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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780521837491 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
| Publication date: | 06/08/2006 |
| Pages: | 488 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.83(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.30(d) |
About the Author
W. J. Lewis is a translator and editor. Her previous translations include two works by Galen: Hippocrates on the Nature of Man and On the Elements According to Hippocrates and she co-translated On the Properties of Discourse: A Translation of Tractatus de Proprietatibus Sermonum with Stephen Barney, Calvin Normore and Terence Parsons (1997).
Jennifer Beach is an independent classics scholar and senior documenter for a software engineering company. She worked for several years at the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae and continues to explore the relationship between classics and computer technology.
Oliver Berghof is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at California State University, San Marcos, and Lecturer in Humanities at the University of California, Irvine. His previous publications include Georg Forster: A Voyage Round the World (edited with Nicholas Thomas, 2000).
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Cambridge University Press
0521837499 - The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - by Stephen A. Barney, W. J. LewiS, J. A. Beach, Oliver Berghof and Muriel Hall
Excerpt
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
We are pleased to present the first complete English translation from the Latin of Isidore’s Etymologies. Isidore, Bishop of Seville, compiled the Etymologies (also known as the Origins) in the late teens and twenties of the seventh century, and left it nearly complete at his death in 636. In the form of an encyclopedia, it contains a compendium of much of the essential learning of the ancient Greco-Roman and early Christian worlds. In his important study of the Latin literary culture of medieval Europe, Ernst Robert Curtius spoke of the Etymologies as serving “the entire Middle Ages as a basic book.”1 It was arguably the most influential book, after the Bible, in the learned world of the Latin West for nearly a thousand years.
To get an idea of what a seventh-century Irish monk, or a lecturer at a cathedral school in the eleventh century, or an Italian poet of the fourteenth century, or a lexicographer of the sixteenth century could learn from the Etymologies, one might pick a bit of lore from each of the twenty books in which the work has come down to us. From Isidore, then, we learn that:
Plato divided physics into four categories: arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy (Ⅱ.ⅹⅹⅳ.4).
The term ‘cymbal’ derives from the Greek words for “with” and “dancing,” σύν and βαλά (Ⅲ.ⅹⅹⅱ.12).
A physician needs to know the Seven Liberal Arts of Grammar, Rhetoric, Dialectic, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and Astronomy (Ⅳ.ⅹⅲ.1–4.)
In ancient times execution by sword was preferred as speedier (Ⅴ.ⅹⅹⅶ.35).
Architects use green Carystean marble to panel libraries, because the green refreshes weary eyes (Ⅵ.ⅺ.2).
Esau had three names, meaning “red” (for the stew he made), “bloody” (for his complexion), and “hairy” (Ⅶ.ⅵ.33–34).
Aristotle says that Zoroaster, the first magician, composed two million verses (Ⅷ.ⅸ.1).
A soldier (miles) is so called because once there were a thousand (mille) in one troop (Ⅸ.ⅲ.32).
The word for a garrulous person (garrulus) derives from the name of the constantly chattering bird, the jackdaw (graculus) (Ⅹ.114).
In the womb, the knees (genua) are pressed against the face, and help to form the eye-sockets (genae); hence their name (Ⅺ.ⅰ.108).
The ibis purges itself by spewing water into its anus with its beak (Ⅻ.ⅶ.33).
Because of its brightness, lightning reaches the eyes before thunder reaches the ears (ⅫⅠ.ⅷ.2).
Gaul is so named from the whiteness of its people, for “milk” in Greek is γάλα (ⅩⅣ.ⅳ.25).
Minerva is ‘Athena’ in Greek; she is reputed to be inventor of many arts because various arts, and philosophy itself, consider the city of Athens their temple (ⅩⅤ.ⅰ.44).
Amber is not the sap of the poplar, but of pine, because when burned it smells like pine pitch (ⅩⅥ.ⅷ.6).
An altar was dedicated in Rome to Stercutus, who brought the technique of dunging (stercorare) fields to Italy (ⅩⅦ.ⅰ.3).
