__NOTOC__ Tigisis, also known as Tigisis in Numidia to distinguish it from another Tigisis in

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It stretched from central present-day Algeria westwards to the Atlantic, covering northern present-day Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, ...

, was an ancient fortified town of North Africa near what is now Aïn el-Bordj, Algeria. It was near

Lambese Lambaesis (Lambæsis), Lambaisis or Lambaesa (''Lambèse'' in colonial French), is a Roman archaeological site in Algeria, southeast of Batna and west of Timgad, located next to the modern village of Tazoult. The former bishopric is also a La ...

and Thamagada.

History

Under the Roman Empire, Tigisis was a colony in the province 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 ...

. The account in Procopius's '' History of the Vandal War'' of an ancient Punic inscription near the town, which read "We fled here from the face of Joshua the Robber, son of Nun", could be the earliest reference to its national identity. The emperor Justinian had Tigisis fortified with a wall and fourteen towers. Known as Tījis during the Islamic Middle Ages, the city was captured by a Kutama Berber force led by Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i in the winter of 907–908, during the latter's campaign against the Aghlabid emir in Kairouan. Proceeding eastward along the northern of the two main Roman roads to Kairouan, Abu Abdallah's army laid siege to Tijis and eventually got the 500-strong Aghlabid garrison to surrender in exchange for safe passage. Tijis was later involved in the founding of the Hammadid dynasty: in 1014, the Zirid emir

Badis ibn Mansur Bādīs ibn al-Manṣūr (; died 1016), known fully as ʾAbū Manād Bādīs Nāṣir al-Dawla (), was the third ruler of the Zirids in Ifriqiya from 996–1016. Badis ibn Mansur succeeded his father al-Mansur ibn Buluggin () as viceroy of Ifriqiya ...

designated his son al-Mansur as the crown prince and heir to the throne. Attempting to create a principality for al-Mansur, Badis demanded that his governor Hammad ibn Buluggin hand over the cities of Tijis and Constantine. Hammad refused and declared independence by changing the sovereign's name mentioned in the '' khutba'' from that of the Fatimid caliph in Cairo to that of the

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

Abbasid caliph The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The family came t ...

in Baghdad.

Diocese

The town of Tigisis was the seat of a bishopric during the Roman, Vandal, and Byzantine eras.. The

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

under

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

appears to have reached its height in Tigisis during February 304. Although the diocese ceased to function in the early 7th century, a titular continuation ( la, Tigistanus in Numidia; it, Tigisi di Numidia) was established by the Roman Catholic Church in 1933.

Bishops

Ancient diocese

* Secundus of Tigisis (–312), Donatist Primate of Numidia. * Gaudentius (),

Donastist 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 ...

* Domnicosus (), CatholicNotita, No. 89.

Titular diocese

* Michel-Gaspard Coppenrath (16 Feb 1968– 5 Mar 1973) * Mogale Paul Nkhumishe (5 Nov 1981– 9 Jan 1984) *

Aldo Maria Lazzarín Stella Aldo Maria Lazzarín Stella (1926–2010) was the Italian-born in Selva di Volpago del Montello, Italy. Roman Catholic bishop of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Aisén Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one s ...

(15 May 1989– 16 Oct 2010) *

Peter Comensoli Peter Andrew Comensoli (born 25 March 1964) is an Australian Catholic prelate who was named the ninth Archbishop of Melbourne on 29 June 2018. He had been serving as the third Bishop of Broken Bay in New South Wales since December 2014. ...

(20 Apr 2011– 20 Nov 2014) *

Denis Jean-Marie Jachiet Denis Jachiet (born 21 April 1962) is a France, French Catholic prelate who is currently Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Belfort-Montbéliard, Belfort-Montbéliard. He served as Auxiliary Bishop of Paris from June 2016 to October 2021 and as Tit ...

(25 June 2016– present)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * . * . * {{citation , author=Procopius , title=History of the Wars , editor-last=Dewing , editor-first=Henry Bronson , date=1914 , location= Cambridge , publisher=Harvard University Press , author-link=Procopius , title-link=:s:History of the Wars . Numidia (Roman provinces) Roman towns and cities in Algeria Archaeological sites in Algeria Catholic titular sees in Africa Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Africa Ancient Berber cities Former populated places in Algeria