CHRISTIAN MARTYRS

A 'Christian martyr' is one who, without seeking his own death or any harm to others, is murdered or put to death for his religious faith or convictions. Many Christian martyrs suffered cruel and torturous deaths like stoning, crucifixion, and burning at the stake. The word 'martyr' comes from the Greek word translated "witness." Martyrdom is the result of religious persecution.
The first Christian martyr was Saint Stephen as recorded in the who was stoned to death for his faith. Stephen was killed (i.e., martyred) for his support, belief and faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. There were probably many other early Christian martyrs besides Stephen since Saul, later-known as the Apostle Paul of Tarsus, is mentioned as bringing many murderous threats against the disciples or followers of Jesus (ff.).
The first Christian Martyr in England was Saint Alban, a Roman citizen, who lived in Verulamium and, when sheltering a Christian priest, converted to Christianity. When he refused to worship the Roman gods, he was executed. It is believed that the executioner's eyeballs fell out. Since then, Verulamium grew and changed its name to Saint Albans.
In subsequent centuries, during periods of widespread persecution, and in particular during the Protestant Reformation, many Christians were martyred, being charged alternately as heretics or Papists.
===Apostolic Age—1st century===


★ Saint Stephen, Protomartyr, was stoned and some 2,000 other Christians suffered at the time of Stephen's persecution, c. 35 A.D.

★ James the Great (Son of Zebedee) was beheaded in 44 A.D.

★ Philip the Apostle was crucified in 54 A.D.

★ Matthew the Evangelist killed by a halberd in 60 A.D.

★ James the Just, beaten to death by a club after being crucified and stoned.

★ Matthias was stoned and beheaded.

★ Saint Andrew, St. Peter's brother, was crucified.

★ Mark was beaten to death.

★ Saint Peter, crucified upside-down.

★ Apostle Paul, beheaded in Rome.

★ Saint Jude was crucified.

★ Saint Bartholomew was crucified.

★ Thomas the Apostle was killed by a spear.

★ Luke the Evangelist was hanged.

★ Simon the Zealot was crucified in 74 A.D.
(Note: John the Evangelist according to legend was cooked in boiling hot oil but survived. He was the only one of the original twelve Apostles who was not martyred).

Contents

Age of Martyrdom—2nd to 4th centuries

See also

External links

Sources

Age of Martyrdom—2nd to 4th centuries

★ Ignatius of Antioch in 107 A.D.

★ Polycarp of Smyrna, probably around 160 A.D.

★ Justin Martyr of Palestine in 168 A.D.

★ The Martyrs of Scili (in North Africa, about 180 A.D.) The ''Passio Sanctorum Scilitanorum'' is regarded as the oldest Christian text in the Latin language.

★ Perpetua and Felicity of Carthage in 202 A.D.

★ Origen of Alexandria, about 250 A.D.

★ Saint Januarius of Naples, Italy in 305 A.D

★ Saint Philomena of Corfu, Greece (died in Rome) about 305 A.D
===Middle Ages—5th to 15th centuryies===

★ Ludmila of Bohemia, 921

★ King Edward the Martyr, 979

★ Stanislaus of Szczepanów, 1079

★ Thomas Becket, 1170

★ John Huss (Jan Huss), 1415

★ Jerome of Prague, 1416

★ Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc), 1431
===Reformation Era—16th century===


