Mensurius was a bishop of Carthage in the early 4th century during the

early Christian Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish d ...

Church. During the Christian persecution of Diocletian he evaded turning over

sacred scriptures Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...

to the Roman authorities, but was nevertheless considered a

traditor Traditor, plural: ''traditores'' (Latin), is a term meaning "the one(s) who had handed over" and defined by Merriam-Webster as "one of the Christians giving up to the officers of the law the Scriptures, the sacred vessels, or the names of their br ...

Donatists Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and th ...

. He was accused of "countenancing" the

Traditor Traditor, plural: ''traditores'' (Latin), is a term meaning "the one(s) who had handed over" and defined by Merriam-Webster as "one of the Christians giving up to the officers of the law the Scriptures, the sacred vessels, or the names of their br ...

s. In a letter to Secundus, Bishop of Tigisis, then the senior bishop of

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

, he explains that he had himself had taken the texts from the church to his own house, and had substituted them for a number of heretical writings, which the authorities had seized without asking for more. But the proconsul, when informed of the deception refused to search the bishop's private house. Secundus, in his reply, without blaming Mensurius, somewhat pointedly praised the martyrs who in his own province had been tortured and put to death for refusing to deliver up the Scriptures and that he himself had replied to the officials who came to search: "I am a Christian and a bishop, not a traditor." Some such as Petilian even considered him a thurificator. Mensurius also forbade any to be honoured as martyrs who had given themselves up of their own accord, or who had boasted that they possessed copies of the scriptures which they would not relinquish. Some of these he claimed were criminals and debtors to the state, who thought they might by this means rid themselves of a burdensome life, or else wipe away the remembrance of their misdeeds, or at least gain money and enjoy in prison the luxuries supplied by the kindness of Christians.Timothy David Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius (Harvard University Press, 198
p55
In 308, Mensuris hid the deacon Felix who was accused of slander against the Emperor and defended him in Rome. After the

acquittal In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

he could not return to Carthage due to the blockade by

Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (c. 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized ...

. His death outside of Africa and rejection of his successor

Caecilianus Caecilianus, or Caecilian, was archdeacon and then bishop of Carthage in 311 AD. His appointment as Bishop led to the Donatist Controversy of the Late Roman Empire. He was also one of only five Western bishops at the First Council of Nicea. Ba ...

contributed to the Donatists schisms in Northern Africa.

References

Citations

Sources

Christian Encyclopedia - Lutheran Missouri Synod - Mensurius
*{{BBKL, m/mensurius, band=5, autor=Anette Hettinger, artikel=Mensurius, katholischer Bischof von Karthago, spalten=1272-1273 *Augustinus, Breuiculus conlationis cum Donatistis III, 13, 25 u. 17, 32, in: CChr 149A, 290-298 *D. Voelter, Der Ursprung des Donatismus nach den Quellen untersucht und dargestellt, 1883 *

Louis Duchesne Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne (; 13 September 1843 – 21 April 1922) was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions. Life Descended from a family of Breton sailors, ...

, ''Le dossier du Donatisme'', in: Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire 10, 1890, 628 f. *

Paul Monceaux Étienne-Paul-Victor Monceaux (29 May 1859 – 7 February 1941) was a 19th-20th-century French historian. A professor at the Collège de France from 1907 to 1937, he was elected a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 191 ...

''Histoire littéraire de l'Afrique chrétienne depuis les origines jusqu'à l'invasion arabe''
(7 volumes : Tertullien et les origines - saint Cyprien et son temps - le IV, d'Arnobe à Victorin - le Donatisme - saint Optat et les premiers écrivains donatistes - la littérature donatiste au temps de saint Augustin - saint Augustin et le donatisme) (19662) 8-25, 204 *Hans von Soden (Hrsg.), Urkunden zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Donatismus, 1913 (bearb. v. H.v. Campenhausen 19502), Nr. 4, 5-7 *

W. H. C. Frend William Hugh Clifford Frend (11 January 1916 – 1 August 2005) was an English ecclesiastical historian, archaeologist, and Anglican priest. Academic career * Haileybury College (scholar) * Keble College, Oxford (scholar, BA first class in mo ...

, ''The Donatist Church'', 1952 (19853), 6-17 *K. Clancy, When did the Donatist Schism Begin?, in: JThS 28, 1977, 104-109 *Emilien Lamirande, La correspondence entre Secundus et Mensurius, in: Œuvres de Saint Augustin 32 (Bibliothèque Augustinienne) 1965, 728 *M. Nallino, Un papiro cristiano della raccolta fiorentina. Lettera di Theonas a Mensurio, in: Atene e Roma 11, 1966, 27-30 *Jean-Louis Maier, L'épiscopat de l'Afrique romaine, vandale et Byzantine (Bibliotheca Helvetica Romana 11), 1973, 363–364; - ders., Le dossier du donatisme I : Des origines à la mort de Constance II, 303-361 (Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur 134), 1987, Index *T.D. Barnes, The Beginnings of Donatism, in: JThS NS 26, 1975, 13-22 *Serge Lancel, Les débuts du Donatisme: La date du "Protocole de Cirta" et de l'élection épiscopale de Silvanus, in: RevÉAug 25, 1979, 217-229 *André Mandouze, Prosopographie de l'Afrique chrétienne 303-533 (Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire 1), 1982, 748-749 *Bernhard Kriegbaum, Kirche der Traditoren oder Kirche der Märtyrer. Die Vorgeschichte des Donatismus (Innsbrucker Theologische Studien 16), 1986, 59-148 *Pauly-Wissowa XV/1, 960–961; - RGG3 IV, 877; - TRE I, 653–655. 4th-century Romans 4th-century bishops of Carthage 4th-century Latin writers Latin letter writers