Isidore was a day labourer born near Madrid in c.1070, and was in the service of Juan de Vargas on a farm in the vicinty of Madrid. Every morning before going to work he was accustomed to hear Mass at one of the nearby churches. One day his fellow labourers complained to their master that Isadore was always late for work, and upon investigation the master found Isidore at prayer while and angel was doing the ploughing for him. The legend also states that on one occasion his master saw an angel ploughing on either side of him, so that Isidore's work was equal to that of three of his fellow labourers. Isidore is also said to performed various miracles including bringing back to life the deseased daughter of his master, and to have caused a fountain of fresh water to burst from dry earth in order to quench the thirst of his master. He married Maria Torribia, a canonized saint, who is venerated in Spain as Maria della Cabezza, from the fact that her head is often carried in procession especially in times of drought. They had one son who died in his youth, and according to legend when he fell into a deep well was delivered safe by the prayers of his parents, the water level rising miraculously to ground level.
Forty years after Isidore's death, his body was transferred from the cemetery to the church of St. Andrew. He is said to have appeared in a vision to Alfonso of Castile, advising him of the path to take by which he surprised the Moors, gaining the victory of Las Nevas de Tolosa in 1212. When King Philip III of Spain was cured of a deadly desease by touching the relics of the saint, the king replaced the old reliquary by an expensive silver one. Isidore was canonized by Gregory XV, along with saints Ignatius, Francis Xavier, Teresa and Philip Neri on 12 March 1622. Saint Isidore is widely venerated as the patron of peasants and labourers.