Braulio ( la, Braulius Caesaraugustanus; 585 – 651 AD) was

bishop of Zaragoza The Archdiocese of Saragossa ( la, Archidioecesis Caesaraugustana) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Zaragoza (Saragossa in English), part of the autonomous community of Aragón. The a ...

and a learned cleric living in the

Kingdom of the Visigoths The Visigothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of the Goths ( la, Regnum Gothorum), was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic successor states to ...

Life

Braulio was born of a noble Hispano-Roman family. His father was

Bishop of Osma The Roman Catholic Diocese of Osma-Soria ( la, Oxomen(sis)–Sorian(a)) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Spain. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan ...

. In 610 Braulio became a monk, and later studied under

Isidore Isidore ( ; also spelled Isador, Isadore and Isidor) is an English and French masculine given name. The name is derived from the Greek name ''Isídōros'' (Ἰσίδωρος) and can literally be translated to "gift of Isis." The name has survived ...

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. Archbishop Isidore used education to counteract increasingly influential Gothic barbarism in his jurisdiction. Braulio was ordained by Isadore in 624. In 625 Braulio returned to Zaragoza where his brother John was then bishop, and served as his archdeacon. Upon his brother's death in 631, Braulio succeeded him as bishop. Known for almsgiving and preaching, he was an advisor and confidant of several Visigoth kings, including

Chindasuinth Chindasuinth (also spelled Chindaswinth, Chindaswind, Chindasuinto, Chindasvindo, or Khindaswinth ( Latin: Chintasvintus, Cindasvintus; 563 – 30 September 653) was Visigothic King of Hispania, from 642 until his death in 653. He succeeded Tul ...

, whose son

Recceswinth Recceswinth (died 1 September 672) was the Visigothic King of Hispania, and Septimania in 649–672. He ruled jointly with his father Chindaswinth until his father's death in 653. Name His Gothic name is believed to have been *𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌺 ...

he recommended be installed as associate king.Weber, Nicholas. "St. Braulio." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 23 April 2020 Braulio worked with Isidore to convert the Visigoths from Arianism. He is reported to have encouraged Isidore of Seville in his

encyclopaedic An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

ambitions, and to have had a hand in the revision of his works. Bishop Braulio, to whom Isidore dedicated it and sent it for correction, divided it into its twenty books. Braulio called it , "practically everything that it is necessary to know". He was present at the

councils of Toledo From the 5th century to the 7th century AD, about thirty synods, variously counted, were held at Toledo (''Concilia toletana'') in what would come to be part of Spain. The earliest, directed against Priscillianism, assembled in 400. The "th ...

in 633, 636, and 638 and he responded on behalf of the Iberian clergy to

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Honorius I Pope Honorius I (died 12 October 638) was the bishop of Rome from 27 October 625 to his death. He was active in spreading Christianity among Anglo-Saxons and attempted to convince the Celts to calculate Easter in the Roman fashion. He is chiefl ...

's charge that they were neglectful of their duties. He wrote a life of San Millan. Towards the end of his life, he lost his eyesight. He was buried in what is now the church of Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Zaragoza. He was succeeded as bishop of Zaragoza by

Taius Taius (''Taio, Tago, Tajo, Tajón, Tayon'') (c. 600—c. 683) was a bishop of Zaragoza during the Visigothic period, from 651-664, succeeding his teacher Saint Braulius. His surname was Samuel (Samuhel). Taius, like Braulius and Bishop Ildefonsu ...

(Taio), who had been his pupil. He is buried in

La Seo Cathedral The Cathedral of the Savior ( es, Catedral del Salvador) or La Seo de Zaragoza is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Zaragoza, in Aragon, Spain. It is part of the World Heritage Site ''Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon''. The cathedral is located on th ...

, Zaragoza, and is the patron saint of Aragon and of the

University of Zaragoza The University of Zaragoza, sometimes referred to as Saragossa University () is a public university with teaching campuses and research centres spread over the three provinces of Aragon, Spain. Founded in 1542, it is one of the oldest universiti ...

References

Sources

* Thompson, E. A. ''The Goths in Spain''.

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, 1969. * Iberian Fathers ''Writings of Braulio of Saragossa, Fructuosus of Braga'', translated by Claude W. Barlow.

Catholic University of America Press The Catholic University of America Press, also known as CUA Press, is the publishing division of The Catholic University of America. Founded on November 14, 1939, and incorporated on July 16, 1941,Roy J. Deferrari ''Memoirs of the Catholic Unive ...

(1969)

External links

*
1601 ''Editio princeps'' of Braulio's ''Life'' of Emilian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braulio Of Zaragoza 590 births 651 deaths 7th-century bishops in the Visigothic Kingdom People from Zaragoza 7th-century Christian saints 7th-century Latin writers 7th-century jurists