Columba of Spain

Columba of Spain (also Columba of Córdoba) was a virgin and nun who was born in Córdoba, Spain, and martyred around 853 by the Muslim rulers in Spain, during a persecution of Christians. She is a part of the Martyrs of Córdoba and venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. Her feast day is September 17. Her cult was probably a combination of two virgin martyrs, Colomba of Spain and Columba of Sens, a third century French martyr.

Life Columba was born in Córdoba, Spain, the youngest of three children. According to hagiographer Alban Butler, Columba's biography was recorded by St. Eulogius of Córdoba, in The Memorial of the Saints, his account of the Christian persecution in Spain that began in 850. Also according to Butler, "even allowing for exaggeration, [Columba] had a high reputation for holiness". Columba's brother Martin was abbot of the men's section of the monastery. Columba was inspired by their example and was determined to become a nun, but her plans were, for a short time, thwarted by her mother, a widow who wanted Columba to marry. Shortly after her mother realized that her opposition was fruitless, she died, and Columba entered Tábanos. Wolf reported that Columba "suffered from overwhelming anxiety about her own shortcomings", Martyrdom was a way to "contribute in a positive way toward her own salvation".

Historian Allyson M. Poska states that Columba's cult was "probably a combination of two virgin martyrs": St. Columba of Sens (or Comba), a third century French martyr from Sens, and Columba of Spain. Poska speculates that a Visigothic church dedicated to Saint Columba in Bande (near the Portuguese border) may indicate the spread of her devotion before the Muslims invaded Spain. The legend probably became conflated with Columba of Sens when settlers repopulated Galicia after the Muslims were expelled from the region.