Saint Gurval
Breton saint
Feast: 6 June (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Gudwal, identified by recent research with Gurval, was probably one of the earliest missionaries of Brittany and is named among the seven pioneer saints in old Breton litanies. He founded a monastery on the inland sea of Etel near the island named after him, Locoal, which remains the centre of his veneration, and other settlements including one at Guer, where his holy well is still visited in procession.
There is no trustworthy account of his life. His relics were taken to Picardy and then to Ghent when the Northmen invaded Brittany, and Butler rejects the late claim that he was a bishop of Saint-Malo.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
An early missionary of Brittany, honoured at Locoal and Guer.
Connected on this site
- Brendan the Navigator Saint Teacher
- Butler's Lives of the Saints, ed. Thurston and Attwater (1956), vol. II - 6 June
- Wikidata Q98683868 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.