The Sanctified can trace their origins to the end of the Horus Heresy, when the Forces of Chaos were defeated at the Battle of Terra and the Traitor Legions were driven out of Imperial space over the next few decades into the Eye of Terror. The Word Bearers were one of the Traitor Legions that fled, but several of their commanders refused to retreat. A Word Bearers Lieutenant Commander by the name of Helman Brisch was one such officer. His troops that remained loyal to him became the warband known as The Sanctified. They continued their former Legion's dark crusade to convert the masses of the Imperium of Man to the service of the true Gods of Chaos. Brisch was eventually slain in the 32nd Millennium, but his zealous followers continued to carry on his cause. They scoured the known galaxy