List of Christian martyrs

This is a list of reputed martyrs of Christianity; 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 denominations.

According to the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles

 * Holy Innocents of Bethlehem
 * John the Baptist
 * Stephen (Protomartyr)
 * James, son of Zebedee
 * Antipas

According to early sources

 * James, brother of Jesus - attested by Josephus ca. AD 94
 * Simon Peter, first attested by Tertullian about AD 200
 * Paul the Apostle, first attested by Ignatius of Antioch probably about AD 110

According to tradition

 * Andrew the Apostle
 * Matthew the Apostle
 * Philip the Apostle
 * Thomas the Apostle
 * Jude Thaddeus
 * Bartholomew
 * Barnabas
 * Simon Zelotes -
 * Mark the Evangelist
 * Timothy
 * Philemon

With some historical attestation within a hundred years of the event

 * Polycarp of Smyrna
 * Justin Martyr
 * Scillitan Martyrs
 * Perpetua and Felicity
 * Ptolemaeus and Lucius
 * Pothinus, bishop of Lyon, with Blandina and several others, the "Martyrs of Lyon and Vienne"
 * Pope Fabian
 * Sebastian
 * Shmona and Gurya
 * Agnes of Rome
 * Felix and Adauctus
 * Marcellinus and Peter
 * Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
 * Euphemia
 * Cyprian

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

 * Alban
 * Ignatius of Antioch
 * Gelasinus
 * Pancras
 * Valentine
 * Benedicta of Monacilioni
 * Petronilla

Largely or wholly legendary

 * Afra
 * George
 * Januarius
 * Philomena
 * Vincent of Saragossa
 * Behnam
 * Lucy
 * Wilgefortis
 * Lawrence of Rome
 * Cecilia
 * Catherine of Alexandria
 * Vitus the Martyr
 * Pelagia of Tarsus
 * Sophia the Martyr and her three daughters Faith, Hope and Charity

Middle Ages—5th 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, c. 715
 * Theofrid of Orange, 728/-32 by Saracens
 * Porcarius of Lérins, c. 732 by Saracens
 * Boniface, 754.
 * Æthelberht 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

Reformation Era—16th century

 * 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, 1535
 * Carthusian Martyrs, 1535–1537
 * 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
 * Guido de Bres, 1567
 * Dirk Willems, 1569
 * The Fifty Two Martyrs of Brazil, 1570-1571, including:
 * Inácio de Azevedo, 1570
 * Pero Dias, 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 Era—17th to 21st centuries

 * Martyrs of Japan, 1597-1639, (see also Kakure Kirishitan)
 * Francis Taylor, 1621
 * Vietnamese Martyrs, 1625 - 1886
 * Magdalene of Nagasaki, 1634
 * Lorenzo Ruiz, 1637
 * Canadian Martyrs, North American Martyrs, 1642–1649
 * Arthur Bell, 1643
 * Martyrs of Natal 1645, including:
 * André de Soveral
 * Ambrósio Francisco Ferro
 * Mateus Moreira
 * Isaac Jogues, 1646
 * John de Britto, 1647–1693, 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
 * Salem Witch Trials, 1692
 * 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
 * Luís Jayme, Spanish missionary to Alta California, 1775
 * Cosmas of Aetolia, 1779
 * Francisco Garcés, Spanish missionary to Alta California, 1781
 * Martyrs of Compiegne, 1794
 * Andrés Quintana, Spanish missionary to Alta California, 1812
 * Chinese Martyrs (various Christian denominations), 19th and 20th centuries
 * Pedro Marieluz Garces, 1825
 * Tārore, 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, 1885–1887
 * 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
 * Adílio Daronch, 1924
 * Saints of the Cristero War 1926–1927, including:
 * Miguel Pro, 1927
 * Cristóbal Magallanes Jara, 1927
 * Mateo Correa Magallanes, 1927
 * Toribio Romo González, 1928
 * Manche Masemola, 1913–1928
 * José Sánchez del Río 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, 1936–1939
 * 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 as a P.O.W. of the Japanese in Thailand during World War II
 * 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 Borisevičius, 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
 * Mečislovas 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 1929–1960, Found Killed in Chichawatni commemorated at Westminster Abbey.
 * Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta, 1964
 * Martin Luther King Jr., Baptist minister, theologian, civil rights leader, 1968
 * 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
 * Óscar Romero, 1980, Archbishop of San Salvador
 * Luís 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 Popiełuszko, 1984
 * Santa Scorese, 1991
 * Marta Obregón Rodríquez, 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, 1998–2000, 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 (ن) 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