Saint Alban and the Cult of Saints in Late Antique Britain

This thesis presents an interdisciplinary study of cult of saints in Britain during Late Antiquity, utilising both textual and archaeological evidence. The study pursues question regarding when and why the cult of saints was introduced to Britain as well as the impact of the Anglo-Saxon conversion on native British cults. Chapters two and three assess case studies consisting of primary textual sources, including: De Laude Sanctorum by Victricius of Rouen; the anonymous Passio Albani; the Vita Germani by Constantius of Lyon; Gildas' De Excidio Britonum; the collected responses of Gregory the Great, known as the Libelllus Responsionum; Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum; the anonymous Miracula Nynie; Aelred of Rievaulx's Vita Niniani; and the anonymous Vita Samsonis. The archaeological evidence examined in chapters four and five consists of early medieval churches sited over Roman graves and in extra-mural cemeteries as well as distinctive burials from the fourth to seventh centuries referred to as 'special graves'. The evidence shows that the development of the cult of saints in Britain followed the same trajectory as on the Continent which reinforces the idea the Christianity continued in Britain after the Roman period