'Julian of Toledo' (
642-
690) was born to
Jewish parents in
Toledo,
Hispania, but raised
Christian. He was well educated at the cathedral school, was a
monk and later
abbot at
Agali, a spiritual student of
Saint Eugene II, and
archbishop of Toledo. He was the first bishop to have primacy over the entire
Iberian Peninsula—a position he secured by being complicit in 680 in the poisoning of
Wamba, king of the
Visigoths—and he helped centralize the Iberian Church in Toledo. His elevation to the position of primate of the Visigothic church was a source of great unhappiness among the kingdom's clergy. And his views regarding the doctrine of the
Trinity proved distressing to the
Vatican.
He presided over several councils and synods and revised the
Mozarabic liturgy. A voluminous writer, his works include ''Prognostics'', a volume on death; a biography of King Wamba; and a book on the future life (687). Though by disposition a kind and gentle man, he encouraged the Visigothic kings in
Hispania to deal harshly with the
Jews. For example, in presiding over the twelfth
Council of Toledo, he induced King
Erwig (who he had helped in the deposing of Wamba) to pass severe anti-Jewish laws. At Erwig's request, in 686, he wrote ''De Comprobatione Aetatis Sextae Contra Judaeos'', a work dealing with
messianic prophesies of the Bible in a way intended to convert the Jews.
He died at Toledo in
690 of
natural causes. Julian's memorial is held
March 8.