Maximus was the first

Visigothic The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

(

Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania ...

) in 592–619. He was also a

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and historian. He succeeded

Simplicius of Zaragoza Simplicio of Zaragoza was a 6th-century Bishop of Zaragoza. He was consecrated about 586 AD, after the death of the Visigoth King Liuvigild. He attended the Council of Toledo, (589AD). Some authors also make him a participant in the second Coun ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and was influential in the conversion of the Visigothic Kings to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He assisted at the Councils of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

in 599 and

Egara Terrassa (, es, Tarrasa) is a city in the east central region of Catalonia, Spain, in the province of Barcelona, ''Comarques of Catalonia, comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the co-capital along with Sabadell. The name ''Terrassa ...

in 614, held the

Second Council of Zaragoza The councils of Saragossa (Latin: ''Concilia Caesaraugustana'') were a series of Christian councils held in Zaragoza, in what is now Spain. In or about 380 a council of Spanish and Aquitanian bishops adopted at Saragossa eight canons bearing more ...

, against

Arianism Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...

, in 592, and signed a decree of

Gundemar Gundemar was a Visigothic King of Hispania, Septimania and Galicia (610–612). Reign Gundemar continued a policy of amity with Clotaire II of Neustria and Theodobert II of Austrasia. To this end, he sent grand sums of money to support their cau ...

in 610. Maximus also contributed to the

cultural renaissance of the 6th and 7th centuries, which was continued by such scholars as

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...

, Eugenius of Toledo and

Braulio of Zaragoza 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 bec ...

. It has been theorized that he wrote the ''Chronicles of Zaragoza'', a history of that time surviving via a 16th-century

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

copy, because Isidore of Seville notes that Maximus had written on history. However, and argue that the ''Chronicles'' were not the work of a single author. Maximus was succeeded in his see by

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, brother of Braulio of Zaragoza, who was in turn succeeded by Braulio; see, e.g., .

References

* *. *. *. *. *

. De viris illustribus. ed. J.-P. Migne. Patrologia Latina 83, col.1081-1106. Chapter 46. 6th-century bishops in the Visigothic Kingdom 7th-century bishops in the Visigothic Kingdom Clergy from Zaragoza 7th-century Latin writers 7th-century historians {{EarlyChurch-bishop-stub