The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Gildas the Wise (516-570), Scottish bishop and author and sometimes listed as Badonicus. He was born in the Clyde River area of Scotland. After becoming a disciple of St. Finnian, Gildas was a hermit for a time in Wales. He was also trained by St. Illtyd. He was famous for writing De Excidiio Britanniae, a Latin work describing moral decline in Britain.