''Gravi de pugna'' is a

forged Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it ...

letter written in the name of Augustine of Hippo which asserts that the morally superior side is always superior in battle and therefore that wars are proven to be

just war The just war theory ( la, bellum iustum) is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics which is studied by military leaders, theologians, ethicists and policy makers. The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure that a war i ...

s by their military success. The letter was widely accepted as authentic, and reassured soldiers that God was on their side.

Ideology

Gravi de pugna (Epistula Augustino Hipponensi falso attributa)

''Gravi de pugna'' is best known for its simple assertion that

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

will assure that the morally superior side will win military battles, and conversely, that victory itself validates that the use of force was appropriate. Udo Heyn claims this was a Germanic notion, and Phillip Wynn reports that it had long been believed in pagan antiquity by the time of this letter. This understanding was, in fact, utterly rejected by Augustine. Kelly DeVries regards the theology of ''Gravi de pugna'' as shallow and considers it to raise problems of

theodicy Theodicy () means vindication of God. It is to answer the question of why a good God permits the manifestation of evil, thus resolving the issue of the problem of evil. Some theodicies also address the problem of evil "to make the existence of ...

and legitimacy as soon as the first Christian army loses. Gravi also urges prayer for victory before battle, which was also rejected by Augustine, who found such prayers inappropriate.

History

''Gravi de pugna'' was written in the fifth century. The letter was widely accepted as authentic from its introduction through the medieval era, and was the most frequently cited text in this period on holy war. It was invoked to justify numerous wars, including by

Hincmar of Reims Hincmar (; ; la, Hincmarus; 806 – 21 December 882), archbishop of Reims, was a Frankish jurist and theologian, as well as the friend, advisor and propagandist of Charles the Bald. He belonged to a noble family of northern Francia. Biography Ea ...

, Rabanus Maurus,

Sedulius Scottus Sedulius Scotus or Scottus ( fl. 840–860) was an Irish teacher, Latin grammarian, and scriptural commentator who lived in the 9th century. During the reign of the Emperor Lothair (840–855), he was one of a colony of Irish teachers at Liège. ...

, Ivo of Chartres, and

Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order throug ...

It was also recited at the

Siege of Lisbon The siege of Lisbon, from 1 July to 25 October 1147, was the military action that brought the city of Lisbon under definitive Portuguese control and expelled its Moorish overlords. The siege of Lisbon was one of the few Christian victories of ...

in . ''Gravi'' imbued the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

with confidence that God was on their side, squelching all moral concerns and leading to behavior that did not comply with then-accepted

rules of war The law of war is the component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war (''jus ad bellum'') and the conduct of warring parties (''jus in bello''). Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territor ...

. The work lost influence with the renaissance of the 12th century, which developed more sophisticated

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

and moral reasoning, At the same time, Augustine's own opinions on just wars, which had been largely unknown, were studied by the

decretists In the history of canon law, a decretist was a student and interpreter of the ''Decretum Gratiani''. Like Gratian, the decretists sought to provide "a harmony of discordant canons" (''concordia discordantium canonum''), and they worked towards this ...

and through them,

Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known ...

as well. The authenticity of ''Gravi de Pugna'' was not conclusively rejected until

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...

. Although it is regarded by contemporary scholars as "obviously un-Augustinian", it is now widely recognized that ''Gravi de pugna'' has inaccurately influenced scholars of Augustine's views on war even up through modern times.

Ideology

History

Published editions

See also

Notes

Citations

References

Further reading