Cadoc

CADOC (Cadocus, Docus): A Welsh saint, called "the Wise," son of a chieftain of South Wales and cousin of St. David of Menevia; d., according to one account, at his monastery of Llancarven (near Cowbridge, 10 m. w.s.w. of Llandaff, Glamorganshire), according to others, as a martyr at Beneventum, 570(?). He early devoted himself to the religious life, refused to succeed his father in his principality, studied under Irish scholars at home, and visited Ireland, Scotland, Rome, and Jerusalem in quest of instruction. He founded the monastery at Llancarven and made it a famous center of learning. Tradition associates him with David and Gildas (who was one of the teachers at Llancarven) as training the "second order of Irish Saints" (see Celtic Church in Britain and Ireland, II, 2, § 1) and thus influencing the church life of Ireland. One of the earliest monuments of the Welsh language is The Wisdom of Cadoc the Wise, a collection of proverbs, maxims, and the like (in The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, ed. O. Jones, E. Williams, and W. O. Pugh, iii., London, 1807; new ed., Denbigh, 1870, 754 sqq.). The Fables of Cadoc the Wise maybe found in Iolo Manuscripts, ed. E. Williams (London, 1848).

Bibliography:Lanigan, Eccl. Hist., i, 489–492; W. J. Rees, Lives of the Cambro-British Saints, 22–96, 309–395, 468, 587, Llandovery, 1853; A. P. Forbes, Kalendars of Scottish Saints, pp. 292–293, Edinburgh, 1872.