Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 4.djvu/413

 CORDIER

359

CORDOVA

Cordier (CoRDKRiut.), B4lthasar, exegete and ed- itor of patristic works, b. at Antwerp, 7 June, 1592; d. at Rome, 24 June, 10.50. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1612, and after teaching f!reek, moral theology, and Sacred Scripture, devoted himself to translating and editing MSS. of Greek catentE and other works of the Greek Fathers, for which he searched the libraries of Europe. He published the following: (1) "Catena sexaginta quinque Patrura grsecorum in S. Lucam" Antwerp, 1628); (2) "Catena Patrum gra>corum m S. Joannem" (Antwerp, 1630); (3) "Joannis Philoponi in cap. I Geneseos . . . libri septcni" (Antwerp, 1630); (4) "S. CyrilH apologite morales" (Vienna, 16.30); (5) "Opera S. Dionysii Areo|)agitse cmn S. Maximi scholiis" (Antwerp, 1634); (0) "Expo.sitio Patrum eraecorum in Psalmos" (Antwerp, 164.3-46); (7) Symbolse in Matthieimi" (2 vols., of which, however, only the second is by him; Toulouse, 1646-47); (8) "S. Dorothei archimandritae institutiones asceticiE" (Antwerp, 1646); (9) "S. P. N. Cyrilli archiepiscopi Alexandrini homilife XIX in Jeremiam" (Antwerp, 1648) — in this case, as in a few others, his critical acumen was at fault; these homilies are Origen's. He is also the author of a commentary on the Book of Job, "Job lUustratus" (.\ntwerp, 1646; reprinted in Migne's "Cursus S. Scriptural", XIII and XIV, and in Campon's edition of C'omelius a Lapide).

SoMMERVOGEL. BibUolh. de la c. de J., II, 1438, s. v.; HuRTER, Nomeiiclator. F, BecHTEL.

Cordova, Diocese op (Cordubensis), in Spain, formerly suffragan of Toledo, since 1851 of Seville. It includes the iirovince of the same name, with the exception of a few parishes that pertain to the Arch- diocese of Seville, while in retvirn Cordova takes in a portion of the civil province of Badajoz. The Gospel, it is believed, was preached there in the ApostoUc period, it being very probable that the Apostles St. James the Greater and St. Paul, while preaching in various cities of Spain may ha\'e sent thither some of their disciples; Cordova {Colonia Patricia) was then the chief city of Baetica, and the centre of Andalusian life. The name of the apos- tolic founder of the See of Cordova is unknown, as the oldest extant documents do not antedate the third century. The conditions of the Christian re- ligion in this early period were quite similar to those Which obtained elsewhere in the Roman Emj^ire — persecution, suspicion, denunciation, enforced profes- sion of idolatrj', etc. Many illustrious martyrs, Faustus, Januarius, and others, suffered at Cordova; their relics were afterwards eagerly sought by the other churches of Spain, and even in Gaul and elsewhere. The earliest known bishop (though not the founder of the see) is Severus, about 279 ; he was followed by Gratus and Berosus. In 294 the famous Hosius be- came Bishop of Cordova and immortalized it by his resistance to Arianism. Fifteen bishops governed tbo see from the death of Hosius in 357 to 693, from which period to 839 no bishops are known. AH ec- clesiastical records, doubtless, perished in the course of the .\rab domination that began in 711. During this time, the faithful could, it is true, worship freely, and retained their churches and property on condi- icreased at the will of the conqueror, and often the jliving had to pay for the dead. Many of the faithful Ithen fled to Northern .Spain; others took refuge in rthc monasteries of the Sierras, and thus the number of Christians shrank eventually to small proportions. I In 786 the Arab Caliph, Abd-er-Rahm.in I, began Ithe construction of the great mosque of Cordova, now [the cathedral, and compelled many Chri.stians to take Ipart in the preparation of the site and foundations. Though they suffered many vexations, the Christians •intinued to enjoy freedom of worship, and this tol-
 * tion of paying a tribute for every parish, cathedral,
 * and monastery; frequently such tribute was in-

