Pelagius, a Lad of Thirteen Years, in the Year 925

It is stated that about two years later, namely, in the year 925, a lad of thirteen years, called Pelagius, was put to death for the name of Christ in Cordova, which came about as follows. His uncle Ermoigus (whom some writers call a bishop) had been arrested and imprisoned at Cordova by the Arabian king Habdarrhaghman. In order to be released, this Ermoigus left his nephew, who was then only about thirteen years old, in his place, as a pledge. For more than three years the pledge was not redeemed, either through the neglect of his friends, or because the king would not let go of the youth, who was by now very handsome and well-mannered.

In the meantime this lad trained himself diligently in the Christian religion, to prepare himself for his martyrdom, which seemed to him to be drawing near. When he was about thirteen and a half years old, he was brought before the king, and, standing there, he immediately began to confess his faith, declaring that he was ready to die for it.* But the king had something else in view than to hear the confession of the Son of God, or of the Christian faith, and he proposed to the youth, who was wholly innocent of evil, some improper things, which this hero of Christ valiantly and in a Christian manner refused, choosing rather to die an honorable death for the name of Christ than to live shamefully with the devil, and pollute both soul and body with such an abominable sin. [n363-2] The king, hoping that he could still be persuaded, commanded his servants to press him with fine promises, to this effect: that if he would apostatize, he should be brought up in royal splendor at the king's court. But the Lord, in whom he trusted, strengthened him against all the enticements of this world, so that he said, "I am a Christian, and will remain a Christian, and obey only Christ's commands all the days of my life."

The king, seeing that he remained steadfast, was filled with rage, and commanded his guards to take him, hang him up by iron tongs, and pinch him and haul him up and down until he should either die or renounce Christ as his Lord. But having gone through all this, he was as fearless as ever, and did not refuse to suffer still more tortures, even to death.

When the tyrant saw the immovable steadfastness of this youth, he commanded that they should cut him limb from limb and throw the pieces into the river. As he stood there before the king, dripping with blood from his earlier tortures, he prayed to no one but Jesus Christ our Lord, saying, "O Lord, deliver me out of the hands of my enemies." When he lifted up his hands to God [in prayer], the executioners pulled them apart and cut off first one arm, and then the other; and so also his legs, and, last of all, his head. When this was done, the pieces were thrown into the river.

So this young hero and pious witness of Jesus Christ ended his life on the 29th of June, in the year 925, his martyrdom having lasted from seven o'clock in the morning until evening. See the writer mentioned first, who has given the account of the Arabian persecution, on the page referred to, third column, compared with Raguele in Appendix, ab Eulog., super Pelagium.