Saint Roderick ( la, Rodericus, Rudericus; es, San Rodrigo; died 13 March 857) was a

Mozarab The Mozarabs ( es, mozárabes ; pt, moçárabes ; ca, mossàrabs ; from ar, مستعرب, musta‘rab, lit=Arabized) is a modern historical term for the Iberian Christians, including Christianized Iberian Jews, who lived under Muslim rule in A ...

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

, venerated as one of the Martyrs of Córdoba. Tradition states that he was a Christian priest of Cabra who had two brothers: one was 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 ...

, the other

irreligious Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ant ...

. Once, after his brothers began to fight one another, Roderick attempted to break up the fight. However, they turned on him instead and beat him. When Roderick awoke, he found that his Muslim brother had reported to the authorities that Roderick had converted to

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 ...

. When Roderick maintained his loyalty to the Catholic religion, he was accused of

apostasy from Islam Apostasy in Islam ( ar, ردة, or , ) is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslim, in thought, word, or through deed. An apostate from Islam is referred to by using the Arabic and Islamic term ''murtād'' (). It includes no ...

under ''Sharia'' law. He was imprisoned and then

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

along with Salomon (Solomon) at Córdoba. St. Roderick's Convent and Hospital in Cabra, established in the 16th century, bears his name.

External links

Catholic News Agency: St. Roderick

San Rodrigo di CordovaTourist Atlas of AndalusiaSt. Roderic Hagiography
857 deaths 9th-century Christian martyrs 9th-century executions Christians executed for refusing to convert to Islam Christians of Al-Andalus Executed Spanish people Medieval Spanish saints Mozarabs People executed for apostasy from Islam People executed by Spain by decapitation Spanish Roman Catholic saints Year of birth unknown {{Al-Andalus-bio-stub