Albina (died c. AD 431) was a late Roman religious patron, correspondent of

St Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

and was the mother of

Melania the Younger Melania the Younger ( 383 - 31 December 439) is a Christian saint and Desert Mother who lived during the reign of Emperor Honorius, son of Theodosius I. She is the paternal granddaughter of Melania the Elder. The Feast of Melania the Younger is ...

Biography

Albina was born in Nola, possibly during the AD 360s based on the known date of birth of her daughter Melania in 383. She was from a wealthy Roman family, ''

Ceionia gens The gens Ceionia or gens Caeionia or the Caeionii family was an ancient Roman senatorial family of imperial times. The first member of the gens to obtain the consulship was Lucius Ceionius Commodus in AD 78. The rise of this family culminated ...

'': her father was Ceionius Rufius Albinus and her brother was Rufius Antonius Agrypnius. Her aunt was Avita, mother of Eunomia. She married Publicola and had a daughter who became the

Christian Saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

and

Desert Mother Desert Mothers is a neologism, coined in feminist theology in analogy to Desert Fathers, for the ''ammas'' or female Christian ascetics living in the desert of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria in the 4th and 5th centuries AD. They typically lived in t ...

. Melania married her cousin

Valerius Pinianus Valerius Pinianus (Pinian) * ~ 381; † 420 (or 432) in Jerusalem, was a member of a branch of the gens Valeria (gens Valeria Severa) and among the richest men of his time. He was the son of a Roman praefectus urbi and also had a brother named Seve ...

c.396. Albina went with Melania and Pinnanius to Campania and Sicily after Publicola's death prior to 408. In c.410 the family moved to near

Thagaste Thagaste (or Tagaste) was a Roman- Berber city in present-day Algeria, now called Souk Ahras. The town was the birthplace of Saint Augustine. History Thagaste was originally a small Numidian village, inhabited by a Berber tribe into which August ...

, where they stayed for seven years. In c.417 Albina accompanied Melania to Palestine and remained there until her death fourteen years later, c.431.

Religious Politics

It's clear from surviving correspondence that Albina was seen as an influential woman in her own right, beyond association with her daughter.

Correspondence with Augustine of Hippo

Her most notable correspondence was with

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

, to whom she wrote over sixty-nine letters. In his first letter to Albina, her daughter and son-in-law, Augustine regrets that he cannot travel to see them and misses their "vehement light". It's clear that Albina is an important part of the religious network in the early fifth century, as she is mentioned in letters, such as Letter 125 from Augustine to Alypius. Albina alone was addressed by Augustine in Letter 126, which reports on the aftermath of the incident at Thagaste, which is now known as the Pinian Affair.

Pinian Affair

Albina was involved in an incident, whilst they were in Thagaste. Albina wrote to Augustine asking him to visit them, but he would not leave his church. As a result, Albina, Melania and Pinnianus travelled to him. Once there, the congregation demanded that Pinnianus be ordained and the congregation became frenzied. Augustine threatened that he would leave as bishop. The episode shows how volatile communities could be.

Pelagian Heresy

Augustine wrote addressed the letter refuting

Pelagianism Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the original sin did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius ( – AD), an ascetic and philosopher from th ...

to Albina and her family. Historian Peter Brown suggested that one of the reasons Augustine delayed attacking

Pelagius Pelagius (; c. 354–418) was a British theologian known for promoting a system of doctrines (termed Pelagianism by his opponents) which emphasized human choice in salvation and denied original sin. Pelagius and his followers abhorred the moral s ...

until c.415 was because of the closeness of Albina and her family with him.

Friendship with Paulinus of Nola

Albina was discussed by

Paulinus of Nola Paulinus of Nola (; la, Paulinus Nolanus; also Anglicized as Pauline of Nola; – 22 June 431) born Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus, was a Roman poet, writer, and senator who attained the ranks of suffect consul () and governor of Campania ...

, in ''Poem 21,'' dating to c.407. He describes her as a leader of "the column of the singing chorus" with her aunt, Avita, and his wife

Therasia Therasia, also known as Thirasía ( el, Θηρασία), is an island in the volcanic island group of Santorini in the Greek Cyclades. It lies north-west of Nea Kameni, a small island formed in recent centuries by volcanic activity and thus mark ...

Correspondence with Jerome

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...

dedicated his book ''De Gratia Christi et de Peccato Originali'' to her, Melania and Pinianus. He also wrote to Augustine and Aypius in 419 in ''Letter 202'', discussing various church matters and sending greetings to the leader from Albina.

References

{{Reflist 431 deaths 5th-century Roman women 4th-century Roman women Correspondents of Jerome Latin letter writers 5th-century Latin writers Augustine of Hippo Women letter writers Ceionii