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Christian martyrdom
Martyrdom across the ages has garnered a significant amount of interest recently. In Our globe and how to reach it (1990, Barrett & Johnson), the grim facts are presented. From AD33 to 1990, there were 420 situations of martyrdom (where large groups of Christians are killed). In 56 of these over 100,000 were killed; in 20, more than half a million were killed and in twelve over 1 million were killed. The bulk of these situations occurred in two periods: the first, between 1000 and 1500 AD, and the second, a much shorter period, 1900-1980. 26 million, over half of all Christian martyrs ever, were killed in this latter period. Some 9.9 million were martyred in the past forty years alone.