Martyrdom, though usually used to define someone who dies in the name of their religion, should not be connected exclusively with faith. The phenomenon of martyrdom is far from new; the ancestral expression “pro patria mori” – to die for one’s homeland — described the most honorable way for a citizen of Ancient Greece and Rome to die.
There have been many popular and famous martyrs throughout history, but there are many more that have been ignored by history, and it’s time they got their due as well.
10. Nathan Hale
His final words, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country” are probably more famous than he is. Nathan Hale is one of the greatest American heroes and martyrs in history, but unfortunately he is not very well-known, even in the US. During the battle of Long Island, Nathan volunteered to go behind the British lines, and report back on the movements of the British troop, their tactics and other valuable information. Unfortunately for Hale, he was caught and executed, as was the normal punishment during these wars. This gave him the less-than-desirable distinction of being the first-ever American spy to be executed. Today, there are statues standing in his honor at Yale University, and at the Central Intelligence Agency’s headquarters.
9. Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho
Paulos Faraj Rahho, the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul in northern Iraq, was kidnapped by a group of Islamist terrorists, while returning home from Mass. Three of the Archbishop’s companions were killed in a gunfight during his kidnapping. later on, he was tortured and killed by these terrorists. There are still adverse reports about the causes of his death. Some suggest that it resulted from antecedent health conditions, which had worsened during his captivity, while others claim he had been shot.
One of the most famous quotes made from Mar Paulos will always be a great reminder of the true persecution we sometimes forget about while living in the comforts of the West: “We, Christians of Mesopotamia, are used to religious persecution and pressures by those in power. After Constantine, persecution ended only for Western Christians, whereas in the East threats continued. Even today we continue to be a Church of martyrs.”
8. Manche Masemola
Manche Masemola was a member of the Pedi tribe of South Africa. When a Christian missionary began spreading the gospel to her tribe, Manche actually found the whole thing fascinating, and started to follow him frequently. Her family was far from pleased with this situation since, if Manche became a Christian, that would ruin their plans to give her away as a bride to the son of another Pedi family. Her parents beat and abused her on a daily basis to try and change her mind, but to no avail. On February 4, 1928, out of desperation, Manche’s parents led her to a remote location, where they killed her by burying her under a granite rock. How this was supposed to speed up the marriage, we’ll never know, but it certainly helped place Masemola in the upper annals of martyrdom.
7. Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople
Patriarch Gregory was born to very poor parents in a very small village in Greece. His exceptional learning skills, and love for study, led him to Athens and Smyrna, where he studied Theology and Philosophy. After many years in a brilliant professional and ecclesiastic career, Gregory V was finally ordained Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in 1797, the first of three times he would earn that holy title.
During his third reign as a Patriarch (1818-1821,) the Greek Revolution of 1821 broke out. After the first Mass of Easter Day ended, Grigorios was arrested, declared ousted, and jailed. In the afternoon of the same day, he was hung in front of the main gate of the Patriarchate, where he remained for three days as sign of humiliation. His dead corpse was finally taken down and delivered to a squad of anti-Christian Jews, who dragged his body through the streets and finally threw it into the Bosphorus River. His body was later found by Greek sailors, who sent it for placement in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens.
6. Athanasios Diakos
Athanasios Diakos was a hero of the Greek War of Independence. In April 1821, the Turkish forces (nearly 10,000 men) departed from Thessaly to beat the Greek rebellions in Southern Greece. Diakos and his army, which was comprised of fewer than 1,500 men, took up defensive positions at the river of Alamana, near Thermopylae. Even though the men of Diakos fought bravely and with passion, they were finally overwhelmed after many hours of a bloody battle. The wounded Diakos was captured. The Turkish commander offered to make him an officer in his Turkish army, and offered him a beautiful Turkish woman from his harem as a wife, but Diakos refused with the famous quote: “I was born a Greek and I will die a Greek.”
The Turkish general, insulted from the rejection, ordered that Diakos be impaled on a spit. The brutal manner of Diakos’s death initially struck fear into the rebellious populace of Ottoman Greece, but his final stand near Thermopylae, echoing the heroic defense of the Spartan King Leonidas, made him the ultimate martyr for the Greek cause.
