Pseudo-Augustine

“Pseudo-Augustine” covers the large body of sermons and treatises transmitted under Augustine’s name but not authentically his — a measure of his towering authority in the medieval West, where many anonymous works sought his shelter.

The sheer size of this body of misattributed work measures Augustine's towering authority in the medieval West, where anonymous sermons and treatises naturally sought the shelter of his name. Distinguishing the genuine Augustine from the "Pseudo-" is a basic task of patristic scholarship, and it cautions readers that an attribution in later compilations is not always a guarantee of authorship.