As a matter of fact, Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (340-397), remains the uncontested originator of the medieval Latin hymn as it becomes familiar to us in a uniform series of metrical stanzas adapted to congregational use. Like Hilary, Ambrose was born in Gaul.[5] He was the son of Ambrose, Prefect of the Gauls, and like his father he attained official appointment under the Roman government as Consular of Liguria and Aemilia, with Milan as place of residence. Theological controversy between the Arians and the orthodox was raging at Milan, the Bishop himself, Auxentius, having adopted the Arian position. Ambrose at this time was a catechumen but at the death of Auxentius was obliged to preserve order when the election of his successor took place. At that very moment the popular mandate created Ambrose Bishop of Milan at the age of thirty-four years. The period immediately following his election found him constantly battling for orthodoxy in a contest which passed beyond the limits of theological debate to the actual siege of orthodox churches by the Arian forces. Ambrose was acquainted with the Syrian practice of hymn singing, and like Hilary, he recognized the effective use of the hymn by the proponents of the Arian heresy. It was not long before the congregations in the basilica at Milan were chanting antiphonally the praises of the Trinity in a similar form. Ambrose himself recorded his achievement, his biographer Paulinus mentions the event and Augustine in his _Confessions_ describes the congregational singing which he himself had heard. We, though as yet unmelted by the heat of Thy Spirit, were nevertheless excited by the alarm and tumult of the city. Then it was first instituted that according to the custom of the eastern regions, hymns and psalms should be sung, lest the people should faint through the fatigue of sorrow.[6]