61-1614: [REDACTED] Look up vitus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Vitus is a Latin given name meaning lively and may refer to: People [ edit ] Given name [ edit ] Saint Vitus (c. 290 – c. 303), a Christian martyr Vitus Amerbach (1503–1557), German theologian, scholar and humanist Vitus Ashaba (1943–1985), Ugandan middle-distance runner Vitus Bering (1617–1675) , Danish poet and historian Vitus Bering (1681–1741), Danish-born Russian navigator Vitus Eicher (born 1990), German football player Vitus Georg Tönnemann (1659–1740), German cleric Vitus Graber (1844–1892), Austrian entomologist Vitus of Hungary (died 1297), beatified friar Vitus Huonder (born 1942), Swiss prelate Vitus Husek (born 1973), German canoeist Vitus of Kotor (c. 1275 – after 1335), medieval Serbian architect Vitus Miletus (1549–1615), German theologian Vitus Nagorny (born 1978), Kyrgyzstan-born German footballer Vitus Pichler (1670–1736), Austrian cleric and writer Vitus Piluzzi (died 1704), Italian prelate V Spehar (born 1982), American journalist Middle name [ edit ] Joseph Vitus Burg (1768–1833), German prelate Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich (1738–1802), Habsburg nobleman and general Surname [ edit ] Domenico Vitus (born c. 1536), Italian engraver Maksim Vitus (born 1989), Belarusian footballer Other uses [ edit ] Vitus (bicycles) ,
122-657: A French bicycle manufacturer Vitus (film) , a 2006 Swiss film Weihenstephaner Vitus , a German weizenbock beer Vitus baronets , a 17th century English title Vitus Lake , a lake in Alaska See also [ edit ] All pages with titles beginning with Vitus All pages with titles containing Vitus Saint Vitus (disambiguation) Saint Vitus' dance (disambiguation) Vitis (disambiguation) Vito (given name) , Italian form of Vitus Veit (given name) , German form of Vitus Vid (given name) , Slavic form of vitus Topics referred to by
183-623: A journey or complete withdrawal from life". Also along these lines are the terms "wet martyr" (a person who has shed blood or been executed for the faith) and "dry martyr" (a person who "had suffered every indignity and cruelty" but not shed blood, nor suffered execution). The Center for the Study of Global Christianity of Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary, an evangelical seminary based in Hamilton, Massachusetts, previously estimated that 100,000 Christians die annually for their faith, although
244-508: A period of growth and expansion Christians sought to gain control of the imperial office. The cult of the saints was significant to the process of Christianization , but during the first centuries of the Church the celebrations venerating the saints took place in hiding. Michael Gaddis writes that "[t]he Christian experience of violence during the pagan persecutions shaped the ideologies and practices that drove further religious conflicts over
305-557: A significant proportion of income to the Islamic states while conversely reducing many Christians to poverty, and these financial and social hardships forced many Christians to convert to Islam. Christians unable to pay these taxes were forced to surrender their children to the Muslim rulers as payment who would sell them as slaves to Muslim households where they were forced to convert to Islam . Many Christian martyrs were executed under
366-494: A young man with a palm-leaf, in a cauldron, sometimes with a raven and a lion, his iconographic attribute because according to the legend he was thrown into a cauldron of boiling tar and molten lead, but miraculously escaped unscathed. The names of Saints Modestus and Crescentia were added in the 11th century to the Roman Calendar, so that from then on all three names were celebrated together until 1969, when their feast
427-584: Is a report regarding the martyrdom of James son of Zebedee in Acts 12:1–2, and knowledge that both John and James, son of Zebedee, ended up martyred, appears to be reflected in Mark 10:39. Judith Perkins has written that many ancient Christians believed that "to be a Christian was to suffer," partly inspired by the example of Jesus. The lives of the martyrs became a source of inspiration for some Christians, and their relics were honored. Numerous crypts and chapels in
488-534: Is also alluded to in 2 Timothy 4:6–7. While not specifying his Christianity as involved in the cause of death, the Jewish historian Josephus reports that James, whom he referred to as a brother of Jesus, was stoned by Jewish authorities under the charge of law breaking, which is similar to the Christian perception of Stephen's martyrdom as being a result of stoning for the penalty of law breaking. Furthermore, there
