Maximian (bishop of Carthage)

Maximian was a 4th-century Bishop of Carthage and founder of a splinter group that left (or reformed) Donatism.

Biography

He was one of several people excommunicated in 391 by Primian, Bishop of Carthage. Primian, was a convert to Donatism with all the zeal of a convert. He was great orator and thinker, but tactless and within a year had alienated large parts of the church. In 393 AD a council of more than 100 Donatist bishops elected Maximian to replace Primian as Bishop of Carthages.[1] Primian held a rival council in Bagai in April 394AD and excommunicated Maximian. Primian, a former lawyer, also used the civil courts to reclaim church buildings.

The schism that enveloped around Maximian was the largest splintering within the Donatist movement. With him Donatism took a less confrontational approach, and sought to reform the movement.[2] However, it attracted limited adherents,[3] but he was oft referenced by Augustine in his critique of the Donatists.[4]

Maximian was a relative of Donatus of Casae Nigrae.

References
  1. Maureen A. Tilley, The Bible in Christian North Africa: The Donatist World (Fortress Press) p133.
  2. E. M. Atkins, Robert Dodaro, Augustine: Political Writings (Cambridge University Press, 2001) p241.
  3. Maureen A. Tilley, The Bible in Christian North Africa: The Donatist World (Fortress Press) p133.
  4. Erika Hermanowicz, Possidius of Calama: A Study of the North African Episcopate in the Age of Augustine (Oxford University Press, 2008)p127-128.
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