He himself was arrested on false accusations as a means of silencing him and he refused to give in to his tormenters who tortured him for around a month before he died.

[5][4] Sarkander studied at the Olomouc college from 1597 until 1600 due to the plague which forced him to transfer to the Charles University in Prague.

[3] In February 1620 Polish auxiliary troops sent to the emperor by Sigismund III Vasa passed through Moravia and committed many depredations on the lands of the Protestants, but spared Holešov when Jan met them with the Blessed sacrament in his hands.

[5] During the ongoing Bohemian Revolt, Protestant Moravian Estates (under Wenceslas Bítovský of Bítov) accused Sarkander of collaborating with Lord Lobkowitz to bring the enemy into the territory.

Sarkander was interrogated regarding who had called the troops into the country; what dealings had he in Poland, and with whom; and what had Lobkowitz confided to him in confession.

Lit candles were applied to him and feathers soaked in oil, pitch, and sulphur strewn over his body and ignited.

Pope Pius IX approved the fact that Sarkander was killed in odium fidei ("in hatred of the faith") on 11 September 1859 and beatified him as a result on 6 May 1860.

Pope John Paul II approved a miracle due to the intercession of Sarkander on 2 April 1993 and canonized him on the occasion of his visit to the Czech Republic on 21 May 1995.

[8] Jan Sarkander's relics lie in Saint Wenceslas Cathedral in Olomouc (Czech Republic).