The cathedral city of St Albans in Hertfordshire takes its
name from Alban, who was the first English saint.
The story goes that Alban was a Roman soldier in the town of
Verulamium, an important settlement on Watling Street. During a period of
persecution of Christians he gave shelter to a Christian man and was himself
converted to Christianity.
On being ordered to hand over the protected man he refused
to do so and was executed as a result.
Is the story true? Set against it is the fact that Christians
were only persecuted very rarely in Roman Britain. However, the story was first
recorded early in the 5th century, and the event would not have happened
– if it did – much earlier than then. The balance therefore seems to come down
on “Yes” rather than “No”.
The Abbey Church of St Alban was founded by King Offa, who
reigned in the late 8th century. Tradition has it that the place of
Alban’s martyrdom became the site of the high altar of the Abbey, which was
declared a Cathedral in 1877.
© John Welford
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