Amador, Pedro and Luis of Martos

Amador, Pedro and Luis of Martos were three Mozarab clerics from Tucci (now Martos, Jaén), martyrs killed by Muslims at Córdoba on 30 April 855. They are venerated as saints by several Christian confessions and are the first saints of the diocese of Jaén. Their liturgical commemoration is 5 May.

Amador was the son of Christian parents, although the region was under Islamic rule, as part of the Caliphate of Córdoba. As a young man he went to Córdoba to study, with his parents and brothers. According to the work of Saint Eulogius of Córdoba, he was a good student, notable for prudence and honesty, which led him to the religious life and to ordination as a priest. With his friends Luis, brother of the deacon Paul of San Zoilo, executed in 851 and a relative of Bishop Eulogius, and the monk Pedro, he began to preach Christianity publicly, despite the prohibition and persecution decreed by the caliph Muhammad I. They were imprisoned and condemned to death, and all three were beheaded on 30 April 855. Their bodies were thrown into the river Guadalquivir. According to traditional legend, Amador's severed head, floating on the river, continued to preach.

The Christian community immediately regarded them as martyrs. The body of Pedro was recovered and buried at the monastery of Peñamelaria, that of Luis in the town of Palma del Río, but that of Amador was not found. Amador is patron of Martos.