Primian (Primianus) was an

early Christian Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and be ...

Bishop of Carthage, and

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

of the

Donatist Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to ...

movement in

Roman North Africa Africa was a Roman province on the northern coast of the continent of Africa. It was established in 146 BC, following the Roman Republic's conquest of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisi ...

. Seen as a moderate by some in his faction, he was a controversial figure in a time of fragmentation of the Donatists, a reactionary branch of Christianity.

Biography

He was the Bishop of Carthage, and hence the leader of the Donatist movement in

. He had succeeded

Parmenian Parmenian (Latin: ''Parmenianus;'' died ca. 392) was a North African Donatism, Donatist bishop, the successor of Donatus Magnus, Donatus in the Donatist bishopric of Carthage. He wrote several works defending the rigorist views of the Donatists and ...

as bishop in about 391, winning a tightly fought election for the role. His rival,

Maximian Maximian (; ), nicknamed Herculius, was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar (title), Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocleti ...

, a relative of the founder of their movement, saw him as a lax and conformist appeaser. The rivalry did not end with the election. In 393 a council was called by Maximian where forty of the sixty-five

bishops sided with Maximianus over Primian, causing a split in the Donatist ranks. He was accused of readmitting the Claudianist faction back to the Donatist movement. Three years of proceedings in the Roman civil courts saw Primian retake Maximianist-held

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

s in Musti,

Assuras Assuras, sometimes given as Assura or Assur, was a town in the Roman province of Proconsular Africa. Ruins of its temples and theatres and other public buildings are at ''Henchir-Zenfour''. Bishopric At an early stage Assuras became the cen ...

and Membressa. A number of the bishops split with Primian to follow Maximianus, forming their own short-lived schism. Primian attended the Council of Bagai, at which he is said to have taunted his opponents. He also attended the

Council of Carthage (411) The Councils of Carthage were church synods held during the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries in the city of Carthage in Africa. The most important of these are described below. Synod of 251 In May 251 a synod, assembled under the presidency of Cyprian ...

, where he made comment condemning the actions of

Cyprian Cyprian (; ; to 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Christian writer of Berbers, Berber descent, ...

, the Donatist bishop of Tubursica, for

immorality Immorality is the violation of moral laws, norms or standards. It refers to an agent doing or thinking something they know or believe to be wrong. Immorality is normally applied to people or actions, or in a broader sense, it can be applied to ...

.See also Dr. Sparrow Simpson, ''St. Augustine, and African Church Divisions'' (1910), p 52.

References

{{S-end 4th-century births 4th-century bishops of Carthage 4th-century Romans Ancient Christians involved in controversies Donatists Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown