Martyrs (Christianity, Early Modern Period)

Abstract: As witnesses of their faith, martyrs are central figures of the Christian tradition. While a martyr is at first an innocent victim who suffers death rather passively, martyrdom generally presupposes that the martyr deliberately sacrifices his or her life. That ‘sacrificium’, which is made following the example of Christ, inherently has heroic characteristics. However, depending on the context, one can focus on the heroic act of self-sacrifice and the heroic fortitude in death or – alternatively – on the suffering of violence and the innocence of the martyr. The confessional conflicts and divisions of the 16th century led to important new accentuations not least for the reason that now two different Christian concepts of martyrdom were competing with each other. Additionally, starting in the second half of the 17th century, a tendency to secularise the idea of martyrdom emerged. Men and women who had died in the fight for a political idea could now also be seen as martyrs

Angaben zum Objekt

• Standort: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Umfang: Online-Ressource
• Ausgabe: Version 1.0, published 17 February 2023
• Sprache: Englisch

Klassifikation und Themen

• Schlagwort: Christentum ; Frühe Neuzeit ; Gegenreformation ; Heroisierung ; Konfession ; Märtyrer ; Opfer ; Politik ; Reformation

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wo): Freiburg
• (wer): Universität
• (wann): 2023
• Urheber: Asch, Ronald G.
• Beteiligte Personen und Organisationen: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Sonderforschungsbereich 948 "Helden - Heroisierungen - Heroismen"

Weitere Informationen

• DOI: 10.6094/heroicum/mchempe1.0.20230217
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-2338348
• Rechteinformation: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 14.08.2025, 10:56 MESZ