Radical Networks: The "Martyrs of Córdoba" and Their Supporters

Authors

• Nicola Meyrick, University of LincolnFollow

Abstract

The “Martyrs’ of Córdoba,” forty-eight Christians executed by the Islamic authorities in the city between 850 and 859 either for apostasy or for blaspheming against Islam, are often viewed as a tiny minority of fanatics out of step with the majority of Christians in Muslim-ruled Iberia. While they were undoubtedly a minority, there is some evidence in the work of their hagiographers, Eulogius and Paul Albar, that they had a wider network of active and passive supporters than is usually assumed. Those sympathizers included the inhabitants of a network of rigorist monasteries outside Córdoba and unnamed “intermediaries” who helped to hide and transport the future martyrs. This article seeks to place the martyrs at the peak of a pyramid of dissident Christians who opposed the church leadership’s collaboration with the Muslim authorities.

Recommended Citation

Meyrick, Nicola (2026) "Radical Networks: The "Martyrs of Córdoba" and Their Supporters," Medieval People: Vol. 40: Iss. 1, Article 10.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/medpros/vol40/iss1/10