22
Jun 209 A.D. Alban, 1st Reported Martyr in
England.
The date is disputed.
Kiefer, James. “Alban, First Martry of Britain.” Biographical
Sketches. N.d. http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/189.html.
Accessed 3 May 2014.
There
were probably Christians in the British Isles already in the first century.
However, Alban is the first recorded Christian martyr. The traditional date of
his death is 304, during the persecution under the Emperor Diocletian; but many
scholars now date it as around 209, during the persecution under the Emperor
Septimius Severus. Alban was a pagan, and a soldier in the Roman Army. He gave
shelter to a Christian priest who was fleeing from arrest, and in the next few
days the two talked at length, and Alban became a Christian. When officers came
in search of the priest, Alban met them, dressed in the priest's cloak, and
they mistook him for the priest and arrested him. He refused to renounce his
new faith, and was beheaded. He thus became the first Christian martyr in
Britain. The second was the executioner who was to kill him, but who heard his
testimony and was so impressed that he became a Christian on the spot, and
refused to kill Alban. The third was the priest, who when he learned that Alban
had been arrested in his place, hurried to the court in the hope of saving
Alban by turning himself in. The place of their deaths is near the site of St.
Alban's Cathedral today.
PRAYER (traditional language)
Almighty God, by whose grace
and power thy holy martyr Alban Triumphed over suffering and was faithful even
unto death: Grant to us, who now remember him with thanksgiving, to be so
faithful in our witness to thee in this world, that we may receive with him the
crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee
and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
22
June 287 A.D. Alban,
1st Reported Martyr in England
The story is told by John Foxe, p. 29. Foxe, John.
The New Foxe’s Book of
Martyrs. Gainesville, FL:
Bridge-Logos Publishers, 2001. Although
the BCP puts it on the 17th June.
On 22 Jun 287, Alban became the first reported
Christian martyr in Britain. This was in
the county of Hertfordshire. He was
scourged and beheaded. The Venerable
Bede tells the story in Ecclesiastical
History of the English Nation. Mr.
Bede says that Alban’s executioner begged to die for or with Alban. Both were killed. Venerable Bede tells the story in Ecclesiastical History of the English
Nation. Mr. Bede says that Alban’s
executioner begged to die for or with Alban.
Both were killed. Bede is
available in hardcopy at: http://www.amazon.com/Bedes-Ecclesiastical-History-England-Bede/dp/1481049100/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376004597&sr=8-1&keywords=venerable+bede Bede
is available online at: http://books.google.com/books?id=UlY-AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+venerable+bede&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KCoEUrmxO4e28wTIm4CoAw&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=the%20venerable%20bede&f=false
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