Four Crowned Martyrs
| The Four Crowned Martyrs | |
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| Martyrs | |
| Born | 3rd century AD |
| Died | between 287 and 305 Castra Albana (1st Group) Sava River, Pannonia (2nd Group) |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | August 8 (Group 1) November 8 (Group 2) |
| Patronage | sculptors, stonemasons, stonecutters; against fever; cattle |
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 Nanni di Banco's Four Crowned Saints, (3:21) Smarthistory
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The designation Four Crowned Martyrs or Four Holy Crowned Ones (Latin, Sancti Quatuor Coronati) refers to nine individuals venerated as martyrs and saints in the Catholic Church. The nine saints are divided into two groups:
According to the Golden Legend, the names of the members of the first group were not known at the time of their death “but were learned through the Lord’s revelation after many years had passed." They were called the "Four Crowned Martyrs" because their names were unknown ("crown" referring to the crown of martyrdom).
Severus (or Secundius), Severian(us), Carpophorus, and Victorinus were martyred at Rome or Castra Albana, according to Christian tradition.
According to the Passion of St. Sebastian, the four saints were soldiers (specifically cornicularii, or clerks, in charge of all the regiment's records and paperwork) who refused to sacrifice to Aesculapius, and therefore were killed by order of Emperor Diocletian (284-305), two years after the death of the five sculptors, mentioned below. The bodies of the martyrs were buried in the cemetery of Santi Marcellino e Pietro on the fourth mile of the via Labicana by Pope Miltiades and St. Sebastian (whose skull is preserved in the church).
The second group, according to Christian tradition, were sculptors from Sirmium who were killed in Pannonia. They refused to fashion a pagan statue for the Emperor Diocletian or to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods. The Emperor ordered them to be placed alive in lead coffins and thrown into the sea in about 287. Simplicius was killed with them. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia,
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