Saint Alban

Hagiography

According to the most elaborate version of the tale found in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Alban lived in Verulamium, sometime during the 3rd or 4th century (see dating controversy below), but some authors, on the basis that Gildas says he crosses the Thames before his martyrdom, place his residence and martyrdom in London. He lived in Roman Britain, but little is known about his religious affiliations, socioeconomic status or citizenship. Sometime in the 3rd or 4th century, Christians began to suffer "cruel persecution." Alban met a Christian priest fleeing from "persecutors" and sheltered him in his house for a number of days. The priest (who later came to be called Amphibalus, meaning "cloak" in Latin) prayed and "kept watch" day and night, and Alban was so impressed with the priest's faith and piety that he found himself emulating the priest and soon converted to Christianity. Eventually it came to the ears of an unnamed "impious prince" that Alban was sheltering the priest. The prince gave orders for Roman soldiers to make a strict search of Alban's house. As they came to seize the priest, Alban put on the priest's cloak and clothing and presented himself to the soldiers in place of his guest.

Alban was brought before the judge, who just then happened to be standing at the altar, offering sacrifices to "devils" (Bede's reference to pagan gods). When the judge heard that Alban had offered himself up in place of the priest, he became enraged that Alban would shelter a person who "despised and blasphemed the gods," and as Alban had given himself up in the Christian's place, Alban was sentenced to endure all the punishments that were to be inflicted upon the priest unless he would comply with the pagan rites of their religion. Alban refused, and declared, "I worship and adore the true and living God who created all things." (The words are still used in prayer at St Alban's Abbey).

The enraged judge ordered Alban scourged, thinking that a whipping would shake the constancy of his heart, but Alban bore these torments patiently and joyfully. When the judge realized that the tortures would not shake his faith, he ordered for Alban to be beheaded.

Alban was led to execution, and he presently came to a fast-flowing river that could not be crossed (believed to be the River Ver). There was a bridge, but a mob of curious townspeople who wished to watch the execution had so clogged the bridge that the execution party could not cross. Filled with an ardent desire to arrive quickly at martyrdom, Alban raised his eyes to heaven, and the river dried up, allowing Alban and his captors to cross over on dry land. The astonished executioner cast down his sword and fell at Alban's feet, moved by divine inspiration and praying that he might either suffer with Alban or be executed for him.

The other executioners hesitated to pick up his sword, and meanwhile, Alban and they went about 500 paces to a gently sloping hill, completely covered with all kinds of wild flowers, and overlooking a beautiful plain (Bede observes that it was a fittingly beautiful place to be enriched and sanctified by a martyr's blood).

When Alban reached the summit of the hill, he began to thirst and prayed God would give him water. A spring immediately sprang up at his feet. It was there that his head was struck off, as well as that of the first Roman soldier who was miraculously converted and refused to execute him. However, immediately after delivering the fatal stroke, the eyes of the second executioner popped out of his head and dropped to the ground along with Alban's head so that this second executioner could not rejoice over Alban's death.

In later legends, Alban's head rolled downhill after his execution, and a well sprang up where it stopped. Upon hearing of the miracles, the astonished judge ordered further persecutions to cease, and he began to honour the saint's death.

St Albans Cathedral now stands near the believed site of his execution, and a well is at the bottom of the hill, Holywell Hill.

Dating controversy

The date of Alban's execution has never been firmly established. Original sources and modern historians indicate a range of dates between 209 and 313.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle lists the year 283, but Bede places it in 305, "when the cruel Emperors first published their edicts against the Christians." In other words, it was sometime after the publication of the edicts by Eastern Roman Emperor Diocletian in 303 and before the proclamation of toleration in the Edict of Milan by co-ruling Roman Emperors Constantine I and Licinius, in 313. Bede was probably following Gildas.

English historian John Morris suggests that Alban's martyrdom took place during the persecutions of Emperor Septimius Severus in 209. Morris bases his claims on the Turin version of the Passio Albani, unknown to Bede, which states, "Alban received a fugitive cleric and put on his garment and his cloak (habitu et caracalla) that he was wearing and delivered himself up to be killed instead of the priest… and was delivered immediately to the evil Caesar Severus." According to Morris St Gildas knew the source but mistranslated the name "Severus" as an adjective, wrongly identifying the emperor as Diocletian. Bede accepted the identification as fact and dates St Alban's martyrdom to this later period. As Morris points out, Diocletian reigned only in the East and would not have been involved in British affairs in 304; Emperor Severus, however, was in Britain from 208 to 211. Morris thus dates Alban's death to 209. However, the mention of Severus in the Turin version has been shown to be an interpolation into an original text, which mentioned only a iudex or 'judge'. Subsequent scholars (William Hugh Clifford Frend and Charles Thomas for example) have argued that such a single, localised British martyrdom in 209 would have been unusual, and they have suggested the period of 251–259 (under the persecutors Decius or Valerian) are more likely.

