Nobis or Novis[1] (Welsh: 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 regnavit
in the A text[4] and
- Nouus episcopatum suscepit
in 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" (Old Welsh: 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.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Gerald of Wales. Itinerarium Kambriae, II.i. Accessed 13 Feb 2013. (in Latin)
- ^ a b Evans, John & al. St David of Wales: Cult, Church, and Nation, p. 299. Boydell Press, 2007. Accessed 13 Feb 2013.
- ^ The Annals of Wales (B Text), p. 10.
- ^ a b Phillimore, Egerton. Y Cymmrodor 9 (1888), pp. 141–83. (excerpt) (in Latin)
- ^ Asser. Life of King Alfred, §79.
- ^ Annales Cambriae [The Annals of Wales] (B text), p. 10. (in Latin)
- ^ Latin: nobis archiepiscopum, propinquum meum... — Asserius. De rebus gestis Ælfredi ("Life of King Alfred"), §79. Accessed 13 Feb 2013. (in Latin)
- ^ Brut y Tywysogion, p. 13.
- ^ Welsh: Oed Crist 840, y bu farw esgob Mynyw. — Brut, p. 12. (in Welsh)
- ^ Brut, p. 15.
- ^ Welsh: Oed Crist 871, bu farw Einion Fonheddig escob Mynyw... — Brut, p. 14. (in Welsh)