Afan as a man's name in Wales is probably a loan from the Latin Amandus.[1] In Welsh, he is sometimes known as Esgob Afan ("Bishop Afan") from his title and as Afan Buellt or Buallt from his diocese around Builth in Brycheiniog.[1]
Afan was the founder of a Llanafan in Ceredigion and two others (Llanafan Fawr and Llanafan Fechan) in Brecknockshire. He is recorded as a bishop, although his diocese remains unknown.[1] He may have been the third bishop of Llanbadarn in Ceredigion,[1][8] bishop over Builth with his seat at Llanafan Fawr,[1][9] or held the title without any purview beyond his own parish.[1] His death was credited to martyrdom at the hand of Irish or Danish pirates on the banks of the River Chwefru.[1] He was claimed as an ancestor of the 10th-century bishop Ieuan who was also martyred by Viking marauders.[10]
A miracle recounted by Gerald of Wales claimed that the Anglo-Norman lord Philip de Braose was struck blind and saw his hunting dogs go mad when he disrespectfully used St Afan's church in Brecknockshire as a makeshift hostel one night.[12] He was told that his vision would only return if he resolved to leave his estates and fight in the Crusades. Some say his sight was restored upon his pledge[10] but Gerald records that he traveled to the Holy Land and fought blind, where he was "immediately struck down by a blow from a sword and so ended his life with honour".[11]
Two churches were dedicated to him in the deanery of Builth: Llanafan Fawr ("Great Llanafan") and Llanafan Fechan or Fach ("Lesser Llanafan"), which eventually became known as Llanfechan.[1] His relics are claimed by Llanafan Fawr, which served as a pilgrimage site during the Middle Ages. Afan's grave in the churchyard there is inscribed HIC IACET SANCTUS AVANUS EPISCOPUS ("Here lies Saint Avan, bishop") in deeply cut, slightly ornamented Lombardic script. The present tomb, however, is not older than the late 13th century.[1]
Browne Willis also considered the "Saint Afran" honored at Llantrisant on Anglesey to be a corruption of Afan.[1]
^The Catholic Church in England and Wales. "Liturgy Office: November 2015". Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, 2014. Accessed 18 Nov 2014.
^"At this point I must tell you what happened, in the reign of Henry I, King of the English, to the castellan of Radnor castle, in the territory of Builth, which is not far away, being adjacent to his own lands, which he himself conquered. He had gone into the church of Saint Afan, called Llanafan in Welsh, and there he had spent the night with his dogs, which was a foolish and irreverent thing to do. He got up at first light, as hunters are wont to do, but he found that all his dogs had gone mad and that he himself was blind. He had lost his sight completely and he had to grope his way out with his hand..."[11]
Williams, Robert (1852). Enwogion Cymru: A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Welshmen, from the Earliest Times to the Present, and Including Every Name Connected with the Ancient History of Wales. England: Oxford University.
External links
Llanafan Fawr at Castles of Wales, including photographs of Afan's tomb
