Courtesy of the Board of Trinity College Dublin - The martyrdom of Alban, from Matthew Paris' 'Life of St Alban'. According to tradition, the executioner's eyes fell out as he struck. Alban's spirit ascends in the form of a dove.
Alban was England's first martyr, dying for his faith in about the year 209 AD. In the 3rd century AD, the Roman city of Verulamium, close to the site of present-day St Albans, was one of the most important and largest sites in the country. Alban was a citizen of Verulamium, and as the historian Bede records, he took in and sheltered a Christian seeking sanctuary from persecution. So impressed was Alban by the prayer and witness of the stranger, that he accepted the Christian faith and disguised the visitor in his own cloak. Alban was brought before the authorities, but despite torture, he would not renounce his new-found faith, saying 'I worship and adore the true and living God.' He was condemned to die by beheading on a hill outside the city wall.
In a legendary but fitting embellishment to the story, it is told how roses sprang up under his feet as he walked to his place of execution. Within a few year of Alban' martyrdom, a shrine had been built to his honor, and the site quickly developed a reputation for miraculous healing. Much was done by King Offa (757-796) to secure a permanent church dedicated to the saint, including the founding of a monastery after the Benedictine order.
Today, the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban stands in a dramatic location overlooking Verulam Park and the Roman remains. It is a popular centre for pilgrimage and tourism, and its education centre is nationally renowned. The See of St Albans itself was established in 1877. At that time, the bishop extended jurisdiction over the counties of Essex and Hertford, a total of over 600 parishes. In 1914, the new diocese of Chelmsford was created, removing Essex from the diocese. A few months later the county archdeaconry of Bedford was severed from the diocese of Ely, and St Albans Diocese substantially took on its present form.
In a legendary but fitting embellishment to the story, it is told how roses sprang up under his feet as he walked to his place of execution. Within a few year of Alban' martyrdom, a shrine had been built to his honor, and the site quickly developed a reputation for miraculous healing. Much was done by King Offa (757-796) to secure a permanent church dedicated to the saint, including the founding of a monastery after the Benedictine order.
Today, the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban stands in a dramatic location overlooking Verulam Park and the Roman remains. It is a popular centre for pilgrimage and tourism, and its education centre is nationally renowned. The See of St Albans itself was established in 1877. At that time, the bishop extended jurisdiction over the counties of Essex and Hertford, a total of over 600 parishes. In 1914, the new diocese of Chelmsford was created, removing Essex from the diocese. A few months later the county archdeaconry of Bedford was severed from the diocese of Ely, and St Albans Diocese substantially took on its present form.
