Cover via Open Library · Open Library
Confessions
Sign in to saveAlso known as The Confessions of St. Augustine
autobiographical work by Saint Augustine
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- literary work
- Author
- Augustine of Hippo
- Genre
- autobiography
- Country of origin
- Roman Empire
- Image
- Basel, Universitätsbibliothek, A IV 4, f. 1r – Aurelius Augustinus, Confessiones.JPG
Show 8 more facts
- characters
- Augustine of Hippo
- title
- Confessiones
- language of work or name
- Latin
- earliest date
- 0397-00-00
- different from
- Confessions
- described by source
- The Nuttall Encyclopædia
- Library of Congress Classification (works and editions)
- BR65.A6-.A62
- Commons category
- Confessions by Augustin (Saint)
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~22 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Confessions by Saint Augustine of Hippo Confessions (Latin: Confessiones) is an autobiographical work by Augustine of Hippo, consisting of 13 books written in Latin between AD 397 and 400. The work outlines Augustine's sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. Modern English translations are sometimes published under the title The Confessions of Saint Augustine in order to distinguish it from other books with similar titles. Its original title was Confessions in Thirteen Books; it was composed to be read out loud, with each book being a complete unit.
Confessions is generally considered one of Augustine's most important texts. It is widely seen as the first autobiography written in the Western world (Ovid had invented the genre at the start of the first century AD with his Tristia) and was an influential model for Christian writers throughout the Middle Ages. Henry Chadwick wrote that Confessions will "always rank among the great masterpieces of western literature".
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Confessions” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.