CÓRDOBA

Capital of the province of Córdoba, on the right bank of the Guadalquivir River, in Andalusia, south Spain. Taken by Rome (152 b.c.), it was the capital (Corduba ) of the conventus of Betica.

Early History. It was attacked without success by the Visigoth Agila (549), regained from the Byzantines by Leovigildus (572), and had to be reconquered when it sided with Hermenigild (583). Under the umayyads (711–1031), it became an independent emirate (756) and a caliphate (929). As a petty kingdom, it was reconquered from the Moors by ferdinand iii (1236).

Córdoba, the birthplace of seneca, became Romanized and Christianized very early. The martyr Acisclus may be of the third century. The first known bishop, Hosius (d. 357), persecuted under diocletian (303), was a councilor of constantine i and presided at the Council of nicaea i. Prudentius praised other martyrs of Córdoba under Diocletian: Faustus, januarius, Martial and Zoilus. A ninth-century passio makes the legendary Victoria a companion martyr of Acisclus, but she is not mentioned by ninth-century authors in Córdoba. Bishop Higinius c. 380, with the metropolitan of mÉrida, acted against "abstainer" precursors of Priscillianism. According to walafrid strabo, Emperor Theodosius I (379–395) praised Bishop Gregory for the pastoral and liturgical organization of the diocese; he commemorated the feasts of martyrs in Mass daily. Eight other bishops signed councils, from Stephen in Rome (503) to Zaccheus in Toledo (693).

The many Christians in Córdoba under Arab rule had freedom of cult with numerous basilicas and monasteries in the area and what must have been an outstanding school of Latin culture under Abbot Esperaindeo. An important Latin chronicle of 754 seems to have been written in Córdoba by a high ecclesiastic. But the Christians, later called Mozarabs, were molested, especially after Malachites arrived from the East in the late eighth century. They paid a high tribute, and whoever spoke ill of Muhammad or Islam paid the death penalty, as did the children of Christian-Muslim marriages who were known to practice the Christian faith. Molestations led to persecution and martyrdom. In 824 and 825 Adulfus and John, sons of Arab nobility, whose Christian mother Artemia later governed a monastery famous throughout the area, were martyred.

Arab Persecution. The great persecution that claimed some 50 victims (850–859) was provoked by Muslims who questioned the priest Perfectus, who knew Arabic, about his opinion of their prophet, promising not to prosecute him, but later making a public sacrifice of him at the end of Ramadan (850). The martyrdom created religious tension and led to a strong reaction on the part of Christians, many not natives of Córdoba. eulogius, who was looked to for guidance on his return from a trip to north Spain, where he had seen a free and flourishing Christianity, reports the martyrdoms in detail and defends the martyrs in his writings. Some martyrs voluntarily came before the qadi and called Muhammad an imposter,

identifying themselves with Perfectus: Isaac, a rich noble who knew Arabic and was a government official before becoming a monk; the merchant John; a group of six monks—in all, 13 martyrs in 851. Of 13 martyrs in 852 the most important were aurelius and sabigotona, martyred with George, a monk from Jerusalem and the subject of another Muslim ruler. Of seven martyrs in 853 columba and Pomposa are noteworthy. Of ten martyrs (854–856) argimir and aurea are noteworthy because of their noble birth and high status among ruling Arabs. Some of the martyrs were rash: Emila and Jeremias, and Rogellus and Servus Dei, who entered the crowded mosque to preach Christ.

The martyrdom of Flora and Maria (851), innocent Christian daughters of a Muslim father, seems to have increased tension to such a point that in alarm officials convoked a council under Reccafred, metropolitan of Seville, who was opposed to a contest with Islam. The council in ambiguous terms discouraged future martyrdoms; but provocations, assertions and martyrdoms continued until Eulogius was slain (859) for having sheltered Leocritia, daughter of a Muslim father, from persecution by her brother. In 858 the martyrdoms drew usuard and Odilard, monks of saint-germain-des-pres in Paris to Córdoba in search of relics. The emirs as a rule ordered the relics of the martyrs destroyed to prevent veneration by the Christians. Many Christians did not support the martyrs and after Eulogius there were but few, mostly in the tenth century.

