Феноменот на “Самоповиканите Маченици” на Балканот

Abstract

Martyrdom is a manifestation of the suffering and death of Christians for their faith. This phenomenon dates back to the earliest history of the Chris tian Church. During the Ottoman rule in the Balkans, martyrdom became rel evant again in the form of the “new martyrs”. A special group of new martyrs is made up of Christians who have converted and later repented. In order to be forgiven for the sin they had committed, they became “self-initiated martyrs” by voluntarily resorting to martyrdom. The group of “self-initiated martyrs of the apostates” whose representatives are found among all the peoples of the Balkans is the topic of interest of this research.