After creating a working definition of martyrdom, students will undertake a comparative study of early Christian Martyrs  during the Roman Empire and Islamic Spain from the third century AD (CE)  through the 9th century AD (CE). Biographies of several prominent martyrs, Perpetua, Felicitas, Pope Sixtus II, and St. Lawrence from the period of Roman rule will be read and compared to the account of the martyrdom of Eulogius and Leocretia in Cordoba c. 859 AD (CE). Students will isolate important elements such as location of the martyrdoms, the identity and background of the victims, the political/religious authorities responsible for the executions, and the specific charges against the martyrs which resulted in their executions. Students will identify any common elements in the accounts of the martyrdom. Why were the accounts of the martyrdoms created? What impact on future readers would these accounts have had?

Students will seek to identify a recent example of martyrdom and see what factors they have researched applies to this example.