The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise by Fernández-Morera Darío;

Author:Fernández-Morera, Darío;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Intercollegiate Studies Institute

THE MARTYRS OF CÓRDOBA

[The] historical importance [of the killing of the Martyrs of Córdoba] is difficult to determine and … probably tells us little about the condition and attitudes of the bulk of the Mozarab population, though [the incident] does show the tolerance and essential reasonableness of the Muslim authorities, but it raises interesting moral and theological points about self-inflicted martyrdom.

—Hugh Kennedy, Professor of History in the Department of Languages and Cultures of the Near Middle East of the University of London, Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus (London: Routledge, 1996), 48

But the most extraordinary instance of Christian dhimmi resistance was the episode of the martyrs of Córdoba.102 Between 850 and 860, under the reign of Umayyad Abd al-Rahman II, men and women, some of them belonging to Christian families who had converted to Islam (muladis), defied the authorities by publicly affirming their Christian faith and ridiculing or insulting Muhammad. The story has come down to us in the writings of the last of the martyrs, the monk Saint Eulogius, and in the writings of his friend Alvarus, a monk who lived through the events.

The first one to die as a martyr was a well-educated monk named Perfectus. In 850, having traveled from his nearby monastery to the city of Córdoba on some errand or other, this Christian dhimmi encountered some Muslims he knew, who asked him to explain what Christians thought of Christ and the Prophet Muhammad. He told them that they might not like the answer. When they insisted, Perfectus made them promise not to tell his answer to anyone. He proceeded to cite a passage from the gospel in which Christ declares that “many false prophets will come in my name,” and Perfectus added that Christians believed Muhammad to be one of those false prophets. Perfectus then went on his way. Some days later, the same Muslims saw him in the city, pointed him out to the crowds, and accused him of having insulted the Prophet. The monk was arrested and locked in prison, although during interrogation he denied having said any insulting words. The outline of this case to this point corresponds to the pattern of cases of Christians punished for alleged blasphemy in Islamic countries even in our day.103 While in prison, however, Perfectus recanted his earlier denial. He openly proclaimed Christ’s divinity and the imposture of Muhammad. Perfectus was publicly beheaded.

According to the extant accounts of the monk Alvarus, a year later a Christian dhimmi named Juan was denounced by some Muslim merchants for trying to increase his sales by swearing on Muhammad. Alvarus tells us that Muslims used to laugh at Christianity and insult Christians, and that Muslim envy was the reason to accuse Juan. When several Muslims testified against Juan, the dhimmi was found guilty, publicly lashed, paraded through the city, and sent to prison.

But the decisive event seems to have been the case of Isaac. At twenty-four years of age, this Christian dhimmi abandoned a lucrative position in the city of Córdoba to enter the monastic life.

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