The Bishop of Seville and generally recognised by his peers as the most learned person of his generation. Isidore was a prolific author, but is best known now for his 

, an enormously influential encyclopaedia and the first compendium of its kind. In this work, Isidore synergised all of the knowledge that he believed a well-educated person should be aware of, including grammar, rhetoric, Christian thought, spices, and a range of other topics. It is famous for containing the first printed T-O map. The Etymologies were so popular that they were printed in 

 and in rapid succession, continuing to inform and influence scholars for generations to come.