St. Gildas was likely born around 517 in Wales, or north of England. For many years, Gildas lived as a hermit on Flatholm Island in the Bristol Channel. Around 547, Gildas wrote “De Excidio Britanniae” (The Destruction of Britain). Gildas also wrote a longer book, “The Epistle,” a series of sermons on the moral failings of rulers and the clergy. St. Gildas died at Rhuys around 571.