Saint Isidore of Seville (
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
: or ,
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
: ) (c. 560 – April 4,
636-Byzantine Empire:* August 20—Battle of Yarmuk: Khalid ibn al-Walid's victory against the Byzantine army results in the Byzantine Empire losing Roman Syria to the Muslim Arabs.-Persian Empire:...
) was
ArchbishopIn Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. In many Christian Churches, this means that they lead a diocese of particular importance called an archdiocese, or in the Anglican Communion an Ecclesiastical Province, but this is not always the case. An archbishop is equivalent to a bishop in...
of
SevilleSeville is the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level. The inhabitants of the city are known as Sevillanos or...
for more than three decades and is considered, as Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien" ("the last scholar of the ancient world"). Indeed, all the later medieval history-writing of
HispaniaHispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior...
(the
Iberian PeninsulaThe Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas...
, comprising modern
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
and
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
) were based on his histories.
At a time of disintegration of classical culture, and aristocratic violence and illiteracy, he was involved in the conversion of the royal Visigothic
AriansArianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heretic at the First Council of Nicea of 325, later exonerated in 335 at the First Synod of Tyre, and then pronounced a heretic again after his death at the First Council of Constantinople of 381...
to Catholicism, both assisting his brother
Leander of SevilleSaint Leander of Seville , brother of the encyclopedist St. Isidore of Seville, was the Catholic Bishop of Seville who was instrumental in effecting the conversion to Catholicism of the Visigothic kings Hermengild and Reccared of Hispania .-Family:Leander and Isidore...
, and continuing after his brother's death. Like Leander, he played a prominent role in the
Councils of ToledoCouncils of Toledo . From the fifth to the seventh century, about thirty synods, variously counted, were held at Toledo in what would come to be part of Spain. The earliest, directed against Priscillianism, assembled in 400. The "third" synod of 589 marked the epoch-making conversion of King...
and Seville. The Visigothic legislation which resulted from these councils is regarded by modern historians as exercising an important influence on the beginnings of representative government.
Childhood and education
Isidore was born in
Cartagena, SpainCartagena is a Spanish Mediterranean city and naval station in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula in the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia....
, to Severianus and Theodora, part of an influential family who were instrumental in the political-religious manoeuvring that converted the Visigothic kings from Arianism to Catholicism, and were all awarded sainthoods:
- His elder brother, Leander, was his immediate predecessor in the Catholic Metropolitan See of Seville, and while in office opposed king Liuvigild
Liuvigild, Leuvigild, Leovigild, or Leogild was Visigothic King of Hispania and Septimania and since 585 of Galicia too. Their reign was located in most of modern Spain down to Toledo from 569 to April 21, 586. He was born c...
- A younger brother, Fulgentius, was awarded the Bishopric
In some forms of Christianity, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a bishop. It is also referred to as a bishopric or Episcopal Area or episcopal see, though strictly the term episcopal see refers to the domain of ecclesiastical authority officially held by the bishop,...
of Astigi at the start of the new reign of the Catholic King ReccaredReccared I was Visigothic King of Hispania, Septimania and Galicia. His reign marked a climactic shift in history, with the king's renunciation of traditional Arianism in favour of Catholic Christianity in 587....
.
- His sister Saint Florentina
Saint Florentina is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. Born towards the middle of the sixth century in Cartagena, Hispania, she and her family were actively engaged in furthering the best interests of Christianity....
was a nun, and is said to have ruled over forty convents and one thousand religious.
Isidore received his elementary education in the Cathedral school of Seville. In this institution, which was the first of its kind in Hispania, the trivium and
quadriviumThe quadrivium comprised the four subjects, or arts, taught in medieval universities after the trivium. The word is Latin, meaning "the four ways" or "the four roads": the completion of the liberal arts. The quadrivium consisted of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy...
were taught by a body of learned men, among whom was the archbishop, Leander. With such diligence did he apply himself to study that in a remarkably short time mastered Latin,
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
, and
HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Culturally, it is considered a Jewish language. Hebrew in its modern form is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel while Classical Hebrew has been used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world for over...
.
Whether Isidore ever embraced monastic life or not is still an open question, but though he himself may never have been affiliated with any of the religious orders, he esteemed them highly — on his elevation to the episcopate he immediately constituted himself protector of the monks and in 619 he pronounced anathema against any ecclesiastic who should in any way molest the monasteries.
