Armel of Plouarzel

Armel — Armagillus in Latin, Arzhel in Breton, "the bear prince" — belongs to the generation of monks who came from Britain in the sixth century to settle a deserted Armorica. The Bollandists, whose whole dossier is a fifteenth-century breviary, rank him among those who crossed from Britain into Armorica; the Welsh origin is certain, the date of his death is not — it is traditionally placed in 552 or 570. He founded Plouarzel in the Léon, then Ploërmel inland. Legend has him tame a dragon by slipping his stole around its neck and lead it to drown in the river Seiche, an image found on Breton statues and even in Henry VII's chapel at Westminster, where the Tudors, of Welsh descent, had adopted him. He is invoked against fevers, rheumatism and headaches.