Martyrs of Córdoba, The

Between 850 and 859 the Muslim government of Córdoba executed forty-eight Christians on two different charges. Most were accused of making denigrating remarks about the prophet Mauhammad, which under Islamic law was a capital offence for non’Muslims.

Some were Christians with one or more Muslims parent and were therfore considered under Islamic law to be Muslims; their crime was apostasy to Christianity. With few exceptions, these martyrs (as some of their Christian contemporaries called them) deliberately invited execution.