621: Isidore of Seville on the Origins of the Term “Saracens”: Difference between revisions

Isidore, archbishop of Sevilla, was born around 560. Thus, before he turned thirty, he witnessed the official conversion of the Visigoths to Catholicism in the reign of Reccared (r. 586–601). Isidore succeeded his brother Leander—a close associate of Reccared also acquainted with Pope Gregory I—as archbishop of Sevilla shortly before his brother’s death. During his tenure, Isidore maintained close ties to the Visigothic king Sisebut (r. 612-621). Isidore’s work ''De natura rerum'' (613) was dedicated to Sisebut, who in turn penned a treatise on lunar eclipses. Isidore replied to Sisebut’s endeavours to force Jews to convert with a treatise entitled “On the Catholic Faith Against the Jews” (''De fide catholica contra Iudaeos''). Aside from the ''Etymologiae'' cited here, his work includes a chronicle as well as a history of the Goths, Vandals, and Suevi, whose migrations were relevant to history of the Iberian Peninsula.<ref name="ftn1">Isidore of Seville, ''Etymologies'', trans. Barney et al., pp. 4-9.</ref>

The first version of the Etymologies (''Etymologiae'') was finished in 621.<ref name="ftn2">Fontaine, ''Isidore'', p. 173, 436.</ref> They can be regarded as a kind of early medieval Latin encyclopaedia that compiles and processes the knowledge available in Latin in the late antique Roman Empire. They are made up of twenty volumes, each of which is divided into topical chapters.<ref name="ftn3">Isidore of Seville, ''Etymologies'', trans. Barney et al., pp. 9-16.</ref> The ''Etymologiae ''cover a wide range of subjects ranging from language and medicine to various trades and so forth. In addition, they include passages dealing with astronomy, zoology, and geography, as well as descriptions of certain human activities.