Thousand Martyrs of Lichfield

The Thousand Martyrs of Lichfield are remembered in the tradition of the undivided Church in England as a thousand Christians put to death in the persecution of Diocletian, around the year 303. They are also called the Thousand Martyrs of Verulam.

According to tradition, Christians of Britain who were fleeing the persecution were overtaken near Lichfield and slain, and the name of the town, meaning field of bodies, is said to come from them. The calendar names Saint Amphibalus and 999 others. Scholars note that the legend rests on no historical evidence, although Diocletian's persecution certainly reached Britain.

They are commemorated on 2 January (new style).