Location controversy

While it is certain that the cult devoted to Saint Alban was established in Verulamium, and his martyrdom was also alleged to have taken place there, the sources are unclear about where he was actually executed. Neither Victricius's De Laude Sanctorum nor the Passio Albani mentions where he was martyred other than that it was in Britain. In the Vita Germani, Germanus visits Alban's tomb and touches droplets of his blood still on the ground, but the text does not name the location of the tomb. It is not until Gildas that Alban was connected with Verulamium.

Disputed historicity

Little is known about the real Alban (estimated to have died c. 209 – 305 AD, depending on interpretations), as there are no contemporaneous accounts of his martyrdom. The major sources on his life were written hundreds of years after his death, and many of the later texts contain traditional additions and wondrous embellishments, which may or may not have occurred. In the view of Robin Lane Fox, "the date and historicity of the first British 'martyr', St Alban, are highly disputable".

Saint Alban was long regarded as a genuine martyr saint, the protomartyr of Britain. For much of the 20th century controversy centred around the date of his martyrdom (see further 'Dating Controversy', above). More recently,some researchers have taken a more skeptical view about his historicity. In an article published in 2000 Philip Thornhill put forward the case that the cult of the martyr was one of many early Christian cults, with its ultimate roots in pagan traditions, and in this case, it was 're-invented' to serve a contemporary political purpose. The theory proposed that he was in some sense a personification of Albion (the oldest recorded name for Britain) and that his cult was used by Verulamium (the modern St Albans) in its efforts to unify and establish its dominance over, the old Roman province of Britannia. The name Elafius, mentioned as that of a British official in the Life of Saint Germanus (see below) was identified as a 'mis-hearing' of Albios or Albius as another name for Albanus (in a corrupt, oral, version of the story of Germanus's visit to Britain) and the cult of the traditionally 'pre-Patrican' Saint Ailbe of Emly in Munster, in Ireland was identified as representing, in origin, the cult of Alban/Albios. Assorted later figures, of mainly hagiographical legend (the legends about supposed saints), were identified as, at least in part, much devolved and mutated derivatives of a 'fragmented' cult of Alban/Albios.

This theory received little support or even notice, but in 2008 the historian Ian Wood proposed (independently) that he was an 'invention' of Saint Germanus of Auxerre. Germanus visited Britain in 429, as is known from the nearly-contemporary mention by Prosper of Aquitaine. His chronicle, in the entry for the year 429 (published in 433), states:

Agricola, a Pelagian, the son of the Pelagian bishop Severianus, corrupted the British churches by the insinuation of his doctrine. But at the persuasion of the deacon Palladius, Pope Celestine sent Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, as his representative, and having rejected the heretics, directed the British to the catholic faith.

Meanwhile, it was recorded in the Vita Germani ('Life of Saint Germanus of Auxerre'), written probably sometime between 450 and 485 by Constantius of Lyons, that he, together with his fellow bishop Lupus, having stamped out the heresy of 'Pelagianism' in Britain, visited the tomb of Saint Alban:

When this damnable heresy had thus been stamped out, its authors refuted, and the minds of all re-established in the true faith, the bishops visited the shrine of the blessed martyr Alban, to give thanks to God through him. (Vita Germani 12)

The martyr Alban is also mentioned, one more time, in the context of Germanus's return journey, by sea:

Their own merits and the intercession of Alban the Martyr secured for them a calm voyage; and a good ship brought them back in peace to their expectant people. (Vita Germani 13)

The Vita Germani was long regarded as the earliest source for the martyr Alban, but recent research by Richard Sharpe has suggested the earliest version of the Passio Albani (the official story of the saint's martyrdom) may be even earlier (see below and Sources). Wood's argument was based partly on the idea that the name Albanus is suggestive of Albion as the oldest name for Britain, but for him, the name Alban suggested simply 'the man from Albion' rather than an actual 'personification' of the island and its people. It is, in any case, a part of what suggested to Wood that "it is Germanus who gives Alban a name". That, in turn, encouraged him in his conclusion: "The story of the saint's martyrdom seems to have been revealed to, or invented by, Germanus in the context of his anti-Pelagian mission" and in a later article "Alban may, therefore, have been 'discovered' by the bishop of Auxerre".

