Alban of Mainz (Latin: Albanus or Albinus; supposedly died in or near Mainz) was a Catholic priest, missionary, and martyr in the Late Roman Empire. He is venerated as Saint Alban of Mainz in the Catholic Church, 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, 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 (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, which 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 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, that nevertheless persisted until Honorius and Arcadius succeeded Theodosius (395). At 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, 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 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, Gozwin presented the archbishop of Mainz as the primate 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 – 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 of his teacher Theonistus, 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, who died in 477, and Gozwin specifies it was ruled by Huneric Wandalorum Rex post Gezericum patrem ('Huneric, King of the Vandals after his father Gaiseric').