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Andrew of Crete

Byzantine iconophile martyr

SaintResearchedByzantine EmpirePre-congregation

Feast: 17 October (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)

Born

700

Died

760

Beatified

—

not needed: before formal processes

Canonised

By tradition

recognised before formal processes began

Who they were

At Constantinople, Saint Andrew, called "in Krisei" or the Calybite, monk and martyr, who, born on the island of Crete, was flogged several times under the emperor Constantine Copronymus for the veneration of sacred images and, subjected to torture, died thrown from the city walls among the refuse.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

The Roman Martyrology remembers him on 20 October as a Cretan-born monk and martyr killed at Constantinople for venerating sacred images.

Sources

Roman Martyrology, 20 October (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
Wikidata Q501451 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
English Wikipedia — Andrew of Crete (martyr) (CC BY-SA)

Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.