FOX'S BOOK OF MARTYRS

CHAPTER III

Persecutions of the Christians in Persia

The Gospel having spread itself into Persia, the pagan priests,

who worshipped the sun, were greatly alarmed, and dreaded the loss of

that influence they had hitherto maintained over the people's minds and

properties. Hence they thought it expedient to complain to the emperor

that the Christians were enemies to the state, and held a treasonable

correspondence with the Romans, the great enemies of Persia.

The emperor Sapores, being naturally averse to Christianity,

easily believed what was said against the Christians, and gave orders

to persecute them in all parts of his empire. On account of this

mandate, many eminent persons in the church and state fell martyrs to

the ignorance and ferocity of the pagans.

Constantine the Great being informed of the persecutions in

Persia, wrote a long letter to the Persian monarch, in which he

recounts the vengeance that had fallen on persecutors, and the great

success that had attended those who had refrained from persecuting the

Christians.

Speaking of his victories over rival emperors of his own time, he

said, "I subdued these solely by faith in Christ; for which God was my

helper, who gave me victory in battle, and made me triumph over my

enemies. He hath likewise so enlarged to me the bounds of the Roman

Empire, that it extends from the Western Ocean almost to the uttermost

parts of the East: for this domain I neither offered sacrifices to the

ancient deities, nor made use of charm or divination; but only offered

up prayers to the Almighty God, and followed the cross of Christ.

Rejoiced should I be if the throne of Persia found glory also, by

embracing the Christians: that so you with me, and they with you, may

enjoy all happiness.

In consequence of this appeal, the persecution ended for the time,

but it was renewed in later years when another king succeeded to the

throne of Persia.

Persecutions Under the Arian Heretics

The author of the Arian heresy was Arius, a native of Lybia, and a

priest of Alexandria, who, in A.D. 318, began to publish his errors.

He was condemned by a council of Lybian and Egyptian bishops, and that

sentence was confirmed by the Council of Nice, A.D. 325. After the

death of Constantine the Great, the Arians found means to ingratiate

themselves into the favor of the emperor Constantinus, his son and

successor in the east; and hence a persecution was raised against the

orthodox bishops and clergy. The celebrated Athanasius, and other

bishops, were banished, and their sees filled with Arians.

In Egypt and Lybia, thirty bishops were martyred, and many other

Christians cruelly tormented; and, A.D. 386, George, the Arian bishop

of Alexandria, under the authority of the emperor, began a persecution

in that city and its environs, and carried it on with the most infernal

severity. He was assisted in his diabolical malice by Catophonius,

governor of Egypt; Sebastian, general of the Egyptian forces;

Faustinus, the treasurer; and Heraclius, a Roman officer.

The persecutions now raged in such a manner that the clergy were

driven from Alexandria, their churches were shut, and the severities

practiced by the Arian heretics were as great as those that had been

practiced by the pagan idolaters. If a man, accused of being a

Christian, made his escape, then his whole family were massacred, and

his effects confiscated.

Persecution Under Julian the Apostate

This emperor was the son of Julius Constantius, and the nephew of

Constantine the Great. He studied the rudiments of grammar under the

inspection of Mardonius, a eunuch, and a heathen of Constantinople.

His father sent him some time after to Nicomedia, to be instructed in

the Christian religion, by the bishop of Eusebius, his kinsman, but his

principles were corrupted by the pernicious doctrines of Ecebolius the

rhetorician, and Maximus the magician.

Constantius, dying the year 361, Julian succeeded him, and had no

sooner attained the imperial dignity than he renounced Christianity and

embraced paganism, which had for some years fallen into great

disrepute. Though he restored the idolatrous worship, he made no

public edicts against Christianity. He recalled all banished pagans,

allowed the free exercise of religion to every sect, but deprived all

Christians of offices at court, in the magistracy, or in the army. He

was chaste, temperate, vigilant, laborious, and pious; yet he

prohibited any Christian from keeping a school or public seminary of

learning, and deprived all the Christian clergy of the privileges

granted them by Constantine the Great.

