PUNIC CHURCH COLLECTION

The Punic produced some of the greatest mind of the early church, including: St. Augustine of Hippo, Tertullian of Carthage, and St. Cyprian, as well as the various sentinel synods of Hippo Regius and Carthage. With the metropolis of Carthage at its center, it was a major intellectual force within the Western church, and held influence over the neighboring Spanish church. While the Punic clergy was a significant force within the early church, and a Latin speaking one at that, its influence was short lived. In 698 AD Carthage fell to the armies of the Arab Caliphate, and subsequently the Punic church began to fade into history. There is some account of its survival well into the medieval period during a very brief Norman reconquest of Africa.