549-672: Is also the subject of a popular weather rhyme: "If St. Vitus' Day be rainy weather, it shall rain for thirty days together". This rhyme often appears in such publications as almanacs ; its origin is uncertain. Michael J. Towsend writes that "the phrase 'The patron saint of Methodism is St Vitus' summed up with reasonable accuracy many people's impressions of the Methodist Church. Methodists, surely, are supremely busy people, always rushing around organizing things and setting up committees to do good works. They can generally be relied upon to play their part in running Christian Aid Week ,
610-477: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Saint Vitus Vitus ( / ˈ v aɪ t ə s / ), whose name is sometimes rendered Guy or Guido , was a Christian martyr from Sicily . His surviving hagiography is pure legend. The dates of his actual life are unknown. He has for long been tied to the Sicilian martyrs Modestus and Crescentia but in
671-516: Is shown by the note in the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum". Pope Gregory the Great mentions a monastery dedicated to Vitus in Sicily ("Epist.", I, xlviii, P.L., LXXXVII, 511). The veneration of Vitus, the chief saint of the group, also appeared very early at Rome. Pope Gelasius I (492–496) mentions a shrine dedicated to him (Jaffé, "Reg. Rom. Pont.", 2nd ed., I, 6 79), and at Rome in the seventh century
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#1732776052796732-1104: Is the patron saint of the city of Rijeka in Croatia ; the towns of Ciminna and Vita in Sicily ; Forio on the island of Ischia , the town of Sapri in Campania ; the contrada of San Vito, in Torella dei Lombardi , in Avellino ; the town of Rapone , Italy; the Gooi region in the Netherlands ; the Italian colony of San Vito in Costa Rica; and the town of St. Vith in Belgium . Various places in Austria and Bavaria are named Sankt Veit in his honour. The saint's feast day
793-669: The Civil War in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the report did not take into consideration the political or ethnic differences which are accepted as the primary motive behind these killings. Todd Johnson, director of the CSGC, says his centre has abandoned this statistic. The Vatican reporter and author of The Global War on Christians John L. Allen Jr. said: "I think it would be good to have reliable figures on this issue, but I don't think it ultimately matters in terms of
854-566: The Donatist and Novatianist schisms . "Martyrdom for the faith ... became a central feature in the Christian experience." "Notions of persecution by the 'world', ... run deep in the Christian tradition. For evangelicals who read the New Testament as an inerrant history of the primitive church, the understanding that to be a Christian is to be persecuted is obvious, if not inescapable." The "eschatological ideology" of martyrdom
915-662: The Early Middle Ages , the Christian populations living in the lands invaded by the Arab Muslim armies between the 7th and 10th centuries AD suffered religious discrimination , religious persecution , religious violence , and martyrdom multiple times at the hands of Arab Muslim officials and rulers. As People of the Book , Christians under Muslim rule were subjected to dhimmi status (along with Jews , Samaritans , Gnostics , Mandeans , and Zoroastrians ), which
976-545: The First Commandment : "Why are there no martyrs these days, as there used to be?" Pauper responds that the English were creating many new martyrs sparing "neither their own king nor their own bishops, no dignity, no rank, no status, no degree". Pauper's statement is based on historical events, including the murder of King Richard II and the executions of Richard Scrope , Archbishop of York . Dana Piroyansky uses
1037-499: The Gregorian calendar . According to the legend, Vitus, Modestus and Crescentia were martyrs under Diocletian . The earliest testimony for their veneration is offered by the " Martyrologium Hieronymianum " (ed. G. B. de Rossi - Louis Duchesne , 78: "In Sicilia, Viti, Modesti et Crescentiae"). The fact that the note is in the three most important manuscripts indicates that it was also in the common exemplar of these, which appeared in
1098-531: The Netherlands , Vitus is the patron saint of Winschoten, as well as of the region of the Gooi, where in each of the three largest towns (Hilversum, Bussum and Naarden), the main Catholic Church is dedicated to St Vitus. Vitus is one of the Fourteen Martyrs who give aid in times of trouble. He is specifically invoked against chorea , which is called St. Vitus Dance . He is represented as
1159-473: The hagiographical tradition of saints and martyrs. This experience, and the associated martyrs and apologists , would have significant historical and theological consequences for the developing faith. Among other things, persecution sparked the devotion of the saints , facilitated the rapid growth and spread of Christianity, prompted defenses and explanations of Christianity (the "apologies" ) and, in its aftermath, raised fundamental questions about
1220-683: The "cults of political saints" may have been a way of "showing resistance to the king" that would have been difficult to control or punish. Some Roman Catholic writers (such as Thomas Cahill ) continue to use a system of degrees of martyrdom that was developed in early Christianity. Some of these degrees bestow the title of martyr on those who sacrifice large elements of their lives alongside those who sacrifice life itself. These degrees were mentioned by Pope Gregory I in Homilia in Evangelia ; in it he wrote of "three modes of martyrdom, designated by
1281-570: The 1914 assassination of the Austrian royal couple ; Vitus was the patron saint of the Kingdom of Serbia . In Hungary he has been venerated as Szent Vid since the early Middle Ages. In Bulgaria , it is called Vidovden (Видовден) or Vidov Den (Видов ден) and is particularly well known among the Shopi , in the western part of the country. In Croatia , 123 churches are dedicated to St. Vitus. In
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#17327760527961342-636: The Apostles and disciples regarding the election of a successor to Judas , employs the term with this meaning: "Wherefore, of these men who have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us, one of these must be made a witness with us of his resurrection". The Apostles , according to tradition, faced grave dangers until eventually almost all suffered death for their convictions. The Bible reports
1403-699: The CSGC has now disavowed this estimate. Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, later referred to this number in a radio address to the 23rd session of the Human Rights Council . The methodology used in arriving at the estimate of 100,000 has been widely criticized. The majority of the one million people the Center counted as Christians who died as martyrs between 2000 and 2010 died during
1464-423: The Christian concept of martyrdom can only be understood as springing from Jewish roots. Frend characterizes Judaism as "a religion of martyrdom" and that it was this "Jewish psychology of martyrdom" that inspired Christian martyrdom. Frend writes, "In the first two centuries AD. there was a living pagan tradition of self-sacrifice for a cause, a preparedness if necessary to defy an unjust ruler, that existed alongside
1525-412: The Christian faith to save their lives: were they to be allowed back into the Church? Some felt they should not, while others said they could. In the end, it was agreed to allow them in after a period of penance . The re-admittance of the "lapsed" became a defining moment in the Church because it allowed the sacrament of repentance and readmission to the Church despite issues of sin . This issue caused
1586-469: The Islamic death penalty for defending their Christian faith through dramatic acts of resistance such as refusing to convert to Islam, repudiation of the Islamic religion and subsequent reconversion to Christianity , and blasphemy toward Muslim beliefs . In Dives and Pauper , a 15th-century Middle English moral treatise on the Ten Commandments , the figure Dives poses this question about
1647-496: The Jews and Samaritans, also refused to worship other gods, but were not generally persecuted. Smith points out that the early Christians (in the 100's to the 200's) were accused of practicing magic and other crimes associated with magic, and that magic has been commonly neglected in discussions of the persecutions. Jacob Burkhardt writes that the reason for the persecution of Christians under Diocletian around 300 may have been that after
1708-708: The Roman catacombs bear witness to the early veneration for those champions of freedom of conscience. Special commemoration services, at which the holy Sacrifice were offered over their tombs gave rise to the time honoured custom of consecrating altars by enclosing in them the relics of martyrs. In its first three centuries , the Christian church endured periods of persecution at the hands of Roman authorities. Christians were persecuted by local authorities on an intermittent and ad hoc basis. In addition, there were several periods of empire-wide persecution which were directed from
1769-504: The chapel of a deaconry was dedicated to him ("Liber Pont.", ed. Duchesne, I, 470 sq.). In AD 756, Abbot Fulrad is said to have brought the relics of St. Vitus to the monastery of St-Denis . They were later presented to Abbot Warin of Corvey in Germany, who solemnly transferred some of them to this abbey in AD 836. From Corvey the veneration of St Vitus spread throughout Westphalia and in
