3rd century
Saint Barbara the Great Martyr
Great martyr from Heliopolis, patron saint of the artillery.
Biography
According to tradition, Barbara was the daughter of a wealthy pagan, Dioscorus, who kept her shut away in a tower. When she became a Christian, her father denounced her and she was martyred in the third century.
Popular piety honours her as a protector against sudden death; she is the patron saint of the artillery, which celebrates her every 4 December.