Maximus was the first

Visigothic The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

(

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

) in 592–619. He was also a

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

and historian. He succeeded Simplicius of Zaragoza as

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

and was influential in the conversion of the Visigothic Kings to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He assisted at the Councils of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

in 599 and Egara in 614, held the Second Council of Zaragoza, against

Arianism Arianism (, ) is a Christology, Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is co ...

, in 592, and signed a decree of Gundemar 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 (; 4 April 636) was a Spania, Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville, archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of the 19th-century historian Charles Forbes René de Montal ...

, Eugenius of Toledo and

Braulio of Zaragoza Braulio (), 585 – 651 AD, was bishop of Zaragoza and a learned cleric living in the Kingdom of the Visigoths. Both as pastor and writer, he is one of the most celebrated of saints of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania that lasted from the 5t ...

. 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 typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

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 * Second E ...

, 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 writers in Latin 7th-century historians {{EarlyChurch-bishop-stub