CADOC, saint. - Of Llancarvan, a Welsh saint of the 6th century, hermit, abbot, poet (an admirer of Virgil), and at the same time feudal lord.
The earliest Vita of him that has come down to us was written by a cleric, Lifria, at the end of the 11th century, but it evidently reflects the ancient traditions of the great monastery he founded. It states that his mother was of Irish origin, that he was a disciple of an Irish hermit named Meuthi, and that he subsequently attended the monastic schools of Ireland “to acquire all the learning of the West.” Having returned to his homeland with various followers, among them Finniano di Clonard, who remained with him for some time, he founded the great monastery of Llancarvan (or Nantcarvan) in southern Wales, already highly flourishing in the first half of the 6th century. C. is a representative figure of that period of intense religious and cultural exchanges (especially important for Latin culture) between Christian Britain and Ireland.
Anselmo M. Tommasini