The battering ram takes its name ‘ram’ from its character, because it butts walls (ⅩⅧ.ⅺ.1).
The women of Arabia and Mesopotamia wear the veil called theristrum even today as a protection from heat (ⅩⅨ.ⅹⅹⅴ.6).
Wine (vinum) is so called because it replenishes the veins (vena) with blood (ⅩⅩ.ⅱ.2).
In the following introduction we provide sketches of Isidore’s historical setting, of his life and works, of the sources of the Etymologies, of the character of the work, and of its influence.2
Historical background
When Isidore was born around the middle of the sixth century, the Western Roman Empire no longer existed as a political entity. Gaul was now ruled by the Franks, and in Italy the Ostrogoths had just been defeated by Byzantine forces, who had also taken over North Africa from the Vandals a short time earlier. Spain, meanwhile, had been under Visigothic rule for over a century.3
The Visigoths, like the Ostrogoths, were a Germanic people, originally settled north of the Danube. In 376, under increasing pressure from the Huns, they were allowed by Roman authorities to cross the Danube and settle in Thrace. Their dealings with Rome within the Empire were rocky from the outset, and they soon rebelled, raiding throughout Thrace before defeating Roman forces outside Adrianople in 378. Fighting continued until the two sides reached an agreement in 382 which established the Visigoths as Roman allies bound to supply troops in return for subsidies and a certain amount of autonomy. By the end of the century relations had deteriorated again, however, and the Visigoths, led by Alaric (reigned 395–410), entered Italy and sacked Rome in 410 after they were unable to reach an agreement with the Emperor on the subsidies they were to receive. Still at odds with the Romans, they made their way to Southern Gaul in 412, and from there were driven by Emperor Constantius into Spain.
The Roman province of Hispania had been overrun a few years previous to this by a loose alliance of Germanic tribes, the Alans, the Vandals, and the Sueves. The Visigoths, faced with food shortages due to a Roman blockade, came to an agreement with Constantius to fight these earlier barbarian invaders on Rome’s behalf. After some success, they were resettled in Gaul in 418.
In 456, under Theodoric Ⅱ (reigned 453–466), the Visigoths invaded Spain again, where the Suevi had become the dominant power in the meantime. Theodoric’s forces did not manage to conquer the entire peninsula, however; areas held by the Suevi, Galicians and others continued to assert their independence for some time, and the Basque territories were never completely subdued.
In 507, Clovis, the king of the Franks, attacked the Gaulish part of the Visigothic kingdom, and over the next quarter century the Visigoths lost all their Gaulish territory apart from the region around Narbonne known as Septimania. From this point on, the Visigothic kingdom was essentially confined to the Spanish peninsula.23
It should be pointed out that although the Visigoths were rulers of Spain they probably only made up a small percentage of the population throughout the period under their rule; the majority of the inhabitants were Hispano-Roman. The new rulers retained a large part of the Roman administrative structure; Roman governors and officials continued to collect at least some Roman taxes4 and enforce Roman law.5 The two groups remained socially distinct, however; a ban from imperial times on intermarriage between Goths and Romans, for example, apparently remained in effect until the later part of the sixth century.6
Visigothic Spain was a politically unstable kingdom throughout most of the sixth century. Four successive kings were murdered (Amalric, Theudis, Theudisclus, and Agila). From 544, Byzantine forces intervened in Visigothic affairs, possibly at the invitation of Athanagild in his rebellion against Agila. By 557, the Byzantines occupied the southeastern coast of the peninsula, including the port city of Cartagena. Isidore’s parents appear to have left Cartagena at about this time, quite possibly as a result of this invasion. In the meantime, relations with the Franks to the north deteriorated and they began to threaten Visigothic Septimania and the Ebro Valley.
Following Athanagild’s death in 568, the Visigothic nobility chose Liuva to be king, and after Liuva’s death in 571 or 573, his brother Leovigild (the Visigothic monarchy was not hereditary, although sometimes a son did succeed his father to the throne). Under Leovigild, the kingdom saw its strength increase. The new king’s military successes restored territory that had been lost to the Byzantines and regained political control over rebellious areas (the city of Cordoba, for example, which had been in a state of rebellion since 550) and bordering regions in the northern part of the peninsula.
