Isidore of Seville

Archbishop of Seville for over three decades, Isidore presided over the churches of Visigothic Spain as it consolidated its conversion from Arianism, guiding national councils at Seville and Toledo. His Etymologies attempted nothing less than a summary of all knowledge — grammar, medicine, law, animals, ships, games — organized around the origins of words; for centuries it was medieval Europe's most consulted reference book, a bridge over which classical learning crossed into the Middle Ages. Histories, monastic rules, and theological handbooks flowed from him besides. Contemporaries called him the most learned man of his age; he died in 636.

Because his Etymologies tried to gather all human knowledge into one work, Isidore has been proposed as the patron saint of the internet.

Isidore of Seville has 11 commentary entries in HolyStudy’s verse-by-verse Church Fathers commentary. Open any Gospel chapter, tap a verse, and choose the Church Fathers tab.