Editing Llantwit Major (section)

===Saint Illtud's College===
{{Main|Illtud}}
[[File:St Illtyd in Holy Trinity Church, Abergavenny.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Saint Illtud]], who gives his name to the town]]
[[Germanus of Auxerre]] and [[Lupus of Troyes]] made at least one visit to Britain in AD 429 and founded or refounded a number of ecclesiastic establishments across South Wales. It was at this time that [[Saint Illtud]] came to the Hodnant valley. Although he is said to have been born in [[Brittany]], Illtud had fought as a soldier in Wales before renouncing his former life at the behest of [[Saint Cadoc]]. What is certain is that Illtud oversaw the growth of a pioneering monastery and associated college called Bangor Illtyd, on the Ogney Brook, close to the current [[St Illtyd's Church, Llantwit Major|St Illtyd's Church]]. Together these institutions became the first great hub of [[Celtic Christianity]] and teaching.<ref name="St. Illtud">{{cite web|title=St. Illtud|url=http://www.illtudsgalileechapel.org.uk/britains-earliest-centre-of-learning/saint-illtud/|work=Lent with the Celtic Saints|access-date=19 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924033649/http://www.illtudsgalileechapel.org.uk/britains-earliest-centre-of-learning/saint-illtud/|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="LMH">{{cite web|url=http://www.llantwitmajorhistory.org.uk/townhistory.html |title=Town history |publisher=Llantwit Major History.org.uk |access-date=22 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222222150/http://www.llantwitmajorhistory.org.uk/townhistory.html |archive-date=22 February 2012 }}</ref><ref name="Jones2002">{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Andrew|title=Every pilgrim's guide to Celtic Britain and Ireland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LkdgnMv3D2QC&pg=PA70|year=2002|publisher=Canterbury|isbn=978-1-85311-453-3|page=70}}</ref><ref name="PalmerPalmer2000"/>

Under Illtud and his successors, Bangor Illtyd and the monastery grew in reputation both as the origin of many prominent Celtic evangelists and as a major centre of scholarly education. As such, it began to attract scholars from across the Celtic and wider world.<ref name="BarberPykitt1997">{{cite book|last1=Barber|first1=Chris|last2=Pykitt|first2=David|title=Journey to Avalon: The Final Discovery of King Arthur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zkcY3BalVb4C&pg=PA114|year=1997|publisher=Weiser Books|isbn=978-1-57863-024-0|page=114}}</ref> The college itself was said to be the oldest in the world, consisting of seven halls, 400 houses and more than 2,000 students at its peak,<ref name="Society1908">{{cite book|author=Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society|title=Transactions – Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_aYKAQAAIAAJ|year=1908|publisher=The Society.|page=33}}</ref> including seven sons of British princes, and scholars such as [[St. Patrick]], [[St. Paul Aurelian]], the bard [[Taliesin]], [[Gildas]] the historian, [[Samson of Dol]], and [[St. David]] are believed to have spent some time there.<ref name="Hall1861">{{cite book|last=Hall|first=Mrs. Samuel Carter|title=The book of south Wales, the Wye, and the coast|publisher=Virtue & Company|url=https://archive.org/details/booksouthwalesw00hallgoog|access-date=22 January 2012|year=1861|pages=[https://archive.org/details/booksouthwalesw00hallgoog/page/n269 252]–}}</ref><ref name="Williams2001"/> Samson was known to have been summoned by [[Dyfrig]] to join the monastery in 521 and he was briefly elected abbot before leaving for Cornwall.<ref name="(Brother.)2003">{{cite book|author=Tristam (Brother.)|title=Exciting holiness: collects and readings for the festivals and lesser festivals of the calendars of the Church of England, the Church of Ireland, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church in Wales|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J1svVTs6uEsC&pg=PA305|date=July 2003|publisher=Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd|isbn=978-1-85311-479-3|page=305}}</ref> King [[Hywel ap Rhys (Glywysing)|Hywel ap Rhys]] (d. 886) was buried at the monastery.