The Death of the Twelve
Andrew is said to have been martyred by crucifixion at the city of Patras, Greece. A tradition developed that Andrew had been crucified on a X-shaped cross, supposedly at his own request, as he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross as Jesus had been.
- Bartholomew / Nathanael
Along with his fellow apostle Jude, Bartholomew is reputed to have brought Christanity to Armenia in the 1st century. Thus, both saints are considered the patron saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
He is said to have been martyred in Albanopolis, Armenia. According to one account, he was beheaded , but a more popular tradition holds that he was flayed alive and crucified, head downward. He is said to have converted Polymius, the king of Armenia, to Christianity. Astyages, Polymius' brother, consequently ordered Bartholomew's execution.
(Right: Sistine Chapel ceiling)
- James, the son of Zebedee
Two propositions are central to it: first, that St. James preached the gospel in Iberia as well as in the Holy Land; second, that after his martyrdom at the hands of Herod Agrippa his disciples carried his body by sea to Iberia, where they landed on the coast of Galicia, and took the body inland for burial at Santiago de Compostela.
- James, the Lesser or Younger
James was arrested along with some other Christians and was executed by King Herod Agrippa in persecution of the church. (Acts 12:1,2) Tradition maintains James the Less was martyred at Ostrakine in Lower Egypt, where he was preaching the Gospel.
|It is traditionally believed that John was the youngest of the apostles and survived them. He is said to have lived to an old age, dying at Ephesus sometime after AD 98.|
The Acts of the Apostles says that Judas used the money to buy a field, then fell dead in the field.
(Right: Judas Iscariot from Tarzhishte Monastery, Strupets, Bulgaria, 16th-century fresco)
- Jude / Thaddeus
According to tradition, Saint Jude was martyred about 65 AD in Beirut, in the Roman province of Syria, together with the apostle Simon the Zealot. The axe that he is often shown holding in pictures symbolizes the way in which he was killed. Their acts and martyrdom were recorded in an Acts of Simon and Jude. Sometime after his death, Saint Jude's body was brought from Beirut to Rome and placed in a crypt in St. Peter's Basilica.
(left: martyrdom of Simon and Jude)
- Matthew / Levi
|One story is that while Matthew was evangelizing in
the city of Nadabah, Ethiopia, he was martyred as he was teaching in his
church. He was nailed to the ground with short spears and beheaded.
Circa 70 A.D.
(Right: The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio)
- Peter or Simon Peter
|The early church tradition says that Peter probably died by
crucifixion at the time of the
Great Fire of Rome in the year 64. He is buried in St Peter's in
(Right: also by Caravaggio)
|According to the Acts of Philip, Philip, Mariamne and Bartholomew preach in Greece, Phrygia, and Syria Included in the Acts of Philip is an appendix, entitled "Of the Journey of Philip the Apostle: From the Fifteenth Act Until the End, and Among Them the Martyrdom." This appendix gives an account of Philip's martyrdom in the city of Hierapolis* According to this account, through a miraculous healing and his preaching Philip converted the wife of the proconsul of the city. This enraged the proconsul, and he had Philip, Bartholomew, and Mariamne all tortured. Philip and Bartholomew were then crucified upside-down, and Philip preached from his cross. As a result of Philip's preaching the crowd released Bartholomew from his cross, but Philip insisted that they not release him, and Philip died on the cross. Another legend is that he was martyred by beheading in the city of Hierapolis.||
*On Wednesday, 27 July 2011, the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported that archaeologists had unearthed a tomb that the project leader claims to be the Tomb of Saint Philip during excavations in Hierapolis close to the Turkish city Denizli. The Italian archaeologist, Professor Francesco 'Andria stated that scientists had discovered the tomb within a newly revealed church. He stated that the design of the Tomb, and writings on its walls, definitively prove it belonged to the martyred Apostle of Jesus.
The most widespread tradition is that after evangelizing in Egypt, Simon joined Jude in Persia and Armenia, where both were martyred in 65 AD.
Christian Ethiopians claim that he was crucified in Samaira, while another version says he was sawn in half in Persia.
Another Tradition also claims he died peacefully at Edessa. Another tradition says he visited Britain —possibly Glastonbury—and was martyred in Caistor, modern-day Lincolnshire.
According to tradition, St. Thomas was killed at Mylapore, near Chennai, India in 72 and his body was interred there. Ephrem the Syrian states that the Apostle was martyred in India, and that his relics were taken then to Edessa, Armenia.
The accounts of Marco Polo from the 13th century state that the Apostle had an accidental death outside his hermitage in Chennai by a badly aimed arrow.