Leovigild’s attempt to win new converts to Arianism met with less success. Arianism was a form of Christianity that held that the three members of the Trinity were not equal and co-eternal – specifically that the Son was not God by nature but created, and not eternal like the Father.7891011 Catholic Christians condemned Arian doctrine as heresy at the Council of Nicaea in 325. The Goths, however, had already accepted Arianism when they converted to Christianity, and they continued to hold this doctrine as they moved westward into Gaul and then into Spain. Until Leovigild, the Gothic rulers had made no attempt to convert their largely Catholic subjects, and had apparently made little restriction on the practice of Catholicism, although the Catholic clergy had been deprived of some of their privileges. Under the Arian rulers, the Catholic Church in Spain had been free to convene synods, construct new churches and found monasteries, correspond with the Pope, and circulate their writings openly. The two Churches coexisted independently of each other, each with its own clergy, shrines, and other institutions.
Leovigild, however, mounted a serious campaign to expand Arianism, choosing persuasion and rewards as his instruments, rather than force. In 580 he summoned the first Arian synod held in Spain, and ruled that converts to Arianism no longer needed to be rebaptized, which presumably also made the process of conversion more appealing to Catholics. According to Gregory of Tours (Libri Historiarum Ⅹ, 6.18), Leovigild also attempted to win converts by redefining Arian doctrine to hold that the Father and Son were equal and co-eternal and only the Holy Spirit was not equal. Although he managed to win over a few important Catholic figures, including the Bishop of Saragossa, he lost ground in his own family, for by 582 his older son Hermenigild had converted to Catholicism.
Hermenigild’s conversion may have been based as much on political considerations as religious conviction. He had rebelled against his father in 579, soon after his marriage to a Frankish princess (Clovis, the king of the Franks, had converted to Catholicism around the beginning of the sixth century),8 and had declared himself the independent monarch over the southern part of the peninsula. For three years, Leovigild seems to have accepted the situation, making no attempt to regain control, while Hermenigild, for his part, did not seek to expand the territory under his rule. Some time around 582, Hermenigild converted to Catholicism, under the influence of Isidore’s brother Leander, according to Pope Gregory Ⅰ, a friend of Leander.9
In 583, Leovigild finally moved to retake the territory held by Hermenigild, and by 584 he had regained control and exiled Hermenigild to Valencia, where he was murdered the next year. Leovigild, in the meantime, continued his military successes, conquering the Suevic kingdom before he died in 586.
Reccared, Leovigild’s other son and Hermenigild’s younger brother, became king at his father’s death, and converted to Catholicism the following year. Again, as with Hermenigild, Leander of Seville was apparently instrumental in his conversion10. Reccared began systematically disassembling the Arian Church structure, reassigning Arian churches to the Catholic dioceses where they were located, and allowing Arian bishops who converted to retain their sees, even when this meant having two bishops in a single see. Most of the groundwork for these changes was laid at the kingdom-wide church Council convened by Reccared at Toledo in 589.11 Although he ordered the destruction of Arian books (and in fact no Arian documents are preserved from Visigothic Spain), there was little if any other persecution of Arians who refused to convert. In the first four years following his conversion, Reccared faced several Arian conspiracies and attempted revolts led by Gothic nobles, but these did not turn out to be serious threats, and within a generation Arianism appears to have died out.
One result of Reccared’s conversion to Catholicism was the formation of close ties between the monarchy and the Church. From this point forward, the Visigothic kings exercised control over the appointment of bishops and other decisions that had hitherto been made by the Church alone (see Letters Ⅳ and Ⅴ in the Appendix). In return, the Church, in particular the council of bishops, was given the authority and responsibility for overseeing secular offices like local judges and agents of the treasury estates.
