Saint Perfectus (Santo Perfecto) (died 18 April 850) was one 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 ...

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 The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

(the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

). Perfecto was a

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

and ordained priest. He served at the basilica of St. Acisclus in Córdoba. Christians were tolerated in the area, but not uniformly. According to his legend, in 850, Perfecto was challenged by two

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

men to say who was the greater prophet:

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Mohammed Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...

. At first he refrained from responding, so as not to provoke them; but they insisted that he give them an answer, promising to protect him from reprisals. He then told them in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

that Muhammed was a false prophet and that he was an immoral man for supposedly seducing his adopted son's wife. The Muslims kept their promise and let him go, but several days later some of them changed their mind and had him arrested. They had friends seize Perfecto (so as to not be forsworn) and tried. Perfecto was found guilty of

blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

by the Islamic court and was executed. The legend says that Perfecto's final words were to bless Christ and condemn Muhammad and his

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

. He was beheaded on 18 April 850. His martyrdom was one of the first in a period of Muslim persecution of the

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

Al-Andalus 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 ...

, which began in 850 under

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 in 852. A vigorous and effective frontier warrior, he was also well known as a patron of the arts. Abd ar-Rahman was born in Toled ...

, continued under his successor Muhammad I, and went on intermittently until 96

His Roman Catholic, Catholic

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

is 18 April.

References

Entry for St. Perfectus in the Roman Martyrology
- Chapter 2 of "Christian Martyrs in Muslim Spain" by

Kenneth Baxter Wolf Kenneth Baxter Wolf (born June 1, 1957) is an American historian and scholar of medieval studies. Biography Wolf is the John Sutton Miner Professor of History and Professor of Classics at Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he has ...

Santo Perfecto
(

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

) {{authority control Medieval Spanish saints 850 deaths 9th-century Christian saints 9th-century Christian martyrs Christian critics of Islam People executed for blasphemy People from Córdoba, Spain Christian saints killed by Muslims Year of birth unknown 9th-century people from al-Andalus Christians from al-Andalus