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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 February 2016
In 1835 the missionaries of the London Missionary Society (LMS) were ordered by the Merina government in Antananarivo to leave Madagascar, only twenty-seven years after their mission had been established. In 1837 the first Malagasy Christian was killed because of her faith. The era of persecution against the internationally isolated Malagasy Christian community began in 1835 and continued sporadically until 1861 with the death of Queen Ranavalona I, whose reign had seen the introduction of anti-Christian legislation. Estimates of the number of Christians who died as a result of refusing to denounce their faith vary between 50 and 200. The numbers who died indirectly due to suffering imprisonment, a poison ordeal, or exile are estimated at between 1,500 and 3,000. However the church which emerged from the era of suppression was said to have been numerically between four and ten times stronger than in 1835, with between three and twelve thousand members and adherents. European missions returned in 1862. From the beginning, the martyr story proved to be a popular subject for missionary publications.
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