The story of Hertfordshire may be said to commence with the sack of the
great Roman city of _Verulamium_ by the followers of Boadicea, Queen of
the Iceni[e] (A.D. 61). Our knowledge of the event is largely
drawn from Tacitus, and Dion Cassius, who give revolting details of the
torture of the inhabitants by the Britons. The martyrdom of St. Alban
(_circa_ A.D. 304) the Synod of Verulam (429), the second
destruction of that city by the Saxons towards the end of the sixth
century and the siege of Hertford by the Danes in 896, when Alfred the
Great grounded their vessels by cutting the river banks, are some of the
more prominent episodes of pre-Conquest times. William I., entering the
county from the direction of Wallingford, met the Saxon nobles in
council at Berkhampstead immediately before his coronation at
Westminster. The castles of Hertford and Berkhampstead were captured by
the revolted barons.

There was a dangerous insurrection of the peasantry in the days of
Richard II. Three important battles were fought in Hertfordshire, during
the Wars of the Roses: (1) At St. Albans on 23rd (?) May, 1455; (2) on
Bernard's Heath, St. Albans, 17th February, 1461; (3) near Chipping
Barnet, 14th April, 1471; these battles are mentioned more fully in the
Sections on St. Albans and Barnet.

The residence of the Princess Elizabeth at Ashridge Park and her
subsequent captivity at Hatfield up to the time of her accession (1558)
may be here mentioned, but the more casual visits of monarchs are
referred to as occasion requires.

The county was not the scene of any considerable engagement during the
great Rebellion; but the Parliamentary troops are held responsible for
much ecclesiastical sacrilege at St. Albans, Hitchin and elsewhere, and