★ Diego Botello, Spanish missionary in the Caribbean, 1516

★ Fernando Salzedo, Spanish missionary in the Caribbean, 1516

★ Jan de Bakker, 1525

★ Felix Manz, 1527

★ Patrick Hamilton, 1528

★ George Blaurock, 1529

★ Thomas More, 1535

★ John Fisher, 1535

★ William Tyndale, 1536

★ Carthusian Martyrs

★ Margaret Pole, 1541

★ Juan de la Cruz, Spanish missionary to New Mexico, 1542

★ Luis de Escalona, Spanish missionary to New Mexico, 1542

★ Juan de Padilla, Spanish missionary to New Mexico, 1542

★ George Wishart, 1546

★ Hugh Latimer, 1555

★ Nicholas Ridley , 1555

★ Rowland Taylor, 1555

★ John Hooper, 1555

★ John Rogers (religious), 1555

★ William Hunter (Protestant martyr), 1555

★ Lawrence Saunders, 1555

★ Thomas Cranmer (Protestant martyr), 1556

★ Dirk Willems, 1569

★ Margaret Ball, 1584
===Modern Era—17th to 21st centuries===




★ Martyrs of Japan

★ Kakure Kirishitan

★ Francis Taylor, 1621

★ Magdalene of Nagasaki 1634

★ Canadian Martyrs, North American Martyrs, 1642 - 1649

★ Francis Ferdinand de Capillas (Dominican missionary to China), 1648

★ Feodosia Morozova (Old Believer), 1675

★ Oliver Plunkett, 1681

★ Constantin Brâncoveanu, 1714

★ Lorenzo Carranco, Spanish missionary to Baja California, 1734

★ Nicolás Tamarál, Spanish missionary to Baja California, 1734

★ Vicente Liem de la Paz (Tonkinese Dominican), 1773

★ Luís Jayme, Spanish missionary to Alta California, 1775

★ Cosmas of Aetolia, 1779

★ Francisco Garcés, Spanish missionary to Alta California, 1781

★ Martyrs of Compiegne, 1794

★ Andrés Quintana, Spanish missionary to Alta California, 1812

★ Chinese Martyrs (various Christian denominations), 19th and 20th centuries

★ Andrew Dung-Lac (Vietnamese Catholic), 1839

★ Korean Martyrs 1839, 1846, 1866

★ Peter Chanel (Catholic priest), 1841

★ Andrew Kim Taegon, 1846

★ Martyrs of Uganda, 1885-1887

★ Maria Goretti (virgin martyr), 1902

★ Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna, 1918

★ Nun Barbara (Yakovleva), 1918

★ Saints of the Cristero War 1926-1927

★ Miguel Pro, 1927

★ Toribio Romo González, 1928

★ José Sánchez del Río 1928

★ Innocencio of Mary Immaculate 1934

★ Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War 1934, 1936-1939

★ Maximilian Kolbe (Polish Franciscan, died at Auschwitz), 1941

★ Edith Stein (Carmelite nun, died at Auschwitz), 1942

★ Dusty Miller (Martyr), 1945, a Methodist layman killed as a P.O.W. of the Japanese in Thailand during WWII.

★ Theodore Romzha, 1947

★ Zdenka Cecilia Schelingová, 1955

★ Martyrs of Atlas, 1996

★ Fr. Ragheed Ganni, subdeacons Basman Yousef Daud, Wahid Hanna Isho, and Gassan Isam Bidawed, 3 June 2007, in Mosul, Iraq.

★ Bae Hyung-kyu (), pastor and leader of South Korean volunteer group, Afghanistan, July 2007.

★ Shim Sung-min (), former information technology worker, Afghanistan, July 2007.

See also

★ Catacombs of Rome

★ Marian martyr

★ Martyrs' Memorial

★ Martyrs Mirror

★ Religious Persecution

★ Roman Emperor

★ The Oxford Martyrs

★ New-martyr

★ Martyrology

★ "Silence", the acclaimed novel by Shusaku Endo, draws from the oral history of Japanese Christian communities pertaining to the seventeenth century suppression of the Church.

External links

★ Voice of the Martyrs

★ Crying Voice in the Wilderness

★ International Christian Concern

★ Open Doors

Sources

★ Rick Wade, "Persecution in the Early Church."

★ The History of the Early Christian Martyrs

★ John Foxe, ''Foxe's Book of Martyrs.''

★ D.C. Talk, ''Jesus Freaks: DC Talk and The Voice of the Martyrs—Stories of Those Who Stood For Jesus, the Ultimate Jesus Freaks.''

★ Voice of the Martyrs, ''Extreme Devotion.''