ich has been named the battle of
Carthage.

CARTHAGE, SYNODS OF. During the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries the town of
Carthage (q.v.) in Africa served as the meeting-place of a large number
of church synods, of which, however, only the most important can be
treated here.

1. In May 251 a synod, assembled under the presidency of Cyprian to
consider the treatment of the _lapsi_ (those who had fallen away from
the faith during persecution), excommunicated Felicissimus and five
other Novatian bishops (Rigorists), and declared that the _lapsi_ should
be dealt with, not with indiscriminate severity, but according to the
degree of individual guilt. These decisions were confirmed by a synod of
Rome in the autumn of the same year. Other Carthaginian synods
concerning the _lapsi_ were held in 252 and 254.

See Hefele, 2nd ed., i. pp. 111 sqq. (English translation, i. pp. 93
sqq.); Mansi, i. pp. 863 sqq., 905 sqq.; Hardouin, i. pp. 133 sqq.,
147 sqq.; Cyprian, _Epp._ 52, 54, 55, 68.

2. Two synods, in 255 and 256, held under Cyprian, pronounced against
the validity of heretical baptism, thus taking direct issue with
Stephen, bishop of Rome, who promptly repudiated them, and separated
himself from the African Church. A third synod, September 256,
unanimously reaffirmed the position of the other two. Stephen's
pretensions to authority as "bishop of bishops" were sharply resented,
and for some time the relations of the Roman and African Churches were
severely strained.

See Hefele, 2nd ed., i. pp. 117-119 (English translation, i. pp. 99
sqq.); Mansi, i. pp. 921 sqq., 951 sqq.; Hardouin, i. pp. 153 sqq.;
Cyprian, _Epp._ 69-75.

3. The Donatist schism (see DONATISTS) occasioned a number of important
synods. About 348 a synod of Catholic bishops, who had met to record
their gratitude for the effective official repression of the
"Circumcelliones" (Donatist terrorists), declared against the rebaptism
of any one who had been baptized in the name of the Trinity, and adopted
twelve canons of clerical discipline.

See Hefele, 2nd. ed., i. pp. 632-633 (English translation, ii. pp.
184-186); Mansi, iii. pp. 143 sqq.; Hardouin, i. pp. 683 sqq.

4. The "Conference of Carthage" (see DONATISTS), held by imperial
command in 411 with a view to terminating the Donatist schism, while not
strictly a synod, was nevertheless one of the most important assemblies
in the history of the African church, and, indeed of the whole Ch