The argument has been accepted by, for instance, Michael Garcia but disputed by, for instance, Professor Nick Higham, who, in an article written in 2014 noted that since Germanus brought relics of continental saints with him, which, so the Passio relates, he deposits in the tomb of Saint Alban while removing some bloodstained earth to take back to Gaul, he must have known from the start that he would make a visit to the cult-centre of Saint Alban, as part of his campaign against the Pelagian heresy. On this basis he states: "This would make good sense in terms of his mission, claiming Britain's most famous cult for Catholicism". He therefore argues against the conclusion of Woods and Garcia that the martyr Alban was unknown before being invented by Germanus.

Key to the argument is a passage in the T version of the Passio that Sharpe has convincingly argued represents an 'interpolation' to the more original E text. All extant versions of the Passio mention (after describing the story of the saint's marttyrdom) Germanus's visit to the tomb of Saint Alban. The E version, followed essentially by the T version, states (in the translation of Sharpe):

When Germanus came to Alban's basilica, carrying with him relics of all the apostles and of several martyrs...

but interpolated at this point in only the T version is

...Alban had revealed himself to Germanus on his journey, and now, so Germanus himself relates, St Alban met him on the stormy seas. But while he had been keeping vigil at night in his basilica, in the dawn when he had given in to sleep St. Alban appeared to him and communicated to him by revelation to him what had happened at the time of his martyrdom and he made this public in order that the events should be preserved in writing on placards....

after which the T version essentially follows the E version again:

...he ordered the graves to be opened for him to place precious gifts in the same place, in order that the lodging of a single grave might hold membra of saints brought together from various regions whom heaven had received as equal in merit. Once these were honorably disposed and united, with violent devotion and a pious boldness of faith he took from the place where the blood of the martyr had flowed a lump of earth in which it was visible that the ground was red with blood preserved from the martyr's death while the persecutor was pale. When all these things were revealed and made known a huge crowd of people was brought to god with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ to whom is honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

It is possible to deduce from the interpolated passage that the name of the martyr was unknown before being revealed to Germanus, either in a vision he had of the martyr during his sea journey or in the dream he had in the basilica. It is also possible to deduce that it was simply the acta, or 'story of the martyrdom', of an already well known figure that was revealed to Germanus. The acta were then written down in tituli (translated above as 'placards'): that is possibly engraved in the walls of a church with illustrations. This might have been either in a church in Auxerre (Germanus's home town in Gaul) as argued by Sharpe and Wood, or in Britain. If the latter is the case, by being on public display, they might have served to give a definitive version of the saint's martyrdom, which could not be contradicted or reinterpreted (for instance by the addition of 'Pelagian' themes) In any case, it has been argued by Sharpe and Wood that these acta written down in tituli were actually the original, very simple and short, first version of the Passio Albani that has come down in the 'E' and later versions That is very possible but, of course, quite unprovable, but it seems clear that the Passio originates with the circle of Germanus at Auxerre. As time went on, more and more details and wondrous events were added to the account its most detailed version in the 8th century, in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People.

The location of the tomb of Saint Alban that Germanus visited is most often thought to have been Verulamium, now St Albans. That is on the basis of what is in fact the earliest mention of the martyr Alban in an indigenous British source, in the De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae probably written in the second quarter of the fifth century, by the British author Gildas. As part of his brief historical account he describes the persecution of Christians in Britain,which he identifies as part of the persecution of Diocletian, adding at the end of a passage about "their graves and the places where they suffered": "I refer to Saint Alban of Verulam (Verolamiensem), Aaron and Iulius, citizens of Caerleon (Legionum Urbis) and others of both sexes, who in different places, displayed the highest spirit in the battle-line of Christ". (De Excidio 10)

The Verulamium location is supported by the fact that the topography of the Passio can be broadly, if not quite exactly, matched to that of Verulamium, and Bede describes an important cult of Saint Alban there, by the early eighth century at least. Some doubt, however, is encouraged by the fact that in his account of Albans's martyrdom Gildas (De Excidio 11) describes the martyr as crossing the Thames to his place of execution (at Verulamium/St Alban's there is only the much smaller River Ver), which some have taken as an indication that the actual martyrdom (or the more original version of the story about it) was located in Londinium.

