Who killed Saint Catherine of Alexandria?

Answer 1

A:

According to legend, the Roman emperor Maxentius ordered the young Catherine to be executed in 305 CE. Unfortunately, we can not say whether Catherine of Alexandria actually existed.

She was never mentioned before the ninth century, and some assiduous research has failed to identify Catherine with any historical person. Donald Attwater calls the story of St. Catherine the most preposterous legend of its kind, citing the lack of any positive evidence that she ever existed outside the mind of some Greek writer who first composed what he intended to be simply an edifying romance. Even her name, which comes from the Greek katharos, ('pure'), is suspiciously apt for a virgin martyr, raising the possibility that her legend originated as an allegory. Whatever other wrongs that Maxentius did, he is probably innocent of this crime.

Answer 2

Not only did St. Catherine of Alexandria denounce Emperor Maxentius for persecuting Christians, she refused to give up being a Christian, and she converted others to Christianity. First it was 50 pagan philosophers who debated with her. After the Emperor had her imprisoned, she converted an officer and 200 soldiers of her guard, not to mention the Empress herself. All 252 converts were also killed.

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Some scholars have concluded that she did not exist, but, not all of them. St. Catherine's remains are buried under the monastery on Mount Sinai which bears her name. One of the major reasons why some scholars believed she may have not existed, is due to mistranslations of her story. Eg: Angels carrying her body to Mount Sinai. More likely, it was meant to say MONKS carried her body to Mount Sinai, but, mistranslations came out as 'angels.' Had it been conclusive that St. Catherine did not, in fact, exist, the Catholic Church would not have reinstated her feast day in the Church calendar.

Answer 3

According to legend, St. Catherine of Alexandria was an extremely learned young girl of noble birth who protested the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Maxentius, whose wife she converted, as well as and several soldiers and hundreds of other pagans. Livid with rage, Maxentius ordered the young Catherine to be executed. However, we can not even be sure whether Catherine of Alexandria actually existed, nor whether she was really beheaded.

St. Catherine was never mentioned before the ninth century, and modern scholars have concluded that the legend of her martyrdom is fictitious and that the saint herself probably never existed. Her name, which comes from the Greek katharos, ('pure'), is suspiciously apt for a virgin martyr, raising the possibility that her legend originated as an allegory. With no reliable information about St. Catherine, we can not say that she suffered martyrdom, and certainly not why she was killed.

Answer 4

Catherine had converted to Christanity as a teenager and worked hard to convert many others to the faith. This did not set well with the Roman Emperor Maxentius who ordered her executed about the year AD305.

Answer 5

We can not even be sure whether Catherine of Alexandria actually existed, nor whether she was really beheaded. Some assiduous research has failed to identify Catherine with any historical person, and Donald Attwater calls the story of St. Catherine the most preposterous legend of its kind, citing the lack of any positive evidence that she ever existed outside the mind of some Greek writer who first composed what he intended to be simply an edifying romance.

St. Catherine was never mentioned before the ninth century, and modern scholars have concluded that the legend of her martyrdom is fictitious and that the saint herself probably never existed. Her name, which comes from the Greek katharos, ('pure'), is suspiciously apt for a virgin martyr, raising the possibility that her legend originated as an allegory. With no reliable information about St. Catherine, we can not say that she suffered martyrdom, and certainly not why she was beheaded.

Answer 6

If you are referring to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, she was not burned at the stake. She was beheaded because she argued with pagan philosophers and converted many of them. The Roman government was not pleased.

Saint Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, however, when she was falsely accused of being a heretic.

Answer 7

Catherine was a convert to Christianity who became a charismatic and zealous preacher of the Gospel. She converted many to the faith only to have them become martyrs shortly after they were baptized. She, herself, was taken prisoner and beheaded about the year 305 in Alexandria, Egypt.

The major part of the hagiographies of Catherine were pure legend. In fact, Catherine was one of the saints to get the ax in the great purge of 1969 by the Vatican. Also included were such saints as Valentine of Rome, Christopher, Ursula, Dorothy and a number of others. All were removed from the Calendar of Saints. This was not a denial of the existence of these people but a recognition that so much of what was written about them was just not factual and not enough true information existed to allow continued universal veneration.

However, Catherine was returned to the Calendar by Pope John Paul II in 2002. 1700 years after the death of Catherine a diary was discovered in Ethiopia written by Catherine ('Jabal Ekatherina') herself shorty before her execution and the true story began to unfold.

Work began on a movie based on this diary in 2010 and the film is scheduled to be released in late December 2013 in Britain and elsewhere in 2014. It stars Nicole Madjarov, Peter O'Toole, Steven Berkoff, William Houston, Joss Ackland, Samantha Beckinsale, Vas Anderson, Clive Fryde, Tony O'Brien.

Answer 8

St. Catherine Alexandria was martred for being a Christian.

Answer 9

According to tradition, Saint Catherine of Alexandria was martyred by being beheaded by order of the Roman Emperor Maxentius.