Maximus (bishop of Zaragoza)

Maximus was the first Visigothic bishop of Zaragoza (Hispania) in 592–619. He was also a theologian and historian.

He succeeded Simplicius of Zaragoza as Bishop and was influential in the conversion of the Visigothic Kings to Catholicism. He assisted at the Councils of Barcelona in 599 and Egara in 614, held the Second Council of Zaragoza, against Arianism, in 592, and signed a decree of Gundemar of 610.

Maximus also contributed to the Visigothic cultural renaissance of the 6th and 7th centuries, which was continued by such scholars as Isidore of Seville, Eugenio of Toledo and Braulio of Zaragoza. It has been theorized that he wrote the Chronicles of Zaragoza, a history of that time surviving via a 16th-century manuscript copy, because Isidore of Seville notes that Maximus had written on history. However, Collins (1980) and Johnson (1993) argue that the Chronicles were not the work of a single author.

Maximus was succeeded in his see by John, brother of Braulio of Zaragoza, who was in turn succeeded by Braulio; see, e.g., Collins (1995).

References

•  Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Saragossa". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• Collins, Roger (1980), "Mérida and Toledo: 550-585", in James, Edward, Visigothic Spain: new approaches, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-822543-0.
• Collins, Roger (1995), Early Medieval Spain: Unity in Diversity, 400-1000, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0-312-12662-X.
• Isidore of Seville, De viris illustribus (PDF), cap. XLVI.
• Johnson, Gary (1993), The Chronicles of Spain: A discussion of some trends in Spanish history found in the chronicles of Hydatius of Lemica, John of Biclaro, Isidore of Seville, and the Chronicle of Zaragoza (PDF), B.A. thesis, Univ. of Queensland.
• Isidore of Seville. De viris illustribus. ed. J.-P. Migne. Patrologia Latina 83, col.1081-1106. Chapter 46.