Lond. Quart. Rev. 1857 (Julv), art. ii, p. 329 ; Princeton Rev. 1853, p. 409 ; 1855, p. 327. (,J. H. W.)
Martyr (/.idprvQ and jidpnip, so rendered only in Acts xxii, 20 ; Rev. ii, 13 ; xviii, 6) is properly a witness, and is applied in the New Testament (</) to judicial witnesses (Matt, xviii, 16; xxvi,65; Markxiv,63; Acts vi, 13 ; vii, 58 ; 2 Cor. xiii, 1 ; 1 Tim. v, 19 ; Heb. x, 28. The Septuagint also uses it for the Hebrew IV, ed, in Deut. xvii, 16 ; Prov. xxiv, 28) ; (b) To one who has tes- titied, or can testify to the truth of what he has seen, heard, or known. This is a frequent sense in the New Testament, as in Luke xxiv, 48 ; Acts i, 8, 22 ; Rom. i, 9; 2 Cor. i, 23; 1 Thes. ii, 5,10; lTim.vi,r2; 2Tim.ii, 2 ; 1 Pet. v, 1 ; Rev. i. 5 ; iii, 14 ; xi, 3, and elsewhere, (c) The meaning of the word which has now become the most usual, is that in which it occurs most rarely in the Scriptures, i. e. one who by his death bears witness to the truth. In this sense we only find it in Acts xxii, 20 ; Rev, ii, 13 ; xvii, 6. This now exclusive sense of the word was brought into general use by the early ec- clesiastical writers, who applied it to every one who suf- fered death in the Christian cause (see Suicer, Thesau- rus Eccles. sub. voc). See Martyus. Stephen was in this sense the first martyr [see Stephen], and the spir- itual honors of his death tended in no small degree to raise to the most extravagant estimation, in the early Chiurch, the value of the testimony of blood. Eventu- ally a martyr's death was supposed, on the alleged au- thority of the imder-named texts, to cancel all the sins of the past life (Luke xii, 50 ; aiark x, 39) ; to supply the place of baptism (Matt, x, 39), and at once to se- cure admittance to the presence of the Lord in Paradise (Matt. V, 10-12). In imitation of the family custom of annually commemoratmg at the grave the death of de- ceased members, the churches celebrated the deaths of their martyrs by prayers at their graves, and by love- feasts. From this high estimation of the martyrs, Chris- tians were sometimes led to deliver themselves up vol- untarily to the pubhc authorities — thus justifying the charge of fanaticism brought against them by the hea- then. For the most part, however, this practice was discountenanced, the words of Christ himself being brought against it (Matt, x, 23 ; see Gieseler, Eccles. Hist. i, 109, 110). — Kitto. For monographs, see Volbeding, Index Programmatum, p. 75, 116. See Confessor.
Martyr, Peter, one of the early Reformers, was born at Florence, Italj-, in 1500. His family name was Vermigli, but his parents gave him that of JIartyr, from one Peter, a martyr, whose church stood near their house. In 1516 he became a canon regular of the Order of St. Augustine, in the convent of Fiesole, near Florence. In 1519 he was sent to the LTniversity of Padua, where he soon distinguished himself as a good scholar. He acquired^reat reputation as a preacher, was made abbot of Spoleto, and afterwards principal of the College of St. Peter ad Aram, at Naples. Here he made the intimate acquaintance of Juan Valdez (q. v.), a Spaniard, who had become a convert to the doctrines of the Reforma- tion, and from whom Vermigli adopted some of those tenets. He concealed them for a time; but his Biblical studies convincing him more and more of the errors of the Church of Rome, and a perusal of the works of Lu- ther, Zwingle, and Bucer making sure his conversion, he publicly avowed his new doctrine shortly after his ap- pointment to Lucca as prior of San Frediano, and was compelled to leave the place secreth'. After a short stay at Florence, he went by way of Germany to Switz- erland. He found an asj-lum finally in Strasburg, and there, in 1542, was called to a theological chair, and act- ed for five years as the colleague of Bucer in the minis- terial office. In 1546 he married a converted nun. In 1547 he received from Cranmer, and accepted, an invi- tation to England. The request was sent in the name of king Edward VI, acting under the advice of Sey- mour, the protector. In 1549 he was appointed pro- fessor of divinity at Oxford. The fame of his learning
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MARTYROLOGY