A translation project by Updated Works
Patrologia Latinain English
Migne’s collection gathers a thousand years of the Latin Church into 217 volumes of theology, history, sermons, and letters. Almost none of it exists in English. Our plan is to change that, translating as much of the Patrologia as we can.
Watch
A look at the project
Method
From Migne’s Latin to a readable English edition
- 1
Latin
The author’s original Latin, as gathered in Migne’s collection between 1841 and 1855.
- 2
English Free
A faithful, complete translation made straight from the Latin. Our first goal, and free to read in full.
- 3
Modern English Future
A clear, modern edition of the works readers most want, edited the Updated Works way.
The faithful English translations will always be free to read. We will turn some of these works, not all, into modern, even more readable editions; those are paid, and they fund the years of work this takes.
We translate the original works only. Migne wrapped each text in nineteenth-century prefaces, dissertations, and footnotes; those belong to his editors, so we set them aside. We also skip the biblical texts themselves, such as Jerome’s Vulgate, which already exist in countless English editions. What we publish is what the authors wrote.
Our approach
A first pass, in Migne’s own spirit
Almost none of the Patrologia Latina has ever reached English. We are making the first pass at digging up the gems: a thousand years of the Latin Church most readers have never been able to open.
This is, in its way, what Migne did. He did not produce flawless critical editions; he gathered the best available texts into one comprehensive collection and got the whole corpus into readers’ hands in about two decades. For nearly two centuries it has been the indispensable reference, not because it is perfect, but because it is complete and within reach.
We work in the same spirit, now into English. Every translation goes through a careful, multi-stage process, checked against the original Latin at each step, and we are honest that a collection this size will never be perfect on a first pass. Treat it as a reference point: we bring the whole corpus into readable English, and the works that most reward it get the deeper work of a modern edition.
This is a living project, and we will keep improving these translations over time. We want your help doing it. If you spot something to fix, or there’s a work you want next, tell us.
Why it’s free
Open is how it spreads
We give these translations away because openness decides which ideas reach people, and, increasingly, which ideas reach the AI tools people turn to for answers.
of a major open AI training corpus is explicitly Christian text, more than every other religious tradition combined, largely because so much of it was already free and public.
Tim Hwang, “What the Models Already Know,” 2026Christian writing already runs deep in these systems, and it got there by being free. What is open is what the models learn.
The Patrologia Latina is the part that is not open yet: a thousand years of Christian thought locked in Latin, unread by most people and unreadable by most models. Translating it and giving it away is how it joins the rest, so the richest Christian writing becomes part of what these tools, and the people using them, actually know.
The collection
Eleven centuries, 221 volumes
Migne ordered the collection by date, from the second century to the thirteenth. Every volume below is queued for translation. We will open each one as its English edition is ready.
Second & Third Centuries
5 vols · 1–5Fifth Century
44 vols · 20–63- 20 View volume →
- 21 View volume →
- 22 View volume →
- 23 View volume →
- 24 View volume →
- 25 View volume →
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- 36
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- 44
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- 53
- 54
- 55
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- 60
- 61
- 62
- 63
Sixth Century
10 vols · 64–73- 64
- 65
- 66
- 67
- 68
- 69
- 70
- 71
- 72
- 73
Seventh Century
15 vols · 74–88- 74
- 75
- 76
- 77
- 78
- 79
- 80
- 81
- 82
- 83
- 84
- 85
- 86
- 87
- 88
Eighth Century
12 vols · 89–100- 89
- 90
- 91
- 92
- 93
- 94
- 95
- 96
- 97
- 98
- 99
- 100
Ninth Century
31 vols · 101–131- 101
- 102
- 103
- 104
- 105
- 106
- 107
- 108
- 109
- 110
- 111
- 112
- 113
- 114
- 115
- 116
- 117
- 118
- 119
- 120
- 121
- 122
- 123
- 124
- 125
- 126
- 127
- 128
- 129
- 130
- 131
Tenth Century
8 vols · 132–139- 132
- 133
- 134
- 135
- 136
- 137
- 138
- 139
Eleventh Century
15 vols · 140–154- 140
- 141
- 142
- 143
- 144
- 145
- 146
- 147
- 148
- 149
- 150
- 151
- 152
- 153
- 154
Twelfth Century
51 vols · 155–205- 155
- 156
- 157
- 158
- 159
- 160
- 161
- 162
- 163
- 164
- 165
- 166
- 167
- 168
- 169
- 170
- 171
- 172
- 173
- 174
- 175
- 176
- 177
- 178
- 179
- 180
- 181
- 182
- 183
- 184
- 185
- 186
- 187
- 188
- 189
- 190
- 191
- 192
- 193
- 194
- 195
- 196
- 197
- 198
- 199
- 200
- 201
- 202
- 203
- 204
- 205
Thirteenth Century
12 vols · 206–217- 206
- 207
- 208
- 209
- 210
- 211
- 212
- 213
- 214
- 215
- 216
- 217
The Indices
4 vols · 218–221- 218
- 219
- 220
- 221
Support the work
Help fund the translation
Translating the Patrologia Latina is the work of years, and the translations are free. Donations go straight to the work: more volumes brought into English, and brought sooner. If you want a thousand years of Christian writing opened up and given away, this is how you help make it happen.
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