Maximian (bishop of Carthage)

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

Biography

Maximian was a relative of Donatus of Casae Nigrae and was one of several people excommunicated in 391 by Primian, Bishop of Carthage. Primian was a 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.[2] 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. He took a less confrontational approach, and sought to reform the movement.[3] However, it attracted limited adherents.[1]

The Donatists sought to depose Salvius, the Maximianist Bishop of Membresa, in favour of the Primianist Restitutus. Much respected by the residents of Membresa, his people built him a new church, and three bishops coexisted in this small town, a Maximianist, a Primianist, and a catholic.[2]

Maximian was often referenced by Augustine in his critique of the Donatists.[4]

References
  1. Maureen A. Tilley, The Bible in Christian North Africa: The Donatist World (Fortress Press) p133.
  2. Chapman, John. "Donatists." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 15 March 2021Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. E. M. Atkins, Robert Dodaro, Augustine: Political Writings (Cambridge University Press, 2001) p241.
  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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