This is a list of reputed martyrs of Christianity; it includes only notable people with Wikipedia articles. Not all Christian confessions accept every figure on this list as a martyr or ChristianâÂÂsee 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 AgeâÂÂ1st century
According to the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles
According to early sources
According to tradition
Age of MartyrdomâÂÂ2nd 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 AgesâÂÂ5th to 15th-centuries
- Tewdrig, 6th c.
- Boethius, 6th c.
- Sigismund of Burgundy, 524
- Edwin of Northumbria, 633 in the Battle of Hatfield Chase
- Oswald of Northumbria, 642 in the Battle of Maserfield
- Projectus of Clermont, 676
- Warinus of Poitiers, 677
- Dagobert II of the Franks, 676
- Kilian, Colman, and Totnan, 689
- Fructus, Valentine & Engratia of Segovia,
- Theofrid of Orange, 728/-32 by Saracens
- Porcarius of Lérins, by Saracens
- Boniface, 754.
- ÃÂthelberht II of East Anglia, 794
- Martyrs of Iona, 806 by Vikings
- Gohard of Nantes, 843 by Normans
- Roderick, Eulogius, Perfectus, Laura, Flora and Maria, Aurelius and Natalia, Nunilo and Alodia, and other Martyrs of Cordoba, 850-59
- Bertharius of Monte Cassino, 883 by Saracens
- Edmund of East Anglia, 869.
- Ludmila of Bohemia, 921
- Wiborada of St. Gall, 921 by Magyars
- Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, 935
- King Edward the Martyr, 979.
- Adalbert of Prague, 997 by Old Prussians
- Bruno of Querfurt, 1009
- Jovan Vladimir, 1014
- Olaf II of Norway, 1030 in the Battle of Stiklestad
- Gerard of Csanád, 1046
- Stanislaus of Szczepanów, 1079
- Canute IV of Denmark, 1086
- Magnus Erlendsson of Orkney, 1117
- William of Norwich, 1144 (cult suppressed)
- Eric IX of Sweden, 1161
- Thomas Becket, 1170 - The most famous martyr of the Middle Ages.
- Berard of Carbio and companions, 1220
- Serapion of Algiers, 1240
- Buzád Hahót, 1241
- Peter of Verona, 1252 by Cathars - Canonized 11 months after his death; the fastest in history.
- Martyrs of Sandomierz, 1260
- Antonio Pavoni, 1374 by Waldensians
- Tsar Lazar, 1389
- Nicholas Tavelic, 1391
- John of Nepomuk, 1393
- Jan Huss (1415) and Jerome of Prague (1416) - executed for heresy by the Roman Catholic Council of Constance
- Joan of Arc, 1431, French heroine
- Girolamo Savonarola, 1498
- Jan van Essen and Hendrik Vos, 1523, burned at the stake, early Lutheran martyrs
- Jan de Bakker, 1525, burned at the stake
- Martyrs of Tlaxcala, 1527-1529
- Felix Manz, 1527
- Patrick Hamilton, 1528, burned at the stake, early Lutheran martyr
- George Blaurock, 1529
- Thomas More, 1535, executed
- John Fisher, 1535
- William Tyndale, 1536
- Carthusian Martyrs, 1535âÂÂ1537
- Arthur of Glastonbury, 1539
- Margaret Pole, 1541
- Juan de Padilla, Spanish missionary to New Mexico, 1542
- Mannar Catholic martyrs (1544)
- Anne Askew, 1546
- George Wishart, 1546
- Luis de Cancer, Spanish missionary to La Florida, 1549
- Lady Jane Grey, 1554
- Hugh Latimer, 1555
- Nicholas Ridley, 1555
- Rowland Taylor, 1555
- John Hooper, 1555
- John Rogers, 1555
- William Hunter, 1555
