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

Despite the high quantity of literature produced in the Iberian Peninsula,
autochthonous regular literature appears only relatively late in the seventh century. The first
explicit mention of the presence of a monastic rule in Iberia is made by Ildefonsus, who
suggests that it was the African monk Donatus who brought the first monastic rule to Iberia
and who built a monastery at Servitanum; 51 it has been suggested that this was actually the
Rule of Augustine (Manrique Campillo 1969). This is questioned by Fear (1997: 112), who
supposes that monastic rules must have been present in the peninsula before this date; contra
Collins (1983: 81), who believes that “we possess no grounds for doubting Ildefonsus‟s
word”. Donatus was not the only outsider to have a role in the development of Iberian
monasticism. Victorianus of Asan, for example, founded various monasteries in the
Pyrenean region of Iberia (Díaz 1999: 171-172), and the presence of Gallic influence has
often been stated. Indeed, in discussing the issue of monks who are ordained priests, the
Council of Lérida in 546 had decreed that the third canon of the Council of Orleans in 511
and Agide in 506 were to be followed in relation to monastic matters. 52
Whether or not Ildefonsus was correct, it does seem to be a peculiarly late date for the
introduction of a monastic rule; since there was an Iberian monastic movement before this
51 De uiris illustribus 3. The Iberian Peninsula had historically enjoyed strong links with North Africa
throughout antiquity, on which see Arce (2004). Certainly Isidore‟s library possessed copies of
various African writings, including the treatise on Catholicism written by the exiled African bishop
Fulgentius of Ruspe, as well as writings by Possidius, Verecundus, Ferrandus, Victor of Tunnuna and
Facunda of Hermaine (Isidore De uiris illustribus 8, 9, 25; Collins 1983: 60). The Lives of the
Fathers of Merida 2.2, also suggests that it was African monks under Nanctus which established the
monastery at Cauliana, eight miles from Merida. The reasons behind this migration are often
attributed to the Three Chapters Controversy (Barbero de Aguilera 1992: 136-167) and the effect of
the Berber incursions.
52 “De monachis uero id obseruare placuit quod synodo Agathensis uel Aurilianensis noscitur
decreuisse”.
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