Nobis (bishop) explained

Nobis or Novis[1] (cy|Nyfys;[2] fl. c. 840) is traditionally considered to have been a bishop of Meneva (modern St Davids) in the medieval Welsh kingdom of Dyfed.

The arrival of a bishop is noted by the Annals of Wales,[3] which Phillimore's reconstruction places in AD 840.[4] Asser counts "Archbishop Nobis" as a relative[5] and Gerald of Wales and other sources later include him on their bishop lists for the see.[1] However, actual Latin of the Welsh annals read:

Nobis episcopus inminiu regnavitin the A text[4] and

Nouus episcopatum suscepitin the B text.[6] Either could describe the arrival of a bishop named "Nyfys",[2] but the Latin can also be read directly as "Our bishop reigned in Meneva" (owl|Miniu) and "A new bishop arrived". Similarly, the Latin of Asser's Life of King Alfred could be rendered "our bishop, my relative".[7] For the year 840, the Welsh Chronicle of the Princes (Brut y Tywysogion) notes only that "The Bishop of Meneva died"[8] [9] but goes on to mention that "Einion, of Noble Descent, bishop of Meneva, died" in AD 871.[10] [11] This Bishop Einion passes unmentioned in Gerald or sources derived from him.

Notes and References

  1. [Gerald of Wales]
  2. Evans, John & al. St David of Wales: Cult, Church, and Nation, p. 299. Boydell Press, 2007. Accessed 13 Feb 2013.
  3. The Annals of Wales (B Text), p. 10.
  4. Phillimore, Egerton. Y Cymmrodor 9 (1888), pp. 141 - 83. (excerpt)
  5. [Asser]
  6. Annales Cambriae [The Annals of Wales] (B text), p. 10.
  7. la|nobis archiepiscopum, propinquum meum... Asserius. De rebus gestis Ælfredi ("Life of King Alfred"), §79. Accessed 13 Feb 2013.
  8. Brut y Tywysogion, p. 13.
  9. cy|Oed Crist 840, y bu farw esgob Mynyw. Brut, p. 12.
  10. Brut, p. 15.
  11. cy|Oed Crist 871, bu farw Einion Fonheddig escob Mynyw... Brut, p. 14.