Antonio Primaldo and 812 companions

The heart of the narrative is the collective refusal of apostasy. After the fall of Otranto, the victors offered the captives their lives on the condition that they abjure Christianity. According to hagiographic tradition, it was Antonio Primaldo, a simple man of the people, who spoke on behalf of all and exhorted his companions to remain faithful to Christ until death. On August 14, 1480, the people of Otranto were led to the Colle della Minerva and beheaded one after the other; Antonio Primaldo, who is said to have offered himself first for the execution, gave the group his name, the term "Primaldo" being linked to the idea of "first." A pious tradition, reported by the sources, holds that his body remained standing after the beheading until the death of the last of the martyrs. The nature of the martyrdom—the execution "in hatred of the faith" (in odium fidei)—would precisely be the subject of subsequent ecclesiastical recognition: it is not an individual life of work or foundation that is honored, but a common testimony rendered at the supreme moment by an entire Christian community.

The reputation for holiness of the martyrs of Otranto was established in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. According to sources, their bodies remained on the hill before being collected; tradition reports that they were found in a good state of preservation the following year. Their bones were then venerated as relics and, over the centuries, partly distributed between Otranto, Naples, and other places. The meaning given to their death by the Church is that of martyrdom in the literal sense: a testimony rendered to Christ through the refusal to abjure, unto the shedding of blood. During their canonization, Pope Francis summarized their example, emphasizing that they "refused to deny their faith and died confessing the risen Christ." This spirituality of collective testimony, where ordinary laypeople—artisans, common folk—become confessors of the faith through their simple refusal of apostasy, is at the center of the veneration rendered to them, which led to their recognition first as blessed, and then as saints.

The cult rendered to the martyrs of Otranto was officially recognized on December 14, 1771, when Pope Clement XIV confirmed their beatification and authorized their veneration. The path to canonization was completed under two pontificates: in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI recognized that Antonio Primaldo and his companions were indeed killed "in hatred of the faith," thus confirming the nature of their martyrdom. On December 20, 2012, Benedict XVI authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing a miracle attributed to their intercession: the healing, deemed inexplicable, of Sister Francesca Levote, who was suffering from cancer, which occurred in 1980 when the relics of the martyrs passed through her monastery. The date of the canonization was announced by Benedict XVI on February 11, 2013, the very day he announced his resignation from the pontificate. It was finally his successor, Pope Francis, who canonized "Antonio Primaldo and his companions" on May 12, 2013, in Saint Peter's Square, during a celebration where Laura Montoya and María Guadalupe García Zavala were also canonized. The liturgical feast of the holy martyrs of Otranto is celebrated on August 14, the anniversary of their death.

The holy martyrs of Otranto are today the patrons of the city of Otranto, which honors them with a solemn feast on August 14, marked by masses and a procession carrying the urn of their relics through the historic center. Their bones are preserved in the Cathedral of Otranto, particularly in the Chapel of the Martyrs, where several chests or reliquaries house them; the sanctuary of Santa Caterina a Formiello, in Naples, also preserves a portion, and other relics are found in various places. The very site of their martyrdom, the Hill of Minerva, has taken the name Hill of the Martyrs and is the object of particular veneration. The memory of the martyrs of Otranto experienced a resurgence of international visibility during their canonization in 2013, which made them one of the largest groups of martyrs recognized by the Catholic Church. They remain, for the diocese of Otranto and beyond, an emblem of fidelity to the Christian faith in the face of persecution, and their memory is closely linked to the religious identity of the Salento.