Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"cap\">THE schism of the Donatists, with which the treatises in\r\nthe present volume are concerned, arose indirectly out\r\nof the persecution under Diocletian at the beginning of the\r\nfourth century. At that time Mensurius, bishop of Carthage,\r\nand his archdeacon Cæcilianus, had endeavoured to check the\r\nfanatical spirit in which many of the Christians courted martyrdom;\r\nand consequently, on the death of Mensurius in 311,\r\nand the elevation of Cæcilianus to the see of Carthage in his\r\nplace, the opposing party, alleging that Felix, bishop of\r\nAptunga, by whom Cæcilianus had been consecrated, had\r\nbeen a <i>traditor</i>, and that therefore his consecration was invalid,\r\nset up against him Majorinus, who was succeeded in\r\n315 by Donatus. The party had by this time gained strength,\r\nthrough the professions that they made of extreme purity in\r\nthe discipline which they maintained, and had gone so far,\r\nunder the advice of another Donatus, bishop of Casæ Nigræ\r\nin Numidia, as to accuse Cæcilianus before the Roman\r\nEmperor Constantine,—thus setting the first precedent for\r\nreferring a spiritual cause to the decision of a civil magistrate.\r\nConstantine accepted the appeal, and in 313 the matter was\r\nlaid for decision before Melchiades, bishop of Rome, and three\r\nbishops of the province of Gaul. They decided in favour of\r\nthe validity of the consecration of Cæcilianus; and a similar\r\nverdict was given by a council held at Arles, by direction of\r\nthe Emperor, in the following year. The party of Majorinus\r\nthen appealed to the personal judgment of the Emperor, which<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_x\">[Pg x]</a></span>\r\nwas likewise given against them, not without strong expressions\r\nof his anger at their pertinacity. This was followed\r\nby severe laws directed against their schism; but so far from\r\ncrushing them, the attack seemed only to increase their\r\nenthusiasm and develope their resources. And, under the\r\nleadership of Donatus, the successor of Majorinus, their influence\r\nspread widely throughout Africa, and continued to prevail,\r\nin spite of various efforts at their forcible suppression,\r\nduring the whole of the fourth century. They especially\r\nbrought on themselves the vengeance of the civil powers, by\r\nthe turbulence of certain fanatical ascetics who embraced\r\ntheir cause, and who, under the name of Circumcelliones,\r\nspread terror through the country, seeking martyrdom for\r\nthemselves, and offering violence to every one who opposed\r\nthem.<a id=\"FNanchor_1_1\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1_1\">[1]</a></p>","headings":["WRITINGS IN CONNECTION WITH THE DONATIST CONTROVERSY.","PREFACE."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45843-paragraph-33"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"c892c07112e1deba6fe325e398f9fb7baef889a43c121aa5daab3cf816d8958f","edition_title":"Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy","edition_translators":["John Richard King"],"edition_year":1872,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg45843-Footnote_1_1","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Title leaves identify J. R. King, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1872; catalog identifies translator John Richard King (1835-1907). Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/American Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_1_1","source_ebook":45843,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_1_1\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_1_1\"><span class=\"label\">[1]</span></a> Aug. <i>De Hœr.</i> c. 69; <i>Enarr. in Ps.</i> 132, secs. 3, 6; <i>C. Cresc.</i> iii. 46, 47;\r\n<i>C. Gaudentium</i> i. 32.</p></div>","source_sha256":"a7a04003f4d3c49eb73db6c5936713979fcecadd86884373a9914ac54373ac5b","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45843/pg45843-images.html#Footnote_1_1","text_sha256":"66a0edc1ba69556e9fba5901ae7f15bd41682ea9fe60f8efa8a6050686de72ad","verified":false,"work_id":null}

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