The Patrologia Latina is an enormous work published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1844 and 1855, with indices published between 1862 and 1865.
It is a monumental work and is still influential for scholars of the Middle Ages, comparable to the Monumenta Germaniae Historica. The Patrologia Latina is one part of the Patrologiae Cursus Completus, the second part of which is the Patrologia Graeco-Latina, consisting of medieval Greek works with Latin translations.
The Patrologia Latina includes over 1000 years of Latin works from Tertullian to Pope Innocent III. There are 217 volumes: volumes 1 to 73, from Tertullian to Gregory of Tours, was published from 1844 to 1849, and volumes 74 to 217, from Pope Gregory I to Innocent III, was published from 1849 to 1855. Although the collection ends in 1216 after the death of Innocent III, Migne originally wanted to include documents all the way up to the Reformation; this task proved too great, but some later commentaries or documents associated with earlier works were included.
The printing plates for the Patrologia were destroyed by fire in 1868, but with help from the Garnier printing house they were restored and new editions were printed beginning in the 1880s.
Notable authors in the Patrologia
These are some of the more notable authors included in the Patrologia, with the volume(s) in which they appear. Most of the works are ecclesiastic in nature, but there are also documents of literary, historical or linguistic (such as the Gothic bible in vol. 18) interest.
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