Saint Alban
Encyclopedia
Saint Alban was the first British
Christian
martyr
. Along with his fellow saint
s Julius and Aaron
, Alban is one of three martyrs remembered from Roman Britain
. Alban is listed in the Church of England
calendar for 22 June and he continues to be venerated in the Anglican
, Catholic, and Orthodox Communion
s. St Alban is mentioned in "Acta Martyrum", and also by Constantius of Lyon
in his Life of St Germanus of Auxerre
, written about 480. He also appears in Gildas
' 6th century polemic De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
and Bede
's Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
.
In 2006 some Church of England clergy suggested that Alban should replace St George as the patron saint
of England. There have also been claims that he should be patron saint of Britain as a whole.
's Ecclesiastical History of the English People
, I.vii and xviii, Alban was a pagan
living at Verulamium
(now St Albans
), who converted to Christianity
, and was executed by decapitation
on a hill above the Roman
settlement of Verulamium
. St Albans Abbey was later founded near this site.
The date of Alban's execution has never been firmly established. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles lists the year 283. According to the Venerable Bede: "when the cruel Emperors first published their edicts against the Christians". In other words, sometime after the publication of the edicts by Eastern Roman Emperor Diocletian
in 303 and before the proclamation of the toleration Edict of Milan
by co-ruling Roman Emperors Constantine I and Licinius
in 313. The year 304 has been suggested.
In 1968, English historian John Morris
suggested that St Alban's martyrdom took place during the persecutions under Emperor Septimius Severus
in 209. Morris bases his claims on earlier manuscript sources, unknown to Bede, especially an 8th-century copy of a 3rd century manuscript found in Turin
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." St Gildas
knew this source, but mistranslated the name "Severus" as an adjective, and wrongly identified the emperor as Diocletian
. Bede accepted this identification as fact, and dated 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; Severus, however, was in Britain from 208 to 211. Morris thus dates Alban's death to 209. Subsequent scholars (W. H. C. Frend and Charles Thomas
for example) have argued that such a single, localised British martyrdom in 209 would have been unusual, and have suggested the period of 251–59 (under the persecutors Decius
or Valerian
) as more likely.
Alban sheltered a Christian priest (Geoffrey of Monmouth
's later interpolation giving his name as "Amphibalus
", the name for the cloak) in his home, and was converted and baptised by him. When the "impious prince", as Bede has called him, sent Roman soldiers to Alban's house to look for the priest, Alban exchanged cloaks with the priest and was arrested in his stead at Chantry Island. Alban was taken before the magistrate
, who was furious at the deception and ordered that Alban be given the punishment due to the priest if he had indeed become a Christian. Alban declared, "I worship and adore the true and living God who created all things." These words are still used in prayer at St Albans Abbey. St Alban was eventually sacrificed to the Roman gods and was condemned to death. He was taken out of the town across the River Ver
to the top of the hill opposite. The reputed place of his beheading is where St Albans Cathedral
now stands. Gildas does not state that Alban was martryed in Verulamium; Bede is the first person to document the execution and burial of Alban as happening in Verulamium.
, Albanum egregium fæcunda Britannia profert ("Fruitful Britain holy Alban yields").
Bede tells several legends associated with the story of Alban's execution. On his way to the execution, Alban had to cross a river, and finding the bridge full of people, he made the waters part and crossed over on dry land. And the executioner was so impressed with Alban's faith that he also converted to Christianity
on the spot, and refused to kill him. Another executioner was quickly found (whose eyes dropped out of his head when he did the deed), and the first was killed after Alban, thereby becoming the second British Christian martyr.
Alban is represented in art as carrying his head between his hands
, having been beheaded.
The "Albaninifest", the largest annual festival to be held in a historic town in Switzerland, is named after him. This takes place in Winterthur
, where Alban is one of the three city-saints.
Feast day
: June 22. (Christians globally celebrate this)
The Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius
is named in part after Alban.
Besides his abbey, churches in England dedicated to Saint Alban include St Alban, Wood Street
in the City of London
, one in Westcliff-on-Sea (Essex), another in Withernwick
in the East Riding of Yorkshire
, and one in Southampton
and another in Macclesfield, Cheshire, and the Parish Church of Highgate, Birmingham
.