5. Bhagat Singh
In 1920, Bhagat Singh was involved in the peaceful movement of Gandi, following the instructions for the burning of government textbooks and imported English products. The philosophy of non-violence, however, was later rejected as ineffective against the killings of Indian citizens by the English colonial forces, and in 1922 Bhagat joined the Revolutionary Youth movement. After a very short period of action, Bhagat Singh was arrested and sentenced to death for the supposed installation of non-hazardous handmade bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly. He was only 24 years old when he was executed, and his name was added in the long list of young Indian martyrs who died for the Independence of their country.
4. Socrates
You almost certainly have heard of Socrates, one of the greatest philosophers in history, but you might not have known that he was one of the most glorious martyrs of all time. In 399 BC, Socrates was accused of openly disrespecting the Gods, and corrupting the Athenian youth. For this, the philosopher was sentenced to death. During the trial, Socrates showed incredible courage and dignity, and not even the announcement of the death penalty was able to scare him. After the judgment, he remained in prison for 30 days, since the law did not allow any death penalty to take place before the ending of the sacred celebrations of Dilos.
From the dialog of Plato, we know that Socrates could have been saved, if he wanted, since his students offered him the opportunity to help him escape and leave the city of Athens. Socrates refused, and he peacefully waited for his unfair death sentence. He died by drinking hemlock, an honorable citizen who remained true to his own teachings and lifestyle, right up until death.
3. Vladimir Bogoyavlensky
St. Vladimir became archbishop of Kartalin and Kahetin in 1892, and he would later be selected as Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna in 1898. He was beloved by the vast majority of his people thanks to his notable concern for widows, orphans, the poor, and alcoholics. Despite his great contributions to society, Vladimir was the first bishop to be tortured and murdered by the Communists during the Bolshevik revolution. Vladimir was driven from the monastery where he was captured, to his place of execution. As they got out of the car, the holy martyr asked, “Do you intend to shoot me here?”
“Why not?” his executors replied.
After praying for a short time, and asking forgiveness for his sins, St. Vladimir smiled and blessed the executioners, saying, “May God forgive you,” just before being shot to death. The holy New Martyr Vladimir of Kiev was glorified by the Orthodox Church of Russia in 1992.
2. The Souliot Women
At the end of December of 1803, on top of the hills of Zalongo mountain, there was a desperate mass suicide of Souliot women, during the battles of the Ottoman Forces against the Greek rebellions of Souli. Twenty-two Souliot women were trapped by enemy troops, and committed suicide to avoid capture, rape, and other humiliation. According to tradition they did this by committing an act known as the Dance of Zalongo, where they first threw their babies off a steep cliff, then jumped down themselves, one after the other, all while dancing and singing. The incident soon became known across Europe and inspired many writers, poets and painters to pay tribute to such a heroic act, with the most famous being the painting of “The Souliot Women” by the legendary Ary Scheffer.
1. Jean Francois De La Barre
Many historians consider De La Barre as one of the very first figures to inspire the French Revolution. He was one of the many victims of Catholic Christian intolerance, and the ferocious brutality of the local French authorities at the time. La Barre’s youth, wild lifestyle, and extremely good looks had angered more than a few local judges, while quite possibly charming all their daughters. La Barre was accused of defacing a crucifix and not removing his hat when a Catholic procession passed by. A search of his home followed shortly thereafter, which revealed three forbidden books, including Voltaire’s Philosophical Dictionary. La Barre was tortured mercilessly before he was finally decapitated, and eventually burned on a pyre along with his copy of Voltaire’s Dictionary.
Theodoros II is a multilingual law graduate from Europe. When he’s not writing or working, he’s usually traveling, reading or diving. He’s a newbie on Twitter, and would really appreciate it if you followed him.
23 Comments
I shocked to see this list and didn’t find the names of 10 sikh guru little sons I suggest you search the history and than made this article it was the biggest martyers in world
What about the Sikhs? They had amazingly brave martyrs. I suggest you search up The Chhotte Sahibzaday, the battle of Chankaur Di Garrhi and the 40 Mukte.
Where are sikhs gone?
The Souliot women is not a greek story,and Souli is not a greek village is an Albanian one and its written Suli… Because of the greeks deep nacionalism, they have changed the story apperently. I have heard this story since i was a little boy,because my grandmother was from a village near Sul.