1830-408: The cities gave further opportunities for the display of the martyr's faith. Boyarin points out that, despite their apparent opposition to each other, both of these arguments are based on the assumption that Judaism and Christianity were already two separate and distinct religions. He challenges that assumption and argues that "making of martyrdom was at least in part, part and parcel of the process of
1891-530: The colors, red, blue (or green), and white". A believer was bestowed the title of red martyr due to either torture or violent death by religious persecution. The term "white martyrdom" was used by the Church Father Jerome , "for those such as desert hermits who aspired to the condition of martyrdom through strict asceticism". Blue (or green) martyrdom "involves the denial of desires, as through fasting and penitent labors without necessarily implying
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1952-531: The conflict between King Antiochus Epiphanes IV and the Jewish people. 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees recount numerous martyrdoms suffered by Jews resisting the Hellenizing of their Seleucid overlords, being executed for such crimes as observing the Sabbath, circumcising their children, or refusing to eat pork or meat sacrificed to foreign gods. With few exceptions, this assumption has lasted from
2013-416: The course of the fourth and fifth centuries". Martyrdom was a formative experience and influenced how Christians justified or condemned the use of violence in later generations. Thus, the collective memory of religious suffering found in early Christian works on the historical experience of persecution, religious suffering and martyrdom shaped Christian culture and identity. Historians recognize that during
2074-410: The developing Christian concept of martyrdom inherited from Judaism." In contrast to Frend's hypothesis, Boyarin describes G. W. Bowersock's view of Christian martyrology as being completely unrelated to the Jewish practice, being instead "a practice that grew up in an entirely Roman cultural environment and then was borrowed by Jews". Bowersock argues that the Christian tradition of martyrdom came from
2135-612: The districts of eastern and northern Germany. His popularity grew in Prague , Bohemia when, in AD 925, king Henry I of Germany presented as a gift the bones of one hand of St. Vitus to Wenceslaus , Duke of Bohemia. Since then, this relic has been a sacred treasure in the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. Other relics of Saint Vitus were taken in Pavia (they were kept in the church of San Marino ) by
2196-644: The earliest sources it is clear that these were originally different traditions that later became combined. The figures of Modestus and Crescentia are probably fictitious. According to his legend, he died during the Diocletianic Persecution in AD 303. In the Middle Ages , he was counted as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers . In Germany , his feast was celebrated with dancing before his statue. This dancing became popular and
2257-594: The early Christian period to this day, accepted both by Jews and Christians. According to Daniel Boyarin, there are "two major theses with regard to the origins of Christian martyrology, which [can be referred to] as the Frend thesis and the Bowersock thesis". Boyarin characterizes W. H. C. Frend's view of martyrdom as having originated in Judaism and Christian martyrdom as a continuation of that practice. Frend argues that
2318-630: The emperor Charles IV in 1355 and were brought to Prague. The veneration of St. Vitus became very popular in Slavic lands, where his name (Sveti Vid) may have replaced more ancient worship of the god of light Svetovid . In Serbia his feast day, known as Vidovdan , is of particular historical importance. The day is part of the Kosovo Myth — the Battle of Kosovo occurred on that day; several events have symbolically occurred on that day, such as
2379-416: The end of the first century, employs the word with this meaning. A distinction between martyrs and confessors is traceable to the latter part of the second century: those only were martyrs who had suffered the extreme penalty, whereas the title of confessor was given to Christians who had shown their willingness to die for their belief, by bravely enduring imprisonment or torture, but were not put to death. Yet
2440-488: The exorcism, but, because he stayed faithful to Christianity, he and his tutors were tortured . By a miracle an angel brought back the three to Lucania, where they died from the tortures they had endured. Three days later, Vitus appeared to a distinguished matron named Florentia, who then found the bodies and buried them where they lay. The veneration of the martyrs spread rapidly in Southern Italy and Sicily, as
