Saint Alban

Saint Alban (/ˈɔːlbən, ˈæl-/; Latin: Albanus) is venerated as the first recorded British Christian martyr, and is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with his fellow saints "Amphibalus," Julius, and Aaron, Alban is one of four named martyrs recorded from Roman Britain. He is traditionally believed to have been beheaded in the Roman city of Verulamium (modern St. Alban's Cathedral) sometime during the 3rd or 4th century, and his cult has been celebrated there since ancient times.

The historical Alban

Little can actually be known about the real St. Alban (estimated to have died c. 209 – 305 A.D. depending on interpretations), as there are no contemporaneous accounts of his martyrdom. The major sources on his life were written hundreds of years after his death, and many of the later texts contain traditional additions and wondrous embellishments that may or may not have occurred. In the view of Robin Lane Fox, "the date and historicity of the first British "martyr", St Alban, are highly disputable".

St Albans (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°44′24″N 0°20′13″W / 51.740°N 0.337°W / 51.740; -0.337

St Albans is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Anne Main, a Conservative.

This article also describes the parliamentary borough (1554-1852) of the same name, consisting only of the city of St Albans, which elected two MPs by the bloc vote system.

Boundaries

The seat is in Hertfordshire, England. Specifically, it comprises the cathedral city of St Albans and some of the surrounding countryside, mainly to the south of the city.

1885–1918

When the constituency was created in 1885 as the Mid or St Albans Division of Hertfordshire, it included the historic city as well as High Barnet (an area now in Greater London), Borehamwood, Elstree, Welwyn, Wheathampstead, and Harpenden.

It was defined as comprising: