Also known as:
Ildephonsus of Toledo;
Spanish: El Capellán de la Virgen, San Ildefonso, Ildefonso de Toledo;
Latin: Ildefonsus Toletanus, Hildefonsus
ILDEFONSUS OF TOLEDO, Saint. - Archbishop of Toledo, b. at Toledo in 617, d. there on 23 January 667. He was called El Capellán de la Virgen, in the comedy of that title which Lope de Vega composed about him, and he owes this nickname to his principal work, De virginitate Sanctae Mariae contra tres infideles, which is the foundation of all Marian literature in Spain.
He was a monk and abbot in the monastery of Sts. Cosmas and Damian of Agali, in the surroundings of Toledo, famous for having given the Spanish Church a series of bishops and abbots, figures who stand out in history. Toward the end of 657 an order of Recceswinth came to tear him from this retreat of his in order to raise him to the metropolitan see of Toledo. His episcopal and literary activity lasted a decade. His successor in the bishopric, St. Julian of Toledo, traced with a loving hand the catalogue of his works: the first is the one already mentioned, the Libellus de virginitate Sanctae Mariae contra tres infideles, a theological controversy directed especially against the Jews. There follow the Liber in cognitione Baptismi unus, of exceptional importance for the history of the catechumenate and of the liturgy of Baptism in Spain; the De progressu spiritualis deserti, a complement to the preceding work, which sets forth the progress of the baptized soul through the spiritual life up to the kingdom of God, by means of the allegory of the Jewish people journeying through the desert to the promised land; De viris illustribus, fourteen biographies devoted to Spanish personalities, and in particular Toledan ones; with this work he continued the work of St. Isidore of the same title; it is important because in several respects it is the only source for the life and ecclesiastical history of Spain. Two letters addressed to Quiricus, bishop of Barcelona, on the occasion of the Libellus de virginitate, are also known.
ILDEFONSO OF TOLEDO, saint - I. of T. clothed in pontifical vestments by the Virgin assisted by an angel, Spanish Franciscan Breviary (2nd half of the 15th century) - Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, ms. lat. 1064, f. 285.(from V. Leroquais, Les bréviaires mss. des bibliothèques publiques... Paris 1851, pl. 17)
The theology of I. belongs to the traditional patrimony of the great Fathers of the Church, principally St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great. Characteristic is the style of synonyms, adopted in the Libellus de virginitate and carried to an extreme: a fervid outpouring of overflowing affection. In the other works the exposition is more serene and balanced.
The Libellus de virginitate was translated into Castilian in the 15th century by Alfonso Martínez of Toledo, archpriest of Talavera.
Bibliography8 worksWorks: edited by F. De Lorenzana, SS. pp. Toletanorum quotquot extant opera, I, Madrid 1782, pp. 94-200; reproduced in PL 96, 195-206; vario
BIBL.: Works: edited by F. De Lorenzana, SS. pp. Toletanorum quotquot extant opera, I, Madrid 1782, pp. 94-200; reproduced in PL 96, 195-206; various works were later published under his name, but doubtful or apocryphal. Of the Libellus de virginitate there is a critical edition and a philological study by V. Blanco García, San I. « De virginitate Beatae Mariae », Madrid 1937. Studies: Acta SS. Ianuarii, II, Antwerp 1643, p. 535 ff.; Manitius, I, pp. 234-36; Z. García Villada, Historia eclesiástica de España, II, 2, Madrid 1933; S. Athanasius Braegelmann, The life and writings of saint I. of Toledo, Washington 1942; J. Madoz, S. I. de Toledo a través de la pluma del Arciprete de Talavera, Madrid 1943; id., Escritores de la época visigota, in Historia general de las literaturas hispánicas, Barcelona 1949, p. 126.
Madoz, Giuseppe. “Ildefonso da Toledo, santo.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, coll. 1620–1621. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951. https://azioneromana.com/article/ildefonso-da-toledo-santo.
MLA
Madoz, Giuseppe. “Ildefonso da Toledo, santo.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951, coll. 1620–1621. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/ildefonso-da-toledo-santo.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec6_ildefonso_da_toledo_santo,
author = {Madoz, Giuseppe},
title = {Ildefonso da Toledo, santo},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VI},
pages = {1620--1621},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1951},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/ildefonso-da-toledo-santo}
}
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