Donatism

Donatism had its roots in the long-established Christian community of the Roman province Africa Proconsularis (present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, and the western coast of Libya) and Mauretania Tingitana (roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco),[1] in the persecutions of Christians under Diocletian.

Named after the Berber Christian bishop Donatus Magnus, Donatism flourished during the fourth and fifth centuries.

[citation needed] The sect developed and grew in North Africa, with unrest and threatened riots in Carthage connected to the bishop controversy.

[11][a] Constantine, hoping to defuse the unrest, gave money to the non-Donatist bishop Caecilian as payment for churches damaged or confiscated during the persecution.

[11] The Donatists appealed to Rome for equal treatment; Constantine tasked Miltiades with resolving the issue, which led to the 313 commission.

[citation needed] After the Constantinian shift, when other Christians accepted the emperor's decision, the Donatists continued to demonize him.

Donatus refused to surrender his buildings in Carthage, and the local Roman governor sent troops to deal with him and his followers.

[14] Constantine's efforts to unite the church and the Donatists failed, and by 321 he asked the bishops to show moderation and patience to the sect in an open letter.

[15] During the brief reign of Julian, the Donatists were revitalized and, due to imperial protection, occupied churches and carried out atrocities.

'"[19] In 409, Emperor Honorius's secretary of state, Marcellinus of Carthage, issued a decree which condemned the Donatists as heretical and demanded that they surrender their churches.

[21] The effects of Augustine's theological success and the emperor's legal action were somewhat reversed when the Vandals conquered North Africa.

[7] The Donatists followed a succession of bishops: For several centuries during the High Middle Ages and the Reformation, accusations of Donatism were levelled against church-reform movements which criticized clerical immorality on theological grounds.

Wycliffe taught that the moral corruption of priests invalidated their offices and sacraments, a belief characterizing Donatism.

[31] Hus similarly argued that a prelate's moral character determined his ecclesiastical authority, a position his contemporaries compared to Donatism and condemned as heresy at the Council of Constance.