In 1281, Maximos Planoudes, an erudite Byzantine theologian and scholar, who had been engaged in the discussions of the Byzantine with Roman Church and was well trained in Classical Latin, translated (among several ancient Latin works) Augustine's De trinitate in its entirety. The influence of the translation was considerable; yet, it was confined to the theological field, in the context of which it was produced. Most (if not all) of the readers of this text, such as Barlaam of Calabria (c. 1290?-1348), Gregory Palamas (1296-1359), Makarios Chrysokephalos (c. 1300-c. 1382), Joseph Bryennios (c. 1350-c. 1431), George Scholarios - Gennadios II (c. 1400-1472), were primarily interested in Augustine’s doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit. Most of them regarded the De trinitate as compatible with the Orthodox rejection of the Filioque. Palamas was also highly impressed by the soteriological theory of Book XIII, by the way Augustine elaborated Plotinus' doctrine of the inapplicability of Aristotle's Categories on God and used it in order to refute Eunomius’ Trinitarian doctrine (Books V-VII), by the Trinitarian images in the human soul as well as by some minor moral remarks. Palamas found Augustine's doctrine of the way Categories (especially ‘‘relation’’) can describe God as a useful tool in his polemic against the deniers of his distinction between God's ‘‘essence'' and ‘‘energies.’’ Nobody, however, showed any interest in the rich philosophical aspects of this work, especially Augustine’s doctrine of the human soul and its epistemological implications. The only probable instance of philosophical use of this work is Nicholas Kabasilas’ (c. 1325-post 1391) Contra Pyrrhonem, where skepticism is combated, inter alia, by means of an argument close to the famous ‘‘Augustinian cogito’’ which occurs in many of Augustine's works, the De trinitate included, too.
World History
