- End of First Century B.C.. - A large settlement of the Celtic
Catuvellauni developed and was known as Verlamion. Coins of
Tasciovanus and Cunobelin were minted here.
- A.D.50 The Roman City of Verulamium founded.
- 60 Verulamium destroyed by Queen Boudicca (Boadicea).
- 79 The Forum and Basilica opened.
- 155 Much of Verulamium destroyed by fire.
- Third Century. Alban a citizen of Verulamium martyred for his
Christian faith.
- c. 275 City wall built enclosing 80 hectares.
- c. 450 By this date the Roman City had almost ceased to exist.
- 730 The historian Bede recorded that a " beautiful church
worthy of his (Albans) martyrdom was built, where sick people are healed and
frequent miracles take place to this day". At this time St.Albans/Verulamium
was known as Watlingchester or Verulamchester. Originally Watling Street was
the name given to the road from London to St. Albans.
- 793 St. Albans Abbey "founded" by King Offa of Mercia.
Eventually the town of St, Albans grew up around the Abbey.
- 1077 Paul of Caen, the first Norman Abbot began rebuilding the
Abbey.
- 1086 At the time of Domesday Book about 500 people lived in the
town.
- 1142 During his troubled reign King Stephen sent men to arrest the
Earl of Arundel who was unhorsed and nearly drowned at Holywell Bridge.
- 1213 Council held at the Abbey at which Barons and Churchmen first
discussed their grievances - this was the first step towards the Magna Carta
of 1215.
- 1217 After Magna Carta was ignored by the King, the barons invited
French help to depose John. The Dauphin of France occupied the town in 1217.
A month later the army of the new young King 600 III led by the notorious
Faulkes de Breaute sacked the town. A few months later the Dauphin returned
to despoil the town.
- 1324 Abbey broken into by the townsmen in an attempt to deprive the
Abbot of those charters by which he claimed superiority over them.
- 1327 More serious trouble; the townsmen laid siege to the Abbey in
pursuit of their claims to greater independence.
- 1349 The Black Death caused many deaths in the town and Abbey.
- 1381 The Great or Peasants Revolt gave the townsmen an opportunity
to press their claims again. The abbots warrens and woods were broken into,
four houses destroyed and the Abbot"s prison broken open. In the
retribution that followed 17 men were hanged and many of the leading
townsmen imprisoned. John Ball one of the national leaders of the rebels was
brought from Coventry and tried in front of the King, in the Moot Hall. He
was condemned to drawing,(on a hurdle),hanging, beheading, disembowelling
and quartering!
- 1455 The First Battle of St. Albans opened the War of the Roses.
The Lancastrian army led by King Henry VI occupied the town but the Yorkist
forces of the Duke of Warwick managed to break in and a battle took place in
the town centre. King Henry was wounded by an arrow and captured.
- 1461 The Second Battle of St. Albans led to victory for the
Lancastrians under Queen Margaret who brought her forces down Watling Street
from Dunstable. Much of the fighting took place on Bernards Heath on the
north of the town and the Yorkists in retreat left the King (who had been
released from his first captivity at St. Albans and then retaken) sitting
under an oak tree on Nomansland common.
- 1539 The Abbey was dissolved on Dec. 5th by King Henry VIII.
- 1553 King Edward VI granted a charter to the town by which it
became a Borough with a Mayor and Corporation. The King sold the Abbey
Church to the town for £400
- 1555 George Tankerfield, a protestant Yorkshire baker was brought
from London and burnt to death on Romeland - as an example to others.
- 1643 The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire was arrested by Captain
Oliver Cromwell after he had unwisely read a Royal Proclamation, from the
steps of the Eleanor Cross. Later that year the town was the headquarters of
the Earl of Essex's Parliamentary Army.
- 1645 The New Model Army was reviewed by Fairfax at St. Albans.
- 1648 An Army Council was held in the Abbey Church which effectively
sealed the fate of King Charles I.
- 1852 The town deprived of representation in Parliament because of
bribery and corruption at elections.
- 1877 The Abbey Church was granted Cathedral status and the town a
City charter.