Alban

Alban was martyred at Verulamium (modern-day St. Albans) in Roman Britain around 304, likely during the Diocletian persecution. Bede, writing nearly four centuries later, is the primary source. Alban is venerated as the first Christian martyr of Britain and the patron of the Abbey and city of St. Albans. His cult is ancient and widespread in England.

Traditionally, Alban sheltered a Christian cleric fleeing persecution. The cleric so impressed Alban with his faith and prayers that Alban himself became a convert. When soldiers arrived to arrest the cleric, Alban disguised himself in the cleric's clothes and was taken in his place. During his trial, Alban boldly confessed his Christian faith. According to the narrative, his executioner was so moved by Alban's steadfastness that the soldier himself converted and declared his faith, whereupon he too was executed. This tradition of the executioner's conversion is common in later martyr narratives and should be regarded as hagiographic embellishment.

The principal source for Alban's life is Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People (completed 731), specifically Book I, Chapter 7. Bede reports that during a period of persecution (which scholars place during the Diocletian persecution of 303–311), a Christian cleric was sheltered by a pagan man named Alban at Verulamium. Alban was converted by his guest's example and devotion. When soldiers came to arrest the cleric, Alban dressed in the cleric's garments and offered himself in his place. He was arrested, tried, and executed by the sword.

Bede notes that Alban was executed at a place outside the city, and that later a church was built there in his honor — the abbey that became the center of the medieval town of St. Albans. Gildas, a 6th-century British historian, also attests to Alban's martyrdom, though he provides fewer details than Bede.

The date of Alban's death is traditionally placed around 304, though some manuscripts of Bede give an earlier date (c. 209 under the Emperor Septimius Severus), and modern scholarship has suggested various dates. Bede himself places Alban during the reign of Diocletian. The most likely context is the Diocletian persecution of 303–311.

Alban's martyrdom is particularly significant because it represents the first known Christian death in Britain — establishing his iconic status in the history of English Christianity.

• Martyr