Augustine's Heritage in Late Medieval Biblical Scholarship (1200-1500)

The aim of this article is to give an overview of the important contribution of Augustine to late medieval biblical scholarship in the West, focusing particularly on the view of history (in relation to the Church father's De civitate Dei), Bible hermeneutics (in particular De doctrina Christiana), and the fall of man, as well as his need for God's grace (with an eye on the antipelagian works). The essay explores how these items were assessed by influential commentators such as Joachim. of Flora, Hugh of St. Victor, the scholastics Thomas Aquinas and Giles of Rome, the Oxford masters Robert Grosseteste and Roger Bacon, in addition to Nicholas of Lyra, Jean Gerson, and Jacob Perez of Valencia. It leads to the conclusion that late medieval biblical scholarship did not simply include manifold references to Augustine's scriptural commentaries, but was largely indebted to the Bible hermeneutics, as well as the theological issues, with which the Church father had endowed the Western tradition.