The Canadian Martyrs and a Strange Death Wish

The Canadian Martyrs and a Strange Death Wish

We’ve all read about those Europeans who came to the colonial Americas to live. But what of those who came to die? Among the more religiously minded colonists, especially those who belonged to the Society of Jesus, the notion of being a martyr, of joining the hallowed ranks of the early converts slaughtered in Roman coliseums, was an appealing one. Or, at least, so they claimed.