He was succeeded by Mohammed I. (852-886), a less capable and more
bigoted ruler than his father. No sooner was he on the throne than
Emila, a deacon, and Jeremiah a priest of St Cyprian's church, near
Cordova, following in the footsteps of so many predecessors, came
before the Kadi, and reviled Mohammed,--the former being enabled to do
this with the more point and effect, as he was to a remarkable degree
master of the Arabic language.[1] Emila and Jeremiah won the prize they
coveted, and were put to death (September 15, 852). The customary
prodigy occurred after the execution, in describing which the pious
Eulogius breaks into metre, saying, "Athletas cecidisse pios elementa
fatentur."

On the following day occurred an outrage which the most bigoted
partizans of the martyrs must have blushed to record. Two eunuchs,
Rogel, a monk of Parapanda, near Elvira, and Servio Deo, a eunuch of
foreign extraction, forced their way into a mosque, and by way of
preaching--as they said--to the assembled worshippers, they reviled
their Prophet and their religion. [2] Being set upon and nearly torn in
pieces by the infuriated congregation, they were rescued by the Kadi,
who imprisoned them till such time as their sentence should be declared.
They were condemned to have their hands and feet cut off, and be
beheaded; which sentence was carried into effect.[3]

[1] Eulog., "Mem. Sanct," ii. c. xii. Arabic boasts a larger
vocabulary of abuse than most languages: see the account of
Prof. Palmer's death in his Life by Besant.

[2] _Ibid._, c. xiii. secs. 1, 2.