Reccared died in 601, shortly after Isidore became Bishop of Seville, and was succeeded by his seventeen-year-old illegitimate son Liuva Ⅱ. Less than two years later, Liuva was deposed by Witteric, a Gothic noble. Witteric had Liuva’s right hand cut off to prevent him from retaking the throne (Visigothic tradition required that the monarch be able-bodied), and then, in 603, had him executed. Witteric himself was assassinated in 610. The assassins and their motivations have not been recorded, but Witteric was by all accounts not a popular king. Isidore speaks of him with disapproval, and other contemporaries complained of injustices suffered under his role. Gundemar took the throne after Witteric’s death, and involved himself, as Reccared had, in the councils of bishops, before dying two years later.
Sisebut then became king. He was a man of some intellectual attainment and authored, among other works, a poem on lunar eclipses (written in 613 as a response to Isidore’s cosmological treatise, De Natura Rerum) and a Life of St. Desiderius of Vienne.12 He was also noted by contemporaries for his personal piety, which led him to become deeply involved in the activities of the Church. According to Isidore, Sisebut’s anti-Jewish policy of forced conversion was based on zeal rather than knowledge.13 (Isidore may be referring to this campaign in Etymologies Ⅴ.ⅹⅹⅹⅸ.42.) Isidore did not entirely approve of this policy but apparently reserved his criticism until after Sisebut’s death.
Sisebut died in 621, of natural causes, or an overdose of medicine, or deliberate poisoning, depending on which account one credits.14 Reccared Ⅱ, his young son and successor, died shortly thereafter, and Suinthila took the throne. He began his reign by pushing back a Basque incursion into the province of Tarragona (see Letter Ⅱ). A further triumph followed a few years later when he succeeded in driving the Byzantines out of Spain. In one version of the Historia Gothorum, written during Suinthila’s reign, Isidore is lavish in his praise of the monarch. However, Suinthila was deposed in 631 by a group of nobles with Frankish assistance, and Sisenand was made king. Little is recorded about Sisenand’s reign aside from his participation in the Fourth Council of Toledo. He died in 636, the same year as Isidore.
Chronology
557: Byzantines occupy Cartagena.
ca. 560: Isidore is born.
572: Leovigild becomes king.
ca. 579: Hermenigild rebels.
586: Death of Leovigild; Reccared becomes king.
587: Reccared converts to Catholicism.
600: Leander dies. Isidore becomes Archbishop of Seville.
601/2: Reccared dies. Liuva Ⅱ becomes king.
603: Witteric dethrones and murders Liuva Ⅱ, and becomes king.
610: Witteric assassinated. Gundemar becomes king.
611/12: Death of Gundemar. Sisebut becomes king.
613: Isidore dedicates De Natura Rerum to Sisebut.
621: Sisebut dies. Reccared Ⅱ becomes king and dies shortly thereafter. Suinthila becomes king.
624: Suinthila drives the Byzantines completely out of Spain.
631: Suinthila is deposed. Sisenand becomes king.
636: Sisenand dies. Isidore dies.
Life and works
Few details can be given about Isidore’s life with any certainty. He was born some time around 560, about the time when his father Severianus relocated the family to Seville from Cartagena, where invading Byzantine forces had taken control. Isidore’s parents died while he was still young, and he was brought up and educated in Seville under the care of his older brother Leander, very likely in the monastery school where Leander was abbot (Riché 1976:289).
Leander, who became Bishop of Seville before 580, was an active and influential churchman.1516 He was a personal friend of Gregory, later Pope Gregory I, whom he encountered on a visit to Constantinople and who dedicated his Moralia to Leander. A connection of greater consequence for the kingdom of Spain was Leander’s friendship with King Leovigild’s sons Hermenigild and Reccared, the future king; it was under Leander’s guidance that both his royal friends converted from Arianism to Catholicism.
