02Knights Templar - Julian Emperor

SAINTS
St Catherine
It was claimed particularly during the Middle Ages that St
Catherine or Katharine of Alexandria was a Christian martyr
who died for her faith during the fourth century AD.
However, none of the earliest lives of the saints makes mention
of her.
According to accounts of her life, St Catherine was a
Christian born into a rich family from Alexandria. It is said
that, in 305 AD, the emperor Maxentius seized a number of
women from Alexandria, including St Catherine. In trying to
convert the saint from Christianity, the emperor is said to
have assembled a group of no less than fifty pagan philosophers
to try to convince her to abandon her faith in Christ.
Reportedly, she defeated them in this debate and went on to
convert them to Christianity. In a fit of rage Maxentius ordered
that the philosophers be put to death along with subsequent
converts and had St Catherine imprisoned. Finally, the
emperor ordered that she be executed by being tied to a
wooden wheel set with spikes or blades.When the order was
given to execute St Catherine the wheel to which she was fastened
was mysteriously broken into pieces, leaving her unharmed.
Some claimed that it had been broken by angels. She
was then martyred by being beheaded. According to the accounts
of her life, no blood was shed when the sword struck
her neck but, bizarrely, milk and honey poured forth.
The modern term for the spinning firework called a
‘catherine wheel’ derives from this story. She became a particularly
popular saint during the Middle Ages when the legend
of her martyrdom was carried back to the West by
soldiers and pilgrims returning from the crusades. For example,
she was a particular favourite of the warrior monks the
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