Saint Polycarp Postcard

Detail depicting Saint Polycarp, Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy: "Procession of the Holy Martyrs" . The work was completed within 526 AD by the so-called "Master of Sant'Apollinare". Polycarp (Greek: Πολύκαρπος, Polýkarpos; Latin: Polycarpus; AD 69 – 155) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to consume his body. Polycarp is regarded as a saint and Church Father in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism.