This is a list of reputed

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

s of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

; it includes only notable people with Wikipedia articles. Not all Christian denominations accept every figure on this list as a martyr or Christian—see the linked articles for fuller discussion. In many denominations of Christianity, martyrdom is considered a direct path to sainthood and many names on this list are viewed as saints in one or more denomination.

Apostolic Age—1st century

According to the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles

* Holy Innocents of Bethlehem *

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

(

Protomartyr A protomartyr (Koine Greek, ''πρότος'' ''prótos'' "first" + ''μάρτυρας'' ''mártyras'' "martyr") is the first Christian martyr in a country or among a particular group, such as a religious order. Similarly, the phrase the Protom ...

) *

James, son of Zebedee James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob (Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin '' ...

According to early sources

James, brother of Jesus James the Just, or a variation of James, brother of the Lord ( la, Iacobus from he, יעקב, and grc-gre, Ἰάκωβος, , can also be Anglicized as "Jacob"), was "a brother of Jesus", according to the New Testament. He was an early lead ...

- attested by

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...

ca. AD 94 *

Simon Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupatio ...

, first attested by

Tertullian Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...

about AD 200 *

Paul the Apostle Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, first attested by

Ignatius of Antioch Ignatius of Antioch (; Greek: Ἰγνάτιος Ἀντιοχείας, ''Ignátios Antiokheías''; died c. 108/140 AD), also known as Ignatius Theophorus (, ''Ignátios ho Theophóros'', lit. "the God-bearing"), was an early Christian writer ...

probably about AD 110

According to tradition

Andrew the Apostle Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an Apostles in the New Testament, apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He ...

Matthew the Apostle Matthew the Apostle,, shortened to ''Matti'' (whence ar, مَتَّى, Mattā), meaning "Gift of YHWH"; arc, , Mattai; grc-koi, Μαθθαῖος, ''Maththaîos'' or , ''Matthaîos''; cop, ⲙⲁⲧⲑⲉⲟⲥ, Mattheos; la, Matthaeus a ...

- not attested by contemporary sources *

Philip the Apostle Philip the Apostle ( el, Φίλιππος; Aramaic: ܦܝܠܝܦܘܣ; cop, ⲫⲓⲗⲓⲡⲡⲟⲥ, ''Philippos'') was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Later Christian traditions describe Philip as the apostl ...

- conflicting accounts *

Thomas the Apostle Thomas the Apostle ( arc, 𐡀𐡌𐡅𐡕𐡌, hbo, תוֹמא הקדוש or תוֹמָא שליחא (''Toma HaKadosh'' "Thomas the Holy" or ''Toma Shlikha'' "Thomas the Messenger/Apostle" in Hebrew-Aramaic), syc, ܬܐܘܡܐ, , meaning "twi ...

Jude Thaddeus Jude ( grc-gre, Ἰούδας Ἰακώβου translit. Ioúdas Iakóbou) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is generally identified as Thaddeus ( grc-gre, Θαδδαῖος; cop, ⲑⲁⲇⲇⲉⲟⲥ; ...

Bartholomew Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو� ...

- conflicting accounts *

Barnabas Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...

Simon Zelotes Simon the Zealot (, ) or Simon the Canaanite or Simon the Canaanean (, ; grc-gre, Σίμων ὁ Κανανίτης; cop, ⲥⲓⲙⲱⲛ ⲡⲓ-ⲕⲁⲛⲁⲛⲉⲟⲥ; syc, ܫܡܥܘܢ ܩܢܢܝܐ) was one of the most obscure among the apostl ...

- contradictory late traditions. *

Mark the Evangelist Mark the Evangelist ( la, Marcus; grc-gre, Μᾶρκος, Mârkos; arc, ܡܪܩܘܣ, translit=Marqōs; Ge'ez: ማርቆስ; ), also known as Saint Mark, is the person who is traditionally ascribed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark. Acco ...

Pope Shenouda III Pope Shenouda III (; cop, Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ϣⲉⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲅ̅ '; ar, بابا الإسكندرية شنودة الثالث '; 3 August 1923 – 17 March 2012) was the List of Coptic Orthodox Popes of Alexandria, 117th ...

. ''The Beholder of God Mark the Evangelist Saint and Martyr'', Chapter Seven
Tasbeha.org
/ref> * Timothy - not attested by contemporary sources * Philemon - not attested by contemporary sources

Age of Martyrdom—2nd to 4th centuries

According to early Christian tradition

With some historical attestation within a hundred years of the event

Polycarp of Smyrna Polycarp (; el, Πολύκαρπος, ''Polýkarpos''; la, Polycarpus; AD 69 155) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'', he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed ...

Henry Wace, ''Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century A.D., with an Account of the Principal Sects and Heresies''
''s.v.'' "Polycarpus, bishop of Smyrna". *

Justin Martyr Justin Martyr ( el, Ἰουστῖνος ὁ μάρτυς, Ioustinos ho martys; c. AD 100 – c. AD 165), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and philosopher. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and ...

Scillitan Martyrs The Scillitan Martyrs were a company of twelve North African Christians who were executed for their beliefs on 17 July 180 AD. The martyrs take their name from Scilla (or Scillium), a town in Numidia. The ''Acts of the Apostles (genre), Acts of t ...

Smith, Clyde Curry. "Speratus", Dictionary of African Christian Biography, 2004
/ref> *

Perpetua and Felicity Perpetua and Felicity ( la, Perpetua et Felicitas) were Christian martyrs of the 3rd century. Vibia Perpetua was a recently married, well-educated noblewoman, said to have been 22 years old at the time of her death, and mother of an infant son s ...

Foley O.F.M., Leonard. ''Saint of the Day'', (revised by Pat McCloskey O.F.M.), Franciscan Media
*

Ptolemaeus and Lucius Ptolemaeus and Lucius (died ca. 165 AD) are venerated as Christian martyrs and saints, who died during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Biography According to an early account by St. Justin Martyr, Ptolemaeus converted a promiscuous woman to Christia ...

Pothinus Pothinus or Potheinos ( grc-gre, Ποθεινὸς; early 1st century BC – 48 or 47 BC), a eunuch, was regent for Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. He is most remembered for turning Ptolemy against his sister and co ...

, bishop of Lyon, with

Blandina Saint Blandina (french: Blandine, c. 162–177 AD) was a Christian martyr who died in Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France) during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Context In the first two centuries of the Christian era, it was the local Roman of ...

and several others, the " Martyrs of Lyon and Vienne"Whitehead, Kenneth D. "Witnesses of the Passion", ''Touchstone Magazine''
/ref>"The Letter of the Churchs of Vienna and Lyons to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia", ''Medieval Sourcebook'', Fordham University
/ref> *

Pope Fabian Pope Fabian ( la, Fabianus) was the bishop of Rome from 10 January 236 until his death on 20 January 250, succeeding Anterus. A dove is said to have descended on his head to mark him as the Holy Spirit's unexpected choice to become the next pope ...