Churches dedicated to Saint Alban outside England include 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 this church that King Canute IV of Denmark
(Saint Canute) was murdered in 1086. The original church no longer exists, but in 1908 the Roman Catholic parish church of Odense, St. Alban's Church
, was consecrated.
The Washington National Cathedral
, an Episcopal Church in Washington DC, USA, is located on Mount St. Alban. The St. Albans School for Boys, which is affiliated with the Cathedral, is also named for him.
The only English-speaking church in the Tokyo diocese of the Nippon Seikokai (the Anglican Church in Japan) is St. Alban's. It is fully called "St. Alban's-by-St. Andrew's" as it is located on the grounds of the cathedral, St. Andrew's. The congregation began in 1954.
St. Alban's beheading is mentioned in the Enter Shikari
song "All Eyes On The Saint", acknowledging their hometown St. Albans.
, where he was decapitated by the Vandals
in 406.
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 http://www.sobornost.org/archive/newsletter-2002_50.html. 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.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
. Along with his fellow saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
s Julius and Aaron
Julius and Aaron
Saints Julius and Aaron are celebrated as two British martyrs who died during the religious persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian in AD 304. Their feast day was traditionally celebrated on July 1....
, Alban is one of three martyrs remembered from Roman Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
. Alban is listed in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
calendar for 22 June and he continues to be venerated in the Anglican
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
, Catholic, and Orthodox Communion
Communion (Christian)
The term communion is derived from Latin communio . The corresponding term in Greek is κοινωνία, which is often translated as "fellowship". In Christianity, the basic meaning of the term communion is an especially close relationship of Christians, as individuals or as a Church, with God and with...
s. St Alban is mentioned in "Acta Martyrum", and also by Constantius of Lyon
Constantius of Lyon
Constantius of Lyon was a priest from what is Auvergne in modern-day France, who wrote a hagiography of Saint Germanus of Auxerre....
in his Life of St Germanus of Auxerre
Germanus of Auxerre
Germanus of Auxerre was a bishop of Auxerre in Gaul. He is a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, commemorated on July 31. He visited Britain in around 429 and the records of this visit provide valuable information on the state of post-Roman British society...
, written about 480. He also appears in Gildas
Gildas
Gildas was a 6th-century British cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during this period. His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens...
' 6th century polemic De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae is a work by the 6th-century British cleric Gildas. It is a sermon in three parts condemning the acts of Gildas' contemporaries, both secular and religious, whom he blames for the dire state of affairs in sub-Roman Britain...
and Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
's Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
The Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum is a work in Latin by Bede on the history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between Roman and Celtic Christianity.It is considered to be one of the most important original references on...
.
In 2006 some Church of England clergy suggested that Alban should replace St George as the patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of England. There have also been claims that he should be patron saint of Britain as a whole.
Life
According to BedeBede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
's Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
The Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum is a work in Latin by Bede on the history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between Roman and Celtic Christianity.It is considered to be one of the most important original references on...
, I.vii and xviii, Alban was a pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
living at Verulamium
Verulamium
Verulamium was an ancient town in Roman Britain. It was sited in the southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, Great Britain. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon...
(now St Albans
St Albans
St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...
), who converted to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, and was executed by decapitation
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
on a hill above the Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
settlement of Verulamium
Verulamium
Verulamium was an ancient town in Roman Britain. It was sited in the southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, Great Britain. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon...
. St Albans Abbey was later founded near this site.
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
in 303 and before the proclamation of the toleration Edict of Milan
Edict of Milan
The Edict of Milan was a letter signed by emperors Constantine I and Licinius that proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire...
by co-ruling Roman Emperors Constantine I and Licinius
Licinius
Licinius I , was Roman Emperor from 308 to 324. Co-author of the Edict of Milan that granted official toleration to Christians in the Roman Empire, for the majority of his reign he was the rival of Constantine I...
in 313. The year 304 has been suggested.
