The Restoration of Sacred Letters Philip II and the Edition of the Complete Works of Isidore of Seville (1599)

The article analyzes the process of editing the complete works of Isidore of Seville, published in 1599 by Juan de Grial under the auspices of Philip II. Using the twenty books of the Etymologies as a guiding thread, we question how a text dating back to the seventh century remained so relevant almost a thousand years after its creation that it merited a court-sponsored edition (published by the royal press after twenty-five years of preparation). In this sense, we explore the political and religious dimensions in the context of the Catholic counter-reformation since the Hispanic Monarchy, analyzing how the Isidorian work represented a set of erudite and sacred texts in the midst of a Europe fractured by intense religious disputes.

KEYWORDS
Isidore of Seville; etymologies; Philip II