Meier, Gabriel (1909). "Pope St. Fabian" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company. *

Sebastian Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...

* Shmona and Gurya'' *

Agnes of Rome Agnes of Rome () is a virgin martyr, venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Anglican Communion and Lutheranism, Lutheran Churches. St. Agn ...

Felix and Adauctus Felix and Adauctus ( 303) were according to tradition, Christian martyrs who were said to have suffered during the Great Persecution during the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian. The ''Acts'', first published in Ado's ''Martyrology'', r ...

Marcellinus and Peter Saints Marcellinus and Peter (sometimes called ''Petrus Exorcista'' - Peter the Exorcist;Alban Butler, Kathleen Jones, Paul Burns, ''Butler's Lives of the Saints'' (Continuum International Publishing Group, 1997), 14. it, Marcellino e Pietro) are ...

Forty Martyrs of Sebaste The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste or the Holy Forty (Ancient/Katharevousa Greek ''Ἅγιοι Τεσσεράκοντα''; Demotic: ''Άγιοι Σαράντα'') were a group of Roman soldiers in the Legio XII ''Fulminata'' (Armed with Lightning) w ...

Euphemia Euphemia ( el, Εὐφημία; "well-spoken f), known as the All-praised in the Eastern Orthodox Church, was a virgin, who was martyred for her faith at Chalcedon in 303 AD. According to tradition, Euphemia was arrested for refusing to offer ...

"St. Euphemia the All-Praised", Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
/ref> *

Cyprian Cyprian (; la, Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus; 210 – 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Chri ...

Chapman, John. "St. Cyprian of Carthage." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 15 Jan. 2013
/ref>

With some historical attestation more than a hundred years after the event

Saint Alban Saint Alban (; la, Albanus) is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs recorded ...

Gelasinus Gelasinus ( grc-gre, Γελασινος, ''Gelasinos''; AD 297) was a reputed Christian martyr and saint. His feast day is observed on August 26. Gelasinus was said to have been a Roman "second mime" from Mariamme near Damascus. He ...

* Saint Pancras *

Saint Valentine Saint Valentine ( it, San Valentino; la, Valentinus) was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6. From the High Middle Ages, his Saints' Day has been associated with a ...

Saint Petronilla Petronilla (Aurelia Petronilla) is an early Christian saint. She was venerated as a virgin martyr by the Catholic Church. She died in Rome at the end of the 1st century, or possibly in the 3rd century. Identity Petronilla is traditionally iden ...

Largely or wholly legendary

Saint Afra Saint Afra (died 304) was martyred during the Diocletian persecution. Along with Saint Ulrich, she is a patron saint of Augsburg. Her feast day is August 7. Afra was dedicated to the service of the goddess, Venus, by her mother, Hilaria. Throu ...

Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Afra." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 12 Apr. 2013
/ref> *

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

Januarius Januarius ( ; la, Ianuarius; Neapolitan and it, Gennaro), also known as , was Bishop of Benevento and is a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, later ...

Vincent of Saragossa Vincent of Saragossa (also known as Vincent Martyr, Vincent of Huesca or Vincent the Deacon), the Protomartyr of Spain, was a deacon of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zaragoza, Church of Saragossa. He is the patron saint of Lisbon and Valenci ...

Mershman, Francis. "St. Vincent." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 12 Feb. 2015
/ref> * Saint Behnam *

Saint Lucy Lucia of Syracuse (283–304), also called Saint Lucia ( la, Sancta Lucia) better known as Saint Lucy, was a Roman Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ...

Lawrence of Rome Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman ...

Saint Cecilia Saint Cecilia ( la, Sancta Caecilia), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman virgin martyr and is venerated in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Anglican Communion, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She b ...

Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, wh ...

* Saint Vitus the Martyr *

Pelagia of Tarsus Pelagia ( grc-gre, Πελαγία; early 4th century), distinguished as Pelagia of Tarsus and Pelagia the Martyr (, ''Pelagía ē Mártys''), was a legendary Christian saint and martyr who lived in Tarsus in Cilicia (southeastern Asia Min ...

* Sophia the Martyr and her three daughters Faith, Hope and Charity

Middle Ages—5th to 15th-centuries

Tewdrig Tewdrig ap Teithfallt (; la, Theodoricus), known simply as Tewdrig, was a king of the post-Roman Kingdom of Glywysing. He abdicated in favour of his son Meurig (Maurice) and retired to live a hermitical life, but was recalled to lead his son ...

, 6th c. *

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the tr ...

, 6th c. *

Sigismund of Burgundy Sigismund ( la, Sigismundus; died 524 AD) was King of the Burgundians from 516 until his death. He was the son of king Gundobad and Caretene. He succeeded his father in 516. Sigismund and his brother Godomar were defeated in battle by Clovis's ...

, 524 *

Edwin of Northumbria Edwin ( ang, Ēadwine; c. 586 – 12 October 632/633), also known as Eadwine or Æduinus, was the List of monarchs of Northumbria, King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until hi ...

, 633 in the

Battle of Hatfield Chase The Battle of Hatfield Chase ( ang, Hæðfeld; owl, Meigen) was fought on 12 October 633 at Hatfield Chase near Doncaster (today part of South Yorkshire, England). It pitted the Northumbrians against an alliance of Gwynedd and Mercia. The North ...

Oswald of Northumbria Oswald (; c 604 – 5 August 641/642Bede gives the year of Oswald's death as 642, however there is some question as to whether what Bede considered 642 is the same as what would now be considered 642. R. L. Poole (''Studies in Chronology an ...

, 642 in the

Battle of Maserfield The Battle of Maserfield () was fought on 5 August 641 or 642 (642 according to Ward) between the Anglo-Saxon kings Oswald of Northumbria and Penda of Mercia, ending in Oswald's defeat, death, and dismemberment. The location was also known as ...

* Projectus of Clermont, 676 * Warinus of Poitiers, 677 * Dagobert II of the Franks, 676 *

Kilian Killian or Kilian, as a given name, is an Anglicized version of the Irish name Cillian. The name Cillian was borne by several early Irish saints including missionaries to Artois and Franconia and the author of the life of St Brigid. The name is ...

Colman Colmán or Colman is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Medieval Irish people * Colmán Bec (died ''c''. 585), Irish dynast * Colmán mac Cobthaig (died ''c''. 622), Irish king * Colmán mac Lénéni (died ''c'' ...

, and Totnan, 689 * Fructus, Valentine & Engratia of Segovia, ca. 715 * Theofrid of Orange, 728/-32 by

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

* Porcarius of Lérins, ca. 732 by

Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

, 754 *

Æthelberht II of East Anglia Æthelberht (Old English: ''Æðelbrihte'', ''ÆÞelberhte''), also called Saint Ethelbert the King (died 20 May 794 at Sutton Walls, Herefordshire), was an eighth-century saint and a king of East Anglia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today in ...