In 1968, English historian John Morris
John Morris (historian)
John Robert Morris was an English historian who specialised in the study of the institutions of the Roman Empire and the history of Sub-Roman Britain...
suggested that St Alban's martyrdom took place during the persecutions under Emperor Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of...
in 209. Morris bases his claims on earlier manuscript sources, unknown to Bede, especially an 8th-century copy of a 3rd century manuscript found in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
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." St Gildas
Gildas
Gildas was a 6th-century British cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during this period. His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens...
knew this source, but mistranslated the name "Severus" as an adjective, and wrongly identified the emperor as Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
. Bede accepted this identification as fact, and dated 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; Severus, however, was in Britain from 208 to 211. Morris thus dates Alban's death to 209. Subsequent scholars (W. H. C. Frend and Charles Thomas
Charles Thomas (historian)
Antony Charles Thomas, CBE, FSA is a British historian and archaeologist who was Professor of Cornish Studies at Exeter University, and the first Director of the Institute of Cornish Studies, from 1971 until his retirement in 1991...
for example) have argued that such a single, localised British martyrdom in 209 would have been unusual, and have suggested the period of 251–59 (under the persecutors Decius
Decius
Trajan Decius , was Roman Emperor from 249 to 251. In the last year of his reign, he co-ruled with his son Herennius Etruscus until they were both killed in the Battle of Abrittus.-Early life and rise to power:...
or Valerian
Valerian (emperor)
Valerian , also known as Valerian the Elder, was Roman Emperor from 253 to 260. He was taken captive by Persian king Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the only Roman Emperor who was captured as a prisoner of war, resulting in wide-ranging instability across the Empire.-Origins and rise...
) as more likely.
Alban sheltered a Christian priest (Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
's later interpolation giving his name as "Amphibalus
Amphibalus
Saint Amphibalus was formerly venerated as the Christian priest traditionally sheltered by Saint Alban, who was converted by him, as a consequence of which Alban was martyred....
", the name for the cloak) in his home, and was converted and baptised by him. When the "impious prince", as Bede has called him, sent Roman soldiers to Alban's house to look for the priest, Alban exchanged cloaks with the priest and was arrested in his stead at Chantry Island. Alban was taken before the magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
, who was furious at the deception and ordered that Alban be given the punishment due to the priest if he had indeed become a Christian. Alban declared, "I worship and adore the true and living God who created all things." These words are still used in prayer at St Albans Abbey. St Alban was eventually sacrificed to the Roman gods and was condemned to death. He was taken out of the town across the River Ver
River Ver
The Ver is a river in Hertfordshire, England. The river begins in the grounds of Markyate Cell, and flows south for 12 miles alongside Watling Street through Flamstead, Redbourn, St Albans and Park Street, and joins the River Colne at Bricket Wood....
to the top of the hill opposite. The reputed place of his beheading is where St Albans Cathedral
St Albans Cathedral
St Albans Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral church at St Albans, England. At , its nave is the longest of any cathedral in England...
now stands. Gildas does not state that Alban was martryed in Verulamium; Bede is the first person to document the execution and burial of Alban as happening in Verulamium.
Cult of Saint Alban
A cult connected with Alban was already in existence in the 6th century, for Bede quotes a line from one of the Carmina; of Venantius FortunatusVenantius Fortunatus
Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus was a Latin poet and hymnodist in the Merovingian Court, and a Bishop of the early Catholic Church. He was never canonised but was venerated as Saint Venantius Fortunatus during the Middle Ages.-Life:Venantius Fortunatus was born between 530 and 540 A.D....
, Albanum egregium fæcunda Britannia profert ("Fruitful Britain holy Alban yields").
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
on the spot, and refused to kill him. Another executioner was quickly found (whose eyes dropped out of his head when he did the deed), and the first was killed after Alban, thereby becoming the second British Christian martyr.
Alban is represented in art as carrying his head between his hands
Cephalophore
A cephalophore is a saint who is generally depicted carrying his or her own head; in art, this was usually meant to signify that the subject in question had been martyred by beheading....
, having been beheaded.
The "Albaninifest", the largest annual festival to be held in a historic town in Switzerland, is named after him. This takes place in Winterthur
Winterthur
Winterthur is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. It has the country's sixth largest population with an estimate of more than 100,000 people. In the local dialect and by its inhabitants, it is usually abbreviated to Winti...
, where Alban is one of the three city-saints.
Feast day
Calendar of saints
The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the feast day of said saint...
: June 22. (Christians globally celebrate this)
The Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius
Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius
The Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius is a religious organization founded in 1928 to facilitate contact between Eastern and Western Christians, specifically Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Christians. It is named for Saint Alban, the protomartyr of England, and Saint Sergius of Radonezh, an...
is named in part after Alban.