Bishop of Seville
After the death of Leander, Isidore succeeded to the
See of SevilleThe Archdiocese of Seville is part of the Catholic Church in Seville, Spain. The Diocese of Seville was founded in the 3rd Century. It was raised to the level of an archdiocese in the 4th Century. The current Archbishop is Carlos Cardinal Amigo Vallejo...
.
His long incumbency in this office was spent in a period of disintegration and transition. The ancient institutions and classic learning of the
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
were fast disappearing. For almost two centuries the
GothsThe Goths were a heterogeneous East Germanic tribe. The historian Jordanes claimed that the Goths arrived from semi-legendary Scandza, believed to be somewhere in modern Götaland , and that a Gothic population had crossed the Baltic Sea before the 2nd century, lending their name to the region of...
had been in full control of Hispania, and their barbarous manners and contempt of learning threatened greatly to put back her progress in civilization.
Realizing that the spiritual as well as the material well-being of the nation depended on the full assimilation of the foreign elements, Isidore set himself to the task of welding into a homogeneous nation the various peoples who made up the Gothic kingdom. To this end he availed himself of all the resources of religion and education. His efforts were attended with complete success.
ArianismArianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heretic at the First Council of Nicea of 325, later exonerated in 335 at the First Synod of Tyre, and then pronounced a heretic again after his death at the First Council of Constantinople of 381...
, which had taken deep root among the Visigoths, was eradicated, and the new
heresyHeresy is proposing some unorthodox change to an established system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established opinion of scholars of that belief such as canon. It is sometimes confused with apostasy which is disaffiliation from orthodoxy and blasphemy which is...
of Acephales was completely stifled at the very outset; religious discipline was everywhere strengthened.
Second Synod of Seville (November 618 or 619)
Isidore presided over the Second Council of Seville, begun November 13,
619- Asia :* The Second Perso-Turkic War is fought and ended with Decisive Sassanid victory.* The Meccan boycott of Hashemites and Muhammad ends.- Arts and sciences :...
, in the reign of King Sisebut. The bishops of Gaul and Narbonne attended, as well as the Hispanic prelates. In the Council's Acts the nature of Christ is fully set forth, countering Arian conceptions.
Fourth National Council of Toledo
At this council, begun December 5,
633- Europe :* Oswald of Bernicia becomes Bretwalda.* Osric becomes king of Deira.* Battle of Hatfield Chase: Penda of Mercia and Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd defeat and kill Edwin of Northumbria.- Deaths :* October 12—Edwin, king of Northumbria and Bretwalda...
, all the bishops of Hispania were in attendance. Isidore, though far advanced in years, presided over its deliberations, and was the originator of most of its enactments.
The council probably expressed with tolerable accuracy the mind and influence of Isidore. The position and deference granted to the king is remarkable. The Church is free and independent, yet bound in solemn allegiance to the acknowledged king: nothing was said of allegiance to the Bishop of Rome.
It was at the Fourth National Council of Toledo and through his influence that a decree was promulgated commanding and requiring all bishops to establish seminaries in their Cathedral Cities, along the lines of the school associated with Isidore already existing at Seville. Within his own jurisdiction he had availed himself of the resources of education to counteract the growing influence of Gothic barbarism. His was the quickening spirit that animated the educational movement of which Seville was the centre. The study of Greek and Hebrew, as well as the liberal arts, was prescribed. Interest in
lawLaw is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets...
and
medicineMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
was also encouraged. Through the authority of the fourth council this policy of education was made obligatory upon all the bishops of the kingdom.
Works
Isidore's Latin style in the
Etymologiae and elsewhere, though simple and lucid, cannot be said to be classical, affected as it was by local Visigothic traditions. It discloses most of the imperfections peculiar to all ages of transition and particularly reveals a growing Visigothic influence.
Etymologiae
Isidore was the first
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
writer to essay the task of compiling for his co-religionists a summa of universal knowledge, in the form of his most important work, the
EtymologiaeEtymologiae is an encyclopedia compiled byIsidore of Seville towards the end of his life, at the urging of his friend Braulio, Bishop of Saragossa, to whom Isidore, at the end of his life, sent his codex inemendatus , which seems to have begun circulating before Braulio was able to revise it,...
(taking its title from the method he used in the transcription of his era's knowledge). It is also known by classicists as the
Origines (the standard abbreviation being
Orig.). This
encyclopediaAn encyclopedia is a comprehensive written compendium that holds information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge. Encyclopedias are divided into articles with one article on each subject covered...
