Martyrdom of Alphege

April 19, 1012

Held for months in Danish chains at Greenwich, the archbishop of Canterbury refused to allow ransom to ruin his poor tenants. His captors, roaring drunk after a feast, stoned him with rib bones from their table until an axe blow finished him. Canterbury at once made him a saint. Even the Danes' own commander Thorkell was so horrified that he defected to Ethelred's side.