Editing Agnes of Rome (section)

==Biography==
According to tradition, Agnes was born in 291 into [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] nobility, and raised as a Christian. She suffered martyrdom on 21 January 304, aged 12 or 13, and during the reign of the Roman emperor [[Diocletian]].<ref name="schaffiv">{{Cite book|author=Ambrose|author-link=Ambrose |date=1896 |title= Ambrose: Selected Works and Letters |series= The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers |url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf210.iv.vii.ii.ii.html |access-date=2009-01-21 |via=ccel.org|editor=Philip Schaff|volume = X}}</ref><ref name=OurPatroness>{{Cite web |title=Our Patroness: St. Agnes the Martyr |url=https://saintagnes.org/our-patroness-st-agnes-the-martyr/ |access-date=2024-04-12 |website=St. Agnes Parish |language=en-US}}</ref> A beautiful young girl, Agnes had many suitors who were young men of high rank. Slighted by her resolute devotion to religious purity, they submitted her name to the authorities as a follower of Christianity.<ref name=rockville>{{cite web|url=http://www.stagnescathedral.org/Our%20Parish/Patroness.html|title=St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr|publisher=St. Agnes Cathedral|access-date=2013-04-24|archive-date=2015-01-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150121150951/http://www.stagnescathedral.org/Our%20Parish/Patroness.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Duffy" /> One of them, a man named Procop, brought Agnes to his father, who was the local governor. He urged Agnes to deny God, but she refused.<ref name=OurPatroness />
[[File:Legendari di sancti istoriado uulgar, 1497 - (sant'Agnese) - BEIC IE4411197.jpg|thumb|left|The Martyrdom of Agnes in the ''[[Golden Legend]]'' (1497)]]

The [[Prefect]] Sempronius condemned Agnes to be dragged naked through the streets to a [[brothel]]. In one account, as she prayed, her hair grew and covered her body.<ref name=aoca>{{cite web|url=http://www.antiochian.org/node/17341|title=St. Agnes of Rome|publisher=Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese}}</ref> It was also said that all of the men who attempted to [[rape]] her were immediately struck blind. The son of the prefect was struck dead but revived after she prayed for him, causing her release. At  the start of Agnes' trial, Sempronius [[Judicial disqualification|recused]] himself, and another figure presided. After Agnes was sentenced to death, she was led out and [[burning at the stake|bound to a stake]] to be burned, but the bundle of wood would not burn, or the flames parted away from her. The officer in charge of the troops drew his sword and [[decapitation|beheaded]] her—or, in other texts, stabbed her in the throat. It is said that when Agnes' blood poured to the [[stadium]] floor, other Christians soaked it up with cloths.<ref>{{cite web |title=Saint Agnes of Rome, Virgin and Martyr |url=https://www.learnreligions.com/saint-agnes-of-rome-542518 |website=Learn Religions |access-date=31 January 2020 }}</ref>

[[File:Agnes & Procopius.jpg|thumb|Agnes depicted on the medieval [[Royal Gold Cup]] in the [[British Museum]]]]
Agnes was buried beside the [[Via Nomentana]] in Rome.<ref name=rockville/> A few days after her death, her foster-sister, [[Emerentiana]], was found praying by the tomb. Emerentiana claimed to be the daughter of Agnes' [[wet nurse]]. She was [[Stoning|stoned]] to death after refusing to leave the place and reprimanding the people for killing her foster-sister. Emerentiana was also later [[Canonization|canonized]]. The daughter of [[Constantine I]], [[Constantina]], was said to have been cured of [[leprosy]] after praying at Agnes' tomb. She and Emerentiana appear in the scenes from the life of Agnes on the 14th-century [[Royal Gold Cup]] in the [[British Museum]] in London.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1892-0501-1]</ref>

An early account of Agnes' death, stressing her young age, steadfastness and virginity, but not the legendary features of the tradition, is given by the 4th-century theologian, [[Ambrose]].<ref name="schaffiv"/>

The broader social circumstances of her martyrdom are believed to be largely authentic, though the legend cannot be proven true, and many details of the 5th-century ''Acts of Saint Agnes'' have been challenged.<ref>{{cite book| url = http://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-agnes-21-january/| author = Monks of Ramsgate|chapter=Agnes|title=Book of Saints|orig-date= 1921|date= 12 May 2012}}</ref> A church was built over her tomb, and her [[relics]] venerated.