Hirundo: the McGill Journal of Classical Studies, Vol.7 (2008-9)
Abstract
Diocletian’s persecutions sparked many schismatic movements throughout the empire. One took the form of Donatism, which was particularly remarkable for its strength and perseverance. Despite repeated persecutions and the growing power of the Catholic Church, it remained a prominent establishment in North Africa from 311 until the Arab invasions in the seventh century. Theological disputes surrounding the treatment of lapsed parishioners in North Africa had been quietly raging throughout the persecutions and two distinct Christian groups crystallized. The contested election of the bishop of Carthage in 311 marked the official schism, dividing the population of North Africa between the Donatist Church and the Catholic Churches. The intention of this paper is to examine the development of the Donatist schism through the analysis of extant Donatist martyr stories while asking whether the schism was the result of theological, political, or social development in North Africa.
American and English scholarship has tended to treat Donatism as an anti-Roman social movement. This is in part due to W.H.C. Frend’s The Donatist Church (1950), which continues to be the definitive publication for the study Donatism. Frend believed that Donatism was connected to the later prominence of Islam in North Africa and was primarily concerned with investigating this connection. In Frend’s study, Donatism was a reaction of the poor, rural Berber population to Romanization and the loss of their local identity. The emphasis on social and political history has led scholars to focus on a violent periphery group called the Circumcellions, but newer scholarship has challenges their prominence and role in the Donatist Church. Michael Gaddis and James Alexander emphasize the parallel structures; refuting the class struggle model by demonstrating that the churches had similar social hierarchies and geographical distributions. Maureen Tilley claims that scholars have relied so heavily on Catholic sources that most secondary scholarship is inexcusably biased. Catholic sources offer a plethora of information and even preserve parts of lost Donatist writings. The bias in Optatus’ and Augustine’s writings is obvious but without a more neutral account it is difficult to separate fact from fic- tion. The Catholic sources also have an obvious bias towards the imperial administration since they profited from this alliance.
Donatism: The Makings of a Schism
Amber Irwin
Hirundo: the McGill Journal of Classical Studies, Vol.7 (2008-9)
Abstract
Diocletian’s persecutions sparked many schismatic movements throughout the empire. One took the form of Donatism, which was particularly remarkable for its strength and perseverance. Despite repeated persecutions and the growing power of the Catholic Church, it remained a prominent establishment in North Africa from 311 until the Arab invasions in the seventh century. Theological disputes surrounding the treatment of lapsed parishioners in North Africa had been quietly raging throughout the persecutions and two distinct Christian groups crystallized. The contested election of the bishop of Carthage in 311 marked the official schism, dividing the population of North Africa between the Donatist Church and the Catholic Churches. The intention of this paper is to examine the development of the Donatist schism through the analysis of extant Donatist martyr stories while asking whether the schism was the result of theological, political, or social development in North Africa.
American and English scholarship has tended to treat Donatism as an anti-Roman social movement. This is in part due to W.H.C. Frend’s The Donatist Church (1950), which continues to be the definitive publication for the study Donatism. Frend believed that Donatism was connected to the later prominence of Islam in North Africa and was primarily concerned with investigating this connection. In Frend’s study, Donatism was a reaction of the poor, rural Berber population to Romanization and the loss of their local identity. The emphasis on social and political history has led scholars to focus on a violent periphery group called the Circumcellions, but newer scholarship has challenges their prominence and role in the Donatist Church. Michael Gaddis and James Alexander emphasize the parallel structures; refuting the class struggle model by demonstrating that the churches had similar social hierarchies and geographical distributions. Maureen Tilley claims that scholars have relied so heavily on Catholic sources that most secondary scholarship is inexcusably biased. Catholic sources offer a plethora of information and even preserve parts of lost Donatist writings. The bias in Optatus’ and Augustine’s writings is obvious but without a more neutral account it is difficult to separate fact from fic- tion. The Catholic sources also have an obvious bias towards the imperial administration since they profited from this alliance.
Click here to read this article from Hirundo
Sponsored Content