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 became a monk, and later studied under Isidore at

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 Penins ...

. 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 An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of mo ...

. 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, 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 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 "thir ...

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'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 (Taio), who had been his pupil. He is buried in La Seo Cathedral, Zaragoza, and is the patron saint of Aragon and of the University of Zaragoza.

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