After Leander’s death, and shortly before Reccared died, Isidore was made Bishop of Seville, most likely in the year 600. His other brother, Fulgentius, as well as his sister Florentina, also chose to go into the Church; Fulgentius became Bishop of Ecija and Florentina entered a nunnery. As one of the leading churchmen in the country, Isidore presided over important Church councils in Seville (in 619) and Toledo (in 633). The close ties that had been established between the Visigothic monarchy and the Catholic Church after Reccared’s conversion make it likely that Isidore had some political influence as well. His relationship with King Sisebut (reigned 612–621) was particularly close, extending beyond practical matters of government to a personal friendship based on shared intellectual interests. Also important was his friendship with his younger colleague, Braulio, who was in Seville with Isidore until 619, when he became archdeacon (and later, in 631, bishop) of the Church in Saragossa. Their correspondence (see the letters attached to the Etymologies in the Appendix) provides a valuable glimpse of Isidore’s personality and daily life.
Isidore was deeply admired by his contemporaries for his scholarship and intellectual gifts. Although their praise for his Greek and Hebrew is perhaps unmerited (his knowledge of these languages appears to have extended only to disconnected Greek terms and phrases, and a smattering of Hebrew words), the breadth of his learning is nonetheless impressive.16 He was happy to draw on pagan authors as well as Church Fathers, and was familiar with works as various as Martial’s Epigrams, Tertullian’s On Spectacles, and Pliny the Elder’s Natural History. In spite of the demands of his episcopal office, Isidore nevertheless found time to produce a substantial body of writing. Braulio compiled a list of these works, the Renotatio Isidori, presented in the order in which they were written, shortly after Isidore’s death in 636:
Isidore, an excellent man, bishop of the Church at Seville, successor to and brother of Bishop Leander, flourished from the time of the Emperor Mauritius and King Reccared.17 Our own time indeed found in him a likeness to the knowledge of antiquity, and in him antiquity reclaimed something for itself. He was a man educated in every kind of expression, so that in the quality of his speech he was suited to both the ignorant audience and the learned. Indeed, he was famous for his incomparable eloquence, eloquence appropriate to the occasion. An intelligent reader can now very easily understand from his diverse undertakings and well-crafted works just how great Isidore’s knowledge was. Accordingly, I have noted down these thoughts about the works that have come to my notice. He published:
Two books of Differences (Differentiae), in which he used subtle distinctions to differentiate the meaning of terms whose use is confused.
One book of Introductions (Proemia), in which through brief notes he pointed out what each book of Holy Scripture contains.
One book On the Lives and Deaths of the Fathers (De Ortu et Obitu Patrum), in which he noted with thoughtful brevity their deeds and worthiness, their deaths and burials.
Two books of Offices (Officia), for his brother Fulgentius, Bishop of Ecija, in which he set out the origin of the Offices and why each Office is performed in the Church of God, with interpretations of his own pen, but not without the authority of our forefathers.
Two books of Synonyms (Synonyma), with which, through the intervening exhortation of reason, he encouraged the reader to a consolation of the soul and a hope of receiving forgiveness.
One book On the Nature of Things (De Natura Rerum), addressed to King Sisebut, in which he resolved certain obscure matters concerning the elements, relying on his study of both the Doctors of the Church and the philosophers.
One book On Numbers (De Numeris), in which he touched in part on the discipline of mathematics, on account of the numbers which are inserted in Sacred Scripture.
One book On the Names of the Law and the Gospels (De Nominibus Legis et Evangeliorum), in which he shows what the people who are mentioned signify in a mystical sense.
One book On Heresies (De Haeresibus), in which, following the examples of our forefathers, he gathers diverse topics, being as brief as he can.
Three books of Sentences (Sententiae), which he ornamented with flowers from the book of Morals by Pope Gregory.
One book of Chronicles (Chronicon), from the creation of the world up until his own time, collected with great brevity.
Two books Against the Jews (Contra Judaeos), at the request of his sister Florentina, a virgin (i.e. a nun) in her way of life, in which he demonstrated everything that the Catholic Church believes based on the evidence of the Law and of the Prophets (i.e. based on the Hebrew Scriptures alone).
One book On Illustrious Men (De Viris Illustribus), to which we are adding this entry.1718
One book of the Monastic Rule (Monastica Regula), which he tempered most fittingly for use in this country and for the souls of the weak.
One book On the Origin of the Goths, and also The Kingdom of the Suevi, and The History of the Vandals (De Origine Gothorum et Regno Suevorum et etiam Vandalorum Historia).
