Despite overlooking Notre Dame, the Rue Maitre Albert sees little footfall from the tourist herds who prefer to trek up and down the Rue Saint Jacques or the Boulevard Saint Michel. They are missing little of apparent physical interest, but in mythogeographical terms, this small street is a goldmine!

What significance is there in a name? The Maitre Albert had several! As a European wanderer who was initially born in Germany but who spent time in Italy and France, he picked up many sobriquets. Was he Albrecht Von Bollstadt? Albertus Magnus? Albert de Cologne or Albert le Grand? Or none of these? In fact, it seems that his real name was Albertus de Groot, literally Albert the Great, an accident of birth which earned him the translations of ‘le Grand’ and ‘Magnus’ which contemporaries believed actually related to his achievements in the worlds of science and theology.

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