, 794 *

Martyrs of Iona The martyrs of Iona were a group of 68 Celtic Christian monks who lived at Iona Abbey (on the island of Iona, Scotland) and were massacred there in the early ninth century. Viking raids of the British and Irish coasts began in 793 AD, when the ...

, 806 by

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

* Gohard of Nantes, 843 by

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...

Roderick Roderick, Rodrick or Roderic (Proto-Germanic ''* Hrōþirīks'', from ''* hrōþiz'' "fame, glory" + ''* ríks'' "king, ruler") is a Germanic name, recorded from the 8th century onward.Förstemann, ''Altdeutsches Namenbuch'' (1856)740 Its Old Hi ...

, Eulogius,

Perfectus Saint Perfectus (Santo Perfecto) (died 18 April 850) was one of the Martyrs of Córdoba whose martyrdom was recorded by Saint Eulogius in the '' Memoriale sanctorum''. He was born in Córdoba when the area was under the control of the Moors (t ...

, Laura,

Flora and Maria Flora and María were the first two of nine female Christianity, Christian Martyrs of Córdoba. After denouncing Islam in Spain, Islam before an Qadi, Islamic judge, they were imprisoned. Though threatened "with being thrown upon the streets as pros ...

Aurelius and Natalia Aurelius and Natalie (died 852) were Christian martyrs who were put to death during the reign of Abd ar-Rahman II, Emir of Córdoba, and are counted among the Martyrs of Córdoba. Aurelius was the son of a Muslim father and a Christian mother. ...

Nunilo and Alodia Saints Nunilo and Alodia (died ''c''. 842/51) were a pair of child martyrs from Huesca. Born of a mixed marriage, they eschewed the Islam of their father in favour of their mother's Christianity. They were executed by the Muslim authorities of Hu ...

, and other Martyrs of Cordoba, 850-59 * Bertharius of Monte Cassino, 883 by

Edmund of East Anglia Edmund the Martyr (also known as St Edmund or Edmund of East Anglia, died 20 November 869) was king of East Anglia from about 855 until his death. Few historical facts about Edmund are known, as the kingdom of East Anglia was devastated by t ...

, 869 *

Ludmila of Bohemia Ludmila of Bohemia (c. 860 – 15 September 921) is a Czech people, Czech saint and martyr venerated by the Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox and the Roman Catholics. She was born in Mělník as the daughter of the Sorbs, Sorbian pri ...

, 921 * Wiborada of St. Gall, 921 by

Magyars Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic ...

Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia Wenceslaus I ( cs, Václav ; c. 907 – 28 September 935 or 929), Wenceslas I or ''Václav the Good'' was the Duke ('' kníže'') of Bohemia from 921 until his death, probably in 935. According to the legend, he was assassinated by his younger ...

, 935 * King Edward the Martyr, 979 *

Adalbert of Prague Adalbert of Prague ( la, Sanctus Adalbertus, cs, svatý Vojtěch, sk, svätý Vojtech, pl, święty Wojciech, hu, Szent Adalbert (Béla); 95623 April 997), known in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia by his birth name Vojtěch ( la, Vo ...

, 997 by

Old Prussians Old Prussians, Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians (Old Prussian: ''prūsai''; german: Pruzzen or ''Prußen''; la, Pruteni; lv, prūši; lt, prūsai; pl, Prusowie; csb, Prësowié) were an indigenous tribe among the Baltic peoples that in ...

Bruno of Querfurt Bruno of Querfurt ( 974 – 14 February or 9/14 March 1009), also known as ''Brun'' and ''Boniface'', was a Christian missionary bishop and martyr, who was beheaded near the border of Kievan Rus and Lithuania for trying to spread Christianity. H ...

, 1009 *

Jovan Vladimir Jovan Vladimir or John Vladimir ( sr-cyr, Јован Владимир; c. 990 – 22 May 1016) was the ruler of Duklja, the most powerful Serbian principality of the time, from around 1000 to 1016. He ruled during the protracted war between ...

, 1014 *

Olaf II of Norway Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title ''Rex Perpet ...

, 1030 in the

Battle of Stiklestad The Battle of Stiklestad ( no, Slaget på Stiklestad, non, Stiklarstaðir) in 1030 is one of the most famous battles in the history of Norway. In this battle, King Olaf II of Norway () was killed. During the pontificate of Pope Alexander III, ...

Gerard of Csanád Gerard or Gerard Sagredo ( hu, Gellért; it, Gerardo di Sagredo; la, Gerardus; 23 April 977/1000 – 29 August 1046) was the first bishop of Csanád in the Kingdom of Hungary from around 1030 to his death. Most information about his life was p ...

, 1046 *

Stanislaus of Szczepanów Stanislaus of Szczepanów ( pl, Stanisław ze Szczepanowa; 26 July 1030 – 11 April 1079) was Bishop of Kraków known chiefly for having been martyred by the Polish king Bolesław II the Generous. Stanislaus is venerated in the Roman Cath ...

, 1079 *

Canute IV of Denmark Canute IV ( – 10 July 1086), later known as Canute the Holy ( da, Knud IV den Hellige) or Saint Canute (''Sankt Knud''), was King of Denmark from 1080 until 1086. Canute was an ambitious king who sought to strengthen the Danish monarchy ...

, 1086 *

William of Norwich William of Norwich (2 February 1132 – 22 March 1144) was an English boy whose disappearance and killing was, at the time, attributed to the Jewish community of Norwich. It is the first known medieval accusation against Jews of ritual murder. ...

, 1144 (cult suppressed) *

Eric IX of Sweden Eric IX, (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Erik Jedvardsson; Erik den helige; Sankt Erik''; d. 18 May 1160) also called Eric the Holy, Saint Eric, and Eric the Lawgiver, was a Swedish king in the 12th century, 1156–1160. The ''Roman Martyrology'' ...

, 1161 *

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

, 1170 - The most famous martyr of the Middle Ages. *

Berard of Carbio Berard of Carbio, O.F.M., was a thirteenth-century Franciscan friar who was executed in Morocco for attempting to promote Christianity. He and his companions, Peter, Otho, Accursius, and Adjutus, are venerated as saints and considered the Francis ...

and companions, 1220 *

Serapion of Algiers Serapion of Algiers (1179 – 14 November 1240) was an English Catholic Mercedarian priest and martyr. Thomas O'Loughlin says Serapion was Scottish by birth. Serapion is acknowledged as a proto-martyr. He was the first of his Order to merit th ...

, 1240 * Buzád Hahót, 1241 *

Peter of Verona Peter of Verona (1205 – April 6, 1252), also known as Saint Peter Martyr and Saint Peter of Verona, was a 13th-century Italian Catholic priest. He was a Dominican friar and a celebrated preacher. He served as Inquisitor in Lombardy, was kille ...

, 1252 by

Cathars Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Fol ...

- Canonized 11 months after his death; the fastest in history. * Martyrs of Sandomierz, 1260 * Antonio Pavoni, 1374 by

Waldensians The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" in ...

