Taius (''Taio, Tago, Tajo, Tajón, Tayon'') (c. 600—c. 683) was a

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 ...

during the Visigothic period, from 651-664, succeeding his teacher

Saint Braulius Braulio ( la, Braulius Caesaraugustanus; 585 – 651 AD) was bishop of Zaragoza and a learned cleric living in the Kingdom of the Visigoths. Life Braulio was born of a noble Hispano-Roman family. His father was Bishop of Osma. In 610 Braulio be ...

. His surname was Samuel (Samuhel). Taius, like Braulius and Bishop Ildefonsus, was also a pupil of Saint Isidore of Seville.

Career

Taius was ordained as a priest in 632, and later served as an

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

in an unknown monastery.] At the request of

Quiricus of Barcelona Quiricus ( ca, Quirze), a churchman and well-connected man of letters, was the bishop of Barcelona from 648 until about 667 during the Visigothic period. Quiricus wrote a hymn in honour of Saint Eulalia. The hymn ''Barchinon laete Cucufate vernan ...

, Taius compiled a collection of extracts from the work of

Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...

in 653–654. In 654 progress on the compilation was slowed by the revolt of

Froia Froia was a Visigothic nobleman, probably a count, who rebelled and tried to seize the kingship in 653, either in the final weeks of the reign of Chindasuinth or in the opening weeks of that of his son, Reccesuinth. He had the support of the Basqu ...

and the invasion of the

Basques The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...

. He later traveled to Rome, where he was sent to procure the third part of Gregory's ''Moralia,'' then missing in Spain. He received this work from

Pope Martin I Pope Martin I ( la, Martinus I, el, Πάπας Μαρτίνος; between 590 and 600 – 16 September 655), also known as Martin the Confessor, was the bishop of Rome from 21 July 649 to his death 16 September 655. He served as Pope Theodore I's ...

. His main work involved compiling others' works. In a letter to

Eugene II of Toledo Saint Eugenius II (died 13 November 657), sometimes called Eugenius the Younger as the successor of Eugenius I, was Archbishop of Toledo from 647 until his death. He is called ''Eugenius secundus'' (Eugene the second) in the biography of Archbisho ...

, he explained the plan of his writing and its relationship to Gregory’s model. During Froia's siege, Taius had been working on a revision of the ''

Lex Visigothorum The ''Visigothic Code'' ( la, Forum Iudicum, Liber Iudiciorum; es, Fuero Juzgo, ''Book of the Judgements''), also called ''Lex Visigothorum'' (English: ''Law of the Visigoths''), is a set of laws first promulgated by king Chindasuinth (642–653 ...

'' and was unable to leave the city. The result was what has been regarded as a “poorly organized” book called ''Sententiarum libri V'', which drew heavily upon the writings of Gregory and

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

, his only known work. He participated in the

Eighth Council of Toledo The Eighth Council of Toledo commenced on 16 December 653 in the church of the Holy Apostles in Toledo in Spain. It was attended by fifty two bishops in person, including the aged Gavinio of Calahorra, who had assisted at the Fourth Council, a ...

, the

Ninth Council of Toledo The Ninth Council of Toledo was a provincial synod of bishops of Carthaginiensis. It began on 2 November 655 under the auspices of King Reccesuinth. It ended on November 24 in the Church of Santa María. It was attended by only sixteen or sevent ...

and the

Tenth Council of Toledo The Tenth Council of Toledo was summoned to meet in Toledo on 1 December 656 by King Reccesuinth of Hispania. In November 655, the bishops of Carthaginiensis had held a provincial synod in Toledo, the Ninth Council of Toledo. They scheduled a sec ...

Notes

Sources

Collins, Roger Roger J. H. Collins (born September 2, 1949) is an English medievalist, currently an honorary fellow in history at the University of Edinburgh. Collins studied at the University of Oxford ( Queen's and Saint Cross Colleges) under Peter Brown ...

. ''Visigothic Spain, 409–711''. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. . *García Villada, Z. “Fragmentos inéditos de Tajón.” ''RABM'' 30 (1914), 23–31. *Madoz, J. “Tajón de Zaragoza y su viaje a Roma.” ''Mélanges Joseph de Ghellink'' 1:345–60. *Palacios Martín, A. “Tajón de Zaragoza y la ‘Explicatio in Cantica Canticorum.’” ''AEF'' 3 (1980) 115–27. *Robles, L. “Tajón de Zaragoza, continuador de Isidoro.” ''Saitabi'' 21 (1971), 19–25. *Serratosa, R. “Osio de Córdoba. Tajón de Zaragoza.” ''Estudios'' 19 (1951), 85–95. *Vega, A. C. “Tajón de Zaragoza. Una obra inédita.” ''CD'' 155 (1943) 145–77.

External links

*
España sagrada: Vol. 31
Ed. Enrique Florez. Madrid: 1770. Includes a reprint of the Sententiarum Libri V and associated material (pp 152–544). * {{authority control 7th-century bishops in the Visigothic Kingdom People from Zaragoza 7th-century Latin writers