Two books of Questions (Quaestiones), which the reader may recognize as an abundant anthology of ancient treatises.
The Etymologies (Etymologiae), a codex of enormous size, divided by him into topics, not books. Although he left it unfinished, I divided it into twenty (or, “fifteen,” in some manuscripts) books, since he wrote the work at my request. Whoever thoughtfully and thoroughly reads through this work, which is suited to philosophy in every respect, will not be ignorant of the knowledge of human and divine matters, and deservedly so. Overflowing with eloquence of various arts with regard to nearly every point of them that ought to be known, it collects them in a summarized form.
There are also other minor works by this man, and abundantly ornamented writings in the Church of God. After such misfortune in Spain in recent years, God encouraged him, as if he were setting up a prop – to preserve the ancient monuments, I believe, lest we decay into rusticity. To him we may fittingly apply the philosopher’s comment (Cicero, Academica Posteriora 1.3): “Your books have brought us back, as if to our home, when we were roving and wandering in our own city like strangers, so that we might sometimes be able to understand who and where we are. You have laid open the lifetime of our country, the description of the ages, the laws of sacred matters and of priests, learning both domestic and public, the names, kinds, functions and causes of settlements, regions, places, and all matters both human and divine.”19
The proceedings of the Council at Seville, at which he was present, declare how with a flood of eloquence he pierced through the heresy of the Acephalites (see Ⅷ. ⅴ. 66) with the arrows of divine Scripture and the testimonies of the Church Fathers. In this council he asserted the truth against Gregorius, leader of the aforementioned heresy.
Isidore died during the reign of the Emperor Heraclius and of the most Christian King Chintila.202122 He was outstanding above everyone with his sound doctrine, and very generous in his works of charity.
All of these works except On Heresies (the subject of Etymologies Ⅷ.ⅴ) are still extant. They range in date from what is presumably the earliest, the first book of the Differentiae, around 600, to around 625. Four of them focus closely on the Bible. The Introductions gives a brief description of each book of the Bible, and the On the Lives and Deaths of the Fathers is a collection containing short biographies of important Biblical figures. In spite of Braulio’s description, On Numbers is a religious rather than mathematical treatise; in it Isidore discusses the symbolic interpretation of numerals contained in the text of the Bible. On the Names of the Law and the Gospels, also known as the Allegories (Allegoriae), is a similar discussion of the symbolism of Biblical names.
Against the Jews is an attempt to win converts from Judaism to Christianity by means of rational persuasion; it was most likely written around the time of King Sisebut’s campaign of forced conversion (see above, p. 6), and may be seen as an alternative approach in contrast to Sisebut’s harsher measures. In the first book Isidore argues that Old Testament prophets foresaw the birth, death, resurrection, and divinity of Christ, while the second book presents passages from the prophets that Isidore interprets as condemning Jewish rituals.
The four other surviving theological works deal with the Church and the duties of Christians. The first book of Offices (also the subject of Etymologies Ⅵ.ⅺⅹ) gives a history of the Catholic liturgy, and is an important source of information about the Mozarabic liturgy. The second book deals with the various ecclesiastical offices and their duties. The Monastic Rule and the Sentences are more instructional works, the first providing an introduction to monastic life in simple and straightforward language, and the second a guide to Church doctrine and Christian conduct of life. In the Synonyms, Isidore presents a contemplation on sin and conversion, relying on synonyms to reiterate and emphasize each point of his message.
On the Nature of Things is a detailed cosmology dealing with astronomy, meteorology, and other natural phenomena, as well as with the human conventions of time-keeping and calendars.
