Christopher (Cristoffer)
Giant and martyr who carried Christ on his shoulders. The legend of Christopher dates back to eighth-century Greek and Latin texts, and his life was augmented and popularised in the Golden Legend.
More information
More information
Texts
No Welsh Life of Christopher is known, although there are occasional references to him in Welsh poetry. Christopher is named in Guto'r Glyn's poem of praise to Huw Lewys ap Llywelyn, as one of several saints who helped to save him from drowning, and the same poet recalls Christopher's carrying of Christ as he reflects on his own burdens in his request for reconciliation with Ieuan Fychan ab Ieuan of Pengwern.In praise of Huw Lewys ap Llywelyn of Prysaeddfed when he nearly drowned
Late-fifteenth century poem.
Request for reconciliation with Ieuan Fychan ab Ieuan of Pengwern
Mid-fifteenth century poem by Guto'r Glyn.
Places
Although the cult of Christopher was clearly significant in the Middle Ages, no churches appear to have been dedicated to him in medieval Wales. Only a single church is now dedicated to him in Wales, a twentieth-century building in Chepstow. | Church Dedication |  | Well |  | Placename |  | Landscape feature |  | Modern |  | Text |
Further reading
David Farmer The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 89–90
Nicholas Orme The Saints of Cornwall (Oxford: 2000), 87–8
Saints in Scottish Place-Names (2013), saint.h?id=691 View online
Images
The popularity of the cult of Christopher is evident in a variety of late medieval images known from Wales. Dozens of images of Christopher survive as wall paintings in churches across England, sometimes with further narrative scenes, and three large images of Christopher survive on the walls of churches at Llanynys, Llangar and Llantwit Major in Wales. Images and fragments of images of Christopher survive in stained glass from several Welsh churches, and he is also found among the saints on the late medieval tomb chest at Beaumaris. In all of these cases he is shown with the Christ-child on his shoulder, and sometimes wading through water. The wall painting at Llanynys is found opposite the south door, greeting those entering the church, and he is found in this position among the paintings on the walls of the rebuilt church from Llandeilo Talybont at St Fagans National Museum of History. At Llanynys the hermit who instructed Christopher in the Christian faith is also depicted, outside his chapel.Christopher was also depicted in stained glass and occasionally other media in churches from the mid-nineteenth century. A memorable example by Christopher Whall (1889) depicts Christopher wading through the waters in a window given in memory of a child who died at sea.
View images of Christopher on the Stained Glass in Wales website
