JULIAN OF TOLEDO, Saint. - He is believed to be of Jewish origin; he was a disciple of Archbishop Eugenius II of Toledo, the poet. St. Julian of Toledo (who lived between c. 642 and c. 690) is the most striking figure of the Visigothic episcopate, in character, as a theologian, and as a prince of the Church. In Jan. 680, after the death of Quiricus, he was elected metropolitan bishop of the royal city. He attended the four Councils of Toledo (XII-XV), presiding over all of them, although he was not the most senior bishop. Under his presidency the XII Council of Toledo (681) sanctioned the removal of Wamba and the coronation of Erwig. To Julian is due the ever-growing importance of the see of Toledo, up to the recognition of its supremacy over all the other churches of Spain (683).
His stature as a man of letters rests on the following works: Liber prognosticorum futuri saeculi, a dogmatic-ascetic work, in three books; the first treatise De novissimis that we possess; De sextae aetatis comprobatione, in three books of anti-Jewish polemic, written at the request of King Erwig, on the age-old struggle with the Jews; Antiheimenon libri duo, a reconciliation of apparently conflicting passages in Scripture; Vita s. Ildefonsi, a biography and exaltation of the personality of his predecessor; an Apologeticum fidei Benedicto Urbis papae directum, now lost, which set out, in the name of the XV Council of Toledo, certain theological points on the Trinity and on Christology; Rome requested certain explanations concerning particular formulas used therein, which the metropolitan of Toledo fully satisfied; De remediis blasphemiae, recently identified; a Historia rebellionis Pauli adversus Wambon, a remarkable work of historiography in the 7th century, documented and conceived in the classical manner; an Ars gramatica, very interesting for the history of medieval culture, similar in its acceptance to the Etymologies of St. Isidore; it is based on the Gramatica of Donatus, though it also comes under the influence of numerous other earlier grammarians.
St. Julian is one of the precursors of the Sentencias y Sumas, which dominated in the Middle Ages. His style is dignified and elevated, vibrant in polemical discussion, and warm with patriotic enthusiasm in his historical contribution.
Bibliography4 works
Giuseppe Madoz