Fussala
Fussala was a town in the Roman province of Numidia that became a Christian bishopric. The town and bishopric disappeared after the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, but the bishopric has been revived as a titular see of the Catholic Church,[1]
Situation[edit]
Fussala was a fortified town situated forty miles from Saint Augustine's Hippo Regius. The fortress of Fussala completed the defences of Hippo.
First bishop[edit]
In about 416, Augustine of Hippo appointed as Catholic bishop of Fussala, then inhabited for the most part by Donatists, a young man named Antoninus, who robbed the people there and was removed.[2] Antoninus insisted on being restored to Fussala, even appealing to the Apostolic See, but was resolutely opposed by the faithful of the see. In a long letter of his, Augustine recounts the series of problems that Antoninus had caused.[3] Neil B. McLynn gives a more sympathetic presentation of the case of Antoninus.[4]
Later bishops[edit]
A certain Melior is known to have been bishop in 484.[5] The see still existed in the 7th century.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), "Sedi titolari", p. 898
- ^ Francois Decret, Early Christianity in North Africa(James Clarke & Co, 2011) p122
- ^ Saint Augustine, Letter 20* in Roland J. Teske, Boniface Ramsey (translators), Letters 211-270, 1*-29* (New City Press 2005 ISBN 978-1-56548209-8), pp. 299ff
- ^ Neil B. McLynn, "Administrator: Augustine in His Diocese," in A Companion to Augustine, Mark Vessey, ed. (John Wiley & Sons 2013 ISBN 978-1-11825545-2), pp. 318-321
- ^ Serge Lancel, Saint Augustine (Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd, 2002 ISBN 978-0-33402866-6), p. 257
- ^ Siméon Vailhé, "Fussola" in Catholic Encyclopedia (New York 1909)