The Bishop and the Word: Isidore of Seville and the Production of Meaning

Abstract

This chapter examines modes of exercising power in the early Middle Ages, focusing on the figure of the bishop in the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo. It explores several aspects of the study and interpretation of the Bible during that period, with the aim of establishing the bishop's role in the task of interpreting, communicating, and controlling the sacred message.The chapter focuses on the work of Isidore of Seville, bishop c.600-636. It examines methods of reading, interpreting, and teaching biblical texts adopted and elaborated in Isidorian writings in order to assess the scope of the bishop's authority, especially his role in the production of meaning and the construction of truth, two processes on which seventh-century episcopal power rested.