"Dies illa": The Last Judgment in the Hispanic patristic writings of the 7th century

Abstract

The present study aims to analyze how the Hispanic authors of the seventh century, Isidorus of Seville, Taion of Saragossa and Julianus Toletanus approached an aspect of dogma such as the Last Judgment, before the commentary on the Apocalypse of Beatus Liebaniensis. First, the cultural context in which the works of these authors arose has been established. The core element was the biblical texts, but also the patristic exegesis and the literary compositions of apocryphal texts accepted by the Fathers of the Church. Taking these parameters into account, the various Isidorus’s works in which the theme of the Last Judgment is present, the Taion Sententiae and Julián's Prognosticon have been studied. The conclusions of the study confirm Taión's dependence on Gregorius Magnus, as well as the originality of Isidorus and Julianus, both in the way they present the matter and in the ability to make their own reflections from their sources.