Martyrdom ofSt. Paul byTintoretto This is a list of reputedmartyrs ofChristianity ; it includes only notable people with Wikipedia articles. Not all Christian confessions accept every figure on this list as a martyr or Christian—see the linked articles for fuller discussion. In many types of Christianity, martyrdom is considered a direct path to sainthood and many names on this list are viewed as saints in one or more confessions.
Apostolic Age—1st centuryMartyrdom of Saint Stephen byGiovanni Andrea de Ferrari (1598-1669)The crucifixion of Saint Peter byCaravaggio (1601)
According to the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles
According to early sources
According to tradition
Age of Martyrdom—2nd to 4th centuriesPope St. Fabian andSaint Sebastian ,Giovanni di Paolo The martyrdom ofSt. Alban , from a 13th-century manuscript, now in the Trinity College Library, Dublin. Note the executioner's eyes falling out of his head
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-centuriesDrawing ofVardan Mamikonian with his soldiers during theBattle of Avarayr (451 AD), where he became a martyr. Madonna and Child with St Peter Martyr , byLorenzo Lotto Joan of Arc being burned at the stake, byJules-Eugène Lenepveu Tewdrig , 6th c.[ 63] Boethius , 6th c.[ 64] Sigismund of Burgundy , 524[ 65] Edwin of Northumbria , 633 in theBattle of Hatfield Chase [ 66] Oswald of Northumbria , 642 in theBattle of Maserfield [ 67] Projectus of Clermont , 676Warinus of Poitiers , 677Dagobert II of the Franks , 676[ 68] Kilian ,Colman , andTotnan , 689[ 69] Fructus, Valentine & Engratia of Segovia ,c. 715 Theofrid of Orange , 728/-32 bySaracens Porcarius of Lérins ,c. 732 by Saracens Boniface , 754.[ 70] Æthelberht II of East Anglia , 794Martyrs of Iona , 806 byVikings Gohard of Nantes , 843 byNormans Roderick ,Eulogius ,Perfectus ,Laura ,Flora and Maria ,Aurelius and Natalia ,Nunilo and Alodia , and otherMartyrs of Cordoba , 850-59Bertharius of Monte Cassino , 883 bySaracens Edmund of East Anglia , 869.[ 71] Ludmila of Bohemia , 921Wiborada of St. Gall , 921 byMagyars Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia , 935King Edward the Martyr , 979.[ 72] Adalbert of Prague , 997 byOld Prussians Bruno of Querfurt , 1009Jovan Vladimir , 1014Olaf II of Norway , 1030 in theBattle of Stiklestad [ 73] Gerard of Csanád , 1046Stanislaus of Szczepanów , 1079Canute IV of Denmark , 1086Magnus Erlendsson of Orkney , 1117William of Norwich , 1144 (cult suppressed)[ 74] Eric IX of Sweden , 1161[ 75] Thomas Becket , 1170 - The most famous martyr of the Middle Ages.[ 76] Berard of Carbio and companions, 1220Serapion of Algiers , 1240Buzád Hahót , 1241Peter of Verona , 1252 byCathars - Canonized 11 months after his death; the fastest in history.Martyrs of Sandomierz , 1260Antonio Pavoni , 1374 byWaldensians Tsar Lazar , 1389[ 77] Nicholas Tavelic , 1391John of Nepomuk , 1393[ 78] Jan Huss (1415) andJerome of Prague (1416) - executed for heresy by the Roman CatholicCouncil of Constance Joan of Arc , 1431, French heroine[ 79] Girolamo Savonarola , 1498Dirk Willems etching fromMartyrs Mirror "Death ofCranmer ", from the 1887Foxe's Book of Martyrs Jan van Essen and Hendrik Vos , 1523, burned at the stake, early Lutheran martyrsJan de Bakker , 1525, burned at the stakeMartyrs of Tlaxcala , 1527-1529Felix Manz , 1527Patrick Hamilton , 1528, burned at the stake, early Lutheran martyrGeorge Blaurock , 1529Thomas More , 1535, executedJohn Fisher , 1535[ 80] William Tyndale , 1536Carthusian Martyrs , 1535–1537Arthur of Glastonbury , 1539Margaret Pole , 1541Juan de Padilla , Spanish missionary toNew Mexico , 1542Mannar Catholic martyrs (1544) Anne Askew , 1546George Wishart , 1546Luis de Cancer , Spanish missionary toLa Florida , 1549Lady Jane Grey , 1554Hugh Latimer , 1555Nicholas Ridley , 1555Rowland Taylor , 1555John Hooper , 1555John Rogers , 1555William Hunter , 1555Lawrence Saunders , 1555Thomas Cranmer , 1556Gonçalo da Silveira , 1561Guido de Bres , 1567Dirk Willems , 1569The Fifty Two Martyrs of Brazil, 1570-1571, including: Martyrs of Gorkum , 1572, including:Edmund Campion , 1581Margaret Ball , 1584TheForty Martyrs of England and Wales , various dates
