(1960)The Saints of Cornwall: part 1.Truro: Dean and Chapter; pp. 111-144
- ^"Drama Kernewek", Cornish Language Partnership
References
[edit]- Whitley Stokes:"Beunans Meriasek: The Life of St Meriasek, Bishop and Confessor: a Cornish Drama" (London & Berlin, 1872), new ed. 1996ISBN0-907064-68-X
- Myrna Combellack:"A Critical Edition of Beunans Meriasek" (PhD thesis, University of Exeter, 1985)
- Myrna Combellack: "The Camborne Play" (Redruth, 1988) (translation in verse)ISBN1-85022-039-5
- G. H. Doble(1935) "Saint Meriadoc, Patron of Camborne" (Cornish Saints Series; n° 34) in:The Saints of Cornwall; Part 1: Saints of the Land’s End District,Truro (1960), reissued by Llanerch, Felinfach, 1997.