Tsar Lazar Lazar Hrebeljanović ( sr-cyr, Лазар Хребељановић; ca. 1329 – 15 June 1389) was a medieval Serbian ruler who created the largest and most powerful state on the territory of the disintegrated Serbian Empire. Lazar's state, ...

, 1389 *

Nicholas Tavelic Nicholas Tavelic ( hr, Nikola Tavelić) was a Croatian Franciscan friar and missionary who died a martyr's death in Jerusalem on November 14, 1391. He was beatified as part of Nicholas Tavelic, O.F.M. and companions, which included friars from I ...

, 1391 *

John of Nepomuk John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) ( cs, Jan Nepomucký; german: Johannes Nepomuk; la, Ioannes Nepomucenus) ( 1345 – 20 March 1393) was the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus IV ...

, 1393 *

Jan Huss Jan Hus (; ; 1370 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the inspi ...

(1415) and

Jerome of Prague Jerome of Prague ( cs, Jeroným Pražský; la, Hieronymus Pragensis; 1379 – 30 May 1416) was a Czech scholastic philosopher, theologian, reformer, and professor. Jerome was one of the chief followers of Jan Hus and was burned for heresy at ...

(1416) - executed for heresy by the Roman Catholic

Council of Constance The Council of Constance was a 15th-century ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Constance in present-day Germany. The council ended the Western Schism by deposing or accepting the res ...

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
Era—16th century

Jan van Essen and Hendrik Vos Jan van Essen and Hendrik Vos or Voes, were the first two Lutherans executed by the Council of Brabant for their adherence to Reformation doctrine. They were burned at the stake in Brussels on 1 July 1523. Background Essen and Vos were Augustini ...

, 1523, burned at the stake, early Lutheran martyrs * Jan de Bakker, 1525, burned at the stake *

Felix Manz Felix Manz (also Felix Mantz) (c. 1498 – 5 January 1527) was an Anabaptist, a co-founder of the original Swiss Brethren congregation in Zürich, Switzerland, and the first martyr of the Radical Reformation. Birth and life Manz was born an ...

, 1527 * Patrick Hamilton, 1528, burned at the stake, early Lutheran martyr *

George Blaurock Jörg vom Haus Jacob (Georg Cajacob, or George of the House of Jacob), commonly known as George Blaurock (c. 1491 – September 6, 1529), was an Anabaptist leader and evangelist. Along with Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz, he was a co-founder o ...

, 1529 *St

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

, 1535, executed *St

John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic bishop, cardinal, and theologian. Fisher was also an academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI. Fisher was executed by o ...

, 1535 *

William Tyndale William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled ''Tynsdale'', ''Tindall'', ''Tindill'', ''Tyndall''; – ) was an English biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation in the years leading up to his executi ...

, 1535 *

Carthusian Martyrs The Carthusian martyrs are those members of the Carthusian monastic order who have been persecuted and killed because of their Christian faith and their adherence to the Catholic religion. As an enclosed order the Carthusians do not, on principl ...

, 1535–1537 * St. Arthur of Glastonbury, 1539 *

Margaret Pole Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury (14 August 1473 – 27 May 1541), also called Margaret Pole, as a result of her marriage to Sir Richard Pole, was the only surviving daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, a brother ...

, 1541 *

Juan de Padilla Juan de Padilla, OFM (1500–1542) was a Spanish Catholic priest and missionary who spent much of his life exploring North America with Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. He was killed in what would become Kansas by Native Americans in 1542. ...

, Spanish missionary to

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, 1542 *

Mannar Catholic martyrs (1544) In 1544, during the Crisis of the Sixteenth Century (1521–1597) in the Jaffna Kingdom, Cankili I killed 600 Catholic converts. Portuguese missionaries attributed the baptism, martyrdom and intercession of the Mannar Martyrs for the rapid conver ...

Anne Askew Anne Askew (sometimes spelled Ayscough or Ascue) married name Anne Kyme, (152116 July 1546) was an English writer, poet, and Anabaptist preacher who was condemned as a heretic during the reign of Henry VIII of England. She and Margaret Chey ...

, 1546 *

George Wishart George Wishart (also Wisehart; c. 15131 March 1546) was a Scottish Protestant Reformer and one of the early Protestant martyrs burned at the stake as a heretic. George Wishart was the son of James and brother of Sir John of Pitarrow, ...

, 1546 * Luis de Cancer, Spanish missionary to La Florida, 1549 *

Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey ( 1537 – 12 February 1554), later known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage) and as the "Nine Days' Queen", was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553. Jane was ...

, 1554 *

Hugh Latimer Hugh Latimer ( – 16 October 1555) was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and Bishop of Worcester during the Reformation, and later Church of England chaplain to King Edward VI. In 1555 under the Catholic Queen Mary I he was burned at the s ...

, 1555 * Nicholas Ridley, 1555 *

Rowland Taylor Rowland Taylor (sometimes spelled "Tayler") (6 October 1510 – 9 February 1555) was an English Protestant martyr during the Marian Persecutions. At the time of his death, he was Rector of Hadleigh in Suffolk. He was burnt at the stake at ne ...

, 1555 * John Hooper, 1555 * John Rogers, 1555 * William Hunter, 1555 *

Lawrence Saunders Lawrence Saunders (1519 – 8 February 1555) was an English Protestant martyr whose story is recorded in ''Foxe's Book of Martyrs''. Early life Saunders was the son of Thomas Saunders (d. 1528) of Sibbertoft, Northamptonshire, by Margaret, the dau ...

, 1555 *

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...

, 1556 *

Dirk Willems Dirk Willems (died 16 May 1569; also spelled Durk Willems) was a Dutch martyred Anabaptist who is most famous for escaping from prison but then turning back to rescue his pursuer—who had fallen through thin ice while chasing Willems—to then ...

, 1569 *

Martyrs of Gorkum The Martyrs of Gorkum ( nl, Martelaren van Gorcum) were a group of 19 Dutch Catholic clerics, secular and religious, who were hanged on 9 July 1572 in the town of Brielle by militant Dutch Calvinists during the 16th-century religious wars—sp ...

, 1572, including

Nicholas Pieck Nicholas Pieck, O.F.M., "Nicolaas" or "Claes Pieck" in Dutch, was a Franciscan friar who was one of a group of Catholic clergy and lay brothers, the Martyrs of Gorkum, who were executed for refusal to renounce their faith in 1572. Life He was bo ...

and

John of Cologne John of Cologne (Joannes van Hoornaar), was a friar and priest of the Dominican Order, born in the Electorate of Cologne, part of modern Germany. He later became a parish priest of Hoornaar, in the Spanish Netherlands. He was executed for his ...

*St

Edmund Campion Edmund Campion, SJ (25 January 15401 December 1581) was an English Jesuit priest and martyr. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Anglican England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason, he was ...

, 1581 *

Margaret Ball Margaret Ball (1515–1584) was a prominent member of 16th-century Irish society, who, despite being the widow of a Lord Mayor of Dublin, was arrested for her adherence to the Catholic faith and died of deprivation in the dungeons of Dublin Cas ...