Alcuin claimed that adoptionism, headed by eli pandus of toledo and Felix of Urgel, was spawned in Córdoba. According to albar, pupil of Esperaindeo and the author of a vita of Eulogius, it did infest Betica. Cassianist heretics were condemned at a council in Córdoba (839) attended by the three metropolitans of Spain (Toledo, Mérida and Seville). Anti-Trinitarian and anthropomorphic heresies also spread. The correspondence of Albar shows interest in and disputes about dogma and discipline. Saul, Córdoba's bishop during the persecution, seems to have been a venerable man. The lengthy Apologeticus of the Abbot Samson (864) is the last work of the Latin renaissance in Córdoba; but the activity of collecting and copying Latin texts may have had a more lasting influence.

The first caliph, ‘Abd-ar-Raḥmān III, had the Christian Recemundus, head of his chancery, made bishop of Elvira for performing embassies to the Ottonian and Byzantine courts. Recemundus's calendar of Christian saints, compiled in Arabic and dedicated to Al Hakam II, offers much information on the Christian cult in Córdoba. With reputedly a library of 50,000 volumes, Córdoba was a major Arabic cultural center from which Eastern learning was transmitted to Europe. Neither the Almoravides nor the Almohades, however, made it a capital; and it declined in favor of Seville. maimonides and his family left Córdoba when it was taken by the Almohades (1148); averroËs (1126–98) became known to the Latin world c. 1230. The last known bishop of Córdoba before its reconquest by ferdinand iii in 1236 was John (988).

The episcopacy was restored with Lope de Fitero (1237–45), and the mosque became the cathedral of the Assumption. In 1241 the city received a special fuero based on the Visigothic Forum iudicum. Many monasteries were founded after the reconquest, and again in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. As in other places in Spain, there was a strong reaction against the Jews c. 1400. The Inquisition, established in 1482, had a fervent supporter in Diego Rodrigo Lucero c. 1500; and there were many autos-da-fé to c. 1750. Natives of Córdoba were Ambrosio de Morales, learned historian of the Renaissance, the poet Luis de Góngora and the artists Pablo de Cespedes (1538–1608) and Juan de Mesa. Blessed john of avila and Blessed diego of cÁdiz carried on a great deal of their apostolate in Córdoba.

Art and Architecture. The cathedral, once a mosque, begun in 786, has 19 naves with more than 1,000 columns, many taken from Roman and Visigothic monuments. The cathedral proper, with a magnificent choir and an elegant bell tower, was built in the 16th century. Its treasures include a monstrance by the goldsmith Enrique de Arfe. S. Miguel has a tenth-century baptismal chapel. The 13th-century S. Pablo is built on an Almohad palace. S. Marina has a Moorish chapel (15th century). S. Bartolomé has a portico with Visigothic capitals. All the churches are rich in paintings. In 1548 the College of the Assumption was founded and in 1794 Ventura Rodríguez built the Santa Victoria school for children and San Pelayo seminary.

Bibliography: h. flÓrez et al., España sagrada, 54 v. (Madrid 1747–1957) v.10. j. gÓmez bravo, Catálogo de los obispos de Córdoba, 2 v. (Córdoba 1778). l. m. ramÍrez de las casas deza, "Anales de la Ciudad de Córdoba (1236–1850)," Boletín de la Real Academia de Ciencias, Bellas Letras y Nobles Artes de Córdoba (Córdoba 1948). i. de las cagigas, Los Mozárabes, 2 v. (Madrid 1947–48). f. j. simonet, Historia de los Mozárabes de España (Madrid 1903). f. r. franke, "Die freiwilligen Märtyrer von Cordova …," Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Kulturgeschichte Spaniens, 13 (Span. Aufsätze der Görresgesellschaft; Münster 1958) 1–170. e. p. colbert, The Martyrs of Córdoba, 850–859: A Study of the Sources (Washington 1962). c. m. sage, Paul Albar of Córdoba: Studies in His Life and Writings (Washington 1943). s. alcolea, Córdoba: Guías artísticas de España (Barcelona 1951). l. torres balbÁs, La mezquita de Córdoba y las ruinas de Madinat al-Zahra (Madrid 1952). f. pÉrez, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912–) 13:837–871.

[j. vives]