ÁLVARO, PAOLO (Paulus Albarus, Alvarus), of CORDOVA. — Spanish medieval writer, Jewish by origin, born near Cordova at the end of the eighth century and died probably in 861. He was a fellow student of St. EULOGIA (v.) at the school of the abbot Sperandio (Sperandeus). Although a layman, he always promoted the interests of the Church and, together with his friend Eulogio, defended the faith
during the persecution under the caliph Abderrahman, also taking an interest in theological questions.
A poet and apologist, he left important writings, remarkable for their eloquence and strength of feeling:
1. Vita et passio 1. Eulogii, an affectionate tribute to the memory of his friend, a victim (859) of the persecution of the Moors.
2. Indiculus luminosus, of 854, an apology for martyrdom, including “spontaneous” martyrdom, and a lively indictment of the doctrines of Mohammed, represented as a precursor of the Antichrist.
3. Confessio Alvari, a dialogue with God in which he extols His attributes while describing his own unworthiness; he composed it in the last years of his life. It is rich in piety and biblical erudition.
4. Epistolary: 20 letters, including those addressed to him. The last ones (14–20) concern the apostate Eleazaro, who became a Jew from being a Christian: in them he discusses the messianic prophecies fulfilled in Christianity, and Jewish perfidy. — The correspondence between A. and Eulogio is included, in Migne, among the works of Eulogio (PL 115, 731 ff., 819 ff., and 841 ff.; cf. cols. 959–66).
5. Poemata: 12 sacred and profane poems: the one on the nightingale is much celebrated; noteworthy are the hexameters in honor of St. Girolamo and the hymn to Eulogio, and above all the verses on the library of Leovigildo, of interest for the biblical Canon and containing a magnificent eulogy of Scripture.
6. The attribution to A. of the Liber scintillarum, sive Lasi communes, a collection of sayings on virtues and vices drawn from Holy Scripture and the Fathers, formerly published among the works of Beda (VII, ed. Basilea 1563, pp. 515–627), is doubtful.