El artículo hace la presentación de los bienes eclesiásticos de la Iglesia donatista en el siglo IV y V, tomando como referencia las fuentes contemporáneas, particularmente a Optato de Milevi y los escritos de san Agustín, sin excluir fuentes donatistas como las Passiones de diversos mártires donatistas. Se aborda en primer lugar la cuestión de las basílicas, posteriormente se dedica un apartado para destacar la lucha entre los católicos y los donatistas por la posesión de dichas basílicas y los efectos de los documentos oficiales sobre la titularidad de dichas basílicas. Se presenta también la cuestión de los bienes inmuebles, así como los ingresos adicionales de la Iglesia donatista que podían provenir de bienhechores privados, herencias, la explotación del culto de los mártires, la apropiación de los templos paganos y la renta de las tierras imperiales.
Catholic and Donatist sources demonstrate the importance that Donatism attached to the veneration of martyrs, whose acts were read during the feasts dedicated to them. This cult was one of the uestigia ecclesiae that linked Catholicism and Donatism. Therefore, it was important for Catholics to prove that not all those who were said to have died in the name of Christ should be considered martyrs. Augustine’s literary activity displayed a plethora of arguments seeking to show Donatists that these dotes ecclesiae did not really benefit them: martyres non facit poena, sed causa (c. Cresc. 3, 47, 51). At the same time, he strove to invalidate the justification of martyrdom that Donatists used to take from the Book of the Maccabees (Razias’ episode). According to Augustine, the tombs of Donatist martyrs came to be considered special pilgrimage sites due to the miracles and apparitions that were said to take place there. Such pilgrimages were an important source of income for the Donatist Church, generated by accommodations, religious souvenirs, food, and clothing of the pilgrims. These incomes were vital for the survival of the Donatist Church, since, unlike the Catholic Church, it could not count on imperial patronage. If the Donatists were deprived of private patronage they would end up in serious financial trouble. This article aims to analyze the Catholic/Donatist debates around the concept of martyrdom as well as the economical background underlying the efforts made by Catholics to present Donatist martyrs as mere suicides.
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