Modern Era—17th to 21st centuriesFeodosia Morozova , anOld Believer being arrested by Czarist authoritiesAn illustration depicts the brutal death of FatherLuís Jayme by the hands of angry natives atMission San Diego de Alcalá inAlta California , November 4, 1775 Martyrs of Japan , 1597-1639, (see alsoKakure Kirishitan )Francis Taylor , 1621Ketevan the Martyr , 1624Vietnamese Martyrs , 1625 - 1886Magdalene of Nagasaki , 1634Lorenzo Ruiz , 1637Canadian Martyrs ,North American Martyrs , 1642–1649Arthur Bell , 1643Martyrs of Natal 1645, including:Isaac Jogues , 1646John de Britto , 1647–1693, born in Portugal and beheaded in IndiaFrancis Ferdinand de Capillas , 1648, missionary to ChinaDiego Luis de San Vitores , andPedro Calungsod , 1672Feodosia Morozova , 1675, Russian Old BelieverOliver Plunkett , 1681,Archbishop of Armagh Felipe Songsong , 1685Devasahayam Pillai , 1712-1752Constantin Brâncoveanu , 1714Jean-Pierre Aulneau ,Jean Baptiste de La Vérendrye , and 19 othervoyageurs , 1736Vicente Liem de la Paz , 1773Luís Jayme , Spanish missionary toAlta California , 1775Cosmas of Aetolia , 1779Francisco Garcés , Spanish missionary toAlta California , 1781Martyrs of Compiegne , 1794Andrés Quintana , Spanish missionary toAlta California , 1812Chinese Martyrs (various Christian denominations), 19th and 20th centuriesPedro Marieluz Garces , 1825Tārore , 1836Andrew Dung-Lac , 1839, Vietnamese CatholicJoseph Smith , 1844[ 81] Hyrum Smith , 1844Korean Martyrs , 1839, 1846, 1866Peter Chanel , 1841Andrew Kim Taegon , 1846Marcus Whitman ,Narcissa Whitman , andcompanions , 1847The Massabki Brothers , 1860Lucy Yi Zhenmei , one of the 19th centuryChinese Catholic Martyrs , 1862Thomas Baker , 1867, English missionary killed and eaten,Fiji Martyrs of the Paris Commune , 1871Martyrs of Uganda , 1885–1887Victor Emilio Moscoso Cárdenas , 1897Amandina of Schakkebroek , 1900Maria Goretti , 1902, died defending herself from being rapedKarolina Kózka , 1914Armenian Martyrs , 1915-1923[ 82] Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna , 1918Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Family , 1918Nun Barbara (Yakovleva) , 1918James Coyle , 1921Gregory of Cydonia , 1922Manuel Gómez González , 1924Adílio Daronch , 1924Saints of the Cristero War 1926–1927, including:Toribio Romo González , 1928Manche Masemola , 1913–1928José Sánchez del Río 1928Albertina Berkenbrock , 1931Innocencio of Mary Immaculate , 1934John and Betty Stam , 1934Antonia Mesina , 1935Bartolome Blanco Marquez , 1936Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War 1934, 1936–1939Alexander Hotovitzky , 1937Peter of Jesus Maldonado , 1937Paul Schneider (pastor) , 1939Martyrs of Songkhon , 1940Maximilian Kolbe , 1941, murdered inAuschwitz Benigna Cardoso da Silva , 1941Edith Stein , 1942, murdered in AuschwitzGorazd , 1942, Bishop of PragueLucian Tapiedi , 1942Franz Jägerstätter , 1943Sophie Scholl , 1921-1943, a devoutLutheran executed by the Nazis for her anti-Nazi activismMaria Restituta Kafka , 1943Józef and Wiktoria Ulma with seven children , 1944Giuseppe Beotti , 1944Anna Kolesárová , 1944Dusty Miller , 1945, aMethodist layman killed in aWorld War II Japanese administeredPOW camp in ThailandMarcel Callo , 1945Dietrich Bonhoeffer , 1945, Lutheran pastor and member of theGerman Resistance Rolando Rivi , fourteen-year-old seminarian, 1945Peter To Rot , 1945Vincentas Borisevičius , 1946Martyrs of Albania , 1945-1974Theodore Romzha , 1947,Ruthenian Eparch of Mukachevo Nykyta Budka , 1949,Ukrainian Bishop of Canada , died inSoviet gulag Beda Chang , 1951Alberto Hurtado , 1952Francis Xavier Ford , 1952Petro Pavlo Oros , 1953Mečislovas Reinys , 1953Martyrs of Laos , 1954-1970Zdenka Cecilia Schelingová , 1955Jim Elliot , 1956Nate Saint , 1956, killed while attempting to evangelize theWaodani peopleEd McCully , 1956Pete Fleming , 1956Roger Youderian , 1956Pierina Morosini , 1957Veronica Antal , 1958Esther John 1929–1960, Found Killed inChichawatni commemorated atWestminster Abbey .Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta ,Wang Zhiming , 1973, Chinese pastor, publicly executedMartyrs of La Rioja , 1976Janani Jakaliya Luwum , 1977, Archbishop of UgandaAbuna Theophilos , 1979, Patriarch of theEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Gudina Tumsa , 1979, Ethiopian theologianÓscar Romero , 1980, Archbishop of San SalvadorLuís Espinal Camps , 1980, Jesuit priestIta Ford , 1980Maura Clarke , 1980Dorothy Kazel , 1980Jean Donovan , 1980Stanley Rother , 1981Isabel Cristina Mrad Campos , 1982[ 83] Jerzy Popiełuszko , 1984Santa Scorese , 1991Marta Obregón Rodríguez , 1992Lindalva Justo de Oliveira , 1993Martyrs of Algeria , 1994-1996Rani Maria Vattalil , 199519 martyrs of Algeria , 1996Graham Staines , 1999, inIndia [ 84] Kosheh Martyrs , 1998–2000,Egypt Maria Laura Mainetti , 2000, Catholic nun murdered in a satanic ritual[ 85] Rufus Halley , 2001David Paget , 2001Martin Burnham , 2002Mary Stachowicz , 2002Dorothy Mae Stang , 2005[ 86] Andrea Santoro , 2006Fabianus Tibo , 2006Leonella Sgorbati , 2006Ragheed Ganni and companions, 2007Paulos Faraj Rahho , 2008, Chaldean Archeparch of MosulNicholas Pillai Pakiaranjith , 20082008 Kandhamal violence , 2008Vivian Uchechi Ogu , 2009Nag Hammadi martyrs , Egypt 2010Baghdad martyrs , 2010Luigi Padovese , 2011Shahbaz Bhatti , 2011Nigerian martyrs , 2012Frans van der Lugt , 2014Christians (ن) martyred by ISIL , 2014-201921 Coptic Martyrs of Libya , 2015Akash Bashir , 2015Jacques Hamel ,Normandy 2016 Cairo martyrs , 2016Alexandria martyrs , 2017Sutherland Springs martyrs , 2017John Allen Chau , 2018Sri Lankan martyrs , 2019Owo martyrs , 2022Plateau martyrs , 2023Damascus martyrs (2025) , 2025Killing of Ashur Sarnaya , 2025
See also
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Dvornik , "The Idea of Apostolicity in Byzantium and the Legend of the Apostle Andrew",Dumbarton Oaks Studies , IV (Cambridge) 1958. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Matthew" .^ Schaff, Philip (1885)."Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8" .Christian Classics Ethereal Library . Retrieved14 March 2007 . ^ Farmer, David (2011).The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Fifth Edition Revised . Oxford University Press. p. 418.ISBN 978-0199596607 . ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Apocrypha" .^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Bartholomew" .^ "Faith ND:St. James, son of Alphaeus" .^ Cross, Frank Leslie; Livingstone, Elizabeth A. (2005).The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church . Oxford University Press. p. 160.ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3 . ^ Jones, Terry H (6 January 2009)."Saint Simon the Apostle" . Saints.SQPN.com. Retrieved29 March 2010 . ^ "St. Simon of Zealot" . Catholic Online. 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Retrieved28 September 2018 . ^ Pope prays new 20-year-old blessed will inspire young people ^ Bearak, Barry (3 September 1999)."Baripada Journal; Forgiving Her Family's Killers, but Not Their Sins" .The New York Times . ^ Pope Francis declares Catholic sister killed in Satanic ritual a martyr ^ Sister Dorothy Stang: a martyr for God's poor and God's creation