Circconcélio: the ancient Christian cult of martyrdom and suicide

The Christian Worship Circconcellus emerged early in Christianity, when religion was new and few things about it were defined; At that time, several sects linked to Christianity emerged, and the Coconcellos were an extremist group within the Donatist sect.

They roamed northern Africa during the fourth and fifth centuries, were mostly illiterate peasants, and did much damage during their incessant pursuit of martyrdom.

In search of martyrdom

They believed that the place in heaven would be guaranteed if they were murdered by a religious person or of great authority, so they tried to provoke their own death. Those who were already determined to reach martyrdom walked around the city with huge clubs - which they called Israelites - and attacked someone with the intention of retaliating and killing them, thus fulfilling the purpose of martyrdom.

Of course, Plan A did not always work, so the Circconcélios had other cards up their sleeves: they invaded pagan rituals in an absurdly violent manner in an attempt to be murdered by the members; and if that didn't work either, then they appealed to suicide.

Virtually all forms were valid. The more painful the death, the more dedicated the future martyr was. The only method totally out of the question was hanging, as it was Judas's means of suicide - so it should not be copied.

Violence out of control

Although the cult began with the idea of ​​securing a place in heaven through martyrdom, its members were quite violent and began to take advantage of the order's name to impose their views and attack people fiercely, losing control at once.

They began to arm themselves with much more than their clubs and roam the sites attacking and torturing Church members, robbing temples and even proclaiming themselves the true Christian church.

As if all this violence no longer generated enough antipathy, they were still extremely against slavery, not only upholding the idea that slaves had rights, but also setting them free whenever possible.

As a result, the Circoncélios were denied by the sect to which they belonged, the Donatists, and were rejected by Saint Augustine himself. In 411 AD, Donatism was definitively banished by the Church, which shortly afterwards - around 20 years - disappeared.

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