Martyrs
A dozen martyrs for a small country like Switzerland
We expressly pay homage here to the many anonymous Christians in Switzerland who sacrificed their lives for their beliefs in the first centuries AD.
About a dozen martyrs (Greek for “witness”) who contributed significantly to the development of Christianity within the territory of present-day Switzerland with their testimony of faith are known by name. Given the small size of the country, this number seems impressively large.
The first martyrs were “Thebans”: Maurice (died in Saint-Maurice about AD 290), Felix und Regula (died in Zurich about AD 302), and Ursus und Victor (died in Solothurn about AD 303).
Besides Maurice in Saint-Maurice, the deaths of two other eminent martyrs led to the founding of monasteries that are still in existence today: Placidus (died 7th century) in Disentis and Meinrad (died AD 861) in Einsiedeln.