Claudius

Holy Martyr Claudius was a sculptor in Pannonia and one of the four crowned martyrs, put to death in the persecution of Diocletian. He is commemorated on 9 November (new style), together with Castor, Sempronian and Nicostratus.

According to tradition, the four, skilled masters of stone, refused to carve a statue for a pagan temple and to offer sacrifice to the gods. For this they were condemned to death, and their bodies were thrown into the water. The Church of the West honours them under the name “the Four Crowned Ones” (Quattuor Coronati).