Editing History of St Albans (section)

==Roman==
[[File:Sea God Mosaic, 160-190 AD, Verulamium Museum, St Albans (14212743925).jpg|thumb|Remains of the Roman city of [[Verulamium]] have been excavated in modern times]]
The Roman city of [[Verulamium]], the third largest town in Roman Britain after [[Londinium]] and [[Camulodunum|Colchester]],<ref name="Raddato">{{Cite web |title=Exploring Verulamium, the Roman city of St Albans (UK) |url=https://followinghadrian.com/2015/02/01/exploring-verulamium-the-roman-city-of-st-albans-uk/#:~:text=In%20its%20heyday%2C%20Verulamium%20was,centre%20of%20the%20Catuvellauni%20tribe.}}</ref> was built alongside the Celtic settlement in the valley of the [[River Ver]] nearer to the present city centre. The settlement was granted the rank of ''[[municipium]]'' around AD&nbsp;50, meaning that its citizens had what were known as "Latin Rights", a lesser citizenship status than a ''[[Colonia (Roman)|colonia]]'' possessed. It grew to a significant town, and as such received the attentions of [[Boudica]] of the [[Iceni]] in 61, when Verulamium was sacked and burnt on her orders:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/boudicca.shtml|title = BBC - History - Boudicca}}</ref> a black ash layer has been recorded by archaeologists, thus confirming the Roman written record. It grew steadily; by the early 3rd century, it covered an area of about {{convert|125|acre|km2}}, behind a deep ditch and wall. It was encircled by gated walls in AD 275. Verulamium contained a [[forum (Roman)|forum]], [[basilica]] and a [[Roman theatre (structure)|theatre]], much of which were damaged during two fires, one in 155 and the other in around 250. One of the few extant Roman inscriptions in Britain is found on the remnants of the forum (see [[Verulamium Forum inscription]]). The town was rebuilt in [[Rock (geology)|stone]] rather than [[timber]] at least twice over the next 150 years.

===Early Christianity===
[[File:DublinTrinityCollegeMSEi40LifeAlbanFol38rMartyrdomAlban.jpg|thumb|13th-Century manuscript depicting the martyrdom of [[St Alban]] (Trinity College Library, Dublin)]]
The city is named after [[St Alban]], a convert to Christianity who, according to medieval sources, lived in the Roman city. He was martyred in either the third or fourth century.<ref name=niblett2>Rosalind Niblett, ''Verulamium,'' Stroud: Tempus, 2001</ref><ref name=EB1911>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=St Albans |volume=23 |page=1012}}</ref> [[Bede]]'s [[Ecclesiastical History of the English People|''Ecclesiastical History'']] gives an account of Alban being beheaded on a hill outside the city.<ref name="Bede" /> This suggests that the cathedral, built on a hill above the Roman city, may have been built on the site of his martyrdom. However, the cathedral could alternatively be on the site of his burial. Widespread cults of saints began in cemeteries outside of Roman cities.<ref>Brown, Peter (1981). ''The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity''.</ref> The site of Alban's burial remains a topic for investigation. The site of a Roman burial was uncovered near the Cathedral in the late 20th century, in the area of demolished medieval cloisters, probably extending beneath the present building, but there is no evidence of a connection with Alban.<ref>''St Albans Cathedral & Abbey,'' ed. A.Herbert et.al., Fraternity of the Friends of St Albans Abbey, 2015</ref><ref name=":0">Martin Biddle and Birthe Kølbye Biddle, "The Origins of St Albans Abbey: Excavations in the Cloister 1982-1983", Occasional Paper No. 2, The Fraternity of Saint Albans Abbey, 1984</ref>

Bede referred to a Roman church dedicated to St Alban, built "when peaceable Christian times were restored" (possibly the [[Peace of the Church|fourth century]]) and still in use in Bede's time.<ref name="Bede">Bede.
[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38326/38326-h/38326-h.html#toc25 Ecclesiastical History of England, p.18]. [[Project Gutenberg]].</ref><ref>Bede, [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/bede/bede1.shtml ''Ecclesiasticam Gentis Anglorum'']</ref> In 429 [[Germanus of Auxerre]] visited the church and subsequently promoted the cult of St Alban.<ref name=Vermaat:>{{cite web|last1=Constantius of Lyon|last2=Trans. Vermaat|first2=Robert|title=The text of the Vita sancti Germani|url=http://www.vortigernstudies.org.uk/artsou/constex.htm|website=vortigernstudies.org.uk|access-date=19 November 2014}}</ref><ref name=biddle>[[Martin Biddle]], "Alban and the Anglo-Saxon Church", in Robert Runcie (ed), ''Cathedral and City: St Albans Ancient and Modern,'' Martyn Associates, 1977</ref><ref name=storyofalban>[https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/history/story-of-st-alban "Story of St Alban", Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban.]</ref><ref>[http://www.persee.fr/doc/efr_0000-0000_1989_act_123_1_3580 Kenneth. S. Painter, "Recent discoveries in Britain", ''Publications de l'École française de Rome'', 1989, Vol.123, No.1, pp.2031-2071]</ref> [[John Morris (historian)|John Morris]] argued that the church was probably built in 396–8.<ref>John Morris, "The Date of St Alban", ''Hertfordshire Archaeology'', Vol. 9, 1987</ref> It has been suggested that several unearthed remains might have been Roman churches but there is no certain archaeological evidence.<ref name=niblett2/> An archaeological excavation in 1978, directed by [[Martin Biddle]], failed to find Roman remains on the site of the [[chapter house]] of the medieval abbey,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stalbanscathedral.org/history/chapter-house/history |title=Chapter House History - The Cathedral and Abbey Church of Saint Alban |publisher=Stalbanscathedral.org |access-date=2013-11-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113154308/http://www.stalbanscathedral.org/history/chapter-house/history |archive-date=2013-11-13 }}</ref> but recent investigation has uncovered a [[basilica]] near the cathedral, supporting the contention that it is "the oldest continuous site of Christian worship in Great Britain".<ref name=storyofalban/>

Some historians doubt the [[historicity]] of St Alban and argue that his cult was invented by Germanus.<ref name="Wood: Germanus, Alban and Auxerre">{{cite journal|last1=Wood|first1=Ian|title=Germanus, Alban and Auxerre|journal=Bulletin du Centre d'Études Médiévales d'Auxerre|date=2009|volume=13|url=http://cem.revues.org/11037#ftn6|access-date=19 November 2014}}</ref>