Aurelius and Natalie (died 852) were

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

s who were put to death during the reign of

Abd ar-Rahman II Abd ar-Rahman II () (792–852) was the fourth ''Umayyad'' Emir of Córdoba in al-Andalus from 822 until his death. A vigorous and effective frontier warrior, he was also well known as a patron of the arts. Abd ar-Rahman was born in Toledo, Spai ...

Emir of Córdoba Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

, and are counted among the

Martyrs of Córdoba The Martyrs of Córdoba were forty-eight Christian martyrs who were executed under the rule of Muslim administration in Al-Andalus (name of the Iberian Peninsula under the Islamic rule). The hagiographical treatise written by the Iberian Christ ...

. Aurelius was the son of a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

father and a Christian mother. He was also secretly a follower of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, as was his wife Natalie, who was also the child of a Muslim father. One of Aurelius's cousins, Felix, accepted

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

for a short time, but later converted back to Christianity and married a Christian woman, Liliosa. Under

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

Law, all four of them were required to profess Islam. In time all four began to openly profess their Christianity, with the two women going about in public with their faces unveiled. They were all swiftly arrested as

apostates Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...

from

. They were given four days to recant, but they refused and were beheaded. They were martyred with a local

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

, George, who had openly spoken out against the Islamic prophet Mohammed. He had been offered a pardon as a foreigner but chose instead to denounce Islam again and die with the others. They are considered

saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...

in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and in the

Orthodox Church Orthodox Church may refer to: * Eastern Orthodox Church * Oriental Orthodox Churches * Orthodox Presbyterian Church * Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand * State church of the Roman Empire * True Orthodox church See also * Orthodox (di ...

with a feast day of 27 July.

References

* Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. ''

The Penguin Dictionary of Saints ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

''. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. .

External links

* http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=309 * http://www.familiario.com/santoral/NataliadeC%F3rdoba.htm * http://www.santopedia.com/santos/santa-liliosa-de-cordoba 9th-century Christian saints Year of birth missing 852 deaths Saints duos Medieval Spanish saints People executed by Spain by decapitation People executed for apostasy from Islam People from Córdoba, Spain Converts to Christianity from Islam Spanish former Muslims Spanish Roman Catholic saints Executed Spanish people Groups of Roman Catholic saints 9th-century Christian martyrs Christian saints killed by Muslims Female saints of medieval Spain 9th-century Al-Andalus people 9th-century Spanish women Christians of Al-Andalus {{Al-Andalus-bio-stub