Martyrs of Otranto
Martyrs of Otranto
The Martyrs of Otranto, also known as Saints Antonio Primaldo and his Companions, were 813 inhabitants of Otranto, Salento, Apulia, in southern Italy, who were killed on 14 August 1480 after the city had fallen to an Ottoman force under Gedik Ahmed Pasha. According to a traditional account, the killings took place after the citizens had refused to convert to Islam.
"The commandant, the archbishop, and his clergy, were singled out for the most horrible of all deaths, and sawn asunder. Need it be added, that they who revelled in cruelties so truly diabolical, spared not the altars of God, or the images of the saints, or aught that was holy and venerable."
