ISIDORE OF SEVILLE (560–636), bishop of Seville (603–636), proclaimed "eminent teacher and an honor to the church" by the Council of Toledo of 653. Member of an eminent Andalusian family, Isidore was prepared to inherit the see of Seville by his older brother Leandro, also bishop of Seville. In his youth the king, Leovigild (r. 569–586), was able to stabilize the Visigothic kingdom, in which a minority of Visigoths (Germanic peoples who entered the Iberian Peninsula in the fifth century) and a vast majority of ancient inhabitants (the Hispano-Romans) coexisted. Under Reccared (d. 601) the Goths abjured the Arian doctrine and embraced the Catholic faith (c. 589). In 614 the Jews were forced by Sisebut to convert to Christianity.

Through his pastoral leadership, Isidore imbued the Visigothic church with the same concerns that dominate his writings: respect for the political authority of the Goths, incitation for increasing participation of the Hispano-Romans...