St. Isidore of Seville, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

St. Isidore of Seville, Bishop and Doctor of the Church: ca. 560-636 A.D.

Feast day, April 4

Birth and family background

St. Isidore, bishop of Seville, was born at Cartagena, Spain, in 560 A.D., to a pious and noble family of Hispanic-Roman origin. Two of his brothers, Leander (26 years older than Isidore and a Benedictine monk) and Fulgentius, like Isidore, became bishops and saints. One of his sisters, Florentina, was an abbess of many convents and later declared a saint. It was his elder brother Leander (from whom Isidore received his education as a boy after their parents' death), who gave Isidore a very strict but firm educational grounding. After Isidore worked as an assistant to Leander (who had become bishop of Seville), he succeeded Leander as bishop when Leander died in ca. 600 A.D.

Continuing Leander's work and presiding over Councils

As bishop, St. Isidore continued and completed the work he and Leander began in converting the Visigoths. Isidore also continued Leander's practice of settling the Church's disciplinary matters, and promoted theological and ecclesiastical unity in the Spanish Church through the regional Councils. St. Isidore presided over the Second Council of Seville in 619 A.D., and then the Fourth Council of Toledo in 633 A.D. He was given preference over the archbishop of Toledo at the time to preside over the Council, because Isidore's accomplishments proved his worth as a great teacher in Spain.

A voluminous and prolific writer

St. Isidore's writings form the earliest chapter of Spanish literature. He wrote Etymologies, an early encyclopedia that attempted to compile all the knowledge and the sciences of his age. Although outdated today, this work was one of the most widely used texts of the Middle Ages and was continually used for nine centuries. This encyclopedia earned Isidore the title, "Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages". One of Isidore's contemporaries also called him "the man who saved Spain from barbarism".


St. Isidore's other works included: a Dictionary of Synonyms; a treatise on astronomy and physical geography; a history of the principal events of the world from creation to the year 615 A.D.; a manual of Christian doctrine; a biography of illustrious men; a book of Old and New Testament personalities; and The History of the Kings of the Goths, Vandals, and Suevi, (a very good resource book on the early history of Spain).


Isidore also wrote a code of rules for monks which bore his name, and was generally followed throughout Spain. He wrote extensive theological and ecclesiastical works. He also completed the Mozarabic missal and breviary which his brother Leander had begun to adapt for the use of the Goths (a liturgy that is still in use in Toledo, Spain).

Recognized and admired for his holiness

St. Isidore lived an austere life throughout his years, taking very little for himself and giving away what he did have. When he was near death, Isidore invited other bishops to visit him. At his request, they clothed him in sackcloth and ashes, the clothing of penitents, and he prayed for the forgiveness of his sins. After receiving the last sacraments, he asked those present for their prayers, forgave his debtors, and distributed all his possessions to the poor. St. Isidore then returned to his house where he died peacefully shortly thereafter in 636 A.D. at about the age of seventy-six.

Sainthood and the title Doctor of the Church

St. Isidore died peacefully in the Lord on April 4, was canonized in 1598 A.D. by Pope Clement VIII. He was declared Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIV in 1722 A.D. He is the first of three Spaniards to be declared Doctor of the Church - the other two being St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross (who lived a millenium after St. Isidore).


St. Isidore writes:


Prayer purifies us, reading instructs us. Both are good when both are possible. Otherwise, praying is better than reading. If a man wants to be always in God's company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us. (from the "Book of Maxims", by St. Isidore of Seville)

References of this article

• Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney


• Saints for Our Time, by Ed Ransom


• The Doctors of the Church vol 1, by John F. Fink


• A Year With the Saints, by Don Bosco Press, Inc.