All of the apostles except John were martyred. Peter was crucified upside down because he refused to be killed in the same way Christ was. Paul went to Spain, and Matthew evangelized cannibals.
I've heard these statements all my life, and although I knew they weren't recorded in the Bible, I assumed that the stories were based on reliable historical fact. When I read After Acts: Exploring the Lives and Legends of the Apostles, by Bryan Litfin, I was surprised to find out that "early church tradition" isn't as reliable (or as early!) as I had thought.
