The Life of Augustine

In 1695, Louis Sebastien, Le Nain de Tillemont completed volume 13 of his Memoire ecclesiastique, entitled La vie de saint Augustin. Consisting of approximately 1,200 pages wherein Tillemont compiled all extant passages relevant to the biography of Augustine of Hippo, the biography was published posthumously in 1700. The work lies in the tradition of Jansenism from Port-Royal and the Leuven. Though an ascetic recluse on the family estate for the last twenty years of his life, Tillemont was in touch with important scholars and the ecclesiastical movements of his time. His work is the first modern biography of Augustine, and the most comprehensive of all Augustinian biographies; modern authors consult him and frequently adopt his theories without citation. His method exercises influence on Parisian scholarship on Augustine to this very day. This English translation has been divided into three volumes: 1: birth to Episcopal consecration (354-396); 2: the Donastist controversy (397-411); 3: the Pelagian controversy (412-430).