Biship Basil made himself first famous by his opposition to

Arianism, which brought upon him the vengeance of the Arian bishop of

Constantinople; he equally opposed paganism. The emperor's agents in

vain tampered with Basil by means of promises, threats, and racks, he

was firm in the faith, and remained in prison to undergo some other

sufferings, when the emperor came accidentally to Ancyra. Julian

determined to examine Basil himself, when that holy man being brought

before him, the emperor did every thing in his power to dissuade him

from persevering in the faith. Basil not only continued as firm as

ever, but, with a prophetic spirit foretold the death of the emperor,

and that he should be tormented in the other life. Enraged at what he

heard, Julian commanded that the body of Basil should be torn every day

in seven different parts, until his skin and flesh were entirely

mangled. This inhuman sentence was executed with rigor, and the martyr

expired under its severities, on June 28, A.D. 362.

Donatus, bishop of Arezzo, and Hilarinus, a hermit, suffered about

the same time; also Gordian, a Roman magistrate. Artemius, commander

in chief of the Roman forces in Egypt, being a Christian, was deprived

of his commission, then of his estate, and lastly of his head.

The persecution raged dreadfully about the latter end of the year

363; but, as many of the particulars have not been handed down to us,

it is necessary to remark in general, that in Palestine many were burnt

alive, others were dragged by their feet through the streets naked

until they expired; some were scalded to death, many stoned, and great

numbers had their brains beaten out with clubs. In Alexandria,

innumerable were the martyrs who suffered by the sword, burning,

crucifixion and stoning. In Arethusa, several were ripped open, and

corn being put into their bellies, swine were brought to feed therein,

which, in devouring the grain, likewise devoured the entrails of the

martyrs, and in Thrace, Emilianus was burnt at a stake; and Domitius

murdered in a cave, whither he had fled for refuge.

The emperor, Julian the apostate, died of a wound which he

received in his Persian expedition, A.D. 363, and even while expiring,

uttered the most horrid blasphemies. He was succeeded by Jovian, who

restored peace to the Church.

After the decease of Jovian, Valentinian succeeded to the empire,

and associated to himself Valens, who had the command in the east, and

was an Arian and of an unrelenting and persecuting disposition.

Persecution of the Christians by the Goths and Vandals.

Many Scythian Goths having embraced Christianity about the time of

Constantine the Great, the light of the Gospel spread itself

considerably in Scythia, though the two kings who ruled that country,

and the majority of the people continued pagans. Fritegern, king of

the West Goths, was an ally to the Romans, but Athanarich, king of the

East Goths, was at war with them. The Christians, in the dominions of

the former, lived unmolested, but the latter, having been defeated by

the Romans, wreaked his vengeance on his Christian subjects, commencing

his pagan injunctions in the year 370.

In religion the Goths were Arians, and called themselves

Christians; therefore they destroyed all the statues and temples of the

heathen gods, but did no harm to the orthodox Christian churches.

Alaric had all the qualities of a great general. To the wild bravery

of the Gothic barbarian he added the courage and skill of the Roman

soldier. He led his forces across the Alps into Italy, and although

driven back for the time, returned afterward with an irresistible

force.

The Last Roman "Triumph"

After this fortunate victory over the Goths a "triumph," as it was

called, was celebrated at Rome. For hundreds of years successful

generals had been awarded this great honor on their return from a

victorious campaign. Upon such occasions the city was given up for

days to the marching of troops laden with spoils, and who dragged after

them prisoners of war, among whom were often captive kings and

conquered generals. This was to be the last Roman triumph, for it

celebrated the last Roman victory. Although it had been won by

Stilicho, the general, it was the boy emperor, Honorius, who took the

credit, entering Rome in the car of victory, and driving to the Capitol

amid the shouts of the populace. Afterward, as was customary on such

occasions, there were bloody combats in the Colosseum, where

gladiators, armed with swords and spears, fought as furiously as if

they were on the field of battle.

The first part of the bloody entertainment was finished; the

bodies of the dead were dragged off with hooks, and the reddened sand

covered with a fresh, clean layer. After this had been done the gates

in the wall of the arena were thrown open, and a number of tall, well-

formed men in the prime of youth and strength came forward. Some

carried swords, others three-pronged spears and nets. They marched

once around the walls, and stopping before the emperor, held up their

weapons at arm's length, and with one voice sounded out their greeting,

Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant! "Hail, Caesar, those about to die

salute thee!"

The combats now began again; the glatiators with nets tried to

entangle those with swords, and when they succeeded mercilessly stabbed

their antagonists to death with the three-pronged spear. When a

glatiator had wounded his adversary, and had him lying helpless at his

feet, he looked up at the eager faces of the spectators, and cried out,

Hoc habet! "He has it!" and awaited the pleasure of the audience to

kill or spare.

If the spectators held out their hands toward him, with thumbs

upward, the defeated man was taken away, to recover if possible from

his wounds. But if the fatal signal of "thumbs down" was given, the

conquered was to be slain; and if he showed any reluctance to present

his neck for the death blow, there was a scornful shout from the

galleries, Recipe ferrum! "Receive the steel!" Privileged persons

among the audience would even descend into the arena, to better witness

the death agonies of some unusually brave victim, before his corpse was

dragged out at the death gate.

The show went on; many had been slain, and the people, madly

excited by the desperate bravery of those who continued to fight,

shouted their applause. But suddenly there was an interruption. A

rudely clad, robed figure appeared for a moment among the audience, and

then boldly leaped down into the arena. He was seen to be a man of

rough but imposing presence, bareheaded and with sun-browned face.

Without hesitating an instant he advanced upon two gladiators engaged

in a life-and-death struggle, and laying his hand upon one of them

sternly reproved him for shedding innocent blood, and then, turning

toward the thousands of angry faces ranged around him, called upon them

in a solemn, deep-toned voice which resounded through the deep

inclosure. These were his words: "Do not requite God's mercy in

turning away the swords of your enemies by murdering each other!"

Angry shouts and cries at once drowned his voice: "This is no

place for preaching!--the old customs of Rome must be observed!--On,

gladiators!" Thrusting aside the stranger, the gladiators would have

again attacked each other, but the man stood between, holding them

apart, and trying in vain to be heard. "Sedition! sedition! down with

him!" was then the cry; and the gladiators, enraged at the interference

of an outsider with their chosen vocation, at once stabbed him to

death. Stones, or whatever missiles came to hand, also rained down

upon him from the furious people, and thus he perished, in the midst of

the arena.

His dress showed him to be one of the hermits who vowed themselves

to a holy life of prayer and self-denial, and who were reverenced by

even the thoughtless and combat-loving Romans. The few who knew him

told how he had come from the wilds of Asia on a pilgrimage, to visit

the churches and keep his Christmas at Rome; they knew he was a holy

man, and that his name was Telemachus--no more. His spirit had been

stirred by the sight of thousands flocking to see men slaughter one

another, and in his simple-hearted zeal he had tried to convince them

of the cruelty and wickedness of their conduct. He had died, but not

in vain. His work was accomplished at the moment he was struck down,

for the shock of such a death before their eyes turned the hearts of

the people: they saw the hideous aspects of the favorite vice to which

they had blindly surrendered themselves; and from the day Telemachus

fell dead in the Colosseum, no other fight of gladiators was ever held

there.

Persecutions from About the Middle of the Fifth, to the Conclusion of

the Seventh Century

Proterius was made a priest by Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, who

was well acquainted with his virtues, before he appointed him to

preach. On the death of Cyril, the see of Alexandria was filled by

Discorus, an inveterate enemy to the memory and family of his

predecessor. Being condemned by the council of Chalcedon for having

embraced the errors of Eutyches, he was deposed, and Proterius chosen

to fill the vacant see, who was approved of by the emperor. This

occasioned a dangerous insurrection, for the city of Alexandria was

divided into two factions; the one to espouse the cause of the old, and

the other of the new prelate. In one of the commotions, the Eutychians

determined to wreak their vengeance on Proterius, who fled to the

church for sanctuary: but on Good Friday, A.D. 457, a large body of

them rushed into the church, and barbarously murdered the prelate;

after which they dragged the body through the streets, insulted it, cut

it to pieces, burnt it, and scattered the ashes in the air.

Hermenigildus, a Gothic prince, was the eldest son of Leovigildus,

a king of the Goths, in Spain. This prince, who was originally an

Arian, became a convert to the orthodox faith, by means of his wife

Ingonda. When the king heard that his son had changed his religious

sentiments, he stripped him of the command at Seville, where he was

governor, and threatened to put him to death unless he renounced the

faith he had newly embraced. The prince, in order to prevent the

execution of his father's menaces, began to put himself into a posture

of defence; and many of the orthodox persuasion in Spain declared for

him. The king, exasperated at this act of rebellion, began to punish

all the orthodox Christians who could be seized by his troops, and thus

a very severe persecution commenced: he likewise marched against his

son at the head of a very powerful army. The prince took refuge in

Seville, from which he fled, and was at length besieged and taken at

Asieta. Loaded with chains, he was sent to Seville, and at the feast

of Easter refusing to receive the Eucharist from an Arian bishop, the

enraged king ordered his guards to cut the prince to pieces, which they

punctually performed, April 13, A.D. 586.

Martin, bishop of Rome, was born at Todi, in Italy. He was

naturally inclined to virtue, and his parents bestowed on him an

admirable education. He opposed the heretics called Monothelites, who

were patronized by the emperor Heraclius. Martin was condemned at

Constantinople, where he was exposed in the most public places to the

ridicule of the people, divested of all episcopal marks of distinction,

and treated with the greatest scorn and severity. After lying some

months in prison, Martin was sent to an island at some distance, and

there cut to pieces, A.D. 655.

John, bishop of Bergamo, in Lombardy, was a learned man, and a

good Christian. He did his utmost endeavors to clear the Church from

the errors of Arianism, and joining in this holy work with John, bishop

of Milan, he was very successful against the heretics, on which account

he was assassinated on July 11, A.D. 683.

Killien was born in Ireland, and received from his parents a pious

and Christian education. He obtained the Roman pontiff's license to

preach to the pagans in Franconia, in Germany. At Wurtzburg he

converted Gozbert, the governor, whose example was followed by the

greater part of the people in two years after. Persuading Gozbert that

his marriage with his brother's widow was sinful, the latter had him

beheaded, A.D. 689.

Persecutions from the Early Part of the Eighth, to Near the Conclusion

of the Tenth Century

Boniface, archbishop of Mentz, and father of the German church,

was an Englishman, and is, in ecclasiastical history, looked upon as

one of the brightest ornaments of this nation. Originally his name was

Winfred, or Winfrith, and he was born at Kirton, in Devonshire, then

part of the West-Saxon kingdom. When he was only about six years of

age, he began to discover a propensity to reflection, and seemed

solicitous to gain information on religious subjects. Wolfrad, the

abbot, finding that he possessed a bright genius, as well as a strong

inclination to study, had him removed to Nutscelle, a seminary of

learning in the diocese of Winchester, where he would have a much

greater opportunity of attaining improvements than at Exeter.

After due study, the abbot seeing him qualified for the

priesthood, obliged him to receive that holy order when he was about

thirty years old. From which time he began to preach and labor for the

salvation of his fellow creatures; he was released to attend a synod of

bishops in the kingdom of West-Saxons. He afterwards, in 719, went to

Rome, where Gregory II who then sat in Peter's chair, received him with

great friendship, and finding him full of all virtues that compose the

character of an apostolic missionary, dismissed him without commission

at large to preach the Gospel to the pagans wherever he found them.

Passing through Lombardy and Bavaria, he came to Thuringia, which

country had before received the light of the Gospel, he next visited

Utrecht, and then proceeded to Saxony, where he converted some

thousands to Christianity.

During the ministry of this meek prelate, Pepin was declared king

of France. It was that prince's ambition to be crowned by the most

holy prelate he could find, and Boniface was pitched on to perform that

ceremony, which he did at Soissons, in 752. The next year, his great

age and many infirmities lay so heavy on him, that, with the consent of

the new king, and the bishops of his diocese, he consecrated Lullus,

his countryman, and faithful disciple, and placed him in the see of

Mentz. When he had thus eased himself of his charge, he recommended

the church of Mentz to the care of the new bishop in very strong terms,

desired he would finish the church at Fuld, and see him buried in it,

for his end was near. Having left these orders, he took boat to the

Rhine, and went to Friesland, where he converted and baptized several

thousands of barbarous natives, demolished the temples, and raised

churches on the ruins of those superstitious structures. A day being

appointed for confirming a great number of new converts, he ordered

them to assemble in a new open plain, near the river Bourde. Thither

he repaired the day before; and, pitching a tent, determined to remain

on the spot all night, in order to be ready early in the morning. Some

pagans, who were his inveterate enemies, having intelligence of this,

poured down upon him and the companions of his mission in the night,

and killed him and fifty-two of his companions and attendants on June

5, A.D. 755. Thus fell the great father of the Germanic Church, the

honor of England, and the glory of the age in which he lived.

Forty-two persons of Armorian in Upper Phyrgia, were martyred in

the year 845, by the Saracens, the circumstances of which transactions

are as follows:

In the reign of Theophilus, the Saracens ravaged many parts of the

eastern empire, gained several considerable advantages over the

Christians, took the city of Armorian, and numbers suffered martyrdom.

Flora and Mary, two ladies of distinction, suffered martyrdom at

the same time.

Perfectus was born at Corduba, in Spain, and brought up in the

Christian faith. Having a quick genius, he made himself master of all

the useful and polite literature of that age; and at the same time was

not more celebrated for his abilities than admired for his piety. At

length he took priest's orders, and performed the duties of his office

with great assiduity and punctuality. Publicly declaring Mahomet an

impostor, he was sentenced to be beheaded, and was accordingly

executed, A.D. 850; after which his body was honorably interred by the

Christians.

Adalbert, bishop of Prague, a Bohemian by birth, after being

involved in many troubles, began to direct his thoughts to the

conversion of the infidels, to which end he repaired to Dantzic, where

he converted and baptized many, which so enraged the pagan priests,

that they fell upon him, and despatched him with darts, on April 23,

A.D. 997.

Persecutions in the Eleventh Century

Alphage, archbishop of Canterbury, was descended from a

considerable family in Gloucestershire, and received an education

suitable to his illustrious birth. His parents were worthy Christians,

and Alphage seemed to inherit their virtues.

The see of Winchester being vacant by the death of Ethelwold,

Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury, as primate of all England,

consecrated Alphage to the vacant bishopric, to the general

satisfaction of all concerned in the diocese.

Dustain had an extraordinary veneration for Alphage, and, when at

the point of death, made it his ardent request to God that he might

succeed him in the see of Canterbury; which accordingly happened,

though not until about eighteen years after Dunstan's death in 1006.

After Alphage had governed the see of Canterbury about four years,

with great reputation to himself, and benefit to his people, the Danes

made an incursion into England, and laid siege to Canterbury. When the

design of attacking this city was known, many of the principal people

made a flight from it, and would have persuaded Alphage to follow their

example. But he, like a good pastor, would not listen to such a

proposal. While he was employed in assisting and encouraging the

people, Canterbury was taken by storm; the enemy poured into the town,

and destroyed all that came in their way by fire and sword. He had the

courage to address the enemy, and offer himself to their swords, as

more worthy of their rage than the people: he begged they might be

saved, and that they would discharge their whole fury upon him. They

accordingly seized him, tied his hands, insulted and abused him in a

rude and barbarous manner, and obliged him to remain on the spot until

his church was burnt, and the monks massacred. They then decimated all

the inhabitants, both ecclesiastics and laymen, leaving only every

tenth person alive; so that they put 7236 persons to death, and left

only four monks and 800 laymen alive, after which they confined the

archbishop in a dungeon, where they kept him close prisoner for several

months.

During his confinement they proposed to him to redeem his liberty

with the sum of 3000 pounds, and to persuade the king to purchase their

departure out of the kingdom, with a further sum of 10,000 pounds. As

Alphage's circumstances would not allow him to satisfy the exorbitant

demand, they bound him, and put him to severe torments, to oblige him

to discover the treasure of the church; upon which they assured him of

his life and liberty, but the prelate piously persisted in refusing to

give the pagans any account of it. They remanded him to prison again,

confined him six days longer, and then, taking him prisoner with them

to Greenwich, brought him to trial there. He still remained inflexible

with respect to the church treasure; but exhorted them to forsake their

idolatry, and embrace Christianity. This so greatly incensed the

Danes, that the soldiers dragged him out of the camp and beat him

unmercifully. One of the soldiers, who had been converted by him,

knowing that his pains would be lingering, as his death was determined

on, actuated by a kind of barbarous compassion, cut off his head, and

thus put the finishing stroke to his martyrdom, April 19, A.D. 1012.

This transaction happened on the very spot where the church at

Greenwich, which is dedicated to him, now stands. After his death his

body was thrown into the Thames, but being found the next day, it was

buried in the cathedral of St. Paul's by the bishops of London and

Lincoln; from whence it was, in 1023, removed to Canterbury by

Ethelmoth, the archbishop of that province.

Gerard, a Venetian, devoted himself to the service of God from his

tender years: entered into a religious house for some time, and then

determined to visit the Holy Land. Going into Hungary, he became

acquainted with Stephen, the king of that country, who made him bishop

of Chonad.

Ouvo and Peter, successors of Stephen, being deposed, Andrew, son

of Ladislaus, cousin-german to Stephen, had then a tender of the crown

made him upon condition that he would employ his authority in

extirpating the Christian religion out of Hungary. The ambitious

prince came into the proposal, but Gerard being informed of his impious

bargain, thought it his duty to remonstrate against the enormity of

Andrew's crime, and persuade him to withdraw his promise. In this view

he undertook to go to that prince, attended by three prelates, full of

like zeal for religion. The new king was at Alba Regalis, but, as the

four bishops were going to cross the Danube, they were stopped by a

party of soldiers posted there. They bore an attack of a shower of

stones patiently, when the soldiers beat them unmercifully, and at

length despatched them with lances. Their martyrdoms happened in the

year 1045.

Stanislaus, bishop of Cracow, was descended from an illustrious

Polish family. The piety of his parents was equal to their opulence,

and the latter they rendered subservient to all the purposes of charity

and benevolence. Stanislaus remained for some time undetermined

whether he should embrace a monastic life, or engage among the secular

clergy. He was at length persuaded to the latter by Lambert Zula,

bishop of Cracow, who gave him holy orders, and made him a canon of his

cathedral. Lambert died on November 25, 1071, when all concerned in

the choice of a successor declared for Stanislaus, and he succeeded to

the prelacy.

Bolislaus, the second king of Poland, had, by nature, many good

qualities, but giving away to his passions, he ran into many

enormities, and at length had the appellation of Cruel bestowed upon

him. Stanislaus alone had the courage to tell him of his faults, when,

taking a private opportunity, he freely displayed to him the enormities

of his crimes. The king, greatly exasperated at his repeated freedoms,

at length determined, at any rate, to get the better of a prelate who

was so extremely faithful. Hearing one day that the bishop was by

himself, in the chapel of St. Michael, at a small distance from the

town, he despatched some soldiers to murder him. The soldiers readily

undertook the bloody task; but, when they came into the presence of

Stanislaus, the venerable aspect of the prelate struck them with such

awe that they could not perform what they had promised. On their

return, the king, finding that they had not obeyed his orders, stormed

at them violently, snatched a dagger from one of them, and ran

furiously to the chapel, where, finding Stanislaus at the altar, he

plunged the weapon into his heart. The prelate immediately expired on

May 8, A.D. 1079.