Alban of Mainz (Latin: ''Albanus'' or ''Albinus''; supposedly died in or near
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
) was a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
priest,
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
, and
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
in the
Late Roman Empire
The Later Roman Empire spans the period from 284 AD (Diocletian's proclamation as emperor) to 641 (death of Heraclius) in the history of the Roman Empire.
Evidence
Histories
In comparison with previous periods, studies on Later Roman history a ...
. He is venerated as Saint Alban of Mainz in the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, not to be confused with
Saint Alban of
Verulamium.
Sources
Nothing is known for certain about Alban, about whom no contemporary sources survive.
Confusion with Alban of Verulamium
There is evidence that, at various points in the Middle Ages, he was confused with the British
Saint Alban, who died at
Verulamium (now
St Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
, Hertfordshire, England) around the year 300; later sources claim that both Albans had been killed by beheading, and both are always depicted with their head in their hands,
and their
feast days are 21 June and 22 June, respectively.
English Catholic hagiographer
Alban Butler observed in 1759 that early modern scholars
Thomas More (''Confutation of Tyndale's Answer'', 1532) and
Thierry Ruinart (''Historia persecutionis vandalicae'', 1694) still equated or mixed up both Albans, while noting that Rabanus (c. 845) had distinguished them.
It's also possible that some elements of Alban of Mainz's life got mixed up with those of Alban/Albin of Rome/Cologne (beheaded; feast: 22 June), Alban of
Silenen
Silenen is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland.
Geography
Silenen municipality comprises the villages of Silenen (divided into three parts, Dörfli, Russ, Rusli), Amsteg, and Acherli, besides numerous smaller hamlets or disperse ...
(beheaded),
Albinus of Angers (c. 470–550; feast: 1 March) and Albin of Vercelli (feast: 1 March).
''Martyrologium'' of Rabanus
The oldest surviving substantial source about Alban of Mainz is the ''Martyrologium'' (c. 845) of
Rabanus Maurus
Rabanus Maurus Magnentius ( 780 – 4 February 856), also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus, was a Frankish Benedictine monk, theologian, poet, encyclopedist and military writer who became archbishop of Mainz in East Francia. He was the author of the ...
, who had two separate entries for the Mainzer Alban and the English Alban.
Concerning Alban of Mainz, he wrote:
''Passio sancti Albani'' of Gozwin
The second substantial source is the ''Passio sancti Albani'', an incomplete
hagiography
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...
written in the 1060s or 1070s by schoolmaster Gozwin, who lamented that very little evidence about Alban had survived to his day.
Gozwin's account is much longer and adds many elements not found in Rabanus' ''Martyrologium'', including a prologue about the
First Council of Nicaea (325) which condemned
Arianism
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...
, that nevertheless persisted until
Honorius and
Arcadius succeeded Theodosius (395). In that time, Alban is mentioned as one of four disciples of Theonestus, the others being Ursus, Tabraha and Tabratha. These five Catholic clerics are forced to flee from North Africa to Italy after being persecuted by
Huneric, the fiercely Arian
king of the Vandals (who historically ruled 80 years later in 477–484, however), travelling to
Ambrose
Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promo ...
, bishop of Milan (r. 374–397; died 80 years before Huneric became king). The most wise Ambrose teaches Theonestus and his disciples refined theology and sends them out to convert the 'Arian beasts' in Gaul and Germany. They pass a city called ''Augusta primae Retiae'', where Ursus is killed by Arians, and Alban is eventually beheaded in Mainz by local Arians to whom he was preaching the Catholic doctrine of the
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
. The legend finishes by narrating that Alban
carried his head on his hands to the place where he wanted to be buried.
Heinz Thomas (1970) demonstrated how the ''Passio'' was written with a political goal: in the service of his lord
Siegfried I, archbishop of Mainz
Siegfried I (died 16 February 1084) was the Abbot of Fulda from 25 December 1058 until 6 January 1060, and from January 1060 until his death in February 1084, he was Archbishop of Mainz.
Family
Siegfried was a member of the Frankish Reginbodonen ...
, Gozwin presented the
archbishop of Mainz
The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...
as the
primate
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...
of all Christians in Germany and Gaul, and framed the lives of Alban, Theonastus,
Boniface and other Mainzer clerics in ways to prove this point.
The ''Passio sancti Albani'' was written in order to counter the
archbishop of Trier's claim to primacy, and was riddled with legend and fiction about the history of the city and diocese of Mainz – part of which was actually derived from that of
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
– to accomplish this goal.
Attempts at reconstruction
The accounts of Alban's life widely contradict each other in dating, geography, characters and acts, while other elements remain unclear; this has led scholars to create significantly divergent reconstructions of Alban.
Dating
It is sometimes assumed that he died in or near Mainz around the year 400 (Watkins 2015),
but others claim he died much later, around 483 (Hirschel 1855).
