Isidore of Seville
The last scholar of the ancient world
Born in approximately 560 and dying on 4 April 636, Isidore of Seville was a Hispano-Roman archbishop, theologian, and scholar.[1] Isidore's posthumous reputation depends mainly on the Etymologiae, an encyclopedia that gathered excerpts from numerous classical books that would have been lost without it.[2]
Quick Facts
- Born
- c. 560
- Died
- 4 April 636
- Feast day
- 4 April
- Venerated in
- Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
- Birthplace
- Cartago Spartaria, Eastern Roman Empire
- Place of death
- Hispalis, Visigothic Kingdom
- Titles
- Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church
- Canonized
- Pre-Congregation
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Isidore's birthplace was Cartago Spartaria (modern Cartagena, Spain); his parents were Severianus and Theodora, and the family held high social rank.[3] At Seville's Cathedral school, where the trivium and quadrivium formed the curriculum, Isidore obtained his elementary education.[4] Once he became bishop, Isidore promptly made himself the defender of monks.[4] The Second Council of Seville, which began on 13 November 619 during the reign of Sisebut, was presided over by Isidore.[4]
On 5 December 633, the Fourth National Council of Toledo commenced, with all bishops of Hispania present; the elderly Isidore led its proceedings.[5] Owing to Isidore's impact, that council issued a decree requiring every bishop to set up seminaries in their cathedral cities.[4] Isidore made Aristotle known to his fellow countrymen well before the Arabs engaged extensively with Greek philosophy.[4] Pope Innocent XIII declared Isidore a Doctor of the Church in 1722.[5]
What the cited sources add
Dumont also records that Isidore's contemporary Braulio regarded him as a man raised up by God to save the Spanish people from barbarism.[4] The same source notes that the Eighth Council of Toledo (653) called Isidore "the extraordinary doctor, the latest ornament of the Catholic Church"[4] According to the Dumont Catholic Encyclopedia entry, Isidore's work gave fresh momentum to encyclopedic writing, which produced plentiful results in later medieval centuries.[4]
References
- Wikipedia, "Isidore of Seville" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Montalembert, Charles F. Les Moines d'Occident depuis Saint Benoît jusqu'à Saint Bernard [The Monks of the West from Saint Benedict to Saint Bernard]. Paris: J. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Isidore of Seville" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Houston, "The mysterious origins of punctuation", www.bbc.com, 2 September 2015 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Isidore of Seville" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Priscilla Throop, Isidore of Seville's Etymologies: Complete English Translation. Vermont: MedievalMS, 2005, p. xi.; Priscilla Throop, Isidore of Seville's Etymologies: Complete English Translation. Vermont: MedievalMS, 2005, p. xi. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Dumont, "St. Isidore of Seville", New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia. facts only, no text reused. newadvent.org
- Wikipedia, "Isidore of Seville" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dumont, "St. Isidore of Seville", New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Isidore of Seville (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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