Synod of Victory explained

The Synod of Victory (Synod of the Grove of Victory, Synod of Caerleon) was a church council held in Caerleon, Wales, around AD 569.^[1] While some sources say it was a continuation of the Synod of Brefi to condemn the heresy of Pelagianism,^[2] others, such as Baring-Gould, say it was in regards to penitential canons.^[3]

In 550, Saint David attended the Synod of Brefi and spoke against Pelagianism. His speech led his fellow monks to elect him primate of the region. As primate he presided over the synod at Caerleon around 569.^[4] The synod ratified the canons and decrees of Brefi^[5] as well as a code of rules which he had drawn up for the regulation of the British Church, a copy of which remained in the Cathedral of S. David's until it was lost in an incursion of pirates.^[6]

Notes and References

1. Annales Cambriae.
2. https://ccel.org/ccel/wace/biodict.html?term=David,%20Welsh%20saint "David, Welsh saint", Dictionary of Early Christian Biography, (Henry Wace ed.) John Murray, London, 1911
3. https://books.google.com/books?id=-G4AAAAAMAAJ&dq=synod+of+victory+569+ad&pg=PA25 Baring-Gould, Sabine. "S. David", C. J. Clark, 1908, p. 285
4. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04640b.htm Toke, Leslie. "St. David." The Catholic Encyclopedia
5. https://books.google.com/books?id=LP4UAAAAQAAJ&dq=synod+of+victory+569+ad&pg=PA265 Holweck, Frederick George. "David (Dewi)", A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints, Volume 1, B. Herder Book Company, 1924, p. 265
6. Baring-Gould, Sabine. "Saint David", Lives of the Saints