Saint Blandina (french: Blandine, c. 162–177 AD) was a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

who died in

Lugdunum Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but continued an existing Gallic settle ...

(modern Lyon, France) during the reign of Emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...

Context

In the first two centuries of the Christian era, it was the local Roman officials who were largely responsible for the persecution of Christians. In the second century, the emperors treated Christianity as a local problem to be dealt with by their subordinates. The number and severity of persecutions of Christians in various locations of the empire seemingly increased during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The extent to which Marcus Aurelius himself directed, encouraged, or was aware of these persecutions is unclear and much debated by historians.

Traditional history

The traditional account regarding Blandina is reported by

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

in his '' Historia Ecclesiastica''. She belongs to the band of martyrs of Lyon who, after some of their number had endured frightful

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts ...

s, suffered martyrdom in 177 in the reign of

. Almost all we know of Blandina comes from a letter sent from the Church of Lyon to the Churches of Asia Minor.Butler, Alban. ''Lives of the Saints'', Vol. VI, 1866
/ref> Eusebius gives significant space of her life and death in his book as he quotes from the aforementioned epistle to

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. The fanaticism of the Roman populace in Lyon had been excited

against the Christians ''Against the Christians'' ( grc-gre, Κατὰ Χριστιανῶν; ''Adversus Christianos'') is a late-3rd century book written by Roman-Phoenician Neoplatonic philosopher Porphyry of Tyre, criticizing the writings of Christian philosophers a ...

so that the latter, when they ventured to show themselves publicly, were harassed and ill-treated. While the imperial

legate Legate may refer to: * Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class :*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period *A member of a legation *A representative, ...

was away, the chiliarch, a military commander, and the duumvir, a civil magistrate, threw a number of Christians, who confessed their faith, into prison. When the legate returned, the imprisoned believers were brought to trial. Among these Christians was Blandina, a

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, who had been taken into custody along with her master, also a Christian. Her companions greatly feared that on account of her bodily frailty she might not remain steadfast under torture. But although the legate caused her to be tortured in a horrible manner, so that even the executioners became exhausted "as they did not know what more they could do to her", still she remained faithful and repeated to every question "I am a Christian, and we commit no wrongdoing." Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Blandina." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 23 Apr. 2013
/ref> Through fear of torture slaves had testified against their masters that the Christians when assembled committed cannibalism and incest, and the legate desired to wring confession of this misconduct from the Christian prisoners. In his report to the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

the legate stated that those who held to their Christian belief were to be executed and those who denied their faith were to be released, and the legate received instructions from the Emperor Marcus Aurelius allowing the Roman citizens who persisted in the faith to be executed by beheading,

, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'', Book 5.1.47 but those without citizenship were to be tortured. Blandina was therefore subjected to new tortures with a number of companions in the town's

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

(now known as the Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls) at the time of the public games. She was bound to a stake and wild beasts were set on her. According to legend, they did not, however, touch her. After enduring this for a number of days, in an effort to persuade her to recant, she was led into the arena to see the sufferings of her companions. Finally, as the last of the martyrs, she was scourged, placed on a red-hot grate, enclosed in a net and thrown before a wild steer who tossed her into the air with his horns. In the end, she was killed with a dagger.

Legacy

* Her feast is celebrated June 2. * Two communes in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

are named after her. See Sainte-Blandine.

References

External links

Santa Blandina
All-Merciful Savior Orthodox Mission website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blandina 177 deaths 2nd-century Roman women Christian slaves and freedmen People from Lugdunum 2nd-century Christian martyrs Year of birth unknown Ante-Nicene Christian female saints Christian martyrs

Context

Traditional history

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading

External links