Bodo (c. 814
– 876) was a
Frankish deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions.
Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...
at the court of Emperor
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (; ; ; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only ...
, who caused a notorious case of
apostasy
Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, 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 is contrary to one's previous re ...
in the Europe of his day.
Life
In early 838, Bodo declared that he was embarking to make a
pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
to
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, but instead went to
Muslim Spain
Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...
, where he converted to
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
.
[
] His conversion was regarded as a rejection of the
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...
culture, as well as of the Christian faith.
[
] He took the Jewish name of Eleazar, had himself
circumcised and married a Jewish woman. In 839, Bodo moved to
Saragossa
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
, where he incited the government of the
Caliphate of Cordoba and the people to persecute the Spanish Christians.
Léon Poliakov claims that this conversion is evidence of the high regard in which Jews were held in Carolingian France.
Correspondence with Álvaro
In 840 Bodo began a correspondence with a Christian intellectual,
Pablo Álvaro of
Cordova, also in Muslim Spain.
Alvaro was born in a Christian family, but with Jewish roots.
Because Bodo and Alvaro shared an interest in Judaism, they began a dialogue to try to convince each other to change their faith.
Some of their letters have been preserved.
The source of the following letter is disputed, but it is attributed to Bodo:
As for your assertion that Christ is God, joined with the Holy Spirit, and you worship him because he had no human father, then along with him you ought to worship Adam
Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam).
According to Christianity, Adam ...
the father of the human race, who had neither father nor mother, whose flesh, blood, bones and skin were created from clay. Breath was put in him by the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...
, and he became an intelligent being. Then too, Eve was created from Adam's rib without a father or mother, and breath came into her and she became intelligent. So worship them too![
]
See also
*
Pablo Álvaro
*
La Convivencia
*
Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain
References
External links
Translation of the correspondence between Álvaro and Bodo by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bodo
810s births
876 deaths
People from the Carolingian Empire
Roman Catholic deacons
Converts to Judaism from Roman Catholicism
9th-century Jews from al-Andalus
Medieval Jewish writers
European Sephardi Jews
9th-century writers
9th-century people from al-Andalus