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John of Biclaro

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John of Biclaro, Biclar, or Biclarum (c. 540 – after 621), also Iohannes Biclarensis, was a Visigothic Catholic bishop of Girona. He is best known for his chronicle covering the years 568-590.

Life

Isidore of Seville tells us in his De viris Illustribus that John was born in Lusitania, in the city of Scallabis (modern Santarém in Portugal) of Gothic parents. How and when he converted to Catholicism is not known.[1] While still a youth, John was sent to Constantinople for his education, where he resided for 17 years.[2] Roger Collins calculates the dates of his stay there as c.562-c.579,[2] although Kenneth Baxter Wolf provides the dates c.559-c.576 for his stay.[1]

Upon his return, John was exiled by the Visigothic king to Barcelona for ten years. Isidore of Seville ascribes this to his refusal to join the Arian Church of the Visigothic realm in Hispania. Modern historians note that other contemporary Iberian sources, including John's own Chronicle do not attest a Visigothic campaign of persecution of Catholics until the revolt of Hermenegild divided Visigothic loyalties. The Visigothic persecutions of dissenters and Jews may be a more recent Catholic myth. Indeed, John wrote that, in 578, "Leovigild had peace to reside with his own people."[3]

Another possible reason for John's detention was his lengthy stay at Constantinople, with the possibility that he might be a spy for the Byzantine governors in the far south of Iberia. An enforced stay in Barcelona certainly put him out of possible treasonous contact with the Byzantines. John does imply that Arians received favorable treatment under Leovigild. At the Arian council convened by Leovigild in 580, his proposal to make conversion from Catholicism to Arianism a simple ritual was adopted, dropping the need for re-baptism and requiring "only the imposition of hands and the receiving of communion."[4]

Following King Reccared I commanded his kingdom to embrace Catholicism, John was recalled from exile in 589. He founded a monastery at Biclar, possibly near Tarraconensis, for which he composed a Rule that has since been lost. At some point between 589 and 592 he was ordained bishop of Girona. As bishop he signed the acts of the synods of II Saragossa (592), of Toledo (597), of Barcelona (599), and likely those of Egara (Municipium Flavium Egara) (614).[2]

A bishop of Girona known as Johannes Gerundensis ("John of Girona") seems to have been a successor of the chronicler, though some have identified him with the chronicler.

Writings

Isidore reports that John of Biclaro wrote a number of works, although his only surviving work is his Chronicle.[2] It is believed he completed this chronicle soon after its last entry, 590.[2] It was intended to be a continuation of the chronicle of Victor of Tunnuna, in Africa (Chronicon continuans Victorem Tunnunensem), although "there is little to connect the two, apart from John's point of departure (567) and his use of emperors rather than the consuls as chronological signposts."[5] For example, where Victor concentrated on matters of the church, John provided a balanced account of both sacred and secular affairs.[5] Also significant is John's admiration for the Visigothic rulers, both Arian and Catholic. He makes the effort "of transferring the symbolism traditionally associated with the Christian Roman emperors" to these Gothic rulers.[6]

John of Biclaro's Chronicle was first printed by H. Canisius (Ingolstadt, 1600). Mommsen has edited the Chronicle as part of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores antiquissimi, XI (1893), pp. 211-220. A more recent edition can be found in J. Campos, Juan de Biclaro, Obisclaro de Gerona (Madrid, 1960).

Three other chronicles cover parts of the Visigothic rule of Hispania: the bishop Hydatius, bishop Isidore of Seville, and the fragmentary Chronicle of Saragossa.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

John of Biclaro — (Johannes Biclariensis.)

Chronicler, born in Portugal, probably about the middle of the sixth century; died after 621. He was educated at Constantinople, where he devoted at least seven years to the study of Latin and Greek. When he returned an attempt was made to force him to join the State Church, then Arian in character. As he stanchly resisted, he was banished by King Leovigild to Barcelona. After Leovigild's death in 586, John founded the Benedictine monastery of Biclaro, the site of which has not yet been exactly determined, and presided over it as abbot for several years, until he was appointed Bishop of Gerona (the bishop known as "Johannes Gerundensis" seems to have been an early successor of the chronicler). John took part in the synod of Saragossa (592), of Barcelona (599), and of Egara (614). His chronicle reaches to the year 590, and is a continuation (from 567) of the chronicle of Victor of Tunnuna, in Africa (Chronicon continuans Victorem Tunnunensem). It was edited by H. Canisius (Ingolstadt, 1600), by Scaliger in "Thesaurus Temporum" (Leyden, 1606), and in Migne, P. L., LXXII (1849). The best edition, with copious prolegomena, is by Mommsen in "Mon. Germ. Hist.: Auct. ant.", XI (1893), 211-220. This chronicle is the most complete and reliable authority on the stormy period of Leovigild's reign, and on the Visigothic conversion from Germanizing Arianism to Romanizing Catholicism. The narrative is religiously impartial, despite the preceding bitter religious conflicts during which the writer himself had to suffer.

Görres, Johannes von Biclaro in Theologische Studien und Kritiken, LXVIII (1895), 103-135; Wattenbach, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen, I (Leipzig, 18930, 83.)

References

  1. Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Wolf, Kenneth Baxter (1999). Conquerors and Chroniclers of Early Medieval Spain. Liverpool University Press. p. 1. ISBN 0-85323-554-6.
  2. Back to citation occurrence 2.0 Back to citation occurrence 2.1 Back to citation occurrence 2.2 Back to citation occurrence 2.3 Back to citation occurrence 2.4 Collins, Roger (1995). Early Medieval Spain (second ed.). St. Martin's. p. 42. ISBN 0-312-12662-X.
  3. Back to citation John of Biclaro, Chronicle, chapter 51. Translated by Kenneth Baxter Wolf, Conquerors and Chroniclers of Early Medieval Spain, second edition (Liverpool: University Press, 2011) p. 67
  4. Back to citation John of Biclaro, Chronicle, chapter 58; translated by Kenneth Wolf, Conquerors and Chroniclers, p. 68
  5. Back to citation occurrence 5.0 Back to citation occurrence 5.1 Wolf, Conquerors and Chroniclers, p. 5
  6. Back to citation Wolf, Conquerors and Chroniclers, p. 10

Further reading

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