- Lawrence Saunders, 1555
- Thomas Cranmer, 1556
- Gonçalo da Silveira, 1561
- Guido de Bres, 1567
- Dirk Willems, 1569
- The Fifty Two Martyrs of Brazil, 1570-1571, including:
- Inácio de Azevedo, 1570
- , 1571
- Martyrs of Gorkum, 1572, including:
- Andrew Wouters
- Nicholas Pieck
- John of Cologne
- Edmund Campion, 1581
- Margaret Ball, 1584
- The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, various dates
Modern EraâÂÂ17th to 21st centuries
- Martyrs of Japan, 1597-1639, (see also Kakure Kirishitan)
- Francis Taylor, 1621
- Ketevan the Martyr, 1624
- Vietnamese Martyrs, 1625 - 1886
- Magdalene of Nagasaki, 1634
- Lorenzo Ruiz, 1637
- Canadian Martyrs, North American Martyrs, 1642âÂÂ1649
- Arthur Bell, 1643
- Martyrs of Natal 1645, including:
- André de Soveral
- Ambrósio Francisco Ferro
- Mateus Moreira
- Isaac Jogues, 1646
- John de Britto, 1647âÂÂ1693, born in Portugal and beheaded in India
- Francis Ferdinand de Capillas, 1648, missionary to China
- Diego Luis de San Vitores, and Pedro Calungsod, 1672
- Feodosia Morozova, 1675, Russian Old Believer
- Oliver Plunkett, 1681, Archbishop of Armagh
- Felipe Songsong, 1685
- Devasahayam Pillai, 1712-1752
- Constantin Brâncoveanu, 1714
- Jean-Pierre Aulneau, Jean Baptiste de La Vérendrye, and 19 other voyageurs, 1736
- Vicente Liem de la Paz, 1773
- LuÃÂs 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
- Pedro Marieluz Garces, 1825
- TÃÂrore, 1836
- Andrew Dung-Lac, 1839, Vietnamese Catholic
- Joseph Smith, 1844
- Hyrum Smith, 1844
- Korean Martyrs, 1839, 1846, 1866
- Peter Chanel, 1841
- Andrew Kim Taegon, 1846
- Marcus Whitman, Narcissa Whitman, and companions, 1847
- The Massabki Brothers, 1860
- Lucy Yi Zhenmei, one of the 19th century Chinese Catholic Martyrs, 1862
- Thomas Baker, 1867, English missionary killed and eaten, Fiji
- Martyrs of the Paris Commune, 1871
- Martyrs of Uganda, 1885âÂÂ1887
- Victor Emilio Moscoso Cárdenas, 1897
- Amandina of Schakkebroek, 1900
- Maria Goretti, 1902, died defending herself from being raped
- Karolina Kózka, 1914
- Armenian Martyrs, 1915-1923
- Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna, 1918
- Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Family, 1918
- Nun Barbara (Yakovleva), 1918
- James Coyle, 1921
- Gregory of Cydonia, 1922
- Manuel Gómez González, 1924
- AdÃÂlio Daronch, 1924
- Saints of the Cristero War 1926âÂÂ1927, including:
- Miguel Pro, 1927
- Cristóbal Magallanes Jara, 1927
- Mateo Correa Magallanes, 1927
- Toribio Romo González, 1928
- Manche Masemola, 1913âÂÂ1928
- José Sánchez del RÃÂo 1928
- Albertina Berkenbrock, 1931
- Innocencio of Mary Immaculate, 1934
- John and Betty Stam, 1934
- Antonia Mesina, 1935
- Bartolome Blanco Marquez, 1936
- Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War 1934, 1936âÂÂ1939
- Alexander Hotovitzky, 1937
- Peter of Jesus Maldonado, 1937
- Paul Schneider (pastor), 1939
- Martyrs of Songkhon, 1940
- Maximilian Kolbe, 1941, murdered in Auschwitz
- Benigna Cardoso da Silva, 1941
- Edith Stein, 1942, murdered in Auschwitz
- Gorazd, 1942, Bishop of Prague
