Editing St Davids (section)

=== Medieval pilgrim site ===
The monastery would become known as ''Tyddewi'' (House of David) and was a famous centre of [[pilgrimage]] early in its history, attracting both foreign pilgrims of status and numerous [[Viking]] attacks by the ninth century. Its scholastic community was also famous throughout the Celtic world and in [[Anglo-Saxon England]]. When [[Alfred the Great]] wanted to establish a centre of learning at his court, he requested [[Asserius Menevensis]], (Asser of St Davids) to join them. At that time, Asser had lived all his life at St Davids, being raised, [[tonsure]]d, trained and ordained there. Yet Alfred's desire to secure his service was such that he acquiesced to a number of delays and requests before finally agreeing that Asser could split his time between Alfred's court and St David's.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Asser |first1=John |title=Alfred the Great : Asser's Life of King Alfred and other contemporary sources |date=2004 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England |isbn=9780141909424}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Keynes & Lapidge |title=Alfred the Great |pages=93–94}}</ref>

The cult of Saint David was actively encouraged by the cathedral's pre-Norman Bishops, especially [[Sulien]] and [[Rhygyfarch|Rhigyfarch]], who would write ''Vita sancti Davidis episcopi'', the standard [[Hagiography|Vita]] of the saint.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Howlett |first1=David |editor1-last=Gameson |editor1-first=Richard |title='Rhygyfarch ap Sulien and Ieuan ap Sulien', in [[The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain]], Volume 1: c. 400-1100 |date=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |pages=701–706}}</ref>

[[File:Speed St David's insert.jpg|thumb|St Davids depicted on Speed's 1610 map of Wales]]
As the [[Normans advanced into Pembrokeshire]], the city became a [[Welsh Marches|marcher]] borough, and the new [[hundred (county subdivision)|hundred]] was named "[[Dewisland]]". The cathedral was rebuilt during the Norman era and much of the earliest sections that are still extant, date back to the twelfth century. However, it is thought that this cathedral would have followed the layout of medieval structure and it continued to host its many ancient relics, including the remains of David.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Driver |first1=Toby |title=Pembrokeshire : historic landscapes from the air |date=2008 |publisher=Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru/Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |location=Aberystwyth |isbn=9781871184334 |edition=Rev |chapter=4 |quote=The westernmost peninsula of Pembrokeshire is dominated by the city and cathedral close of St Davids, spiritual home of the patron saint of Wales, which has stood as a place of religious sanctity and pilgrimage for well over a millennium. In medieval times it was said that two pilgrimages to St Davids were equal to one to Rome. The site of St David's original early Christian community, thought to have lain west of the city, has long been lost to history and archaeology and has passed into the realms of legend. This early community was short-lived, however, and was soon moved inland to the banks of the River Alun where the cathedral stands today. By the ninth century St Davids or Menevia was a famous Welsh monastery and a cult centre for followers of the famous saint. While the earliest sections of the cathedral date back only to the twelfth century, it is thought likely that the layout of the medieval cathedral close wall may have followed the line of the pre-existing religious enclosure.}}</ref>

At its height, the city was visited by many [[Christian pilgrimage|pilgrims]], including noblemen and kings such as [[William the Conqueror]] in 1081,<ref>{{cite book|first=David |last=Walker|title=Medieval Wales|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|year=1990|url=https://www-cambridge-org/core/books/medieval-wales/normans-in-wales/B63F038627BD6C8C6826A33A1573DC76|url-access=subscription|p=24}}</ref> [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] in 1171, and [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] and [[Eleanor of Castile|Queen Eleanor]] in 1284.<ref name="cyclopaedia" /> [[Pope Calixtus II]] decreed that two pilgrimages to St Davids were equivalent to one to [[Rome]] ("''Roma semel quantum dat bis Menevia tantum''"). The monastery became a Cathedral in the twelfth Century.<ref name=day /> This allowed a vast income to be raised from visiting pilgrims in the [[Middle Ages]].<ref name=day>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927230659/http://www.history.uk.com/history/st-davids-day-pembrokeshire-st-davi/|title=St David's day, Pembrokeshire |archive-date=2011-09-27|url=http://www.history.uk.com/history/st-davids-day-pembrokeshire-st-davi/|website=History.UK.com|date = 16 February 2003|access-date=18 May 2025}}</ref>