2501-566: The fifth century. The same Martyrologium has under the same day another mention of a Vitus at the head of a list of nine martyrs, with the statement of the place, in Eboli , "In Lucania ", that is, in the Roman province of that name in southern Italy between the Tuscan Sea and the Gulf of Taranto . It is easily possible that it is the same martyr Vitus in both cases. According to J. P. Kirsch,
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2562-483: The making of Judaism and Christianity as distinct entities". The Apostle Paul taught that Jesus was "obedient unto death," a 1st century Jewish phrasing for self-sacrifice in Jewish law . Because of this, some scholars believe Jesus' death was Jewish martyrdom. Jesus himself said he had come to fulfill the Torah . The Catholic Church calls Jesus the "King of Martyrs" because, as a man, he refused to commit sin unto
2623-464: The martyrdom of two of the apostles. Thus, within the lifetime of the Apostles, the term martyrs came to be used in the sense of a witness who at any time might be called upon to deny what he testified to, under penalty of death. From this stage the transition was easy to the ordinary meaning of the term, as used ever since in Christian literature : a martyr, or witness of Christ, is a person who suffers death rather than deny his faith . Saint John , at
2684-484: The name "Saint Vitus Dance" was given to the neurological disorder Sydenham's chorea . It also led to Vitus being considered the patron saint of dancers and of entertainers in general. He is also said to protect against lightning strikes, animal attacks and oversleeping. His feast day is celebrated on 15 June. In places where the Julian calendar is used, this date coincides, in the 20th and 21st centuries, with 28 June on
2745-685: The nature of the Church . Stephen is the first martyr reported in the New Testament, accused of blasphemy and stoned by the Sanhedrin under the Levitical law . Toward the end of the 1st century, the martyrdom of both Peter and Paul is reported by Clement of Rome in 1 Clement . The martyrdom of Peter is also alluded to in various writings written between 70 and 130 AD, including in John 21:19; 1 Peter 5:1; and 2 Peter 1:12–15. The martyrdom of Paul
2806-404: The point of shedding blood. Tertullian , one of the 2nd-century ecclesiastical writers wrote that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church ", implying that a martyr's willing sacrifice of their lives leads to the conversion of others . The Age of Martyrs also forced the church to confront theological issues such as the proper response to those Christians who "lapsed" and renounced
2867-516: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Vitus . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vitus&oldid=1241228189 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with given-name-holder lists Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Hidden categories: Short description
2928-632: The seat of government in Rome. Christians were the targets of persecution because they refused to worship the Roman gods or to pay homage to the emperor as divine . In the Roman Empire , refusing to sacrifice to the Emperor or the empire's gods was tantamount to refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to one's country. However, some scholars, such as Morton Smith, point out that other sects, such as
2989-500: The sponsored walk for the local hospice or the group protesting about homelessness, and they are known, even now, to be activists in trades unions and political parties." Christian martyr In Christianity , a martyr is a person who was killed for their testimony for Jesus or faith in Jesus. In the years of the early church , stories depict this often occurring through death by sawing , stoning , crucifixion , burning at
3050-574: The stake , or other forms of torture and capital punishment . The word martyr comes from the Koine word μάρτυς, mártys , which means "witness" or "testimony". At first, the term applied to the Apostles . Once Christians started to undergo persecution , the term came to be applied to those who suffered hardships for their faith. Finally, it was restricted to those who had been killed for their faith. The early Christian period before Constantine I
3111-574: The term "political martyrs" for men of "high estate", including kings and bishops, who were killed during the Late Middle Ages during the course of the rebellions, civil wars, regime changes, and other political upheavals of the 14th and 15th centuries. Piroyansky notes that although these men were never formally canonized as saints , they were venerated as miracle-working martyrs and their tombs were turned into shrines following their violent and untimely deaths. J. C. Russell has written that