Besides his abbey, churches in England dedicated to Saint Alban include St Alban, Wood Street
St Alban, Wood Street
St Alban's was a church in Wood Street, City of London. It was dedicated to Saint Alban. Only its tower now remains.-History:Some argue that it dated back to King Offa of Mercia, who is believed to have had a palace on the site which included a chapel...
in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, one in Westcliff-on-Sea (Essex), another in Withernwick
Withernwick
Withernwick is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north east of Hull city centre and south of Hornsea....
in the East Riding of Yorkshire
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...
, and one in Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
and another in Macclesfield, Cheshire, and the Parish Church of Highgate, Birmingham
Highgate, Birmingham
Highgate is an area of Birmingham, England. Following the Big City Plan of February 2008, Highgate is now a district of Birmingham City Centre. This area is regarded as the site of the original Anglo-Saxon settlement which gave the city of Birmingham its name....
.
Churches dedicated to Saint Alban outside England include St. Alban's Church
St. Alban's Church, Copenhagen
St. Alban's Church, locally often referred to simply as the English Church, is an Anglican church in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built from 1885 to 1887 for the growing English congregation in the city...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark, which is the city's only Anglican church. It was built to the design of Sir Arthur Blomfield
Arthur Blomfield
Sir Arthur William Blomfield was an English architect.-Background:The fourth son of Charles James Blomfield, an Anglican Bishop of London helpfully began a programme of new church construction in the capital. Born in Fulham Palace, Arthur Blomfield was educated at Rugby and Trinity College,...
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
Odense
The city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
. Supposedly, the relics of the saint had been brought here, maybe as early as the ninth century. It was in this church that King Canute IV of Denmark
Canute IV of Denmark
Canute IV, later known as Canute the Holy or Canute the Saint , was King of Denmark from 1080 until 1086. Canute was an ambitious king who sought to strengthen the Danish monarchy, devotedly supported the Roman Catholic Church, and had designs on the English throne. Slain by rebels in 1086, he was...
(Saint Canute) was murdered in 1086. The original church no longer exists, but in 1908 the Roman Catholic parish church of Odense, St. Alban's Church
St. Alban's Church, Odense
St. Alban's Church is the Roman Catholic parish church of Odense, Denmark. It should not be confused with the medieval church of St. Alban's Priory where King Canute IV was murdered in 1086, and which was later replaced with St...
, was consecrated.
The Washington National Cathedral
Washington National Cathedral
The Washington National Cathedral, officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in...
, an Episcopal Church in Washington DC, USA, is located on Mount St. Alban. The St. Albans School for Boys, which is affiliated with the Cathedral, is also named for him.
The only English-speaking church in the Tokyo diocese of the Nippon Seikokai (the Anglican Church in Japan) is St. Alban's. It is fully called "St. Alban's-by-St. Andrew's" as it is located on the grounds of the cathedral, St. Andrew's. The congregation began in 1954.
St. Alban's beheading is mentioned in the Enter Shikari
Enter Shikari
Enter Shikari are a British band, that combine post-hardcore with elements of various electronic genres, formed in 2003 in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The band is named after a boat belonging to Roughton "Rou" Reynolds' uncle, and a character in a play which he wrote before forming the band, both of...
song "All Eyes On The Saint", acknowledging their hometown St. Albans.
Saint Alban of Mainz
Some details added to St Alban's tradition come from confusing him with another Saint Alban: Saint Alban of Mainz, or Albinus, who was martyred at MainzMainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, where he was decapitated by the Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
in 406.
Shrine
In June 2002 a scapula (shoulder blade), believed to be a relicRelic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
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
Church of St. Pantaleon
The Church of St. Pantaleon is an early Romanesque church in Cologne, Germany. The church dates back to the 10th Century and is the oldest of the twelve Romanesque churches of Cologne. The former monastery church is consecrated to Saint Pantaleon and the Saints Cosmas and Damian. The empress...
in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Germany http://www.sobornost.org/archive/newsletter-2002_50.html. St Pantaleon's, like St Albans Cathedral a former Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
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
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
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.
External links
- Bede, Ecclesiastical History Book i.vii: the story of Saint Alban
- The Story of Alban on the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban's website
- The Latin Text of Bede's chapter on Alban at www.earlychurchtexts.com - also links to online dictionaries
- An English translation of Bede's chapter on Alban at www.earlychurchtexts.com
- Catholic encyclopedia: St Alban