Furnos Maior and Furnos Minor

Furnos was the name of two towns and bishoprics in the Roman province of Proconsular Africa (in present-day Tunisia). They are referred to as Furnos Maior and Furnos Minor, as now as separate Latin Catholic titular sees.

Figs Mosaic at Furnos Minus

Locations

Site of Furnos Minus today

History

Each was important enough to become a suffragan bishopric of the African provincial capital's Metropolitan Archbishop of Carthage.

The towns and the bishoprics disappeared after the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, but their dioceses have been revived as titular sees.[1]

There are records of early bishops of one or other of the two sees. Third-century Geminius died shortly before Saint Cyprian; a Donatist Florentinus attended a conference in 411; and a Simeon was at the Council of Carthage (525). Simeon belonged to Furnos Maior, but it is uncertain of which town the other two were bishops.[2]

Victor of Vita recounts that in the persecution by the Vandals of Genseric in 430 or 431 Bishop Mansuetus of Urusi was martyred by being burned alive at the gate of Urusi known as the Porta Fornitana, the 'Furnos Gate'.[3]

Titular see of Furnos Maior

The diocese was nominally restored as a Latin Catholic titular bishopric in 1914 under the name Furnos Majus (or Maius), which was changed to Furni Majus in 1925, Furnos Maior (or Major) in 1929, Fornos Major in 1933, ultimately Furnos Maior again in 1971.

It has had the following incumbents, so far of the Episcopal (lowest) rank:

Titular see of Furnos Minor

It was nominally revived as a titular bishopric in 1933 and has had the following incumbents, mostly of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank, usually) with an Archiepiscopal exception:

See also

References

  1. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), "Sedi titolari", p. 897
  2. Siméon Vailhé, "Furni" in Catholic Encyclopedia (New York 1909)
  3. John Moorhead (translator), History of the Vandal Persecution (Liverpool University Press 1992 ISBN 978-0-85323127-1), p. 6
Bibliography
  • Stefano Antonio Morcelli, Africa christiana, Volume I, Brescia 1816, pp. 162–163
  • J. Mesnage, L'Afrique chrétienne, Paris 1912, p. 122
  • Duval Noël, L'évêque et la cathédrale en Afrique du Nord, in Actes du XIe congrès international d'archéologie chrétienne, École Française de Rome, 1989, p. 395
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