From the fifth century to the twelfth in the Latin west, the preeminent cultural institution of Christianity was the monastery. In the monasteries of this period Augustine's influence knew its most unchallenged domination. In their works we see the beginning of the process of continuous transformation, and even deformation, that has been Augustine's fate since. The monks had not after all been very far from Augustine in the underlying spirit and method with which they approached scripture and its teachings. Though he was still the object of great veneration, he was no longer the latest and highest authority.
Veneration is often the subtlest form of betrayal.
That Augustine's own teachings were not exactly the same as those of the scholastics who praised him, imitated him, and betrayed him can be seen in the later history of medieval theology. Not surprisingly, the reputation of Augustine in later centuries often rose and fell according to the reputation of just those particular doctrines. The respectful tone and zeal for harmony that had been characterized the debates of the sixth century was entirely absent in the sixteenth, to the lasting disadvantage of Augustine's reputation. The Counter-Reformation marks the decisive ascendancy of the prestige of Aquinas over that of Augustine in the Roman church, a transformation scarcely imaginable as late as perhaps 1500. The last great battle over Augustine's heritage among churchmen was fought in seventeenth-century France.