Saint Acisclus (also Ascylus, Ocysellus; ; ) (died 304) was a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, 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 external party. In ...

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

, in

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

(the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, i.e., modern

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

). His life is mentioned by

Eulogius of Cordoba Eulogius can refer to: * Saint Eulogius of Edessa, a bishop of Edessa (late 4th century AD) * Saint Eulogius of Alexandria (607 AD) * Saint Eulogius of Córdoba, priest and martyr (859 AD) * Saint Eulogius, a deacon martyred with Saint Fructuosus ...

. He suffered martyrdom during the Diocletianic Persecution along with his sister

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. Their feast day is 17 November. There is doubt about the historical veracity of Victoria's existence, but both martyrs were honored in the Mozarabic liturgy. After they were arrested, Acisclus and Victoria were

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

d. According to tradition, Victoria was killed by

arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

s and Acisclus was

beheaded Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...

. One tenth century ''passio'' relates that the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

of Córdoba, Dion, an "iniquitous persecutor of Christians," had Acisclus and Victoria cast into a fiery furnace. However, when he heard Acisclus and Victoria sing songs of joy from within the furnace, Dion had them bound to stones and cast into the

Guadalquivir The Guadalquivir (, also , , ) is the fifth-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula and the second-longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is the only major navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable from Seville ...

. They were soon floating unharmed on the river's surface. He then suspended them over a fire. The fire, however, raged out of control and killed hundreds of pagans. The two saints then submitted to martyrdom, having proved their point and demonstrated their faith. Their home was turned into a church. During the ninth century, some of the

Martyrs of Córdoba The Martyrs of Córdoba were forty-eight Martyrdom in Christianity, Christian martyrs who were executed under the rule of Muslim administration in Al-Andalus (name of the Iberian Peninsula under the Islamic rule). The Hagiography, hagiographical ...

were associated with this church, including

Perfectus Saint Perfectus (Santo Perfecto) (died 18 April 850) was one of the Martyrs of Córdoba whose martyrdom was recorded by Saint Eulogius in the '' Memoriale sanctorum''. He was born in Córdoba when the area was under the control of the Moors ( ...

, a priest there.

Veneration

Acisclus, along with his sister Victoria, are

patron saints A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fam ...

of Córdoba, and their cult was venerated throughout Hispania and southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, especially in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

. There was a minor church dedicated to Saint Acisclus on the slopes of

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

Iconography

Acisclus and Victoria are represented in art as a young man and woman crowned with

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

References

Sources

Saint of the Day: Acisclus
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060304124353/http://www.cc.jyu.fi/mirator/pdf/Morris.pdf "Patronage and Piety: Montserrat and the Royal House of Medieval Catalonia-Aragon"Detailed history of the abbey (

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

)
"Passio SS. Martyrum Aciscli & Victoriae"
(in Latin, in xps format), in Enrique Florez, ''España Sagrada'' (Madrid: Antonio Marin, 1753), X, 485–491.

External links

at th
Christian Iconography
website
CatholicSaints

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acisclus Saints from Hispania 304 deaths 4th-century Christian martyrs 4th-century Romans Year of birth unknown Christians martyred during the reign of Diocletian