William of St Albans

William of St Albans (fl. 1178) was a Benedictine monk and hagiographer who wrote a history of the martyrdom of Saint Alban, the first such work to name Amphibalus after Geoffrey of Monmouth.^[1]

Simon, abbot of St Albans (1167–1188) asked William to write The Passion of St Alban (Passio sancti Albani), according to the book's preface.^[2] The book mentions that the body of Amphibalus had yet to be found: this occurred in 1178, suggesting that the work was written before this date.^[3] William drew on the stories of Alban as told by Bede and Geoffrey of Monmouth, the latter of whom he acknowledges in the preface. He frames the work as a translation of an Old English book, similar to Geoffrey's claim that his De gestis Britonum was a translation of an ancient work.^[4]

Ralph of Dunstable later made a versification of William's Passion; the Vie de seint Auban by Matthew Paris is another adaptation of the work.^[5]

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