Whoa Whoa Whoa, lets clear some stuff up on #7. Sultan Mahmud II ordered Gregory V hung… I have no idea were a “squad of Jews” comes in to play, but lets be clear this was an Ottoman-Greek issue. If you read any Primary documentation, you will see that Sultan Mahmud II forced unwilling Jews to be part of a “disposal” group respsonsible for removing dead bodies. That said, Gregory V was somewhat anti-semetic so there was some anomosity, but this article reads like Jews just dragged the man through the streets. Please read some primary documentation here: http://books.google.com/books?id=o3vIneSflMcC&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=Patriarch+Gregory+V+stance+on+jews&source=bl&ots=OgWAwTvyEZ&sig=FGrASoW-vyaQjd9nL7BZxUkpCT4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LJ83UquYC-uvigLd6YGoAw&ved=0CFEQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=Patriarch%20Gregory%20V%20stance%20on%20jews&f=false
In the future be more mindful of such blantent anti-semetic undertones. Forced corpse detail is different that gleeful desecration.
LMAO @ you saying “In the future be more mindful of such blantent anti-semetic undertones”……..You got some nerve, that’s all I can say. I shouldn’t be discussing my personal life in here, but I am THAT anti-semetic that my woman is a Jew. So basically I am hating my woman and son you say? hahahaha. Boy you really entertained me this morning. Anyway I am not willing to continue this silly thing or debate on a personal level over your nonsense, just because it happens for you to be INSECURE about historical facts or because you obviously have the syndrome “Oh Jews NEVER committed any crime” but I will only tell you that I got my sources straight from here: http://books.google.gr/books?id=e2MCjLnRk8EC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+history+of+the+Greek+revolution+thomas+gordon&source=gbs_summary_r&redir_esc=y#PRA2-PA187,M1
“His body was then taken down and delivered to a squad of Jews who dragged it through the streets and finally threw it into the Bosphorus.”
So if anyone is anti-semetic in this case is history itself.
And before you make such wild accusations again on a personal level try to search if there’s any source that proves you BLATANTLY wrong first.
I might be mobbed for this but here it goes, it is Gandhi and not Ghandi. Thats like someone else and the pronunciation is entirely different.
Anyway its a good list 🙂
Nice list. Informative, interesting, and thought-provoking.
I loved the list!
Informative and something new. I loved seeing someone from the continent of Africa on there 🙂
Colonel Gaddafi? Yeah, he was a bit batty, but you have to respect him. He REFUSED to give in, even when Libya was being bombed, by NATO, and even when offered to surrender, he refused. He insulted the King of Saudi Arabia and humiliated him so much at The Arab League, he walked out, while Obama BOWS to him.. or Saddam Hussein. When those cowards were mocking him, he mocked them in return. I don`t think if I were being hung, I`d have the guts to do that.
How does Obama bow to two dead men you idiot?
He bowed to the king of Saudi Arabia.. And the Emperor of japan.. What is it with obama and bowing? and if he bowed to the king of saud, why not the Queen?
So you’re against good manners? I bet you fainted when you saw the pic of GW Bush kissing the Saudi king, didn’t you?
I threw up a little when I saw it.
People like them determinated the word HEROES!!! An exceptional list, well done, looking forward for more.
I see all the block’s habitants are awake early this morning. Thanks Nick, Sofia, and Alina… Only Ross, Joey, Monica and the rest cast of Friends can relate with our situation sharing everything including a router and a connection. Damn you crisis LOL
Thanks Katie xxx
Number 10 isnt a martyre. He didnt give up his life willingly as he was caught spying and was shot. He had every intention of making it back to his side with the information he gathered.
You are making a good point and a great argument there mate, but at the same time if you look at the aftermath of this story, Hale was D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E-L-Y a martyr. Like I said in the intro of this article, back in antiquity the ultimate martyr was the one dying for his state/country. Hale died for his country and that makes him a national hero for Americans and a martyr of freedom. Let’s not forget that Hale participated in a war for Independence and Freedom, not an unfair war for oil and gold. In my opinion his statement alone makes him a martyr: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” Think about it.
He was a hero who gave his life for his country and was a very brave man. I guess for me, if they tried to get him to talk and he said no, and then they killed him, then yes he was a martyr if he gave his life to be silent. I guess it is just differing opinions on the meaning of a word, but i did enjoy your list alot. An regardless whether i would call them all martyrs, that is a list of some incredibly brave and courageous people who stood up to what they believe.
There’s no official proof Hale actually said that
Great list Theo! Very interesting x
How great and informative, now this what I call a Good list!!!! BRAVO!!!!
Great job dude and kudos for including the Souliot women.
Wow, Theo is back. Where have you been all this time? I missed your encyclopedic lists 😉