The fourteen Friars Minor were killed in the religious and political context of a struggle between the Catholic forces of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II and the reformed states of Bohemia.

They had settled in Prague in 1604 at the ruined friary of the Church of Our Lady of the Snows in the city, which had been built by the Carmelite friars in the 15th century.

The friars also undertook charitable apostolates that saw them visit the sick and help the poor, despite the hostile environment where most people belonged to Protestant churches.

Tensions came to a head on 15 February 1611 after armed forces under the command of Emperor Rudolf invaded Prague to consolidate his empire.

The German cleric Klemens was the next killed when he was struck with an axe before the French priest Simon was stabbed to death in his sickbed.

Both the Italian priest Bartolomeo Dalmasoni and religious Giovanni Bodeo were killed as the people hurled insults and blasphemies at them.

The mob proceeded to kill the Spanish priest Juan Martínez in his attempt to protect the Eucharist and had his arm cut off in the melee before his skull was smashed.

The Czech vicar Bedřich Bachstein was the next one killed as he hid in the bell tower with the novices Jan and Antonín alongside the kitchen assistant Emanuel.

The Italian subdeacon Gaspare Daverio was located near the bell tower and torn to pieces before his remains were thrown out of the window before the German duo Jan Didak and Jakob were likewise slain.

The friars died on Shrove Tuesday and their remains were dumped near the friary, but then provided a Christian burial within the week on 19 February 1611.

[1] Dalmasoni was born at Ponte San Pietro in Bergamo and was in charge of the reconstruction efforts for the church and its attached convent.

The rioters smashed his head against the wall when he was found at the bell tower in hiding before throwing his remains down to the ground from the roof of the church.

The Prague archdiocese launched another diocesan investigation and submitted their findings to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints who issued their "nihil obstat" (no objections) decree on 14 April 1994.

Historians discussed and approved the cause on 16 December 2003 after issuing their satisfaction at assessing and resolving the historical circumstances that surrounded their deaths.

Pope Benedict XVI signed a decree on 10 May 2012 that the fourteen Franciscans had died "in odium fidei" (in hatred of the faith) and could be beatified.

[5] Benedict XVI mentioned the beatification in his Angelus address on 14 October and said that "they remind us that believing in Christ also means being willing to suffer with Him and for Him".