Still others base themselves on a 10th-century ''
vita
Vita or VITA (plural vitae) is Latin for "life", and may refer to:
* ''Vita'', the usual start to the title of a biography in Latin, by which (in a known context) the work is often referred to; frequently of a saint, then called hagiography
* Vit ...
'' of his teacher
Theonistus
Saint Theonistus (''Theonist, Teonesto, Thaumastus, Thaumastos, Theonestus, Thonistus, Onistus, Teonisto, Tonisto'') is a saint venerated by the Catholic Church. Theonistus is venerated with two companions, Tabra and Tabratha (also ''Tabraham and ...
, which claims that Alban was martyred in Mainz before Theonistus was martyred near
Altinum on 30 October 380.
As the death of Ambrose (397) and the reign of Huneric (r. 477–483) are well-known from other sources, this means Gozwin's claim that Theonistus and his disciples visited Ambrose in Milan after they were expelled from Africa by Huneric cannot be historically correct. The
Vandal Kingdom in Africa was not established until 435 by
Gaiseric
Gaiseric ( – 25 January 477), also known as Geiseric or Genseric ( la, Gaisericus, Geisericus; reconstructed Vandalic: ) was King of the Vandals and Alans (428–477), ruling a kingdom he established, and was one of the key players in the diff ...
, who died in 477,
['' Encarta Winkler Prins Encyclopaedia'' (1993–2002) s.v. "§ Geiserik". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.] and Gozwin specifies it was ruled by ''Huneric Wandalorum Rex post Gezericum patrem'' ('Huneric, King of the Vandals after his father Gaiseric').
Geography
Aside from Milan and Mainz, all other locations mentioned by the sources are contested. A few authors have attempted to deduce from Alban's personal name that he was either from
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
or a city called 'Alba'.
Some writers assert that the island of ''Namsia'', also written ''Nausia'', is to be equated with
Naxos in the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...
,
while others state that they are not sure about this identification, or that they have no idea where to locate it because it doesn't seem to have existed. Neither is it clear whether this ''Namsia'' was the birthplace of Alban, or (part of) the diocese of Theonistus, while others identify the latter as bishop of
Philippi
Philippi (; grc-gre, Φίλιπποι, ''Philippoi'') was a major Greek city northwest of the nearby island, Thasos. Its original name was Crenides ( grc-gre, Κρηνῖδες, ''Krenides'' "Fountains") after its establishment by Thasian colon ...
,
a city 450 kilometres north of Naxos. Many writers doubt or outright reject Gozwin's assertion that Alban and Theonistus had been active in North Africa at the time of Vandal king Huneric on chronological grounds and the fact that Rabanus doesn't mention this episode.
Finally, the city of ''Augusta'' or ''Augusta primae Retiae'', in which Ursus is said to have been killed, has been interpreted as ''Augusta Treverorum'' (modern Trier, near Mainz), ''Augusta Vindelicorum'' (modern
Augsburg
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
in
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
) or ''Augusta Praetoria Salassorum'' (modern
Aosta
Aosta (, , ; french: Aoste , formerly ; frp, Aoûta , ''Veulla'' or ''Ouhta'' ; lat, Augusta Praetoria Salassorum; wae, Augschtal; pms, Osta) is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, north-northwest of ...
in northwestern Italy).
Mark Welser
Mark Welser (1558–1614) was a German banker, politician, and astronomer, who engaged in learned correspondence with European intellectuals of his time. Of particular note is his exchange with Galileo Galilei, regarding sunspots.
Biography
We ...
, a scholar from Augsburg, argued in 1594 that ''Augusta (primae Retiae)'' had to be Augsburg, whilst
Henricus Canisius Henricus Canisius (1562, Nijmegen - 2 September 1610, Ingolstadt) was a Dutch canonist and historian.
Biography
Canisius was born Hendrik de Hondt ("The Dog", Latinized to ''Canisius'') and belonged to the same distinguished family as Saint Pete ...
from Nijmegen responded in his 1614 reprint of the ''Passio sancti Albani'' that some other authors had arguments in favour of Aosta.
General
Daniel Papebroch
Daniel Papebroch, S.J., (17 March 1628 – 28 June 1714) was a Flemish Jesuit hagiographer, one of the Bollandists. He was a leading revisionist figure, bringing historical criticism to bear on traditions of saints of the Catholic Church.
Life ...
(1722) concluded that Alban had been killed by 'heretical' Arians on 21 June 404, when
Aureus was the bishop of Mainz.
Alban Butler (1759) noted that Papebroch and
Jean Mabillon
Dom Jean Mabillon, O.S.B., (; 23 November 1632 – 27 December 1707) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He is considered the founder of the disciplines of palaeography and diplomatics.
