The Unknown Neighbour: The Jew in the thought of Isidore of Seville Wolfram Drews This book provides a detailed analysis of Isidore of Seville's attitude towards Jews and Judaism. Starting out from his anti-Jewish work De fide catholica contra Iudaeos, the author puts Isidore's argument into the context of his entire literary production. Furthermore, he explores the place of Isidore's thinking within the contemporary situation of Visigothic Spain, investigating the political functionalization of religion, most particularly the forced baptisms ordered by King Sisebut, whose advisor Isidore was thought to have been. It becomes clear that Isidore's primary goal is to produce a new 'Gothic' identity for the recently established Catholic 'nation' of Visigothic Spain; to this end he uses anti-Jewish stereotypes inherited from the tradition of Catholic anti-Judaism. Wolfram Drews, Dr.phil. (2001) in Medieval History (Freie Universitat, Berlin), teaches history at the University of Cologne. He is a Research Fellow at Bonn University (Reallaxikon fur Antike und Christentum) and has published extensively on late antique and medieval Spanish history, as well as on the history of Judaism.