, 1584 *The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, various dates

Modern Era—17th to 21st centuries

Martyrs of Japan The were Christian missionaries and followers who were persecuted and executed, mostly during the Tokugawa shogunate period in the 17th century. More than 400 martyrs of Japan have been recognized with beatification by the Catholic Church, and 42 ...

, 1597-1639, (see also ''

Kakure Kirishitan ''Kakure kirishitan'' () is a modern term for a member of the Catholic Church in Japan that went underground at the start of the Edo period in the early 17th century due to Christianity's repression by the Tokugawa shogunate. History Origin ...

'') * Francis Taylor, 1621 *

Vietnamese Martyrs The Vietnamese Martyrs (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: ''Các Thánh Tử đạo Việt Nam''; French language, French: ''Martyrs du Viêt Nam''), also known as the Martyrs of Annam, Martyrs of Tonkin and Cochinchina, Martyrs of Indochina, or An ...

, 1625 - 1886 * Magdalene of Nagasaki, 1634 *

Lorenzo Ruiz Lorenzo Ruiz ( fil, Lorenzo Ruiz ng Maynila; zh, link=no, 李樂倫; es, link=no, Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila; November 28, 1594 – September 29, 1637), also called Saint Lorenzo of Manila, is a Filipino saint venerated in the Catholic Church. A ...

, 1637 *

Canadian Martyrs The Canadian Martyrs, also known as the North American Martyrs (French language, French: ''Saints martyrs canadiens'', Holy Canadian Martyrs), were eight Jesuit missions in North America#Missions, Jesuit missionaries from Sainte-Marie among the H ...

North American Martyrs The Canadian Martyrs, also known as the North American Martyrs ( French: ''Saints martyrs canadiens'', Holy Canadian Martyrs), were eight Jesuit missionaries from Sainte-Marie among the Hurons. They were ritually tortured and killed on various da ...

, 1642–1649 * Arthur Bell, O.F.M., 1643 *

Isaac Jogues Isaac Jogues, S.J. (10 January 1607 – 18 October 1646) was a French missionary and martyr who traveled and worked among the Iroquois, Huron, and other Native populations in North America. He was the first European to name Lake George, calli ...

, S.J., 1646 *

John de Britto John de Britto (also spelled ''Brito''; pt, João de Brito), also known as Arul Anandar, (born in Lisbon, Portugal on 1 March 1647 – died at Orur, Tamil Nadu, India on 4 February 1693) was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary and martyr, often calle ...

, 1647–1693, born in Portugal and beheaded in India *

Francis Ferdinand de Capillas Francis Fernández (or Ferdinand) de Capillas (15 August 1607 – 15 January 1648) was a Spanish Dominican friar who went as a missionary to Asia. He died in China as a martyr. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 1 October 2000, as one of th ...

, O.P., 1648, missionary to China *

Diego Luis de San Vitores Diego Luis de San Vitores, SJ (November 12, 1627 – April 2, 1672) was a Spanish Jesuit missionary who founded the first Catholic church on the island of Guam. He is responsible for establishing the Christian presence in the Mariana Islands. He ...

, S.J., and

Pedro Calungsod Pedro Calungsod ( es, Pedro Calúñgsod or archaically ; mid-1650s – April 2, 1672), also known as Peter Calungsod and Pedro Calonsor, was a Catholic Filipino-Visayan migrant, sacristan and missionary catechist who, along with the Spanish J ...

, 1672 *

Feodosia Morozova Feodosia Prokopiyevna Morozova (russian: link=no, Феодосия Прокопьевна Морозова; 21 May 1632 – 1 December 1675) was one of the best-known partisans of the Old Believer movement. She was perceived as a martyr after s ...

, 1675, Russian Old Believer *

Oliver Plunkett Oliver Plunkett (or Oliver Plunket) ( ga, Oilibhéar Pluincéid), (1 November 1625 – 1 July 1681) was the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland who was the last victim of the Popish Plot. He was beatified in 1920 and c ...

, 1681,

Archbishop of Armagh In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

Felipe Songsong Felipe Songsong (May 1, 1611 – January 11, 1686) was a Philippine Jesuit. He was born to a noble family of Macabebe, Pampanga. Songsong was the second Filipino Jesuit. He was married and had a son. After the death of his wife, he entered the Soc ...

, S.J., 1685 *

Salem Witch Trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...

, 1692 *

Devasahayam Pillai Devasahayam Pillai (born Neelakanta Pillai and baptized as Lazarus; 23 April 1712 – 14 January 1752) was an Indian layman and martyr of the Catholic Church.

, 1712-1752 *

Constantin Brâncoveanu Constantin Brâncoveanu (; 1654 – August 15, 1714) was Prince of Wallachia between 1688 and 1714. Biography Ascension A descendant of the Craiovești boyar family and heir through his grandfather Preda of a considerable part of Matei Ba ...

, 1714 *

Jean-Pierre Aulneau Jean-Pierre Aulneau de la Touche (21 April 1705 – 8 June 1736) was a Jesuit missionary priest who was briefly active in New France and killed before he could take part in his first major assignment which was to be an expedition to the Mandan. He ...

Jean Baptiste de La Vérendrye Jean-Baptiste Gaultier de la Vérendrye (September 3, 1713 – June 6, 1736) was the eldest son of Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye and Marie-Anne Dandonneau Du Sablé. He was born on Île Dupas near Sorel, New France Jean Baptist ...

, and 19 other

voyageurs The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ' ...

, 1736 *

Vicente Liem de la Paz Vicente Liêm of Peace (Spanish: ''Vicente Liêm de la Paz'') (Vietnamese: ''Vinh Sơn Hòa Bình'') (1732 – November 7, 1773) was a Tonkinese (present day northern Vietnam) Dominican friar venerated as a saint and martyr by the Catholic Ch ...

, O.P., 1773 * Luís Jayme, O.F.M., Spanish missionary to

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

, 1775 *

Cosmas of Aetolia Kosmas the Aetolian, sometimes Cosmas the Aetolian or Patrokosmas "Father Kosmas" ( el, Κοσμᾶς ὁ Αἰτωλός, ''Kosmas Etolos''; born between 1700 and 1714 – died 1779), was a monk in the Greek Orthodox Church. He is recognized as ...

, 1779 *

Francisco Garcés Francisco Hermenegildo Tomás Garcés (April 12, 1738 – July 18, 1781) was a Spanish Franciscan friar who served as a missionary and explorer in the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain. He explored much of the southwestern region of North Amer ...

, Spanish missionary to

, 1781 * Martyrs of Compiegne, 1794 * Andrés Quintana, Spanish missionary to

, 1812 *

Chinese Martyrs Chinese Martyrs ( zh, t=中華殉道聖人, s=中华圣烈士, first=t, w=Chung1-hua2 shêng4-lieh4-shih4, p=Zhōnghuá shéng lièshì) is the name given to a number of members of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church who were kil ...

