Martyrs of Otranto (1480)

The heroic and newly canonized martyrs of Otranto are the Bravehearts of Italy . . .

Martyrs of Otranto

Feast Day: August 14
Canonized: May 12, 2013

The martyrs of Otranto are the Bravehearts of Italy. Their story starts with Constantinople’s fall in 1453. After destroying almost every vestige of Christianity there, Sultan Mehmet II set his sights on Rome

By 1480, a great armada set sail. An ill wind blew it off course, forcing them to land at the city of Otranto. Inhabitants defended their city for two weeks, buying Italian defenders enough time to reach them, but it was too late. The Muslims had breached the city’s walls, slaughtering or enslaving survivors.

They offered 800 men freedom if they would apostatize. Speaking for the rest, an elderly tailor named Antonio Primaldo refused, telling the others, “Now it is time for us to fight to save our souls for Our Lord. Since he died on the cross for us, it’s fitting we should die for him.”

They put him to death first. However, a strange thing happened. His body stood and, despite efforts to remove it, remained fixed in place until the last man’s execution. While it wasn’t the first time a city had to mount a defense of its Christian faith, it was the first and only time an entire municipality underwent martyrdom.

BRIAN O’NEEL is a writer, husband and father of six living in southeast Pennsylvania. His latest book is 39 New Saints You Should Know.