Early life
Mabil ...
claimed Alban was an African bishop who, because of his Catholic faith, was banished from the Vandal Kingdom by the Arian monarch Huneric, after which he settled in Mainz, where he was captured by the
Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
and executed because of his faith. However, Butler favoured the viewpoint of Ruinart (1694) and Georgi (1745) that Alban was not from Africa.
According to Schaab (1844), Alban came to Mainz around 404 to convert Arians to Catholicism, but they decapitated him at Gartenfeld.
Hirschel (1855) alleged that both Alban and bishop Theonistus were expelled from Africa by the Arian Vandalic king Huneric, and that Mainz had no bishop when they arrived to proselytise towards the local Arians, who proceeded to expel Theonistus and behead Alban in Gartenfeld around 483.
Stadler (1858) remarked that the Hunnic destruction of Mainz (during which bishop Aureus was allegedly killed) occurred in 451 (just before the
Battle of the Catalaunian Plains
The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (or Fields), also called the Battle of the Campus Mauriacus, Battle of Châlons, Battle of Troyes or the Battle of Maurica, took place on June 20, 451 AD, between a coalition – led by the Roman general ...
), not in 404 as some authors claimed, thereby rejecting the assertion that Alban was killed by Huns.
A timeline of Mainz constructed by Franz Falk (chaplain at Worms) for the ''Nassauische Annalen'' (1873) put the killing of bishop Aureus during the Hunnic sack of Mainz on 16 June 403, the killing of Alban by the Huns on 21 June 406, and the Crossing of the Rhine (by Alans and Gepids) on 31 December 406, based on Rabanus' ''Martyrologium'', Gozwin's ''Passio'',
Prosper of Aquitaine's chronicle and
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...
's ''Epistola ad Ageruchiam''. Falk explained the 'Arian persecution' mentioned by Gozwin and Sigehart as meaning that the Huns were Arians, and their persecution was 'both political and religious'.
Smith & Wace (1877) wrote: "Albanus of Mentz, martyred at Mentz no one knows when, according to
Baeda under
Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
also, according to
Sigebert Sigebert (which means roughly "magnificent victory"), also spelled Sigibert, Sigobert, Sigeberht, or Siegeberht, is the name of:
Frankish and Anglo-Saxon kings
* Sigobert the Lame (died c. 509), a king of the Franks
* Sigebert I, King of Austrasi ...
(in ''Chron.''), who says he had been driven from Philippi with Theonistus its bishop, in 425, and respecting whom Rabanus Maurus goes so far abroad as to call
lbanan African bishop flying from Hunneric..."
[William George Smith; Henry Wace, ]
A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines
' (J. Murray, 1877), 70.
Häuptli (2003) argued that Alban's cult became associated with that of Theonistus, who may have been a bishop of Philippi but who was confused with Thaumastus, a 5th-century
bishop of Mainz
The Diocese of Mainz, historically known in English as ''Mentz'' as well as by its French name ''Mayence'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It was founded in 304, promoted in 780 to Metrop ...
.
Pelizaeus (2012) claimed that Mainz was conquered by the Vandals, Suebi and Burgundians in 406, during which Alban was killed.
In Watkins' reconstruction (2015), Alban was a Greek priest from the isle of Naxos, who was exiled by the Arians to Mainz, where he became a missionary; the local Arians killed him around 400.
Legacy
A church and monastery were built in Mainz in 804 to honour Alban.
A map of Fulda from 786 seems to have already mentioned a chapel in Mainz dedicated to Alban.
It became the centre of
Saint Alban's Abbey, a large
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
, which was renovated by
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
around 805. The monastery was devastated in 1557 and never renewed.
Albert II, Count of Namur Albert II of Namur was Count of Namur from the death of his elder brother Robert II to his death in 1067. They were the sons of Albert I, and Ermengarde, daughter of duke Charles of Lower Lorraine.
Biography
In 1037, Albert participated in th ...
founded the collegiate church of St. Alban at
Namur
Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration.
Namu ...
in 1047.
When the
Diocese of Namur was created in 1559, it was expanded as
St Aubin's Cathedral
St Aubin's Cathedral, Namur, Wallonia, the only cathedral in Belgium in academic Late Baroque style. It was the only church built in the Low Countries as a cathedral after 1559, when most of the dioceses of the Netherlands were reorganized. It is ...
, which claims to possess
relic
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
s of Alban of Mainz. He used to be commonly venerated in Wallonia, but barely in Flanders and the Netherlands. Alban was a rare example of a saint who was invoked for calamities in general rather than for a specific domain of problems that Catholics were dealing with.
Both Alban of Mainz and Alban of Verulamium are represented in art as carrying their head between their hands, having been beheaded.
Notes
References
External links
Saint Alban of Mainz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alban Of Mainz
Saints of Germania
5th-century Christian clergy
5th-century Christian martyrs
Cephalophores
Year of birth unknown