Cult

The hilltop located outside Verulamium eventually became the centre of the cult devoted to Alban. It has been claimed (but doubted by some) that a memoria over the execution point and holding the remains of St Alban may have existed at the site from c. 300, possibly earlier. There was certainly a cult centre of St Alban at Verulamium by the time of Bede c. 731, and the mention in Gildas strongly suggests that it was already in existence by the early sixth century. However, when and how the cult of Saint Alban originated is the subject of some debate: there is little textual or archaeological evidence that a cult of Saint Alban existed before Germanus of Auxerre visited the site in 429. In fact, one version of the Passio Albani says that Germanus did not know the name or story of Saint Alban before visiting the site, and Alban appeared to him in a dream to reveal his identity and martyrdom story. That can be interpreted as suggesting (see above: The Disputed Historicity) that the cult of Saint Alban did not exist before the arrival of Germanus. Germanus is said to have taken away dust from the site, which was still marked with Alban's blood. The cult and veneration of saints was still in its infancy at this time, and it has been suggested that Germanus had a hand in creating and promoting the cult of Saint Alban.

Gildas writing probably in the second quarter of the fifth century calls Saint Alban Verolamiensis, 'of Verulamium' in a passage that refers to the "graves and places where they suffered" of the early British martyrs. This suggests there was at least a shrine but quite possibly a church to him at Verulamium by then. Certainly, Bede (c. 720) mentions a church there, dedicated to him. Offa of Mercia established a Benedictine Abbey and monastery at the site c. 793, but the abbey was probably sacked and destroyed by the Danes c. 890. It was rebuilt by the Normans, with construction beginning in 1077. By the High Middle Ages, St Albans ranked as the premier abbey in England. The abbey church now serves as the cathedral of the Diocese of St Albans, established in 1877.

In a chapel east of the crossing and high altar are remains of the 14th-century marble shrine of St Alban. In June 2002 a scapula (shoulder blade), believed to be a relic of St Alban, was presented to St Albans Cathedral and placed inside the saint's restored 13th-century shrine. The bone was given by the Church of St Pantaleon in Cologne, Germany [11]. St Pantaleon's, like St Albans Cathedral a former Benedictine abbey church that had a shrine dedicated to St Alban, has possessed remains believed to be those of St Alban since the 10th century. It is entirely possible that further relics were acquired by the church in the 16th century at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in England, when many such relics were smuggled abroad to prevent their destruction. St Albans Abbey was dissolved in 1539.

The largest relic of St Alban in England is the thigh of the protomartyr preserved at St Michael's Benedictine Abbey, Farnborough, Hampshire, which was removed from the St Pantaleon's reliquary in the 1950s.

On the Continent

There has also been an extensive cult of Saint Alban on the Continent from an early date such as in Mainz, Cologne and Basel on the Rhine as well as a number of other localities in Switzerland and Italy and a notable concentration in the French Apline regions and the Rhone Valley. Sometimes, the 'Saint Alban' concerned is regarded as a separate figure, other times, he is alternatively called Albinus (and often identified with 6th c. bishop, Saint Albinus of Angers), and at other times he is identified with the British martyr. Philip Thornhill noted a correlation of Alban dedications with place names in Alb- (very common in mountainous areas, especially in ancient Liguria and also found in river names).

St. Pantaleon's Church, Cologne holds relics said to be those of the British martyr Alban (as noted above). In fact, although identified with the British martyr, he was locally known as Albinus. His relics were said to have been brought from Rome by Empress Theophano and placed in St Pantaleon’s church in about 984: the relics were miraculously saved from destruction in an accident on the way at a place that a later version of 1502, was identified as Silenen, Switzerland. The original record was in a 12th-century manuscript that alleged that the relics were actually those of the British martyr, having been delivered to Ravenna by Germanus himself and taken from there to Rome. Another church at Cologne is known to have been dedicated to the British Alban from the 12th century.

The Saint Alban of Basel is recorded in the Berne rescension of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum of circa 800: “Basilea civitate sancti Albani martyris”, where he would appear to be an independent local figure, being celebrated on 24 August but later identified with the Saint Alban of Mainz.

St Alban of Mainz is recorded from 756. He was regarded as a separate figure in sources from Raban Maur's early 9thcentury martyrology, including a 10th-century Life by Gozwin of 1060-2 However, Hippolyte Delehaye suggested that he very probably represents, in origin, a localised version of the British martyr since his feast date was recorded as June 21 in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (just a day before that of the British one, who actually appears on the 21st and 22nd in early recensions).

The story in Raban Maur associates Alban of Mainz with a martyred bishop, Aureus of Mainz and two other martyrs, Ursus and Theonestus the latter of whom is said to have originated on the Greek island of Naxos, together with Alban. Thornhill elaborates a theory that suggests that Theonestus (likely confused with a 7th-century Bishop Theonestus of Phillipi and a Bishop Theomastus associated with Mainz) represents "some kind of distorted mirror image of the name, 'Dionysus'", as appropriate to the leading ancient cult-figure associated with Naxos. A Saint Alban of Burano (near Altino, Italy), meanwhile was associated with one Domenicus in a legendary tale reminiscent of one told about Dionysus.

