Searching for Martyrs
So I searched for martyrs. It did not really amount to much and came up with a bunch of useless information related to the topic I need to research. Also, are we allowed to research a group of martyrs or just a specific person? Does it have to specifically be a saint or just a martyr that will have a cult?
Middle Ages martyr christian cults is what I searched that pulled of the information I would need for research. https://journals.openedition.org/mefrm/1818 A journal site has relevant information and links to other sites. St. Cecilia died in the 3rd century or St. Felicita in the 2nd century. More information seems to be possible to find on St. Cecilia even though she is only a century after. This might not be the case when more research is undertaken.
St Cecilia Sites
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Saint_Cecilia
www.catholic.org › saints › saint › saint_id=34
www.britannica.com › biography › Saint-Cecilia
www.franciscanmedia.org › saint-cecilia
www.newworldencyclopedia.org › entry › Saint_Cecilia
www.newadvent.org › Catholic Encyclopedia › C
www.catholicireland.net › Saints of the Day › Saints
catholicsaints.info › saint-cecilia
Wiki on Cecilia
According to wikipedia, St. Cecilia was born 2nd century AD and died 176-180 or 222-235 AD which is a huge discrepancy in the date of death. She is known as the patroness of musicians. Her feast day in November 22. She could possibly be a noble lady of Rome. She was married to Valerian and supposedly had a pious romance where an angel protected her virginity. Her death date is disputed. Giovanni Battista de Rossi supports the claim she was put to death under the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius between 176-180 AD. He bases this on the documents left behind in 600 AD by Venantius Fortunatas. This website does not have evidence to support the death in 235 however the support for the earlier death in hundreds of years following the death so that information should not be taken as hard fact either.
Catholic.org on Cecilia
4th Century a Greek religious love story of Cecilia and her husband Valerian was published. It was written on how she had remained a virgin and had taken a vow of virginity. Pope Gelasius 496AD venerated Cecilia in Rome. He is the first known to do so. A church was said to have been built over her old home. Her husband and brother in law were both martyred. She was to be suffocated in the baths. They would build a fire and she would basically sweat to death. However, it is said she did not sweat a drop. She was then supposed to be executed by ax. The executioner struck her three times and she did not die. She would die of blood loss three days later. In the time, she brought many to the lord and started a church within her home.
Conclusion
While Cecilia did in fact live, the evidence surrounding her life and death is not well documented so discerning the fact from legend could become difficult. All of the websites pretty much say the exact same thing. Each having a few different tid bits of information. It would be interesting to see the original copy of the love story between Cecilia and her husband or if there is a scanned copy of it on the internet somewhere. I am sure it is kept safe in an archive in Rome. I do not know if I will have enough primary sources to form a good research paper on the topic of Cecilia, but I think the project will focus more on the cults coming out of her martyrdom which will probably have more sources which will be researched and discovered at a later date.
St. Cecilia 