St Isidore of Seville (560-636) patron of the internet
Two brothers bishops and a sister a distinguished abbess
Isidore's family
came from Cartagena in south eastern Spain, but he was probably born in
Seville.
His elder brother, Leander, became a great archbishop in
Seville and is venerated as a saint as are another brother, Fulgentius,
bishop of Ecija, and their sister, Florentina, a distinguished abbess.
Education
Leander oversaw Isidore's education
probably in a monastic school and he became the most learned person of
his generation and a leading authority on a wide range of subjects
through the Middle Ages.
Bishop of the Mozarabic liturgy
Isidore succeeded
his brother Leander as bishop in 599.
Recared the Visigoth had
converted from Arianism to Catholicism and both he and Isidore made
significant contributions to the culture of the new Catholic kingdom,
especially in the composition of the distinctively Spanish, or what is
now called Mozarabic, liturgy.
His Etymologies
A compiler of popular knowledge rather than an original thinker, Isidore's encyclopedic work is called the Etymologies, or Origins,
from the number of words whose meaning he explains.
Its 20 volumes
cover all human knowledge from grammar and mathematics to biology,
geography, classical literature and theology.
Acute critics point out
that not all his explanations are correct.
More critically approved
today is his History of the Goths, Vandals and Suebi.
Isidore also wrote a book of astronomy and natural history entitled De Rerum Natura.
It is probably because of his encyclopedic knowledge that he was chosen as the patron of the internet.
The ideal bishop
Isidore's description of the
ideal bishop is said to have inspired Pope John XXIII: "He who is set in
authority for the education and instruction of the people for their
good must be holy in all things and reprehensible in nothing.... Every
bishop should be distinguished as much by his humility as by his
authority... He is also to preserve that charity which exceeds all the
other gifts and without which all virtue is nothing."
Death and influence
Isidore died after a careful
preparation in 636. It was only when his remains were removed to Leon on
the route to Santiago de Compostela that his cult began to grow.
He was
canonised in 1598 and declared a doctor of the Church in 1722.