Ildephonsus of Toledo

Infobox Saint
name= Saint Ildephonsus of Toledo
birth_date=
death_date=January 23, 667
feast_day= January 23
venerated_in= Roman Catholic Church


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caption= Ildephonsus as portrayed by El Greco.
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issues= Saint Ildefonsus or Ildephonsus (rarely "Ildephoses"; died 23 January 667) was the metropolitan bishop of Toledo from 657 until his death. He was a Visigoth [Jocelyn N. Hillgarth, "Popular Religion in Visigothic Spain," in James, p. 45.] and his Gothic name was "Hildefuns", which evolved into the Castilian name "Alfonso". Ildefonsus, however, is known as "San Ildefonso" in Castilian and there are several places named after him. He was canonised and his feast day is 23 January, the date of his death. His writings were less influential outside of Hispania, but he remained a potent force in the peninsula for centuries. [Collins, "Visigothic Spain", 147.] Like several of his seventh-century predecessors, Ildefonsus was a monk from Agali, and specifically abbot, before being raised to the metropolitan see of Carthaginiensis.Collins, "Visigothic Spain", 168.]

Theology

Theologically, Ildefonsus regarded the Nicene Creed as "sufficientem scientiam salutarem" (sufficient knowledge for salvation) and as a "foedus" (compact) between believer and God. [Jocelyn N. Hillgarth, "Popular Religion in Visigothic Spain," in James, p. 26.] Like Isidore of Seville before him, he regarded the creed as foming "two pacts" between God and believer: that renouncing the devil and the statement of belief itself. [Jocelyn N. Hillgarth, "Popular Religion in Visigothic Spain," in James, p. 27.] Ildefonsus encouraged frequent Communion, implying that normal practice was infrequent, and insisted upon preparation, which may have discouraged many. [Jocelyn N. Hillgarth, "Popular Religion in Visigothic Spain," in James, p. 28.]

In his "De cognitione baptismi", Ildefonsus objected to the view of Isidore that Masses could be said efficaciously for the dead who had not had their last rites. [Jocelyn N. Hillgarth, "Popular Religion in Visigothic Spain," in James, p. 53 and n4.] Julian of Toledo in his "Prognosticum" follows Ildefonsus in this objection.

Writings

Ildefonsus' "De viris illustribus" emphasises the monasticism of the earlier bishops of Toledo. Nonetheless, the "pastoral concern" and emphasis on "praedicatio" (preaching) is noted by modern editors. [Jocelyn N. Hillgarth, "Popular Religion in Visigothic Spain," in James, p. 19 n1.] "De viris" contains no biblical quotations, however. [Jocelyn N. Hillgarth, "Popular Religion in Visigothic Spain," in James, p. 33 n1.] Ildefonsus' "De viris" is a continuation in thirteen parts of a work of Isidore bearing the same name. Among the illustrious personages included in Ildefonsus' expanded version is Isidore himself, though Ildefonsus' was apparently ignorant of the better treatment of Isidore by Braulio of Zaragoza. [Collins, "Visigothic Spain", 165.] Nonetheless, Ildefonsus continuation, with its Toledan emphasis, is an important source for that city in the sixth and seventh centuries.

Ildefonsus' most important work, however, is his "De perpetua virginitate Mariae contra tres infideles", which imitated an earlier work of Jerome's. [M. C. Díaz y Díaz, "Literary Aspects of the Visigothic Liturgy," translated by Robert Richman, Salvador Starling, Jocelyn N. Hillgarth, and Edward James, in James, p. 67.] In it he utilises the "synonymous method" of Isidore for theological purposes, introducing the so-called "Synonyma Ciceronis", wherein he repeats every phrase several times in different, purportedly identical, ways. [Collins, "Visigothic Spain", 163.] The identifications reveal the arguments in a rhetorically strong way. The synonyms Ildefonsus uses are of interest to lexicographers.

Ildefonsus is the probably author of the Visigothic Mass of Ascension, in which he explains how the benefits received from Christ are richer than the wonders he performed, such as "ascending unaided to the clouds". [M. C. Díaz y Díaz, "Literary Aspects of the Visigothic Liturgy," translated by Robert Richman, Salvador Starling, Jocelyn N. Hillgarth, and Edward James, in James, p. 69.] Ildefonsus also wrote a "Liber Prosopopoeia Imbecillitatis Propriae" which has not survived. Such a treatise (on his own imbecility) was probably a confessional monologue or dialogue and it may have served as the basis for Valerius of Bierzo's work. [Collins, "The 'Autobiographical' Works of Valerius of Bierzo," 432.] It is only recorded in the "Elogium Ildefonsi" of Julian of Toledo, along with a reference to another lost work, an "opusculum de proprietate personarum Patris, et Filii et Spiritus Sanctus" dealing with monothelitism. [Collins, "Julian of Toledo," 8 and n34.] Among his other works, Ildefonsus prepared an anthology of Isidore's works, excluding the "Epistula ad Leudefredum". [Roger E. Reynolds, "The 'Isidorean' "Epistula ad Leudefredum": Its Origins, Early Manuscript Tradition, and Editions," in James, p. 258.]

Ildefonsus himself was included in a continuation made to the "De viris illustribus" by his later successor, Julian. His immediate successor was Quiricus, the dedicatee of Ildefonsus' "De perpetua virginitate".

Notes

ources

*Collins, Roger. "Visigothic Spain, 409–711". Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0 631 18185 7.
*Collins, Roger. "The 'Autobiographical' Works of Valerius of Bierzo: their Structure and Purpose." "Los Visigodos: Historia y Civilización". ed. A. González Blanco. Murcia: Universidad de Murcia, 1986. Reprinted in "Law, Culture and Regionalism in Early Medieval Spain". Variorum, 1992. ISBN 0 86078 308 1.
*Collins, Roger. "Julian of Toledo and the Education of Kings in Late Seventh-Century Spain." "Law, Culture and Regionalism in Early Medieval Spain". Variorum, 1992. ISBN 0 86078 308 1. Revised versin of "Julian of Toledo and the Royal Succession in Late Seventh Century Spain," "Early Medieval Kingship", edd. P. H. Sawyer and I. N. Wood. Leeds: School of History, University of Leeds, 1977.
*James, Edward (ed). "Visigothic Spain: New Approaches". Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. ISBN 0 19 922543 1.
*Ildefonsus. "De viris illustribus", ed. and trans. by C. Codoñer Merino in "Acta Salmanticensia", Filosofía y Letras, 65. Salamanca, 1972.