Charters of St Albans

Seat of the oldest saint’s cult in Britain, St Albans has a remarkable claim to continuity of cult from Romano-British times. The recent discovery of previously unknown charters, most of them in the vernacular, has provided significant new information about the history of this important medieval monastery and its region.

These texts are presented here, mostly for the first time, together with new editions of all other known charters relating to the house, including three single-sheet originals, with full historical commentaries and translations of vernacular charters. An extended introduction offers a reassessment of the history of St Albans and its region in the early Middle Ages and, in particular, an analysis of the workings of the monastery, its economy, and its relationship with its locality in the century before the Norman Conquest. Particular attention is devoted to the management of the assets of the house, both material (an assessment of their estates and their management) and symbolic (involvement with forgery and enhancement of their documentary record).