Aurea of Córdoba

Christian nun and martyr

Saint

Aurea of Córdoba

Martyr
Born| 810
Córdoba, Spain
Died| 856
Córdoba
Canonized| Pre-congregation
Feast| 19 July

Aurea of Córdoba (810–856)[1] was a saint, nun, and martyr, part of the Martyrs of Córdoba, a group of 48 Christian martyrs executed during Muslim rule in al-Andalus. Aurea's feast day is 19 July.[2]

## Life

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Aurea was a widow who had been born into an Arab noble family; her father was a Muslim from Seville, and three members of her family were qadis, or Arab judges.[3][4][2]

After her brothers John and Adulphus were executed for their apostasy from Islam in 825,[5] Aurea went to live with her mother Artemia, who was also a nun, at the convent at Cuteclara for 30 years.[1][3] She had also witnessed the deaths of three Christians who had been connected with her convent in the early 850s.[4]

According to historian Kenneth B. Wolf, Aurea remained at Cuteclara without the knowledge of her relatives,[4] but historians Jessica Coope and Reginald Haines stated that Aurea's relatives ignored her Christian faith, even though it was well known, for most of her adult life.[3][6] Wolfe also stated that Aurea's Muslim relatives from Seville came to her convent, recognized her, and brought her before a judge to force her to recount her Christian faith.[4] She was frightened into submission and released, but after "repenting of her compliance, and avowing herself truly a Christian",[6] was arrested again and was executed in 856.[3][4] Hagiographer Agnes Dunbar compared Aurea's regret and public confession during her second trial to St. Peter's denial of Christ in the Bible.[7] Dunbar also stated that Aurea "was slain by a sword and hung on a giblet with her head down",[7] although other sources state that she was beheaded.[8] Her body was thrown into the Guadalquivir River and was never recovered.[1]

## References

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1. ^ a b c Walsh, Michael J. (2007). A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press. p. 74\. ISBN 978-0-8146-3186-7. OCLC 124159625.
2. ^ a b "Orthodox Europe: Spain". Colchester, Essex: St John's Orthodox Church. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
3. ^ a b c d Coope, Jessica A. (1995). The Martyrs of Córdoba: Community and Family Conflict in an Age of Mass Conversion. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. p. 16\. ISBN 0-8032-1471-5. OCLC 30894350.
4. ^ a b c d e Wolf, Kenneth Baxter (1988). Christian martyrs in Muslim Spain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 32\. ISBN 0-521-34416-6. OCLC 15588758.
5. ^ "St. Aurea, Martyr, of Cordova", Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
6. ^ a b Haines, Charles Reginald (1889). Christianity and Islam in Spain (756-1031). London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Company.
7. ^ a b Dunbar, Agnes B.C. (1901). A Dictionary of Saintly Women. Vol. 1\. London: George Bell & Sons. p. 93.
8. ^ Holweck, Frederick George (1924). A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints. St. Louis, Missouri: B. Herder Book Company. p. 121.