Chronologia astronomiczna w pismach Izydora z Sewilli
The System of Astronomical Chronology in the Works of Isidore of Seville

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this study is an attempt to reconstruct the system of astronomical chronology found in the works of Isidore of Seville. Their author builds his structure of time on the basis of the smallest units from which he weaves larger wholes. However, this rich exemplification of time does not contain its own definition. The scholar opens the chapter of Etymologiae devoted to chronology and time with a definition of chronicles and historiography, which, as a product of human thought, constitute a material documentation of the passing of time. The exact characterisation and systematisation of the units of time facilitates the use of chronological tools and makes the recipient aware of the functioning of the chronological space. Thus, the author indicates that medieval societies, deeply rooted in religious rituals, organised their own functioning based on the data resulting from scientific and empirical observations. Chronology has a special place in Isidore’s works, but time has no definition and the very category of time as a coherent whole permeates and connects all the elements of the world. The vision of time and chronology in his writings left a permanent mark on the shaping of chronological and cosmological thought of both the Middle Ages and modern times.

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