the time of the Arab conquest. Berber Christians continued to live in Tunis and Nefzaoua in the south of Tunisia until the early 15th century, and "[i]n the first quarter of the fifteenth century, we even read that the native Christians of Tunis, though much assimilated, extended their church, perhaps because the last of the persecuted Christians from all over the Maghreb had gathered there." They were not in communion with the Catholic church of that time, however. Another group of Christians who came to North Africa after being deported from Islamic Spain were called the Mozarabic. They were recognised as forming the Moroccan Church by Pope Innocent IV. Christians in Morocco had mostly become slaves by the time of Ibn al-Ahmar and Ferdinand III of Castile. Celestine III had told Toledo's archbishop Martin to dispatch a priest for Christians in Morocco. Innocent III in 1198 requested the Almohads to allow the Trinitarian Order to perform its duties and in 1200 wrote a letter to the Christians enslaved there. Rebel Castilians had also served the Almohad caliphs and resided in Morocco. Pope Honorius III had requested the Almohads to allow the Christians to freely practice their faith. In June 1225, Honorius III issued the bull Vineae Domini custodes that permitted two friars of the Dominican Order named Dominic and Martin to establish a mission in Morocco and look after the affairs of Christians there. The friars of Francis of Assissi were dispatched to Morocco to evangelize to the Muslims but were killed. Honorius III on 20 February 1226 told Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada to dispatch Franciscans to convert the Moroccan Muslims. This mission had proved very difficult due to the fact that Christianity was widely dispersed in the region. The first known bishop of Morocco was appointed by Pope Gregory IX on 12 June 1237. The sultan Abd al-Wahid II in 1233 received a letter from the Pope referring to Bishop Agnello as the bishop of Fez. Lope Fernandez de Ain was appointed as the bishop of Morocco but wasn't able to establish himself before the Marinids captured Fez in 1248. Innocent IV had named him bishop of Church of Africa on 19 December 1246. The medieval Moroccan historian Ibn Abi Zar stated that the Almohad caliph Abu al-Ala Idris al-Ma'mun had built a church in Marrakech for the Christians to freely practice their faith at Fernando III's insistence. Innocent