(various Christian denominations), 19th and 20th centuries * Pedro Marieluz Garces, 1825 *

Tārore Tarore ( – 18 October 1836) was a Christian martyr and child prodigy. She was the daughter of Wiremu Ngākuku, a (chief) of the Māori people, Māori (tribe) Ngāti Hauā in the North Island of New Zealand. Her story is treasured by the New Z ...

, 1836 * Andrew Dung-Lac (Vietnamese Catholic), 1839 *

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

, 1844 *

Hyrum Smith Hyrum Smith (February 9, 1800 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the older brother of the movement's founder, J ...

, 1844 *

Korean Martyrs The Korean Martyrs were the victims of religious persecution against Catholics during the nineteenth century in Korea. Between 8,000–10,000 Korean Christians were killed during this period. 103 Catholics were canonized ''en masse'' in May 198 ...

, 1839, 1846, 1866 *

Peter Chanel Peter Chanel (12 July 1803 – 28 April 1841), born Pierre Louis Marie Chanel, was a Catholic priest, missionary, and martyr. Chanel was a member of the Society of Mary or "Marists" and was sent as a missionary to Oceania. He arrived on the is ...

, S.M., 1841 *

Andrew Kim Taegon Andrew Kim Taegon (21 August 1821 – 16 September 1846), also referred to as Andrew Kim in English, was the first Korean-born Catholic priest and is the patron saint of Korean clergy. Life In the late 18th century, Catholicism began to ta ...

, 1846 *

Marcus Whitman Marcus Whitman (September 4, 1802 – November 29, 1847) was an American physician and missionary. In 1836, Marcus Whitman led an overland party by wagon to the West. He and his wife, Narcissa, along with Reverend Henry Spalding and his wife, E ...

Narcissa Whitman Narcissa Prentiss Whitman (March 14, 1808 – November 29, 1847) was an American missionary in the Oregon Country of what would become the state of Washington. On their way to found the Protestant Whitman Mission in 1836 with her husband, Marcus ...

, and companions, 1847 *

Lucy Yi Zhenmei Lucy Yi Zhenmei ( zh, t=易貞美, s=易贞美, first=t, w=I Chên-mei, p=Yì Zhēnměi; December 9, 1815 – February 19, 1862) was a Catholic Church in Sichuan, Sichuanese Roman Catholic saint from Mianyang, Sichuan, Sichuan Province, China. ...

, one of the 19th century Chinese Catholic Martyrs, 1862 * Thomas Baker, 1867, English missionary killed and eaten,

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

Martyrs of Uganda The Uganda Martyrs are a group of 22 Catholic and 23 Anglican converts to Christianity in the historical kingdom of Buganda, now part of Uganda, who were executed between 31 January 1885 and 27 January 1887. They were killed on orders of Mwang ...

, 1885–1887 * Victor Emilio Moscoso Cárdenas, S.J., 1897 * Amandina of Schakkebroek, F.M.M., 1900 *

Maria Goretti Maria Teresa Goretti (; October 16, 1890 – July 6, 1902) is an Italian virgin-martyr of the Catholic Church, and one of the youngest saints to be canonized. She was born to a farming family. Her father died when she was nine, and the family ...

(died defending herself from being raped), 1902 * Armenian Martyrs, 1915-1923 *

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commu ...

, 1918 * Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Family, 1918 * Nun Barbara (Yakovleva), 1918 *

James Coyle James Edwin Coyle (March 23, 1873 – August 11, 1921) was a Catholic priest who was murdered in Birmingham, Alabama by a Ku Klux Klan member for performing an interracial marriage. Biography James Coyle was born in Drum, County Roscommon, Un ...

, 1921 * Gregory of Cydonia, 1922 *

Saints of the Cristero War On May 21, 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized a group of 25 saints and martyrs who had died in the Mexican Cristero War. The vast majority are Catholic priests who were executed for carrying out their ministry despite the suppression under the ant ...

1926–1927, including: **

Miguel Pro José Ramón Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez, also known as Blessed Miguel Pro, SJ (January 13, 1891 – November 23, 1927) was a Mexican Jesuit priest executed under the presidency of Plutarco Elías Calles on the false charges of bombing and att ...

, S.J., 1927 **

Cristóbal Magallanes Jara Cristóbal Magallanes Jara, also known as Christopher Magallanes (July 30, 1869 – May 25, 1927), was Mexican Catholic priest and martyr who was killed without trial on the way to say Mass during the Cristero War. He had faced the trumped-up ch ...

, 1927 **

Mateo Correa Magallanes Mateo Correa Magallanes (also known as Mateo Correa, Fr. Correa; July 23, 1866 – February 6, 1927) was a Knight of Columbus, of Council 2140. Correa was born at Tepechitlán, Zacatecas, Mexico. He attended the seminary at Zacatecas on a sch ...

, 1927 *

Toribio Romo González Toribio Romo González, known as Saint Toribio Romo ( es, santo Toribio Romo, ; April 16, 1900 – February 25, 1928) was a Mexican Catholic priest and martyr who was killed during the anti-clerical persecutions of the Cristero War. Beatified an ...

, 1928 *

Manche Masemola Manche Masemola (1913–1928) was a South African Christian martyr. Early life Masemola was born in Marishane, a small village near Jane Furse, in South Africa. She lived with her parents, two older brothers, a sister, and a cousin. German ...

, (1913–1928) *

José Sánchez del Río José Luis Sánchez del Río (March 28, 1913 – February 10, 1928) was a Mexican Cristero who was put to death by government officials because he refused to renounce his Catholic faith. His death was seen as a largely political venture on the p ...

1928 * Innocencio of Mary Immaculate, C.P., 1934 *

John and Betty Stam John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, 1934 *

Bartolome Blanco Marquez Bartolome is a Tagalog surname and may refer to: * Donnalyn Bartolome (1994), Filipina internet personality, vlogger, singer, songwriter and rapper * Heber Bartolome (1948–2021), Filipino folk and rock singer, songwriter, composer, poet, guitaris ...

, 1936 *

Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War During the Spanish Civil War Catholic people faced persecution from the Republican faction of the war, in part due to their support of the nationalists and the recently abolished monarchy. The Catholic Church venerates them as martyrs. More t ...

1934, 1936–1939 *

Alexander Hotovitzky Saint Alexander Hotovitzky (or Hotovitsky) (1872-1937) was a Russian Orthodox hieromartyr. He was ordained to the priesthood while working in the United States in the 1890s. He was ordered back to Europe in 1914, where we worked as a vicar in Be ...

, 1937 *

Peter of Jesus Maldonado Pedro de Jesús Maldonado Lucero (June 15, 1892 – February 11, 1937) was a Mexican diocesan priest who became the first canonized saint and martyr from Chihuahua City, Mexico. Early life Pedro de Jesús Maldonado was born in a neighborhoo ...