— the first known to be compiled in medieval civilization —
epitomizedAn epitome is a summary or miniature form; an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment....
all learning, ancient as well as modern, forming a huge compilation of 448 chapters in 20 volumes. In it many fragments of classical learning are preserved which otherwise would have been hopelessly lost but, on the other hand, some of these fragments were lost in the first place because Isidore’s work was so highly regarded that it superseded the use of many individual works of the classics themselves, which were not recopied and have therefore been lost.
The fame of this work imparted a new impetus to encyclopedic writing, which bore abundant fruit in the subsequent centuries of the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
. It was the most popular compendium in medieval libraries. It was printed in at least 10 editions between 1470 and 1530, showing Isidore's continued popularity in the
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
. Until the twelfth century brought translations from Arabic sources, Isidore transmitted what western Europeans remembered of the works of
AristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology.Together with Plato and Socrates , Aristotle is one of...
and other Greeks, although he understood only a limited amount of Greek. The
Etymologiae was much copied, particularly into medieval
bestiariesA bestiary, or Bestiarum vocabulum is a compendium of beasts. Bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals, birds and even rocks. The natural history and illustration of each beast was usually accompanied by a moral lesson...
.
The shape of the Earth
Isidore taught in the
Etymologiae that the Earth was round. His meaning was ambiguous and some writers think he referred to a disc-shaped Earth; his other writings make it clear, however, that he considered the Earth to be globular. He also admitted the possibility of people dwelling at the
antipodesIn geography, the antipodes of any place on Earth is the point on the Earth's surface which is diametrically opposite to it...
, considering them as legendary and noting that there was no evidence for their existence. Isidore's disc-shaped analogy continued to be used through the Middle Ages by authors clearly favouring a spherical Earth, e.g. the 9th century bishop
Rabanus MaurusRabanus Maurus Magnentius , also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus, was a Frankish Benedictine monk, the archbishop of Mainz in Germany and a theologian. He was the author of the encyclopaedia De rerum naturis . He also wrote treatises on education and grammar and commentaries on the Bible...
who compared the habitable part of the northern hemisphere (
AristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology.Together with Plato and Socrates , Aristotle is one of...
's northern temperate clime) with a wheel, imagined as a slice of the whole sphere. See also:
Flat EarthThe Flat Earth model is a view that the Earth's shape is a flat plane.Various cultures have had conceptions of a flat Earth, including ancient Babylon, Ancient Egypt, pre-Classical Greece and pre-17th century China. This view contrasts with the realization first recorded around the 4th century BC...
.
On the Catholic Faith against the Jews
Isidore's
De fide catholica contra Iudeaos furthers St. Augustine's ideas on the Jewish presence in Christian society. Like Augustine, Isidore accepted the necessity of the Jewish presence because of their expected role in the anticipated
Second ComingIn most Christian theologies, the Second Coming of Christ is the return of Jesus from Heaven to earth, an event expected to fulfill aspects of Biblical Messianic prophecy, such as the general resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment of the dead and the living and the full establishment of the...
of Christ. In
De fide catholica contra Iudeaos, Isidore exceeds the anti-rabbinic polemics of earlier theologians by criticizing Jewish practice as deliberately disingenuous.
Other works
His other works include
- Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum
The Historia ' Gothorum, is a Latin history of the Goths from 265 to 624, written by Isidore of Seville. It is a condensed account and, due to its diverse sources, somewhat inconsistent...
(a history of the Goths, Vandals and Suebi kings)
- his Chronica Majora (a universal history
Universal history is basic to the Western tradition of historiography, especially the Abrahamic wellspring of that tradition. Simply stated, universal history is the presentation of the history of mankind as a whole, as a coherent unit.-Ancient authors:...
)
- De differentiis verborum, which amounts to brief theological treatise on the doctrine of the Trinity, the nature of Christ, of Paradise, angels, and men.
- On the Nature of Things (not the poem of Lucretius
Titus Lucretius Carus was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the epic philosophical poem on Epicureanism De rerum natura, translated into English as On the Nature of Things or "On the Nature of the Universe"....
, but the book of astronomy and natural history dedicated to the Visigothic king Sisebut)
- Questions on the Old Testament.
- a mystical treatise on the allegorical meanings of numbers
- a number of brief letters
- Sententiae libri tres (Codex Sang. 228, 9th century)
Afterlife
Isidore was the last of the ancient Christian philosophers, as he was the last of the great Latin Church Fathers. Some consider him to be the most learned man of his age, and he exercised a far-reaching and immeasurable influence on the educational life of the Middle Ages. His contemporary and friend,
Braulio-See also:*Braulio García, a Spanish singer-songwriter.*Braulio of Zaragoza, a Bishop of Zaragoza....
