The Church Controversies in Vandal Africa

This essay offers a reflection on the so-called Spatial Turn and spatial perspective in the study of the ancient world in general, and the methodology of creating a geographic database based on the Notitia provinciarum et civitatum Africae, which facilitates the study of spatial dependencies in Vandal Africa circa 484 CE in particular. Church controversies in Vandal Africa have been previously understudied from a spatial perspective. In response, the database created in Quantum GIS presented in this essay facilitates consideration of spatial factors relevant to the dynamics of Vandal-era ecclesiastical politics, such as the projection of power through foci of the royal authority, military presence, regional episcopal networks, and travel infrastructure. The essay illustrates the diversity of regional circumstances that can be revealed through the spatial contextualization of Homoian–Homousian church controversy in the political and religious landscape of Vandal Africa: a highly polarized conflict and solidified resistance to royal policies in the former province of Africa Proconsularis; a greater compliancy and readiness to embrace the Homoian Creed among Homousian bishops of Numidia; a limited impact of Huneric’s policies in Byzacena and Mauretania Sitifensis; and a high rate of conversions in Mauretania Caesariensis, yet one geographically restricted and dependent on the foci of royal power. The examination problematizes the spatial realities of individual and institutional actors of these conflicts. It explores the advantages and limitations of spatial analysis for this investigation, as well as the applications of the methods employed here in the study of other religious rivalries and conflicts in Late Antiquity.