Beatus of Liébana
Beatus of Liébana (Spanish: Beato; c. 750 – c. 800) was a monk, theologian, and author of the Commentary on the Apocalypse, an influential compendium of previous authorities' views on the Apocalypse. For him, the observation and reading of such works was a sacred action, akin to communion. Beatus treats the reading of the book as the same as the body, and so by reading the book, the reader is one with Christ. He also led the opposition against a Spanish variant of Adoptionism, the heretical belief that Christ was the son of God by adoption, an idea first propounded in Spain by Elipandus, the bishop of Toledo.
Saint Beatus | |
|---|---|
The world map from the Saint-Sever Beatus. Painted c. 1050 as an illustration to Beatus's work at the Abbey of Saint-Sever in Aquitaine. | |
| Born | c. 750 |
| Died | c. 800 |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church, Orthodox Church |
| Feast | February 19 |
Aside from his work, almost nothing is known about Beatus. He was a monk and probably an abbot at the monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana in the Kingdom of Asturias, the only region of Spain remaining outside of Moorish control. Beatus appears to have been well known by his contemporaries. He was a correspondent with the notable Christian scholar, Alcuin, and a confidant of queen Adosinda, daughter of Alfonso I of Asturias and wife of Silo of Asturias. A supposed biography, the Life of Beatus, has been identified as a 17th-century fraud with no historical value.