Ownership Submission
FORM 3
 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940
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(Print or Type Responses)
1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *
  Whitt Richard R III
 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)
05/23/2005		 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
MARKEL CORP [MKL]
(Last)
(First)
(Middle)
C/O MARKEL CORPORATION, 4521 HIGHWOODS PARKWAY		 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)
_____ Director _____ 10% Owner
__X__ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
Sr. VP and CFO
 5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year)
(Street)

GLEN ALLEN, VA 23060		 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line)
_X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
(City)
(State)
(Zip)
Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security
(Instr. 4)		 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned
(Instr. 4)		 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)		 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
Common Stock 2,325.732 (1)
D
 
Common Stock 1,329.055
I
401(K) Plan (2)

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. SEC 1473 (7-02)
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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)		 2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date
(Month/Day/Year)		 3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)		 4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security 5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)		 6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
Date Exercisable Expiration Date Title Amount or Number of Shares

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address Relationships
Director 10% Owner Officer Other
Whitt Richard R III
C/O MARKEL CORPORATION
4521 HIGHWOODS PARKWAY
GLEN ALLEN, VA 23060		       Sr. VP and CFO  

Signatures

Richard R. Whitt III 05/25/2005
**Signature of Reporting Person Date

Explanation of Responses:

* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1) Includes 377 restricted stock units granted pursuant to the Markel Corporation Omnibus Incentive Plan, of which 232 units will vest on December 31, 2008 and 145 units will vest on December 31, 2009.
(2) Holdings under the Markel Corporation 401(K) Plan are reported in units. The information reported herein is based on a plan statement dated as of May 20, 2005 and utilizes the closing stock price on that date of $343.00 per share. As of May 20, 2005, a unit under the Plan represented one share of Common Stock.

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