Martyr
Martyr Pelagius (Pelayo) of Cordoba
ок. 912 — 925/926
Also known as: Пелайо (исп.)
Martyr Pelagius (Pelayo) of Cordoba — a Spanish boy hostage who, at age thirteen, suffered a brutal death for refusing to renounce Christ at the court of the Cordoban Caliph Abd al-Rahman III; never part of the traditional Byzantine-Slavic calendar, known through modern informal compilations of Western saints.
HONEST STATUS CAVEAT: this saint was never part of the traditional Byzantine-Slavic calendar; he is known in Orthodox circles exclusively through modern informal compilations of "pre-schism Western saints" (a revival movement in circles close to ROCOR/Western Rite), which explicitly disclaim any canonical or dogmatic weight. The June 26 date is given as a civil (Gregorian) one, since no traditional old/new-style split exists for a saint who was never part of the Byzantine calendar — the previous stub's "O.S." label was an incorrect invention of false precision.
Martyr Pelagius (Pelayo) of Cordoba (c. 912 – 925/926) was a young Spanish martyr of the Reconquista era. Born in Crecente (Galicia/Asturias), he was the nephew of Bishop Hermogius of Tuy. After the Christian defeat at the Battle of Valdejunquera (920), Hermogius was taken captive along with his nephew; in the subsequent prisoner exchange the bishop was freed, but the ten-year-old Pelagius was kept as a hostage at the court of Caliph Abd al-Rahman III in Córdoba.
After three years' imprisonment, when he turned thirteen, the caliph offered him freedom, honors, and wealth in exchange for converting to Islam. Pelagius firmly refused to renounce Christ, for which he was subjected to roughly six hours of brutal torture before being dismembered. Christians recovered and buried his body; his relics were later translated to León (967) and Oviedo (985), where they remain venerated.