, Bishop of Saragossa, regarded him as a man raised up by God to save the Iberian peoples from the tidal wave of barbarism that threatened to inundate the ancient civilization of Hispania. The Eighth Council of Toledo (653) recorded its admiration of his character in these glowing terms: "The extraordinary doctor, the latest ornament of the Catholic Church, the most learned man of the latter ages, always to be named with reverence, Isidore". This tribute was endorsed by the Fifteenth Council of Toledo, held in 688.
In 712, as Seville was overrun during the Arab conquest of Spain, his remains were transferred to the
Basilica of San IsidoroThe Basilica of San Isidoro of León stands on land which was once a Roman temple. Its Christian roots can be traced back to the early 10th century when a monastery for Saint John the Baptist was erected on the grounds.- Overview :...
in
LeonThe city of León is the capital of León province in the autonomous community of Castile and León, in northwest Spain. Its population of 136,985 makes it the largest municipality in the province, accounting for over one quarter of the province's population...
.
He was
canonizedCanonization is the act by which a particular Christian church or group declares a deceased person to be a saint and is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints...
a
saintSaints, individuals of exceptional holiness, are significant in many religions, particularly Christianity.-General characteristics :Though the term is mostly used for Christians considered holy or virtuous, many religions use similar concepts to elevate people worthy of respect, e.g. see Hindu...
by the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
in 1598 by
Pope Clement VIIIPope Clement VIII , born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was Pope from 30 January, 1592 to 3 March, 1605.-Cardinal:...
and declared a
Doctor of the ChurchDoctor of the Church is a title given by a variety of Christian churches to individuals whom they recognize as having been of particular importance, particularly regarding their additions to theological or doctrinal matters.-Catholicism:In Catholicism, this title is given to a saint from whose...
in 1722 by
Pope Innocent XIIIPope Innocent XIII was pope from 1721 until his death.He was born Michelangelo Conti in Poli, near Rome. Like Pope Innocent III , Pope Gregory IX and Pope Alexander IV , he was a member of the family of the Conti, counts and dukes of Segni...
.
In
DanteDANTE is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various National Research and Education Networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
's Paradise (Paradiso X.130), he is mentioned among theologians and Doctors of the Church alongside the Scot
Richard of St. VictorRichard of Saint Victor , was one of the most important mystical theologians of 12th century Paris, then the intellectual center of Europe. Richard, a Scot, was prior of the famous Augustinian abbey of Saint-Victor in Paris from 1162 until his death in 1173.Richard was a student of the great...
and the Englishman
Bede the VenerableBede , also Saint Bede, the Venerable Bede, or Beda , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria.He is well known as an author and...
.
In 2003 he was proposed as the
patron saintA patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, or person. Patron saints, because they have already transcended to the metaphysical, are able to intercede effectively for the needs of their special charges...
of the Internet, but was not among the top six vote totals in an Italian Internet poll. The
University of DaytonThe University of Dayton is a private Roman Catholic university operated by the Society of Mary located in Dayton, Ohio...
has named their implementation of the
Sakai ProjectThis page is about the software project, for other meanings, see Sakai.Sakai is a community of academic institutions, commercial organizations and individuals who work together to develop a common Collaboration and Learning Environment...
in honor of Saint Isidore.
Primary sources
- Barney, Stephen A., Lewis, W. J., Beach, J. A. and Berghof, Oliver (translators). The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN 0521837499, ISBN 9780521837491. (This is the first complete English translation of the Etymologiae.)
Secondary sources
- Henderson, John. The Medieval World of Isidore of Seville: Truth from Words. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-521-86740-1.
- Herren, Michael. "On the Earliest Irish Acquaintance with Isidore of Seville." Visigothic Spain: New Approaches. James, Edward
Edward James is Professor of Medieval History at University College, Dublin. He received a BA 1968; DPhil in 1975. He was a Lecturer, then College Lecturer, at the Department of Medieval History, University College Dublin from 1970-1978...
(ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. ISBN 0-19-822543-1.
- Englisch,Brigitte."Die Artes liberales im frühen Mittelalter." Stuttgart, 1994.
- Henry Wace, Dictionary of Christian Biography
- Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911 edition: Isidore of Seville
Other material