Augustine of Hippo's De civitate Dei in the Central Middle Ages (10th-12th c.): Transmission History and Reception in Theological Debates

My project centers on the reception and manuscript transmission of Augustine of Hippo’s De civitate Dei from the 10th century to the first two decades of the 12th. Augustine’s masterpiece has been one of the most influential works in shaping not only Christian identity, but also Western culture as such. Nonetheless, its medieval Fortleben has received less attention than it deserves. By providing the first encompassing study of its reception and manuscript transmission in the abovementioned timespan, I will clarify the role of De civitate Dei in the genesis of medieval theological, ecclesiological, and political theories. Moreover, I will shed new light on the reuse of Augustinian authority in different contexts and for different - and sometimes, opposite - purposes. The project combines (1) a ‘horizontal’ line of enquiry, which involves mapping and describing the quotations from De civitate Dei and its manuscript witnesses, with (2) a ‘vertical’ perspective, which entails an in-depth examination of select clusters of works. These are (a) the Libelli de lite Imperatorum et Pontificum, produced in the context of the Investiture Controversy, aimed at endorsing or opposing the so-called Gregorian Church reform, and (b) the works that took a stance in the controversy over the Eucharistic dogma. This combination will enable me to assess the dissemination of De civitate Dei in the High Middle Ages from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective.