Military saint

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The military saints of the Early Christian Church, enjoyed a vogue parallel to the virgin martyrs. The persecution of Christians under Diocletian usually furnished the background for soldier-saint hagiography which has a common theme: a soldier of the Empire has become a Christian and is found out. He undergoes tortures—which may miraculously not affect him—but refuses to offer incense to the Emperor (see imperial cult) nor deny his faith (apostasy) and is martyred. Such a saint was an "athlete of Christ" (athleta Christi).

In Late Antiquity other Christian writers of hagiography, like Sulpicius Severus in his account of the anti-heroic, anti-military life of Martin of Tours, created a literary model that reflected the new spiritual, political, and social ideals of a post-Roman society. In a recent study of Anglo-Saxon soldier saints (Damon 2003), J.E. Damon has demonstrated the persistence of Sulpicius's literary model in the transformation of the pious, peaceful saints and willing martyrs of late antique hagiography to the Christian heroes of the early Middle Ages, who exemplified accommodation with and eventually active participation in "holy" wars that were considered just.

The angelic prototype of the Christian soldier-saint is the Archangel Michael, who was Christianized in the 5th century with a shrine at Monte Gargano. The cult of soldier-saints followed the transformation of Michael into a Christian figure.

Soldier-saints tended to appear in troubled times: a second wave of soldier-saints with sounder historical character appeared in the High Middle Ages, not least of whom is Joan of Arc. A later soldier-saint is Ignatius of Loyola.

[edit] List of military saints

• Acacius of Byzantium, patron saint of soldiers
• Adrian of Nicomedia
• Saint Crescentinus
• Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki
• Saint George
• Saint Géréon of Cologne
• Saint Ignatius of Loyola
• Saint James the Great, reimagined as "Santiago" during the Spanish Reconquista
• Saint Longinus, who pierced Christ's side at the Crucifixion
• Saint Joan of Arc
• Saints John and Paul
• Saint Marcellus the Centurion
• Saint Martin of Tours
• Saint Maurice and the "Theban Legion" (Saint Candidus et al.)
• Saint Mina (Menas, Mennas)
• Saint Sebastian
• Saints Sergius and Bacchus, protectors of the Byzantine army
• Saint Theodore of Amasea, also known as Theodore the Recruit or Theodore of Euchaita
• Saint Typasius
• Saint Victor
• Saint William

[edit] References

• John Edward Damon, 2003. Soldier Saints and Holy Warriors: Warfare and Sanctity in the Literature of Early England. (Burlington (VT): Ashgate Publishing Company) ISBN 0-7546-0473-X.
• David Woods, "The Military Martyrs": 21 soldier saints, including Demetrius, George, Christopher
• "Saints John and Paul, soldier martyrs", said to have been put to death by the Emperor Julian the Apostate in 362. (See John and Paul).