Eulogius Corpus

Eulogius (d. 859), a priest living under Islamic rule in Córdoba, is our principal source for the so-called “Córdoban martyrs’ movement” (850-859), in the course of which forty-eight Christians were decapitated for religious offenses against Islam. The majority of the victims were condemned for blasphemy, having deliberately flouted proscriptions against public expressions of disrespect for Muhammad. Interestingly enough, the Córdoban Christian community was not of one mind when it came to interpreting such provocative acts. While some were inclined to embrace the executed Christians as martyrs of the classic Roman type, others criticized them as self-immolators whose unprovoked outbursts only complicated the working relationship between the Christian community and the Muslim authorities. The writings of Eulogius, which were designed to record the deaths and present them as legitimate martyrdoms, allow both for the reconstruction of Christian life under Muslim rule and an appreciation for the range of Christian attitudes toward Islam in ninth-century al-Spain. They also capture Eulogius’ self-conscious effort to construct a saint cult despite the absence of wide support for the “martyrs.” This is the first complete rendering of Eulogius' writings into English, and will be a valuable resource for historians and theologians alike.

'[The Eulogius Corpus] offers the first English translation as an indispensable tool for early medieval studies and in general to the understanding of the Christian-Islamic confrontation in the alphabet.'EugippiusTranslated from Italian, 'Se ne offre qui la prima traduzione inglese come strumento indispensabile agli studi storici alto medievali e in generale alla comprensione del confronto cristiani-islamici nell’al-Andalus omayyade del IX secolo.', 'The introduction… will no doubt become an essential starting point for those wishing to orientate themselves to the martyrs and their apologists.’ Jamie Wood, Early Medieval Europe, 'The Eulogius Corpus is an indispensable resource for English speakers studying the Cordoban martyrs and medieval Christian-Muslim relations. It will also be important for scholars working in other languages given Wolf’s careful documentation of secondary literature devoted to the martyrs. The footnotes that accompany Wolf’s translation, the comprehensive bibliography, and his illuminating introductory comments are invaluable.' Charles Tieszen, Speculum

Kenneth Baxter Wolf is the John Sutton Miner Professor of History and Professor of Classics at Pomona College, USA. His many publications include Conquerors and Chroniclers of Early Medieval Spain (revised edition 1999) and The Eulogius Corpus (2019) in the Translated Texts for Historians series, and The Life and Afterlife of St. Elizabeth of Hungary: Testimony from Her Canonization Hearings (OUP 2011).