Publication Title
The Palgrave Handbook of Christianity in Africa from Apostolic Times to the Present
Document Type
Book Chapter
Department or Program
Classical and Medieval Studies
Publication Date
3-8-2024
Abstract
This chapter presents an outline of the history of Christianity in the Maghreb during “long late antiquity,” roughly 180–700 CE. In examining this history through the lenses of movements and community, it centers attempts at building community, consensus, and identity alongside responses and reactions to those attempts. In surveying the various controversies that contested them—Donatism, Arianism, the Three Chapters, (re-)baptism—the chapter follows a central thread at the heart of these early African Christian communities: the martyrs and their legacy. By approaching this history through the work of post-colonial scholars, this chapter examines these communities within the colonized landscape of the Roman Empire in the Maghreb. The picture that emerges presents a set of robust, assertive, and self-confident communities, firmly rooted in African identities, seeking to delineate their collective belonging while navigating a colonial (and then post-colonial) landscape defined by the memories and narratives of persecution. As such, readers will find an introduction to the major events and figures situated within an up-to-date understanding of the history of the late antique Maghreb.
Recommended Citation
Fournier, E., & Tizzoni, M.L. 2024. "Christian Communities and Religious Movements in Roman Africa (pp. 377–397)." In The Palgrave Handbook of Christianity in Africa from Apostolic Times to the Present, edited by Andrew Eugene Barnes and Toyin Falola. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Copyright Note
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Bates College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Comments
Original version is available from the publisher at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-48270-0_25