The Monastic Rules of Visigothic Iberia - eTheses Repository ...

There are further examples that could be cited: Fructuosus, for example, suffered the
incident of his books falling into a river whilst he was travelling; 204 Braulius of Zaragoza
complains that he had lost his desire to write his Life of St. Aemilian until, searching through
a pile of books, he found a lost manuscript; 205 bishop Paul of Merida, upon meeting his
nephew, had him tonsured, and “in templo Domini diebus ac noctibus strenue erudiuit, ita ut
infra paucorum curricula annorum omne officium ecclesiasticum, omnemque bibliothecam
Scripturarum diuinarum perfectissime docuerit”; 206 the monk Donatus is said to have fled
Africa to Spain “cum septuaginta monachis copiosisque librorum codicibus”. 207 The
„autobiographical‟ works of the ascete Valerius of Bierzo provide several references to
literate culture: he refers to works he had copied being stolen by a priest called Flainus; 208 he
mentions writing a “libellum praecipium” for a child whom he had reared, 209 and later
suggests that he had mentored other youths; 210 he says explicitly that he taught a child his
letters; 211 upon travelling to the monastery at Rufiana, he says that he took various books with
him that were used in the office and also writings of saints that were used for the purposes of
edification. 212
204 Life of Fructuosus 12, “accidit die quadam puerulum cum caballo, qui codices ipsius uiri Dei
gestabat, dum transmeare cum caeteris collegis suis nititur, in amnis fluenta profundissima cecidisse”
205 Life of St. Aemilian 1.
206 Lives of the Fathers of Merida 4.4.1.
207 Ildephonsus De uiris illustribus 3.
208 Ordo querimoniae 3.
209 Replicatio 3.
210 Replicatio 4, “ueniebant quidem tranquillo tempore adulescentuli multi meae quoque se
mancipantes doctrinae”.
211 Replicatio 6, “Cum autem paruulum quondam pupillum litteris inbuerem”.
212 Residuum 2, “Librorum uero uolumina tam quae quotidiano officio quam pro sanctarum
festiuitatum per ordine pertinent anniuersario uel etiam diuersarum sanctarum scripturam quod ad
edificationis profectum atque industriae documentum proficit animarum, utraque altariorum
sanctorum iuuante Domino plenarium accelebraui compendium”
83