The Codex of Roda Note on Bishop Osius and Monk Ozim

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to comment from different points of view the note on the bishop Osius and the monk Ozim (Tultusceptrum de libro domini Metobii) transmitted by the codex Madrid, Real Academia de la Historia 78, f. 185v. It is noted especially its relation to other Hispanic texts of controversy against islam, the origin of tradition linking the prophet Muḥammad with the bishop Osius, and the survival of this legend in posterity. The author concludes that text should be understood primarily as a fable intended to wam the Christians about the effects of the rite of conversion to Islam.