Isidore of Seville (560–636) was a crucial figure in the preservation and sharing of classical and early Christian knowledge. His compilations of the works of earlier authorities formed an essential part of monastic education for centuries. Due to the vast amount of information he gathered and its wide dissemination in the Middle Ages, Pope John Paul II even named Isidore the patron saint of the internet in 1997.
This volume represents a cross-section of the various approaches scholars have taken toward Isidore's writings. The essays explore his sources, how he selected and arranged them for posterity, and how his legacy was reflected in later generations' work across the early medieval West. Rich in archival detail, this collection provides a wealth of interdisciplinary expertise on one of history’s greatest intellectuals.
Author(s): Andrew Fear, Jamie Wood (eds.)
Series: Late Antique and Early Medieval Iberia
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Year: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 236
Preface / Paul Fouracre 7
1. Introduction / Andrew Fear and Jamie Wood 11
2. A Family Affair. Leander, Isidore and the Legacy of Gregory the Great in Spain / Jamie Wood 31
3. Variations on a Theme. Isidore and Pliny on Human and Human-Instigated Anomaly / Mary Beagon 57
4. Putting the Pieces Back Together. Isidore and De Natura Rerum / Andrew Fear 75
5. The Politics of History-Writing. Problematizing the Historiographical Origins of Isidore of Seville in Early Medieval Hispania / Michael J. Kelly 93
6. Isidorian Texts in Seventh-Century Ireland / Marina Smyth 111
7. Isidore of Seville in Anglo-Saxon England. The "Synonyma" as a Source of Felix's "Vita S. Guthlaci" / Claudia Di Sciacca 131
8. Hispania et Italia. Paul the Deacon, Isidore, and the Lombards / Christopher Heath 159
9. Rylands MS Latin 12. A Carolingian Example of Isidore's Reception into the Patristic Canon / Melissa Markauskas 177
10. Adoption, Adaptation, & Authority. The Use of Isidore in the Opus Caroli / Laura Carlson 209
Abbreviations 231
Index 233
