Curating the Christian Literary Tradition from Jerome to Isidore of Seville and Beyond

In this essay, I examine the inception and evolution of the De viris illustribus (‘On distinguished men’) genre, which blends biography and bibliography with patrology, literary criticism, and much more. Jerome produced the first such catalogue, of 135 writers, in the late fourth century, establishing a template of universal remit, chronological order, and brief bio-bibliographical treatment. His work was a riposte to pagan critics, and aimed to demonstrate the richness of Christian literature. In the late fifth century, Gennadius of Marseille expanded and extended the catalogue, adding profiles of authors from the third century to his own day. Yet when Isidore of Seville, in the early seventh century, listed another 33 writers, it marked a turning point towards a more local compass and integrating elements of hagiography and historiography. The genre continued to evolve throughout the Middle Ages, with a notable flowering in the Low Countries, where figures such as Sigebert of Gembloux, in the early twelfth century, included musicians and discreetly aligned his entries with contemporary politics. The tradition also knew regional adaptations, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula after Isidore to promote episcopal authority, and became a reference point for Renaissance humanists in Italy and Germany: here Petrarch and Johannes Trithemius, amongst many others, engaged with the form to celebrate both Classical and Christian authors, while broadening it to encompass artisans, intellectuals, and historical figures of note. In surveying the De viris illustribus, I highlight the practical limits of access to texts and the uneven distribution of knowledge behind each catalogue, reflecting in turn the resources of each compiler. Despite its aspiration to universality, each chapter in the tradition was inherently selective, shaped by individual and institutional networks and contexts. Even as the genre played a role in defining and curating a universal Christian literary canon, the efforts of each contributor to it were partial.