Carthage
Archbishop of Carthage · c. 230 (Agrippinus, first attested bishop; martyrs from 180)
Africa's church appears suddenly and fully grown: the Scillitan martyrs die at Carthage in 180, Tertullian writes there a generation later, and from Agrippinus (c. 230) the line runs to Cyprian, the councils of Aurelius, and Augustine's colleagues. Vandal and Byzantine rule battered it; the conquest of 698 began the long silence — a last archbishop is glimpsed about 1076, and then the line ends.
The ancient line has no living successor — Rome's later archdiocese of Carthage (1884–1964) revived the name, not the succession; today's archdiocese of Tunis keeps a Christian presence on the same shore.
The bishops
12 holders in the record.
Of the 11 links in this chain, 4 are inferred from the numbering — the register numbers the two holders consecutively and no source says one followed the other; 7 are named by no register at all: nothing joins those two rows. Each holder below says which it is.
- Agrippinus of Carthage #2 · № Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae · bishops in between are missing
- Cyprian #5 · c. 249–c. 258 · link unrecorded · № Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae · dates here from Wikipedia’s list of bishops; Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae reads 248–258 · bishops in between are missing
- Caecilianus #9 · c. 311– · link unrecorded · № Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae
- Rufus of Carthage #10 · link inferred · № Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae
- Gratus of Carthage #11 · c. 343– · link inferred · № Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae · bishops in between are missing
- Saint Aurelius #14 · link unrecorded · № Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae · bishops in between are missing
- Quodvultdeus #16 · c. 437– · link unrecorded · № Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae
- Deogratias de Carthage #17 · c. 454– · link inferred · № Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae · Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae prints 454–458, which is more than this line takes
- Eugenius of Carthage #18 · link inferred · № Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae · Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae prints 479–505, which is more than this line takes · the numbering ends here; what follows holds no place in the list
- Donatus Magnus link unrecorded · № named by no register
- Majorinus link unrecorded · № named by no register
- Primianus of Carthage link unrecorded · № named by no register
Glosses
- A line with no successor Carthage was the third church of the Latin world, the see of Cyprian and the ground the Donatist schism was fought over. The Arab conquest closed it, and unlike Alexandria or Antioch it produced no continuing line: the…
Events
- Martyrdom of the Scillitan Martyrs 180
- Severan persecution 202
- Perpetua and Felicitas in the amphitheatre 203
- Tertullian goes over to the New Prophecy 207
- Cyprian is made bishop of Carthage 249
- The Novatianist schism begins 251
- Cyprian and Stephen quarrel over rebaptism 256
- Valerianic persecution 257
- The martyrdom of Cyprian 258
- The Donatist schism begins 311
- First Council of Nicaea 325
- Synod of Hippo 393
- Council of Carthage (397) 397
- Council of Carthage (418) 418
- Fall of Carthage 698