Martyr

Historically, a martyr is a person who dies for their Conviction s or Religious faith, such as during the Persecution of Early Christian s in the Roman Empire . Sometimes the term is applied to those who use violence, such as dying for a nation's glory during wartime (usually known under other names such as "fallen warriors"). The death of a martyr is called '''martyrdom'''.

HISTORY

Martyr is from ''μαρτυρ'', the Greek word for "witness". During the early Roman Empire, the independent cities of Asia Minor made efforts to reward benefactors for their services, and to promote further civic generosity by means of public acclamations, eulogistic honorific decrees were addressed to the Roman authorities and read in public places before an audience. Such commendations are usually referred to in epigraphic sources as ''martyriai''. Christians adopted the phrase "martyrs" in the "testimonies" for the act, suffering and self- Sacrifice of the persecuted.

In Judaism

See Also: Persecution of Jews

Martyrdom in Judaism is referred to by the Hebrew phrase Kiddush Hashem , meaning sanctification of God's name.

1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees recount numerous martyrdoms suffered by Jews resisting the Hellenizing of their Seleucid overlords, being executed for such crimes as refusing to eat pork or to eat meat sacrificed to idols, circumcising their children, or observing the Sabbath.

A historical account by Rabbi Ephraim ben Yaakov (1132 - c. 1200) describes Crusaders' massacres of Jews, including the massacre at Blois , where approximately forty Jews were murdered following an accusation of Ritual Murder :

: "As they were led forth, they were told, 'You can save your lives if you will leave your religion and accept ours.' The Jews refused. They were beaten and tortured to make them accept the Christian religion, but still they refused. Rather, they encouraged each other to remain steadfast and die for the sanctification of God's Name."

In Christianity

See Also: Persecution of Christians

Other than as the protomartyr of England or St. Francis Ferdinand De Capillas as the protomartyr of China.

Christians in the first three centuries A.D. were Crucified in the same manner as Roman political prisoners or fed to lions as a games spectacle. Christians who were also Roman citizens were often beheaded; this was the fate of Saint Agnes and Saint Paul .

Although at all points Christians were in violation of the law for failure to worship the gods of the state, persecution was not consistent. In the Acts Of Perpetua And Felicity , the raid to capture the Christians was not made to wipe out the Christians but explicitly to capture prisoners for a spectacle in the games; the capture of the patrician Perpetua was, in fact, an embarrassment, but her testimony made it impossible for the authorities to release her. Various Roman Emperor -- Decius , Valerian , and Diocletian -- ordered Christians to perform pagan sacrifices, but between the persecutions, Christians lived and worshipped unmolested. Orthodox Christian practice forbade the deliberate seeking out of martyrdom, but many Christians attempted to achieve martyrdom by turning themselve into the authorities, who did not always enforce the law.

They were recognized as martyrs because they preferred to die than to renounce their faith (i.e. Apostatize ). The Christian writer Tertullian (AD 200) asserted that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church." The term ''martyr'' only slowly became identified with those who ''died'' for the faith; in the earlier centuries, it was often used for anyone persecuted, even if they survived, but in time, ''martyr'' came to indicate someone who died from persecution, whereas the term '' Confessor '' was used for those whose sufferings had not been fatal.

The acts of the early Christian martyrs are important historical sources; for example, the ''Passio Sanctorum Scilitanorum '' is regarded as the oldest Christian text in Latin (text) .

The names of martyrs were enrolled in Martyrologies , and the Feast Of All Saints originally commemorated specifically all martyrs. Christians also preserved the physical remains of martyrs as relics, and commemorated the specific days of their deaths; both these practices were noted in the death of St. Polycarp .

With the in North America, the Martyrs Of Korea , the Martyrs Of Japan , and the Martyrs Of Uganda . Martyrdom was suffered both by missionaries and by converts.

Within the tables were turned and Pagans sometimes became martyrs if they refused the Roman Emperor when ordered to change their beliefs to the Roman Empire's version of Christianity. It didn't take long before Augustine Of Hippo authorized the use of force against Heretics who refused to fall in line with Orthodoxy . Persecution of heretics and the martyrdom that sometimes went with it became institutionalised in the office of the Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church , and in the political systems of the State, such as that of the English Queen Mary I (who became known as Bloody Mary), when she had nearly three hundred Protestants Torture d and killed (recorded in Foxe's Book Of Martyrs ) for refusing to denounce their Reformist beliefs and for refusing to revert to Roman Catholicism.

rescues his pursuer and is subsequently burned at the stake in 1569.]]
Some Christian Sects such as Anabaptist s as well as non-Christian sects, trace their origins to widespread persecution and martyrdom at the hands of the Catholic Church trying to suppress their break away sects. The Anabaptists have embraced this part of their heritage to such an extent that the book '' Martyrs Mirror '', which describes the deaths of Anabaptist Martyrs in the 16th and 17th Century , is still widely owned and read in Mennonite and Amish households (see Anabaptist Persecution for more).

The 20th century again saw large numbers of Christians martyred by non-Christians, in persecutions by political authorities that have antipathy directed towards particular faiths, or religion in general. Allegedly this has included the Soviet Union and early People's Republic Of China . The Russian Orthodox Church in post-Soviet times termed many of those who died for this faith "New Martyrs", meaning that it was the 2nd greatest persecution of Christians since I-III AD. The Taliban regime had been known as well to mount another wave of persecutions, although this has received less international attention, given its scale.

Many church historians believe that there were more Christian martyrs in the 20th century than in the first 19 centuries combined. This claim is clearly difficult to confirm.

[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09736b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia]

In Islam

See Also: Persecution of Muslims

In Arabic, a martyr is termed " of Mecca (specifically, Abu Jahl ). A famous person widely regarded as a martyr - indeed, an archetypal martyr for the Shia - is Husayn Bin Ali , who died at the hands of the forces of the second Umayyad Caliph Yazid I at Karbala . The Shia commemorate this event each year at Aashurah .

Muslims who die in a legitimate '' Jihad Bis Saif '' (''struggle with the sword'', or Islamic Holy War ) are typically considered ''shahid''. This usage became controversial in the late 20th Century , when (due to the Islamic strictures against Suicide ) it began to be applied to Suicide Bomber s, e.g. those belonging to Islamist and Palestinian nationalist groups, whose victims often included civilians.

The concept of heroic martyrdom is termed "Istish-haad".

MARTYRDOM TODAY

The term has since been used Metaphor ically for people killed in a Historical struggle for some cause, or those whose deaths served to galvanize a particular movement. In this sense, people such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. can be regarded as martyrs, as they were assassinated trying to change the Status Quo through Nonviolent means.

Other examples include (some disputed):

Information About

Martyr