Iria Flavia

Iria Flavia or simply Iria in Galicia, northwestern Spain, was a Celtiberian port, the main seat of the Caporos, on the road between Braga and Astorga, which the Romans rebuilt as via XVIII or Via Nova http://www.carmalaga.com/information-galicia/roman-galicia.htm. The Romans refounded it as Iria Flavia ("Flavian Iria") to compliment Vespasian. Iria was the seat of a 6th-century Christian bishopric that was shared with Compostela, then moved there in 1095. The modern city on the site is Padrón.

Related Topics:
Galicia - Celtiberian - Caporo - Braga - Astorga - Vespasian - Bishopric - Compostela - Padrón

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The followers of Priscillian were deeply embedded in the culture of Iberia's northwest, and Iria Flavia was one of nine dioceses in Galicia established to restore catholic orthodoxy in the Visigothic marches that were recovered from the Kingdom of the Suevi, mentioned in the document Parroquial suevo (ca 572–582); the Parroquial divides the region into dioceses and marks the first definitive integration of this zone in the monarchy of the Visigoths, catholicized from Arianism in 587 (Quiroga and Lovell 1999). The list of the bishops of Iria present at councils and noted in other sources begins in the 6th century with an Andreas and gains historic credibility in the seventh http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atlantis/2572/ObispadoIria.htm. No commercial or political rationale for siting a bishop at Iria Flavia seems to present itself, though excavations have identified a cult sanctuary dating to the second half of the 6th century (Quiroga and Lovelle 1999). The relics identified with Saint James the Greater and transferred to Compostela may have determined the location of the diocese at Iria, to control the already sanctified site. The possibility remains open that the relics venerated first at Iria and then at Compostela are those of Priscillian himself.

Related Topics:
Priscillian - Marches - Suevi - Visigoth - Arian - Saint James the Greater

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At any rate, otherwise unidentified considerations dictated that the new bishopric take the place of the older bishopric at Aquae Celenae, a Roman municipium and administrative center formerly of considerably more importance.

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Under Adaulfus II the city was destroyed by Norse pirates, and bishop and chapter took refuge behind the strong walls of Compostela. Soon they petitioned King Ordono II and Pope Nicholas I to permit them to transfer the see from Iria to Compostela, near the sepulchre and church of St James. Both pope and king consented on condition, however, that the honour of the see should be divided between the two places. From the second half of the 9th century the bishops of this see are known as Irienses or Sancti Jacobi, even ecclesiae apostolicae sancti Jacobi, finally as Compostellani, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. In 1095, through reverence for the body and the sepulchre of St James, Urban II, by a Bull of December 5, withdrew from Iria its episcopal rank and transferred the see in its entirety to Compostela, in favour of the Cluniac bishop, Dalmatius, present at the Council of Clermont. At the same time Urban exempted it from the authority of the metropolitan and made it immediately subject to the Holy See.

Related Topics:
Pope Nicholas I - Urban II - December 5 - Cluniac - Council of Clermont

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Diego Gelmírez, bishop of Compostela, rebuilt the former cathedral church, Santa Maria Adina, which had been destroyed by Almanzor about the year 1000. Excavations have revealed that the site was built on Roman foundations. A Roman votive figure of a bull has been found, published in Corpus Artis Gallaeciae http://www.uc.pt/aia/galiza.html.

Related Topics:
Diego Gelmírez - Almanzor

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As the legend of Saint James the Greater having proselytized in Hispania spread, Iria Flavia came to be accounted the first site of his preaching.

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