- Lucian Tapiedi, 1942
- Franz Jägerstätter, 1943
- Sophie Scholl, 1921-1943, a devout Lutheran executed by the Nazis for her anti-Nazi activism
- Maria Restituta Kafka, 1943
- Józef and Wiktoria Ulma with seven children, 1944
- Giuseppe Beotti, 1944
- Anna Kolesárová, 1944
- Dusty Miller, 1945, a Methodist layman killed in a World War II Japanese administered POW camp in Thailand
- Marcel Callo, 1945
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1945, Lutheran pastor and member of the German Resistance
- Rolando Rivi, fourteen-year-old seminarian, 1945
- Peter To Rot, 1945
- Vincentas BoriseviÃÂius, 1946
- Martyrs of Albania, 1945-1974
- Theodore Romzha, 1947, Ruthenian Eparch of Mukachevo
- Nykyta Budka, 1949, Ukrainian Bishop of Canada, died in Soviet gulag
- Beda Chang, 1951
- Alberto Hurtado, 1952
- Francis Xavier Ford, 1952
- Petro Pavlo Oros, 1953
- MeÃÂislovas Reinys, 1953
- Martyrs of Laos, 1954-1970
- Zdenka Cecilia Schelingová, 1955
- Jim Elliot, 1956
- Nate Saint, 1956, killed while attempting to evangelize the Waodani people
- Ed McCully, 1956
- Pete Fleming, 1956
- Roger Youderian, 1956
- Pierina Morosini, 1957
- Veronica Antal, 1958
- Esther John 1929âÂÂ1960, Found Killed in Chichawatni commemorated at Westminster Abbey.
- Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta,
- Wang Zhiming, 1973, Chinese pastor, publicly executed
- Martyrs of La Rioja, 1976
- Janani Jakaliya Luwum, 1977, Archbishop of Uganda
- Abuna Theophilos, 1979, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
- Gudina Tumsa, 1979, Ethiopian theologian
- ÃÂscar Romero, 1980, Archbishop of San Salvador
- LuÃÂs Espinal Camps, 1980, Jesuit priest
- Ita Ford, 1980
- Maura Clarke, 1980
- Dorothy Kazel, 1980
- Jean Donovan, 1980
- Stanley Rother, 1981
- Isabel Cristina Mrad Campos, 1982
- Jerzy PopieÃ
Âuszko, 1984
- Santa Scorese, 1991
- Marta Obregón RodrÃÂguez, 1992
- Lindalva Justo de Oliveira, 1993
- Martyrs of Algeria, 1994-1996
- Rani Maria Vattalil, 1995
- 19 martyrs of Algeria, 1996
- Graham Staines, 1999, in India
- Kosheh Martyrs, 1998âÂÂ2000, Egypt
- Maria Laura Mainetti, 2000, Catholic nun murdered in a satanic ritual
- Rufus Halley, 2001
- David Paget, 2001
- Martin Burnham, 2002
- Mary Stachowicz, 2002
- Dorothy Mae Stang, 2005
- Andrea Santoro, 2006
- Fabianus Tibo, 2006
- Leonella Sgorbati, 2006
- Ragheed Ganni and companions, 2007
- Paulos Faraj Rahho, 2008, Chaldean Archeparch of Mosul
- Nicholas Pillai Pakiaranjith, 2008
- 2008 Kandhamal violence, 2008
- Vivian Uchechi Ogu, 2009
- Nag Hammadi martyrs, Egypt 2010
- Baghdad martyrs, 2010
- Luigi Padovese, 2011
- Shahbaz Bhatti, 2011
- Nigerian martyrs, 2012
- Frans van der Lugt, 2014
- Christians (ÃÂ) martyred by ISIL, 2014-2019
- 21 Coptic Martyrs of Libya, 2015
- Akash Bashir, 2015
- Jacques Hamel, Normandy 2016
- Cairo martyrs, 2016
- Alexandria martyrs, 2017
- Sutherland Springs martyrs, 2017
- John Allen Chau, 2018
- Sri Lankan martyrs, 2019
- Owo martyrs, 2022
- Plateau martyrs, 2023
- Damascus martyrs (2025), 2025
- Killing of Ashur Sarnaya, 2025
See also
References