Laude Sanctorum (The Praise of Saints), c. 396. Victricius had just returned from settling an unnamed dispute among the bishops of Britain. He does not mention Alban by name, but includes an unnamed martyr, who, "in the hands of the executioners told rivers to draw back, lest he should be delayed in his haste." The account closely resembles Alban's martyrdom, and many historians have concluded that this may be a reference to Alban, making it the earliest surviving reference to a British saint. There can be no certainty, however, that the martyr referred to is actually Saint Alban. The foundational text concerning Alban is the Passio Albani, or the Passion of Alban, which relates the tale of Alban's martyrdom, and Germanus of Auxerre's subsequent visit to the site of Alban's execution. This Passio survives in six manuscripts, with three different recensions, referred to as T, P, and E, the oldest of which dates to the eighth century. The T manuscript is located in Turin, the P manuscript is found in Paris and the E manuscripts (of which there are 4) are at The British Library and Gray's Inn, both in London, and Autun (France) and Einsiedeln (Switzerland). The Passio is very likely the source text of the more well-known accounts found in Gildas and Bede. Another early text to mention Alban is the Vita Germani, or Life of St Germanus of Auxerre, written about 480 by Constantius of Lyon. The text only very briefly mentions Alban but is an important text concerning his nascent cult. According to the Vita, Germanus visited Alban's grave shortly after defeating the Pelagian heresy in Britain and asked Alban to give thanks to God on his behalf. They once again called on him during their voyage home, and Alban is credited with providing smooth sailing for the voyage back to the continent. Gildas gives a short account of Alban's martyrdom in his De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (c. 570), and Bede gives a much fuller account in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (c. 730). Gildas calls Alban a martyr of Verulamium but says he crossed the river Thames prior to his execution, during the persecution of Diocletian. Bede's account is much more detailed but sets the events during the reign of Septimius Severus and in the town of Verulamium, where a shrine devoted to Alban had been established by at least 429 AD,