Encyclopaedia of Isidore of Seville as polyphony (based on Etymologiae, I–III)

Abstract

The life of Isidore hid under the shadow of his writing. Generations of Europeans learned about the world from its most famous work – Etymologiae. The author of this impressive compilation was a bishop dedicated to God’s people, advisor to Visigoth rulers, propagator of monastic life, ardent preacher, benefactor of the poor, leader of synod sessions. He was neither a scholar, nor a traveller, not a lawyer, a farmer or a doctor. His knowledge of the world was literary. Etymologiae was a kind of a cento, whose building blocks were breves tabellae (passages from works of other writers). In effect, Etymologiae may be considered a polyphonic work, from which the voice of the author himself reaches the reader from afar.

Keywords

• Isidore of Seville
• Etymologiae
• Latin literature
• reception