Military saint


The military saints, warrior saints and soldier saints are patron saints, martyrs and other saints associated with the military. They were originally composed of the Early Christians who were soldiers in the Roman Army during the persecution of Christians, especially the Diocletian persecution of AD 303-313.
Most of the Early Christian military saints were soldiers of the Roman Empire who had become Christian and, after refusing to participate in Imperial cult rituals of loyalty to the Roman Emperor, were subjected to corporal punishment including torture and martyrdom.
Veneration of these saints, most notably of Saint George, was reinforced in the Latin Church during the time of the Crusades. The title of "champion of Christ" was originally used for these saints, but in the late medieval period also conferred on contemporary rulers by the Pope.
Since the Middle Ages, more saints have been added for various military-related patronages.

Hagiography

In Late Antiquity other Christian writers of hagiography, like Sulpicius Severus in his account of the heroic, military life of Martin of Tours, created a literary model that reflected the new spiritual, political, and social ideals of a post-Roman society.
In a study of Anglo-Saxon soldier saints, J.E. Damon has demonstrated the persistence of Sulpicius's literary model in the transformation of the pious, peaceful saints and willing martyrs of late antique hagiography to the Christian heroes of the early Middle Ages, who appealed to the newly converted societies led by professional warriors and who exemplified accommodation with and eventually active participation in holy wars that were considered just.

Iconography

The military saints are characteristically depicted as soldiers in traditional Byzantine iconography from about the 10th century and especially in Slavic Christianity.
While early icons show the saints in "classicizing" attire, icons from the 11th and especially the 12th centuries, painted in the new style of τύπων μιμήματα, are an important source for our knowledge of medieval Byzantine military equipment.
The angelic prototype of the Christian soldier-saint is the Archangel Michael, whose earliest known cultus began in the 5th century with a shrine at Monte Gargano.
The iconography of soldier-saints Theodore and George
as cavalrymen develops in the early medieval period.
The earliest image of St Theodore as a horseman is from Vinica, North Macedonia and, if genuine, dates to the 6th or 7th century. Here, Theodore is not slaying a dragon, but holding a draco standard.
Three equestrian saints, Demetrius, Theodore and George, are depicted in the "Zoodochos Pigi" chapel in central Macedonia in Greece, in the prefecture of Kilkis, near the modern village of Kolchida, dated to the 9th or 10th century.
The "dragon-slaying" motif develops in the 10th century, especially iconography seen in the Cappadocian cave churches of Göreme, where frescoes of the 10th century show military saints on horseback confronting serpents with one, two or three heads.
In later medieval Byzantine iconography, the pair of horsemen is no longer identified as Theodore and George, but as George and Demetrius.

List of military saints

Catholic


ImageNameMartyrdomLocationChurchPatronage
Acaciusc. 303Byzantium--
Adrian of NicomediaGuards, soldiers; arms dealers
Andrew the Generalc. 300Cilicia--
, 12th century Greek mosaic from KievDemetrius of Thessaloniki304Sirmium--
BarbaraCatholic, Russian OrthodoxArtillerymen, military engineers, missileers including those of the Strategic Rocket Forces, the Missile and Artillery Forces, and the Air Defense Forces, Space Forces.
CeciliaBandsmen
Emeterius and Chelidoniusc. 300Calagurris in Hispania Tarraconensis--
Eustace--
Expeditusc. 303Melitene, Cappadocia--
Florianc. 303Lauriacum in Noricum--
by Paolo_UccelloGeorgec. 303Nicomedia in BithyniaPatronages
, by a 15th-century German artistGereonc. 304--
James the GreatCatholicKnights and Cavalry
Joan of ArcFranceCatholicSoldiers
Ignatius of LoyolaCatholicSoldiers
by Matthias GrünewaldMaurice and
the Theban Legion		287 Agaunum in Alpes Poeninae et Graiae--
from the Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany.Martin of Tours—Soldiers
Maximilian295Tebessa in Africa Proconsularis--
Marcellus of Tangier298 Tingis in Mauretania Tingitana--
Menasc. 309Cotyaeum in Phrygia--
Mercurius250Caesarea in Cappadocia--
Michael the ArchangelCatholicMilitary; paratroopers; policemen.
Our Lady of Mount CarmelCatholicSailors
Our Lady of LorettoCatholicAirmen
SebastianSoldiers, infantrymen, archers, municipal police
Sergius and Bacchusc. 305 Resafa and Barbalissus in Syria Euphratensis--
Theodore of Amasea306 Amasea in Helenopontus--
Typasius the Veteran304Tigava in Mauretania Caesariensis--
Vardan387Armenia--
Varusc. 307Egypt--
Victor the Moorc. 303Milan in Italy--
Nicetas the Goth372Dacia--
Forty Martyrs of Sebaste320Sebaste--

Eastern Orthodox Church

In the Romanian Orthodox Church:
– Michael the Archangel: protector of the Romanian Army, and, as the patron saint of Michael the Brave and as the symbol of the Romanian victory in the Great War, the protector of the unity of all Romanians.
– Saint George: patron of the Romanian Land Forces
– Saint Elijah: patron of the Romanian Air Forces
– Virgin Mary: patron of the Romanian Naval Forces
The Russian Orthodox Church: