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| Holy Martyrs of Otranto, ora pro nobis |
The slaughter of the martyrs by Ottoman soldiers took place in 1480 during the invasion of the Kingdom of Naples. After a two-week siege, the city walls were breached and an orgy of wanton cruelty ensued. The townspeople were murdered, raped and sold off as slaves. Eight hundred survivors were rounded up and offered a chance to live if they would renounce their faith and convert to Islam. To a man they refused: "Eight hundred times, no!" they declared. They were butchered en masse.
A Neapolitan army under Duke Alfonso of Calabria with his Hungarian allies recovered the city on September 10, 1481. The remains of the Martyrs were interred in the Cattedrale di Otranto. In 1574, in commemoration of the Battle of Lepanto (1571), some of the relics were translated to the Chiesa di Santa Caterina a Formiello in Naples, fittingly beneath the altar of Our Lady of the Rosary.
In 2007 Pope Benedict XVI formally recognized their martyrdom and in 2012 he recognized a miracle attributed to their intercession, thus clearing the way to sainthood.
