, King of the Mercians, about the
year 793 A.D. He searched for and found the coffin that contained the
martyr's bones. This, as already stated, had been removed from the
original church dedicated to his memory, in order to save it from
destruction at the hands of the Teutonic invaders, and had remained
concealed, its very position forgotten, until it was miraculously
revealed. The coffin was then opened; the martyr's body and the relics
given by Germanus were found therein, and thus the identity of the
remains with those of Alban was established beyond doubt. Round the
martyr's head Offa placed a golden circlet whereon were written the
words: "Hoc est caput Sancti Albani." A reliquary richly decorated with
precious stones was made to receive the body, and this was then
deposited in the then existing church, which Offa repaired so that it
might serve as a temporary resting-place until a grander church could be
built. Offa had made a journey to Rome to get the Pope's consent to the
foundation and endowment of the monastery.[2] At this time also Alban
was canonized, so that henceforth he may be rightly spoken of as Saint
Alban.
[2] A payment known as Peter's Pence had first been levied by
the King of the West Saxons in 727, and was a tax of one penny
on each family that owned lands producing thirty pence per
annum; its object was the support of a Saxon College at Rome.
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