Reading Augustine in the Reformation

Abstract

Abstract This book explores the reception of Augustine of Hippo in the European Reformations. In this religious revolution Augustine was a highly contested authority, with different parties assimilating his thought in contrasting ways. This flexible reception raises fundamental questions about the significance of Augustine's thought in the Reformation period. It can also illuminate the relationship between religious change and the new intellectual culture of Renaissance humanism, with its famous claim to return to the classical sources. Based on a variety of printed and manuscript sources, this study seeks to break new ground on three levels. It systematically grounds the reception of ideas in the history of reading and the material culture of books and manuscripts. Second, it is not restricted to particular confessional parties or geographic boundaries, but offers a cross-confessional account of Augustine's appropriation in early modern Europe. Third, on a conceptual level, this book contributes to a more advanced understanding of the nature of intellectual authority in the early modern period. The book is organized around the production, circulation and consumption of Augustine's works. It studies the impact of print, humanist scholarship and confessional divisions on Augustine's reception. It examines how editors managed patristic knowledge through search tools and anthologies. It illuminates how individual readers used their copies, and how they applied their knowledge in public debates. All this shows that the emerging confessional pressures did not just restrict, but also promote intellectual life. It furthermore reveals that humanism, despite its claim to return to the sources, continued to facilitate selective, purposeful reading styles.