Martyrdom

n.	1.	The condition of a martyr; the death of a martyr; the suffering of death on account of adherence to the Christian faith, or to any cause. I came from martyrdom unto this peace. - Longfellow.
	2.	Affliction; torment; torture.

Noun	1.	martyrdom - death that is imposed because of the person's adherence of a religious faith or cause
	2.	martyrdom - any experience that causes intense suffering Synonyms: calvary

agony, anguish, atrocious pain, bane, blood, bloodletting, bloodshed, braining, clawing, confinement, cruciation, crucifixion, dealing death, destruction, destruction of life, dismemberment, dispatch, estrapade, euthanasia, excruciation, execution, extermination, flow of blood, galleys, gore, hard labor, hell, hell upon earth, holocaust, horror, immolation, impalement, imprisonment, incarceration, jailing, keelhauling, kill, killing, laceration, lancination, lapidation, martyrization, mercy killing, nightmare, passion, penal servitude, persecution, picketing, poisoning, purgatory, rack, railriding, ritual killing, ritual murder, rock pile, sacrifice, shooting, slaughter, slaying, stoning, strappado, taking of life, tar-and-feathering, the gantlet, torment, torture