Isidore of Seville

Lore & Background

Isidore was born in Cartago Spartaria to a notable family of high social rank. His father was Severianus and his mother Theodora. His elder brother Leander of Seville preceded him as archbishop, and his younger brother Fulgentius served as Bishop of Astigi; his sister Florentina was a nun. Isidore received his elementary education in the Cathedral school of Seville, where he mastered classical Latin and acquired some Greek and Hebrew. After Leander's death on 13 March 600 or 601, Isidore succeeded to the See of Seville and immediately constituted himself as protector of monks.

As archbishop, Isidore attempted to weld the peoples and subcultures of the Visigothic kingdom into a united nation, using all available religious resources. He practically eradicated the heresy of Arianism and stifled the new heresy of Acephali. He presided over the Second Council of Seville in November 619, which set forth the nature of Christ, and over an additional provincial council around 624 that dealt with a conflict over the See of Écija and forced conversions of Jews. He also presided over the Fourth National Council of Toledo, begun on 5 December 633, which promulgated a decree commanding all bishops to establish seminaries along the lines of the cathedral school at Seville.

Reader's Guide

Isidore of Seville's significance lies primarily in his role as a transmitter of classical knowledge to the medieval world. His Etymologiae, a 20-volume encyclopedia of 448 chapters, compiled extracts from many Roman handbooks and compendia, preserving fragments of classical learning that would otherwise have been lost. The work was so highly regarded that it superseded the use of many individual classics, which were then not recopied and have been lost. It was the most popular compendium in medieval libraries and was printed in at least ten editions between 1470 and 1530, showing continued popularity into the Renaissance.

Isidore also shaped ecclesiastical and educational policy. Through his influence, the Fourth Council of Toledo made the study of Greek, Hebrew, and the liberal arts obligatory for all bishops of the Visigothic kingdom, and encouraged interest in law and medicine. His work helped standardise the use of the full stop, comma, and colon. Since the Early Middle Ages, he has sometimes been called Isidore the Younger or Isidore Junior, because of an earlier history purportedly written by Isidore of Córdoba. His Latin style, though simple and lucid, reveals increasing local Visigothic traditions.

Did You Know?

• Isidore's Etymologiae helped standardise the use of the full stop, comma, and colon.
• He presided over the Fourth National Council of Toledo, which commanded all bishops to establish seminaries teaching Greek, Hebrew, and the liberal arts.
• Since the Early Middle Ages, Isidore has sometimes been called Isidore the Younger or Isidore Junior, because of an earlier history purportedly written by Isidore of Córdoba.
• His sister Florentina allegedly ruled over forty convents and one thousand consecrated religious, though this claim seems unlikely given the few functioning monastic institutions in Spania during her lifetime.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Letters are signs of things, symbols of words, whose power is so great that without a voice they speak to us the words of the absent; for they introduce words by the eye, not by the ear." — Isidore of Seville "Itaque sine Musica nulla disciplina potest esse perfecta, nihil enim sine illa. Nam et ipse mundus quadam harmonia sonorum fertur esse conpositus, et coelum ipsud sub harmoniae modulatione revolvi." — Isidore of Seville "Homo dictus, quia ex humo est factus, sicut [et] in Genesi dicitur (2,7): 'Et creavit Deus hominem de humo terrae.'" — Isidore of Seville "On w:creation of life from clay (creation of life from earth)." — Isidore of Seville