鉁濓笍 Bible and History
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Church history 路 Module 102

馃暞 Martyrs Briefs

Short, sourced briefs on Christian martyrs from John the Baptist and the apostles to the present, era by era: the New Testament witnesses, the persecutions to 313, Persia, Armenia, Alban and Boniface, Hus, Hieronymus of Prague, the Lollards, Savonarola and Tyndale, the Protestant and Anabaptist martyrs and the Catholic martyrs of the Reformation held to the same standard, the Covenanters, Huguenots and Mary Dyer, the missionary martyrs, Bonhoeffer, Kolbe and Stein, and the martyrs since 1950 with the modern counts and why they differ. Each brief separates what the records show from tradition and legend.

10 lessons 路 about 9 hours 路 about 112,900 words 路 Updated October 28, 2026 路

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How to read this module

This is a study of the record, not an argument for one church. Each brief opens with a fact strip (date and place of death, the earliest source and when it was written, and a record strength rating: Documented, Strong tradition, Late tradition or Legend; the key is in lesson 1). Then come three parts: what the record shows, what tradition and legend add (with the date each story first appears), and what the sources dispute.

Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Anabaptist martyrs are held to the same standard of proof. Where Christians put other Christians to death, the lesson gives the charge, the court and the law, and each side in its own words. Deaths are described plainly and briefly. Modern counts always name their source, the year they cover and how they define a martyr; legends and popular claims are rated in each lesson's "Claims checked" section.

Status: built and fact checked October 28, 2026. Every lesson was checked by an independent checker against primary sources; quotations were matched word for word against the editions named. Each lesson ends with a short "Still being checked" list of points not yet confirmed. The church history behind these deaths is in Part A, Beginnings to the Reformation and Part B, Denominations.

  1. 1What a Martyr Is, and How to Weigh the SourcesThe Greek word martys meant a witness; by the time of the Martyrdom of Polycarp in the second century it meant a Christian who died for the faith. This lesson traces that shift, the line between martyr and confessor, and the feast days and lists that kept the dead remembered, then profiles the main sources of martyr history from Eusebius and the Depositio Martyrum to Foxe, the Martyrs Mirror, Challoner and the modern lists of 1998 and 2000. It sets out the Record strength key and a seven-question checklist used in every brief of the module.45 min
  2. 2The New Testament Witnesses: John the Baptist, Stephen, the Two Jameses, Peter, Paul and AntipasBriefs on the first Christian martyrs: John the Baptist, Stephen, James the son of Zebedee, James the brother of Jesus, Peter, Paul and Antipas of Pergamum, each with the earliest source, its date and a record-strength rating. The lesson separates what the Gospels, Acts, Revelation, Josephus and the earliest Christian letters say from what later tradition and legend added, and rates the deaths of the other apostles in a summary table.60 min
  3. 3The Persecutions to 313: Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin, Lyon, Perpetua, Cyprian and LawrenceNine briefs on the best-recorded martyrs of the Roman persecutions, from Ignatius of Antioch to Agnes and the Great Persecution of 303. Each brief sets the earliest record (letters, court transcripts, a church's eyewitness letter, Perpetua's own prison diary) apart from later tradition and legend, such as Lawrence's gridiron and the Colosseum. The lesson also weighs the estimates of how many died and links Module 79 for the policy history.55 min
  4. 4From Constantine to the Middle Ages: Persia, Armenia, Alban, Boniface and the WaldensiansAfter 313 Rome stopped killing Christians, but Christians kept dying for their faith: in Persia under Shapur II, at Avarayr in Armenia in 451, on the Frisian mission field with Boniface in 754, and inside Christendom itself, where Wenceslas, Thomas Becket and the Waldensians died at Christian hands. Eight briefs set the earliest record of each death beside the traditions and legends that grew around it, ending with the Piedmont Easter massacre of 1655.55 min
  5. 5Before the Reformation: Hus, Hieronymus of Prague, the Lollards, Savonarola and TyndaleBetween Wycliffe's death in 1384 and Tyndale's in 1536, church courts condemned reformers for heresy and secular rulers carried out the deaths. This lesson gives the charge, court, law and trial record for Wycliffe, the Lollards Sawtrey, Badby and Oldcastle, Jan Hus, Hieronymus of Prague (Jeron媒m Pra啪sk媒), Savonarola and Tyndale, and separates the eyewitness record from later sayings and legends.45 min
  6. 6The Reformation, Protestant Martyrs: The Marian Fires, Cranmer, Anne Askew, Manz and SattlerEight briefs on Protestant and Anabaptist deaths from 1523 to 1569: the first Lutheran martyrs at Brussels, Felix Manz drowned by Reformed Zurich, Michael Sattler burned by Habsburg officials, Anne Askew under Henry VIII, the Marian burnings of John Rogers, Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer, and Dirk Willems. Each brief separates the court records and the martyrs' own words from what Foxe and the Martyrs Mirror added, and the lesson sets the counts and Brad Gregory's comparison of Protestant, Catholic and Anabaptist martyrdom beside them.55 min
  7. 7The Reformation, Catholic Martyrs: More, Fisher, the English Catholic Martyrs and NagasakiFrom 1535 to 1681 the English Crown executed about three hundred Catholics under treason laws, among them John Fisher, Thomas More, the London Carthusians, Edmund Campion, Margaret Clitherow and Oliver Plunkett. This lesson sets the government's stated grounds (treason) beside the martyrs' own words (faith), from the statutes and trial reports. It then follows the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Nagasaki (1597), the Great Genna Martyrdom (1622) and Japan's hidden Christians, with the counts and where they disagree.55 min
  8. 8Covenanters, Huguenots and Early America: Saint Bartholomew's Day, the Killing Time and Mary DyerBriefs on Christians killed by other Christians from 1572 to 1692: the Huguenots of Paris and the provinces in 1572, Pierre and Marie Durand after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the Scottish Covenanters Cameron, Cargill, Renwick and the Wigtown women, and the four Quakers hanged at Boston, Mary Dyer among them. Each brief separates what the record shows from later tradition and gives the disputes by name. The lesson ends with the Salem trials of 1692, explaining exactly why those hanged were executed for witchcraft and who later called them martyrs.55 min
  9. 9Missionary Martyrs and the World Wars: Judson, the Boxer Year, Bonhoeffer, Kolbe, Stein and the Five in EcuadorFrom a Burmese death prison in 1824 to a sandbar on the Curaray River in 1956: the imprisonment of Adoniram Judson (who survived), the Boxer killings at Taiyuan and across north China in 1900, John and Betty Stam, Paul Schneider, Maximilian Kolbe, Edith Stein, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the five missionaries killed in Ecuador. Each brief separates the documented record from reported last words and later retelling, and asks what charge each person actually died on.55 min
  10. 10From 1950 to Now: Behind the Iron Curtain, China, Africa, Latin America, the 21 in Libya, and the CountsNine briefs on Christians imprisoned or killed since 1950: Richard Wurmbrand (who survived), Jerzy Popieluszko, Wang Zhiming, Watchman Nee, Janani Luwum, Oscar Romero, the Jesuits of the UCA with Elba and Celina Ramos, Shahbaz Bhatti and the 21 killed in Libya in 2015. Each separates the documented record from tradition and dispute. The lesson then sets the modern counts side by side: Open Doors' minimum of 4,849 Christians killed for faith-related reasons (October 2024 to September 2025), the Center for the Study of Global Christianity's estimate of about 900,000 martyrs per decade, and Pew's and ACN's measures, and explains why they differ.55 min

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