Matthieu Pignot

Matthieu Pignot obtained his doctorate in history at the University of Oxford in 2016, with a thesis  entitled: “The catechumenate in late antique Africa: Augustine of Hippo, his contemporaries and early reception (ca. 360-530 AD)”. Previously he completed a MSt at the University of Oxford in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies in 2012, a MA in Ancient Mediterranean and Near-Eastern Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris in 2011, and a BA in History at the Université Catholique de Louvain in 2008.  His main interests lie in the history of late antique and early medieval Christianity in the West, in particular initiation to Christianity, Christian education, hagiography, sermons, the figure and works of Augustine of Hippo, and the reception of late antique works in the middle ages. Within the project he focuses on Latin evidence, in particular hagiography and literary sources from Italy and Gaul. He is particularly interested in the writing and re-writing of biographies and martyrdom accounts, and in their manuscript transmission in the middle ages.

Recent publications:

“The catechumenate in anonymous sermons from the late antique West”, in Studia Patristica (forthcoming in 2017)

“Questioning Christian baptism: insights from Augustine’s correspondence”, Revue d’Histoire Ecclésiastique 111/3-4 (2016), 452-482