Saint Pelagius of Cordova (ca. 912—926) is said to have been a Christian boy left by his uncle at the age of ten as a hostage with the Caliph Abd-ar-Rahman III of al-Andalus, in trade for a clerical relative previously captured by the Moors, the bishop Hermoygius. Pelagius was intended to be eventually released in an exchange of hostages. Caliph is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ... For indivduals with the same or similar name, see Abd-ar-Rahman Abd-ar-Rahman III, Emir and Caliph of Cordoba (912 - 961) was the greatest and the most successful of the princes of the Ummayad dynasty in Spain. ... Al-Andalus is the Arabic name given the Iberian Peninsula by its Muslim conquerors; it refers to both the Caliphate proper and the general period of Muslim rule (711–1492). ... The Moors were the medieval Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula including the present day Spain and Portugal) and the Maghreb, whose culture is often called Moorish. A usual misconception is to relate them to the inhabitants of modern day Mauritania to which they are only related by...

However, according to the testimony of other prisoners, his beauty was such that the Caliph fell in love with him when he had attained the age of thirteen. The boy, having remained a pious Christian, refused the Caliph's advances, striking the monarch and insulting him. Enraged, Abd-ar-Rahman had the boy tortured (which he survived for six hours) and dismembered.^[1] Shah Abbas I and a page The dedication reads Tempera and gilt; Muhammad Qasim, 1627; Louvre, Paris For a generalized discussion of relations between men and boys see main article: Pederasty The practice of pederasty in the Islamic world began sometime during the 800s and ended in the mid-19th...

Pelagius was later enshrined as a Christian martyr and canonized as "Saint Pelagius". His birthday is celebrated on June 26. The Martyrology of the Sacred Order of Friars Preachers The cult of Saint Pelagius is thought to have provided spiritual energy for centuries to the Spanish Reconquista, and is seen by modern scholars as part of a pattern of demonization of Muslims and to portray them as morally inferior.^[2] Historically, a martyr is a person who dies for their convictions or religious faith, such as during the persecution of early Christians in the Roman Empire. ... This article discusses the process of declaring saints. ... June 26 is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 188 days remaining. ... The Reconquista (Reconquest) refers to the reestablishment of Christian rather than Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula, taking place between 718 and 1492. ...

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External links

• History of Pelagius of Cordova]