Episcopal succession
The Bishops of Carthage to AD 400
The African primatial see from Cyprian to Parmenian — five men, two churches, and the schism that split North African Christianity for a century.
This is not one succession but two. After the Great Persecution the African church divided over whether bishops who had handed over the scriptures could still ordain, and from 311 Carthage had a Catholic bishop and a Donatist bishop simultaneously. Both lines are given, marked, because the archive documents what the sources record rather than which side later won.
Ordered by year of death, which is how the whole archive is ordered. For this see that is not always the order of succession — see above.
Who were the bishops of Carthage before AD 400?
- 1 Cyprian of Carthage c. 210 – 258 Bishop of Carthage · Martyr
- 2 Majorinus of Carthage d. c. AD 315 Lector, then rival (Donatist) bishop of Carthage contested
- 3 Caecilian of Carthage d. c. AD 345 Bishop of Carthage · Vindicated root of the Donatist quarrel contested
- 4 Donatus of Carthage d. c. 355 Schismatic bishop of Carthage · Founder of Donatism contested
- 5 Parmenian of Carthage d. c. 391 Donatist bishop of Carthage · Target of Optatus contested
- 6 Aurelius of Carthage bishop c. AD 391/392 – d. 429/430 (the year is uncertain) Bishop of Carthage · President of the African councils
Each name links to its profile: the dates, the office, and every primary source that carries the name.