Veneration

Alban is listed in the Church of England calendar for 22 June and he continues to be venerated in the Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox Communions. In 2006 some Church of England clergy suggested that Alban should replace St George as the patron saint of England. The Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius is also named in part after Alban.

Every year, during the weekend closest to his feast day, St Albans Cathedral hosts the "Alban Pilgrimage", with huge puppets re-enacting the events of Alban's martyrdom around the city of St Albans.

Besides his abbey, churches in England dedicated to Saint Alban include the former St Alban, Wood Street in the City of London, St Alban's Church at Holborn in central London, ones in the London suburbs of Teddington, Croydon and Ilford, one in Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex, another in Withernwick in the East Riding of Yorkshire, one in Swaythling, Southampton, one in Northampton, one in a Norwich suburb, one in Bristol, one in Tattenhall, Cheshire and another in Macclesfield, Cheshire. There is also St Alban's West Leigh near Havant in Hampshire, and the St Alban the Martyr Parish Church of Highgate, Birmingham (including Ark St Alban's Academy). Finally, a church is dedicated to Saint Alban at Earsdon Village, Northumberland, which is the nearest one to Bede's Holy Island.

Outside Britain

Churches and festivals dedicated to Saint Alban outside Britain include the following:

Australia

Cathedral Church of St Alban the Martyr in Griffith, New South Wales

Anglican Church of St Alban in Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia

Anglican Church of St Alban the Martyr in Kalangadoo, South Australia

Anglican Church of St Alban the Martyr in St Albans, New South Wales

Anglican Church of St Alban in Marradong, Western Australia

Canada

St Alban's Anglican Church in Ottawa

St. Alban's Church, the Anglican Parish of New Bandon, Diocese of Fredericton

Denmark

St Alban's Church in Copenhagen, Denmark, which is the city's only Anglican church. It was built to the design of Sir Arthur Blomfield and consecrated in 1887. The connection with Denmark goes back to the Middle Ages where a church dedicated to Saint Alban was built in Odense. Supposedly, the relics of the saint had been brought here, maybe as early as the ninth century. It was in that church that King Canute IV of Denmark (Saint Canute) was murdered in 1086. The original church no longer exists, but the Roman Catholic parish church of Odense, St Alban's Church, was consecrated in 1908.

Japan

The only English-language church in the Tokyo Diocese of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (the Anglican Church in Japan) is dedicated to St Alban. It is fully called "St Alban's-by-St Andrew's", as it is located in the grounds of the Cathedral, St Andrew's.

The church was consecrated in 1956, but English-language services in the Anglican tradition have been conducted where the St Alban's building now stands since 1879.

New Zealand

There are at least three churches dedicated to the saint on New Zealand's North Island: the Church of Saint Alban the Martyr in Auckland, St Alban's Church, Kaipara Flats, near Warkworth, and St Alban's Church in Pauatahanui, a village within Wellington's metropolitan area.

South Africa

The Cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Pretoria in South Africa is dedicated to Saint Alban. The Diocese also has a St Alban's College, a private boarding school/day school for boys founded in 1963.

Switzerland

The "Albanifest", a large annual festival held in Winterthur in the Canton of Zürich in Switzerland, is named in honour of Saint Alban, one of the patron saints of the city, and takes place in late June every year. Although a recent creation, the festival celebrates the granting of a charter to the town in 1264 by Rudolf of Habsburg on 22 June of that year, which happened to be the saint's day.

United States

The parish church of St Alban's Episcopal Church, the first Free Church in Washington, D.C., was erected on Mount Saint Alban in 1854 using a bequest from a young woman, Phoebe Nourse, who earned the money sewing. St Alban's went on to found five mission churches in Washington, four of which still maintain active congregations of their own. Washington National Cathedral, a cathedral of the Episcopal Church in Washington D.C., is located next to the parish church, which preceded the laying of the Cathedral's cornerstone by 53 years. The St Albans School for Boys, which is affiliated with and was established in 1909 soon after construction of the Cathedral began, is also named for the saint.

In 1972, a chapel named after St. Alban was erected and later consecrated in the Sabino Catchment area of Tucson, Arizona. The chapel and the congregation later became St. Alban's Church and Parish. It was in this church that the second Anglican female priest, and first female priest in Arizona, was ordained.