erant attitude of the ameers se<luced not a few Chris- tians from their original allegiance. Both Christians and ,\ral)s co-operated at thi.s time to make Cordova a flourishing city, llic i'li-_;:iii! refinement of which was unequalled in llunipr. I nder ;\l)d-er-Rahman II there came a chauiir iii the altitude of the Arab rulers, and a Herce persecution ensued, during which many Christians were accused of abusing the memory of Mohammed, of entering mosques, and of conspiracy against the CJovermnent. Saracen fanaticism ran high. Among the martyrs of this period are Per- fectus. Flora, Maria, numerous ntms of the monas- tery of Tabana in the Sierras, also Aurelius, Sabiniana, Abundius, Amator, and others; the names of more than thirty are known. The most famous of these martyrs is St. Eulogius, priest and abbot, who was in 858 chosen Archbishop of Toledo. For his encourage- ment of the confessors by his writings, "Memoriale sanctorum", " Apologeticus sanctorum martyrum", "Documentum martyrii", "EpLstoIa;", he was event- ually put to death in 8.59. His life was written (P. L., CXV. 70.5-32) by Paulus Al varus, a Scriptural scholar and theologian, who was not a martyr. Bamlissin not- withstanding (Eulogius und Alvarus, Leijjzig, 1872). ^^'ith slight interruptions this persecution continued under succeeding bishops, Saul (850) and Valentius (862); it co-o|)erated with the Anthropomoiphite heresy of Hostegesis and other causes to bring about a gap of a centurj' and a half in the list of the bishops of Cordova. In 902 Abd-er-Rahman III was suc- ceeded by his son Al-Ilakim. Owing to the peace which the Christians of Cordova then enjoyed, soma knowledge of their contlition has been preserved, among other things the name of their bishop, Joannes, also the fact that, at that period, the citizens of Cor- dova, Arabs, Christians, an<l Jews, enjoyed so high a degree of literary culture that the city was known as the New Athens. From all quarters came students eager to drink at its founts of knowledge. Among the men afterwards famous who studied at Cordova were the scholarlv monk Gerbert, ilestined to sit on the Chair of Peter as Sylvester II (999-1003), the Jewish rabbis Moses and .Maimonides, and the famous Spanish-Arabian commentator on Aristotle, Averroes (Bourret, De Schola Cordulja- Christiana sub Omiadi- tarum imperio, Paris, 1853). On account of the wretched administration of the successors of Abd-er- Rahinan III, the invasion of the Almohades (1097), and the continuous peninsular warfare between Mos- lem and Christian, little is known of the episcopal succession in Cordova from the time of Bishop Joan- nes (988) to the reconfjuest of the city by the Chris- tians under St. Ferdinand III (1230). The long period (524 years) of humiliation of the Church of Cordova now came to an end, and a new ejioch of prosperity and Cliristian religious service began which was in- augurated by the piety and generosity of the saintly loiKjiii.sliidor (Haines, Christianity and Islam in Spain, I>ondon, 1889, 756-1031). Reference has al- ready been made to the conversion of the mosque into a cathedral; several parishes were also estab- lished, and sf>acious c</nvents were built for various religious orders, Dominicans, Franciscans, Merceda- rians. A cathedral chapter was established, some of the earlier Christian cln;iches were restored, and some mosques were convertetl into churches. The diocese, that in the earlier Hispano-Roman period had been very large, began to expand again and had added to it many cities of the Archdiocese of Seville, which was yet in the power of the Moors. The newly ac- quired territory was soon occupied by Christian knights and Christian families, owing to the privi- leges and franchises granted by St. Ferdinand to such colonists. Bishop Lope de Fitero, who was conse- crated about 1237, began a new episcopal scries which has remained unbroken, the Lishoj) consecrated in 1898 being his seventy-third successor.