The Latin Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible, primarily attributed to the scholar St. Jerome. It was commissioned by Pope Damasus I to provide a standardized version of the Scriptures for the Western Christian Church. The Vulgate became the official Latin Bible of the Roman Catholic Church and was widely used throughout the Middle Ages. The Vulgate includes both the Old and New Testaments, with some additional books known as the Deuterocanonical texts. Its influence on Christian theology, literature, and language has been profound, shaping the development of Western Christianity and serving as a foundation for many later translations.