Augustine’s Confessions
Soon after becoming bishop of Hippo Regius, Augustine wrote the Confessions, thirteen books addressed to God in which he tells of his restless youth, his years as a Manichaean and his conversion in Milan. Often called the first autobiography of Western literature, the work was a model for Christian writers throughout the Middle Ages.
- Date
- between 397 and 400exact date unknown: an interval is given
- Place
- Hippo Regiustoday: Annaba, Algeria · Africa
- Participants
- Augustine of Hippo, Ambrose
- Threads
- Africa (1st–5th c.)
- Also known as
- Confessiones; Confessions of Saint Augustine; Исповедь Августина; Confessions
Augustine was born in 354 at Thagaste in Numidia to a pagan father and a Christian mother, Monica. He studied rhetoric at Carthage, where Cicero’s Hortensius awakened his love of philosophy, and for about nine years he was a Manichaean “hearer”. He taught rhetoric at Carthage, Rome and, from 384, Milan, where the sermons of Bishop Ambrose and the books of the Neoplatonists drew him to Christianity; the scene of his conversion in a Milan garden — a child’s voice chanting “take up and read” — is among the most famous passages of the Confessions. Ambrose baptised him at Easter 387. Back in Africa, he was ordained priest at Hippo Regius in 391 and became its bishop in 395, first as coadjutor.
The Confessions were written between 397 and 400 (some date them to 397–398). The first nine books follow his life up to the death of his mother Monica at Ostia; the tenth turns to memory, the eleventh to time and the last two to the story of the creation in Genesis. The book is addressed throughout to God; near its opening Augustine writes: “our heart is restless until it rests in you”. As bishop, Augustine led the Catholic campaign against the Donatists and wrote The City of God; he died in 430 while the Vandals were besieging Hippo.
Connections
Related events
- Mani begins his mission240 · Middle East and EgyptAugustine was a Manichaean hearer for about nine years and later wrote against Mani’s followers
- Donatist schismbetween 311 and 312 – 411 · Africaas bishop of Hippo, Augustine led the Catholic campaign against the Donatists
- Ambrose, bishop of Milan7 December 374 – 4 April 397 · Western and Central Europethe Confessions tell how Ambrose’s preaching in Milan won Augustine over; Ambrose baptised him at Easter 387
Adjacent events in the thread
- Revolt of Gildo397 – July 398 · Africa
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- End of Roman rule in Britain383–410
- Ambrose, bishop of Milan7 December 374 – 4 April 397
Eastern Europe
- Chernyakhov culturebetween 200 and 250 – between 400 and 430
- Kyiv culturec. 200 – between 400 and 430
Middle East and Egypt
- Jerusalem Talmudbetween 360 and 450
Central and Northern Asia
- Hunnic kings of Bactria: the Kidaritesbetween 360 and 370 – 467
South Asia
- Reign of Chandragupta II Vikramadityabetween 375 and 381 – between 412 and 415
East Asia
- Kofun period: the age of keyhole tombsbetween 250 and 300 – 538
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- The yupa inscriptions of King Mulavarman at Kutaibetween 350 and 450
- Gold pendant copying a coin of Antoninus Pius at Óc Eobetween 152 and 600
- Óc Eo, the port of Funanbetween 1 and 100 – between 601 and 700
North America
- Late Basketmaker II erac. 50 – c. 500
- Hopewell traditionbetween 200 and 100 BC – c. 500
Latin America
- Teotihuacan at its height: the largest city of the Americasc. 250 – c. 550
- Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Confessions (Augustine)
- Wikipedia (English): Augustine of Hippo
- Wikipedia (Russian): Исповедь (Августин)
- Wikipedia (Russian): Аврелий Августин
- Brown P. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography. — Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967.
- Wikidata: Q372941