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#17327760527963172-448: The term martyr was still sometimes applied during the third century to persons still living, as, for instance, by Cyprian who gave the title of martyrs to a number of bishops, priests, and laymen condemned to penal servitude in the mines. Religious martyrdom is considered one of the more significant contributions of Second Temple Judaism to western civilization. It is believed that the concept of voluntary death for God developed out of
3233-507: The term to signify "witness to truth", including in Laws . The Greek word martyr signifies a " witness " who testifies to a fact he has knowledge about from personal observation. It is in this sense that the term first appears in the Book of Acts , in reference to the Apostles as "witnesses" of all that they had observed in the public life of Christ . In Acts 1:22 , Peter , in his address to
3294-499: The testimony to the public veneration of the three saints in the fifth century proves that they are historical martyrs. There are, nevertheless, no historical accounts of them, nor of the time or the details of their martyrdom. During the sixth and seventh centuries a purely legendary narrative of their martyrdom appeared which appears to be based upon other legends , especially on the legend of Potitus , and ornamented with accounts of fantastic miracles. According to this legend, Vitus
3355-663: The urban culture of the Roman Empire, especially in Asia Minor: Martyrdom was ... solidly anchored in the civic life of the Graeco-Roman world of the Roman empire. It ran its course in the great urban spaces of the agora and the amphitheater, the principal settings for public discourse and for public spectacle. It depended upon the urban rituals of the imperial cult and the interrogation protocols of local and provincial magistrates. The prisons and brothels of
3416-475: The word μάρτυς ( mártys ) in non-biblical Greek was primarily in a legal context. It was used for a person who speaks from personal observation. The martyr , when used in a non-legal context, may also signify a proclamation that the speaker believes to be truthful. The term was used by Aristotle for observations, but also for ethical judgments and expressions of moral conviction that can not be empirically observed. There are several examples where Plato uses
3477-509: Was a 7-year-old son of a senator of Lucania (some versions make him 12 years old). He resisted his father's attempts, which included various forms of torture, to make him turn away from his faith. He fled with his tutor Modestus and Modestus's wife Crescentia, who was Vitus's nanny, to Lucania. He was taken from there to Rome to drive out a demon which had taken possession of a son of the Emperor Diocletian. He successfully performed
3538-567: Was based on an irony found in the Pauline epistles : "to live outside of Christ is to die, and to die in Christ is to live." In Ad Martyras , Tertullian writes that some Christians "eagerly desired it" ( et ultro appetita ) [i.e. martyrdom]. The martyr homilies were written in ancient Greek by authors such as Basil of Caesarea , Gregory of Nyssa , Asterius of Amasea , John Chrysostom , and Hesychius of Jerusalem . These homilies were part of
3599-784: Was inferior to the status of Muslims. Christians and other religious minorities thus faced religious discrimination and religious persecution , in that they were banned from proselytising (for Christians, it was forbidden to evangelize or spread Christianity ) in the lands invaded by the Arab Muslims on pain of death; they were banned from bearing arms, undertaking certain professions, and were obligated to dress differently in order to distinguish themselves from Arabs. Under sharia , non-Muslims were obligated to pay jizya and kharaj taxes, together with periodic heavy ransom levied upon Christian communities by Muslim rulers in order to fund military campaigns, all of which contributed
3660-419: Was removed from the General Roman Calendar . Vitus is still recognized as a saint of the Catholic Church , being included in the Roman Martyrology under 15 June, and Mass may be celebrated in his honor on that day wherever the Roman Rite is celebrated, while Modestus and Crescentia, who are associated with Vitus in legend, have been omitted, because they appear to be merely fictitious personages. Vitus
3721-419: Was the "Age of Martyrs". "Early Christians venerated martyrs as powerful intercessors , and their utterances were treasured as inspired by the Holy Spirit ." In western Christian art , martyrs are often shown holding a palm frond as an attribute , representing the victory of spirit over flesh, and it was widely believed that a picture of a palm on a tomb meant that a martyr was buried there. The use of
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