Herejes espectrales, judíos hermenéuticos y ángeles celestiales para instruir cristianos. El De uirginitate de Ildefonso de Toledo

Abstract

Ildefonsus of Toledo’s De uirginitate Sanctae Mariae has been studied from different points of view, specially aimed at establishing its purpose and audience. Three main perspectives can be distinguished: the work was either intended for Jews, for Christians who had been Jews, or for Christians without a Jewish past. Within this historiographical framework, our proposal considers De uirginitate as part of a pedagogical strategy designed mainly to instruct the clergy and, by extension, the Christian community in general. From this perspective, heretics and Jews have functioned as true educational tools that, by identifying the error, have taught the pillars of the Christian doctrine and contributed to the affirmation of the unity and identity of the communities within the Visigothic kingdom.