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- |tion of paying a tribute for every parish, cathedral, |and monastery; frequently such tribute was in- 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-
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.
