Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century/Severus, bp. of Monorca

Severus (22), bp. of Minorca, known by his encyclical letter referred to in the book do Miraculis S. Stephani, composed by order of Evodius of Uzalis (Migne, Patr. Lat. xx. 731). Orosius had deposited some recently discovered relics of St. Stephen in the church at Magona (Port Mahon), where there were a large number of Jews, one of whom, the rabbi Theodorus, was defensor civitatis. The arrival of the relics caused great religious excitement among Minorcan Christians, which led to constant arguments between them and the Jews, ending in riots in which the synagogue was set on fire and burnt to the bare walls. The conversion of a great number of Jews, including Theodorus himself, followed. On the site of the destroyed synagogue the Jews erected a church. These events occurred in the last week of Jan. 418. Gams, Kircheng. von Sp. ii. (1) 406.

[F.D.]