Abstract

In his Commentarium in Hieremiam, as well as in other contemporary works, Jerome accuses Pelagius of conducting a defamatory campaign against him by accusing him of Origenism, contempt for marriage and more generally, of wishing others ill. Did Jerome really seek to discredit his adversary, or were such accusations even circulating? This paper takes into consideration Pelagius’s surviving works and intends to give – within the limits admitted by the sources – an answer to this question, coming to the conclusion that the conflict between the two writers was not lacking in personal attacks, and that Jerome’s report is thus trustworthy.