, 1937 *

Paul Schneider (pastor) Paul Robert Schneider (August 29, 1897 – July 18, 1939) was a German pastor of the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union who was the first Protestant minister to be martyred by the Nazis. He was murdered with a strophanthin injection ...

, 1939 * Martyrs of Songkhon, 1940 *

Maximilian Kolbe Maximilian Maria Kolbe (born Raymund Kolbe; pl, Maksymilian Maria Kolbe; 1894–1941) was a Polish Catholic priest and Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek in the German death camp ...

O.F.M. Conv. The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv) is a male religious fraternity in the Roman Catholic Church that is a branch of the Franciscans. The friars in OFM CONV are also known as Conventual Franciscans, or Minorites. Dating back to ...

, 1941, murdered in

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

Edith Stein Edith Stein (religious name Saint Teresia Benedicta a Cruce ; also known as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross or Saint Edith Stein; 12 October 1891 – 9 August 1942) was a German Jewish philosopher who converted to Christianity and became a ...

O.C.D. The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel ( la, Ordo Fratrum Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo) or the Order of Discalced Carme ...

, 1942, murdered in Auschwitz *

Gorazd Gorazd is a given name. It is a Slavic version of the Hebrew given name Gilad which means Hill Of Testimony, Monument. Notable people with the given name include: *Gorazd Hiti (born 1948), Slovene ice hockey player *Gorazd Kocijančič (born 19 ...

, 1942, Bishop of Prague *

Lucian Tapiedi Lucian Tapiedi ( – 1942) was a Papuan Anglican teacher who was one of the "New Guinea Martyrs." The Martyrs were eight Anglican clergy, teachers, and medical missionaries killed by the Japanese in 1942 (a total of 333 church workers of all d ...

, 1942 *

Franz Jägerstätter Franz Jägerstätter, O.F.S. (also spelled Jaegerstaetter in English; born Franz Huber, 20 May 1907 – 9 August 1943) was an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II. Jägerstätter was sentenced to death and executed for his refusa ...

, 1943 * Sophie Stoll, 1921-1943, a devout

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

executed by the Nazis for her anti-Nazi activism * Dusty Miller, 1945, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

layman killed as a P.O.W. of the Japanese in Thailand during World War II *

Marcel Callo Marcel Callo (6 December 1921 – 19 March 1945) was a French Roman Catholic from Rennes who served in Catholic organizations – in particular the Young Christian Workers (Jocists) – devoted to charitable works to the poor and to communities i ...

, 1945 *

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the secular world have ...

, 1945, Lutheran pastor and member of the

German Resistance German resistance can refer to: * Freikorps, German nationalist paramilitary groups resisting German communist uprisings and the Weimar Republic government * German resistance to Nazism * Landsturm, German resistance groups fighting against France d ...

* Rolando Rivi, fourteen-year-old seminarian, 1945 *

Peter To Rot Peter To Rot (; 5 March 1912 - 7 July 1945) was a Papua New Guinea Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic. He served as a well-noted and beloved catechist in his village and was entrusted with the local parish during World War II when the Japanese ...

, 1945 *

Martyrs of Albania The Martyrs of Albania were a collective group of 38 individuals killed during the Communist regime in Albania from 1945 until 1974 (all but five between 1945 and 1950). All were born at various times between 1874 and 1935; the group included Alb ...

, 1945-1974 *

Theodore Romzha Theodore George Romzha ( uk, Теодор Юрій Ромжа, hu, Romzsa Tódor György, 14 April 1911 – 31 October 1947) was the bishop of the Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Mukacheve from 1944 to 1947. Assassinated by the NKVD, he was bea ...

, 1947, Ruthenian Eparch of Mukachevo *

Nykyta Budka Nykyta Budka ( ua, Никита Будка aka Nikita, Mykyta, or Nicetas Budka; June 7, 1877 in Dobromirka, Austria-Hungary – October 1, 1949 in Karaganda, USSR) was a clergyman of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church who lived and worked in A ...

, 1949, Ukrainian Bishop of Canada, died in

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

* Beda Chang, S.J., 1951 *

Alberto Hurtado Alberto Hurtado (; born Luis Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga on January 22, 1901 in Viña del Mar, Chile – August 18, 1952 in Santiago, Chile), popularly known in Chile as Padre Hurtado (Spanish for "Father Hurtado"), was a Chilean Jesuit priest, law ...

, S.J., 1952 *

Francis Xavier Ford Francis Xavier Ford, MM was an American people, American Bishop (Catholic Church), bishop of the Catholic Church and a Maryknoll missionary in China. Because of his torture by the Communist Chinese and death in prison in 1952, he is considered a m ...

, M.M., 1952 *

Martyrs of Laos The Martyrs of Laos are seventeen Catholic priests and professed religious as well as one lay young man venerated as martyrs killed in Laos between 1954 and 1970 of the First and Second Indochina Wars during a period of anti-religious senti ...

, 1954-1970 * Zdenka Cecilia Schelingová, 1955 *

Jim Elliot Philip James Elliot (October 8, 1927 – January 8, 1956) was an American Christian missionary and one of five people killed during Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador. Early life Elliot was born in Portlan ...

, 1956 *

Nate Saint Nathanael Saint (30 August 19238 January 1956) was an evangelical Christian missionary pilot who, along with four others, was killed in Ecuador while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people through efforts known as Operation Auca. Early lif ...

, 1956, killed while attempting to evangelize the

Waodani The Huaorani, Waorani, or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are an Indigenous people from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador ( Napo, Orellana, and Pastaza Provinces) who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate ...

people *

Ed McCully Theophilus McCully (June 1, 1927 – January 8, 1956) was a Christian missionary to Ecuador who, along with four other missionaries, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people, through efforts known as Operation Auca. Ea ...

, 1956 *

Pete Fleming Peter Sillence Fleming (November 23, 1928 – January 8, 1956) was a Christian who was one of five missionaries killed while participating in Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador. Early life Fleming was born ...

, 1956 *

Roger Youderian Roger Youderian (January 21, 1924 – January 8, 1956) was an American Christian missionary to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people through efforts known as Operation Auca. Early ...

, 1956 *

Esther John Esther John ( ur, ), born Qamar Zia (Urdu: ), on 14 December 1929; died 2 February 1960) was a Pakistani Christian nurse who was murdered in 1960 for her efforts in Christian evangelism. She was subsequently recognized as a Christian martyr. In ...

1929–1960, Found Killed in

Chichawatni Chichawatni ( pa, , ur, ) is a city in the Sahiwal District of the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the administrative center of Chichawatni Tehsil. Situated near the old main road called Grand Trunk Road, it lies approximately from the dist ...

commemorated at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. * Wang Zhiming, 1973, Chinese pastor, publicly executed * Martyrs of La Rioja, 1976 * Janani Jakaliya Luwum, 1977, Archbishop of Uganda *

Abuna Theophilos Abune Theophilos (24 April 1910 – 14 August 1979), also known as Abune Tewophilos, was the second Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. He officially succeeded Abuna Basilios in 1971 after he had assumed the role of acting patri ...