The Chronicles, although a useful source for the history of Visigothic Spain, is otherwise mainly derivative of earlier chronicles, particularly Eusebius’s chronicle (ca. 326), translated and continued by Jerome (ca. 378), and Prosper of Aquitaine (ca. 455) and others. Like the History of the Goths, it draws from Julius Africanus, Eusebius’s universal history, Orosius’s History against the Pagans, other works of Jerome, Augustine, and Cassiodorus. There are two versions, both by Isidore, one completed in 615/16, during Sisebut’s reign, and the other completed in 626. Etymologies Ⅴ.ⅹⅹⅹⅸ incorporates an abbreviated version of the chronicle; the fact that it uses materials found in the 626 version shows that the work dedicated to Sisebut before 621 was not the complete Etymologies as we now have it.21 There are likewise two extant versions of On the Origin of the Goths, one that ends with the death of Sisebut in 621 and one that continues up through 625, in the middle of Suinthila’s reign. It is not clear which is the later version; it may be that the longer account was written first and that Isidore thought it prudent to excise the final section after Suinthila’s fall from power.22 The Kingdom of the Suevi and The History of the Vandals, although Braulio speaks of them as if they and On the Origin of the Goths were a single work, appear to be brief but separate histories, which have been appended to the larger work. In On Illustrious Men, Isidore presents thirty-three brief biographies of important Christian figures, mainly writers, from various countries (many Spaniards) and eras, including his brother Leander. It is a continuation of works with the same title by Jerome (ca. 392) and his continuator Gennadius (ca. 490); all three sketch the lives of prominent Christians, as an answer to Suetonius Tranquillus’s De Viris Illustribus.23
Like the Etymologies, the Differences is closely concerned with the form and meaning of individual words. The first book explains the distinctions between pairs of words that are either synonyms or homophones, and gives instructions for correct usage. The second book focuses on the differences between things; between angels, demons, and men, for example.
A second early notice of Isidore and his works was included by Ildefonsus, bishop of Toledo, in his work On Illustrious Men, a continuation of the Jerome–Gennadius–Isidore tradition.24 Ildefonsus was reputed to have been a student of Isidore’s; he completed the work shortly before his death in 667. The notice (cap. 8) follows:
Isidore held the bishopric of the see of Seville, in the Province of Baetica, after his brother Leander. He was a man esteemed for both his propriety and his intellect. In speaking he had acquired a supply of such pleasing eloquence that his admirable richness of speech amazed his listeners. Indeed, someone who had heard a sermon of his a second time would not approve unless it were repeated still further. He wrote not a few exceptional works, that is:
The Types of Offices,
The Book of Prefaces,
The Births and Deaths of the Fathers,
A book of lamentations, which he himself called the Synonyms,
Two little books written for his sister Florentina, Against the Iniquity of the Jews,
A book for King Sisebut, On the Nature of Things,
A book of Differences,
A book of Sentences.
He also collected into one place from various authors what he himself called the Exposition of the Secret Sacraments. It is also known as the Questions.
Finally, in response to a request from Braulio, Bishop of Saragossa, his book of Etymologies. He tried to fulfill this request completely over the course of many years, and seemed to finish his final days engaged in this work.
He was active during the reigns of Reccared, Liuva, Witteric, Gundemar, Sisebut, Suinthila, and Sisenand. He held the honor of the bishopric for almost forty years, and maintained the distinction of its holy doctrine, its glory as well as its propriety.
Obviously a good deal of Isidore’s earlier writing was taken over into the Etymologies, which Isidore must have considered the summa of his scholarly career. Presumably he began work on it before the death of Sisebut early in 621, and he left it unfinished at his death in 636.
Isidore was officially canonized as a saint in 1598, and was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1722. His feast day is April 4.
The sources of the Etymologies
Isidore acknowledges, in the dedication (before 621) to King Sisebut prefaced to an early draft (perhaps Books Ⅰ–Ⅹ) of the Etymologies, that his work compiles material “gathered from my recollection (or, “record”) of readings from antiquity” (see the appended Letter Ⅵ). This is no mere topos of humility; nearly the whole work, in fact, consists of intricately woven excerpts and paraphrases of the works of earlier writers. To assess Isidore’s achievement we cannot look to original researches or innovative interpretations, but rather to the ambition of the whole design, to his powers of selection and organization, and to his grand2324 retentiveness. His aims were not novelty but authority, not originality but accessibility, not augmenting but preserving and transmitting knowledge.
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