The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313
Felicissimus of Carthage
fl. c. 250 (death unrecorded) · Deacon · Leader of the Carthaginian laxist schism · Carthage
The Ante-Nicene Church
Who Felicissimus of Carthage was
A deacon ordained irregularly by Novatus during Cyprian’s absence in the Decian persecution, and the figurehead of the Carthaginian party that demanded the immediate, penance-free restoration of the lapsed. When Cyprian returned and sent commissioners to relieve the poor, Felicissimus resisted their authority and led a breakaway that set up a rival bishop, Fortunatus. Cyprian excommunicated him and answered the schism in On the Lapsed and On the Unity of the Church. He personifies the laxist wing of the third-century crisis, opposite to the rigorist Novatianists, both fracturing over the same wound: what to do with the fallen.
Cyprian's correspondence only (Epp. 41–43, 59).
Common questions
When was Felicissimus active?
Felicissimus of Carthage is dated fl. c. 250 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Felicissimus in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Felicissimus?
Felicissimus of Carthage is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Cyprian of Carthage. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Felicissimus from?
The archive associates Felicissimus of Carthage with Carthage.
Who were Felicissimus’ contemporaries?
The archive links Felicissimus of Carthage to 3 other figures, including Cyprian of Carthage, Novatus of Carthage and Novatian of Rome. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Cyprian, Epistle 41
c. AD 253Felicissimus… threatened that those who obeyed us, and were willing to be counted among our people, should not communicate with him in death; and set himself up as the standard-bearer of sedition.Cyprian of Carthage · 41 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Named alongside Felicissimus in the sources
This figure is placed with Felicissimus by the record — in a council roll, a martyr-act, a letter or a history — without Felicissimus naming them in return.
Events in this lifetime
- AD 190 · The Quartodeciman controversy, AD 190
- AD 202 · Perpetua and Felicity martyred, AD 202
- AD 235 · Maximinus Thrax targets the clergy, AD 235
- AD 250 · The Decian persecution, AD 250
- AD 251 · The Novatianist schism, AD 251
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Felicissimus.