Augustine of Hippo

**Augustine of Hippo** (; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as **Saint Augustine**, was a Christian philosopher and theologian.

## Early life

Augustine was born in the year 354. His mother is believed to have been of Berber origin.

After growing up, he began to learn and write a lot about Christianity, and became a bishop in Hippo Regius, which was in modern-day Annaba, Algeria. He was highly influenced by archbishop Ambrose. Later in life, Augustine moved to Italy, and over the next years his religious ideology grew stronger, and he became a teacher.

### Death

Shortly before Augustine died, a group called the Vandals invaded Roman Africa. The Vandals were a Germanic tribe who believed in a version of Christianity called Arianism. In the spring of 430, they surrounded the city of Hippo, where Augustine was living. At this time, Augustine became very sick.

According to Possidius, who wrote about Augustine’s life, one of Augustine’s few miracles happened during the siege. He healed a sick man. Augustine is also said to have excommunicated himself as he was dying. This means he cut himself off from the church in a public way to show he was sorry for his sins and to share in the suffering of others who sinned.

Augustine spent his last days praying and feeling sorry for his sins. He asked to have the penitential Psalms of David hung on his walls so he could read them. These prayers made him cry a lot, according to Possidius. Augustine was also in charge of the church’s library in Hippo, and he told people to take good care of the books there.

Augustine died on 28 August 430. Soon after, the Vandals stopped attacking Hippo for a while, but later they came back and burned the city. They destroyed almost everything except Augustine’s cathedral and the church library, which they left safe.

Augustine became very famous after his death. People thought of him as a saint, and in 1298, Pope Boniface VIII officially made him a Doctor of the Church, a special title for important teachers. Augustine’s feast day (a day to remember him) is on 28 August, the day he died.

He is known as the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians (people who study God), and several cities and church areas. People also pray to him when they have sore eyes.

In the Church of England, Augustine is remembered with a smaller festival on 28 August.

## Works

**Books**:
- _On Christian Doctrine,_ wrt397-426
- _Confessions,_ 397-398
- _The City of God,_ begun ca. 413, finished 426
- _On the Trinity,_ 400-416
- _Enchiridion_
- _Retractions_: At the end of his life (ca. 426-428) Augustine revisited his previous works in chronological order and suggested what he would have said differently in a work titled the "_Retractions_", giving the reader a rare picture of the development of a writer and his final thoughts.
- _The Literal Meaning of Genesis_
- On Free Choice of the Will

**Letters**:

## Related pages

- Augustinianism
- Free will
- Original sin
- Pelagianism
- Filioque clause
- Truth

## References

- _The Story of Thought_, DK Publishing, Bryan Magee, London, 1998,
- aka _The Story of Philosophy_, Dorling Kindersley Publishing, 2001,
    - (subtitled on cover: _The Essential Guide to the History of Western Philosophy_)
    - <sup>g</sup> Saint Augustine, pages 30, 144; _City of God_ 51, 52, 53 and _The Confessions_ 50, 51, 52
    - - additional in the Dictionary of the History of Ideas for Saint Augustine and Neo-Platonism

## Bibliography

- Brown, Peter. _Augustine of Hippo_.  Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967.
- Gareth B. Matthews.  _Augustine_.  Blackwell, 2005.
- O'Donnell, James J. _Augustine: A New Biography_. New York:  HarperCollins, 2005.
- Ruickbie, Leo. _Witchcraft Out of the Shadows_. London: Robert Hale, 2004. , pp. 57–8.
- Tanquerey, Adolphe. _The Spiritual Life: A Treatise on Ascetical and Mystical Theology_.  Reprinted Ed. (original 1930).  Rockford, IL: Tan Books, 2000. , p. 37.
- von Heyking, John. _Augustine and Politics as Longing in the World_. Columbia:  University of Missouri Press, 2001.
- _Orbis Augustinianus sive conventuum O. Erem. S. A. chorographica et topographica descriptio_  Augustino Lubin, Paris, 1659, 1671, 1672.
- René Pottier. _Saint Augustin le Berbère_. Fernand Lanore, 2006.
- Preview from Google

## Other websites

- General:
    - University of Pennsylvania, Augustine of Hippo - Texts, translations, introductions, commentaries (Webarchive), 2006-10-22
    - EarlyChurch.org.uk Extensive bibliography and on-line articles.
    - Life of St. Augustine of Hippo, from the _Catholic Encyclopedia_
    - Augstine of Hippo  , at Centropian
- Texts by Augustine:
    - In Latin, at _The Latin Library_: books and letters by Augustine
    - At "Christian Classics Ethereal Library" Translations of several works by Augustine, incl. introductions
    - Sant'Agostino - Vita, Scritti, Pensiero, Santità, Attualità Full Latin and Italian text resource
    - At "IntraText Digital Library": Works by Augustine in several languages, with concordance and frequency list
    - St. Augustine's Multilingual Opera Omnia
- Texts on Augustine:
    - Augustine and 'other Catholics'
    - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
    - "Augustine's Concept of Freedom: The Dynamic of Sin and Grace" from _Grace Incarnate_ (1989)
    - Augustine's Heavenly City and the Western Mind Pgs 22-24
- On Music
    - Augustine on Hymns
- On Original Sin ask Dan Santos
    - Augustine and Pelagius
    - Augustine and Thomas Aquinas on Original Sin
    - Original sin: a disputation
    - The Cambridge Companion to Augustine; 3 Augustine on evil and original sin 
- Links to the Augustinian Order
    - Augustine's writings
- Audio books
    - City of God, Confessions, Enchiridion, Doctrine
- Augustine and Orthodoxy
    - Blessed Augustine of Hippo: His Place in the Orthodox Church
    - St Augustine the Bishop of Hippo Orthodox icon and synaxarion

## Infobox (philosopher)

- **embed**: yes
- **region**: Western philosophy
- **notable students**: Orosius, Paul Orosius
Prosper of Aquitaine


## Infobox (saint)

- **honorific prefix**: Saint
- **name**: Augustine of Hippo
- **titles**: Bishop of Hippo Regius
Church Father, Doctor of the Church
Blessed (Orthodox), Blessed
- **birth name**: Aurelius Augustinus
- **birth date**: 13 November 354
- **birth place**: Thagaste, Numidia Cirtensis, Roman Empire
- **death date**: 28 August 430 (aged 75)
- **death place**: Hippo Regius, Numidia Cirtensis, Western Roman Empire
- **resting place**: Pavia, Italy
- **image**: Saint Augustine by Philippe de Champaigne.jpg
- **caption**: _Saint Augustin_ by Philippe de Champaigne,
- **imagesize**: 230
- **venerated in**: All Christian denominations which veneration of saints, venerate saints
- **canonized date**: Pre-Congregation
- **major shrine**: San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, Pavia, Italy
- **attributes**: Crozier, mitre, young child, book, small church, flaming or pierced heart