city
Verulamium / St Albans (Alban)
St Albans, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom · Britain & Ireland
51.752, -0.358
Attested. The martyr cult is attested by the 5th century (Constantius's Life of Germanus; Gildas; Bede). The date of the martyrdom is disputed (c. 209, c. 251 or c. 304).
Alban, Britain's first named martyr, was executed at Verulamium for sheltering a Christian priest. His cult was established by 429, when Germanus of Auxerre visited the shrine, and Bede tells the story in detail. St Albans Abbey (now cathedral) stands over the traditional site.
Source stance: insider. Christian hagiography and history.
People and groups named here
- Alban
- Germanus of Auxerre (visited 429)
- Bede (historian)
Sources
- Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book I (Alban, ch. 7; Palladius, ch. 13)
tr. L. C. Jane (1903), public domain; Fordham Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- St. Alban
Catholic Encyclopedia (1907-1912), public domain; New Advent. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Pleiades place 79739: Verulamium
Pleiades Gazetteer (ISAW, NYU). Accessed 2026-11-11.
Further reading
Councils here
None in this list.