, 1979, Patriarch of the

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...

Gudina Tumsa Gudina Tumsa (Bodji, Wallaga, Oromia Ethiopia, 1929 – 28 July 1979) was an Ethiopian theologian and General Secretary of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. He helped form the Council for Cooperation of Churches in Ethiopia, an ecume ...

, 1979, Ethiopian theologian *

Óscar Romero Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (15 August 1917 – 24 March 1980) was a prelate of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, the Titular Bishop of Tambeae, as Bishop of Santiago d ...

, 1980, Archbishop of San Salvador *

Ita Ford Sister Ita Ford, M.M. (April 23, 1940 – December 2, 1980) was an American Catholic Maryknoll Sister who served as a missionary in Bolivia, Chile and El Salvador. She worked with the poor and war refugees. On December 2, 1980, she was beaten, ra ...

, M.M., 1980 *

Maura Clarke Maura Clarke (January 13, 1931 – December 2, 1980), was an American Catholic Maryknoll sister who served as a missionary in Nicaragua and El Salvador. She worked with the poor and refugees in Central America from 1959 until her murder in 1980. ...

, M.M., 1980 *

Dorothy Kazel Dorothy Kazel (June 30, 1939 – December 2, 1980), was an American Ursuline religious sister and missionary to El Salvador. On December 2, 1980, she was beaten, raped, and murdered along with three fellow missionaries – Maryknoll Sister ...

, O.S.U., 1980 *

Jean Donovan Jean Marie Donovan (April 10, 1953 – December 2, 1980) was an American lay missionary who was beaten, raped, and murdered along with three fellow missionaries—Ita Ford, Maura Clarke and Dorothy Kazel—by members of the military of El Salvado ...

, 1980 *

Stanley Rother Stanley Francis Rother ( ; March 27, 1935 – July 28, 1981) was an American people, American Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Catholic priest, priest from Oklahoma who was murdered in Guatemala in 1981. He had worked as a missionary pries ...

, 1981 *

Jerzy Popiełuszko Jerzy Popiełuszko ( born Alfons Popiełuszko; 14 September 1947–19 October 1984) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest who became associated with the opposition Solidarity trade union in communist Poland. He was murdered in 1984 by three agen ...

, 1984 *

Martyrs of Algeria The Martyrs of Algeria were a group of nineteen individuals slain in Algeria between 1994 and 1996 during the Algerian Civil War. They all were priests or professed religious belonging to religious congregations, including seven Trappist Cisterc ...

, 1994-1996 *

Rani Maria Vattalil Rani Maria Vattalil (29 January 1954 – 25 February 1995) – in religious Rani Maria – was an Indian Syro Malabar religious sister and a social worker in the Franciscan Clarist Congregation who worked among the poor within the Diocese o ...

, 1995 * Graham Staines ,

ndia Ndia or NDIA may refer to: *Ndia Constituency, Kirinyaga District, Central Province, Kenya *Alternative name for the Southern Kirinyaga dialect of the Kikuyu language *National Defense Industrial Association, an American trade association *Nationa ...

1999, * Kosheh Martyrs,

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, 1998–2000 *

Rufus Halley Rufus Halley (1944 - 28 August 2001) was a Roman Catholic priest of the Missionary Society of St. Columban who spent more than 20 years promoting ecumenical dialogue between Christians and Muslims in Asia. A native of Killoteran, County Waterfor ...

, S.S.C., 2001 *

David Paget David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, 2001 * Martin Burnham, 2002 * Mary Stachowicz, 2002 *

Andrea Santoro Andrea Santoro (7 September 1945, in Priverno, Italy – 5 February 2006, in Trabzon, Turkey) was a Roman Catholic priest in Turkey, murdered in the Santa Maria Church in Trabzon where he served as a member of the Catholic Church's Fidei donu ...

, 2006 *

Fabianus Tibo Fabianus Tibo was an Indonesian Catholic citizen who was executed by firing squad on 22 September 2006 at 1:20 a.m. local time together with Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu for leading Poso riots, in 2000 that led to the murders of about ...

, 2006 * Leonella Sgorbati, 2006 *

Ragheed Ganni Ragheed Aziz Ganni, Syriac: ܪܓܝܕ ܥܙܝܙ ܓܢܝ (January 20, 1972 – 3 June 2007) was an Iraqi Chaldean Catholic priest. On 3 June 2007, Trinity Sunday, the Sunday after Pentecost, he was killed along with three subdeacons including his cous ...

and companions, 2007 *

Paulos Faraj Rahho Paulos Faraj Rahho (also known as Paul Faraj Rahho and Paulos Faradsch Raho; ar, بولس فرج رحو, '; syr, ܦܘܠܘܣ ܦ̮ܪܔ ܪܚܘ, '; 20 November 1942 – February or March 2008) was a Chaldean Catholic prelate who served as the Arc ...

, 2008, Chaldean Archeparch of Mosul * Nicholas Pillai Pakiaranjith, 2008 * 2008 Kandhamal violence, 2008 * Nag Hammadi martyrs, Egypt 2010 * Baghdad martyrs, 2010 *

Luigi Padovese Luigi Padovese (31 March 1947 – 3 June 2010) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who became a bishop and served as the Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia in Turkey. He was a Franciscan and a scholar who devoted most of his career to teachin ...

, 2011 *

Shahbaz Bhatti Clement Shahbaz Bhatti (9 September 19682 March 2011), popularly known as Shahbaz Bhatti, was a Pakistani politician who was elected as a member of the National Assembly from 2008. He was the first Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs from N ...

, 2011 * Nigerian martyrs, 2012 *

Frans van der Lugt Franciscus Joseph Wilhelmus van der Lugt, known as Frans van der Lugt or Pater Frans (10 April 1938 – 7 April 2014), was a Jesuit priest from the Netherlands, who established a community centre and farm near the city of Homs, Syria, where ...

, S.J., 2014 * Christians (ن) martyred by ISIL, 2014-2019 * 21 Coptic Martyrs of Libya, 2015 *

Jacques Hamel Jacques Hamel (30 November 1930 – 26 July 2016) was a French Catholic priest who served in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray. On 26 July 2016, Hamel was murdered during the 2016 Normandy church attack by two Muslim men pledging allegiance to the Isla ...

, Normandy 2016 * Cairo martyrs, 2016 * Alexandria martyrs, 2017 * Sutherland Springs martyrs, 2017 * Sri Lankan martyrs, 2019 *

David Amess David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, Essex 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian Martyrs

Martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

Persecution of early Christians

Apostolic Age—1st century

According to the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles

According to early sources

According to tradition

Age of Martyrdom—2nd to 4th centuries

According to early Christian tradition

With some historical attestation within a hundred years of the event

With some historical attestation more than a hundred years after the event

Largely or wholly legendary

Middle Ages—5th to 15th-centuries

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ... Era—16th century

Modern Era—17th to 21st centuries

See also

References

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
Era—16th century