Skip to content

Research atlas for early Christianity. Claims are tagged attested, traditional, or disputed. Copyrighted full texts, including CCEL editions, are not included.

DeChurched Atlas

Branches

extinct

Melitians (Meletians) of Egypt

Church of the Martyrs (self-designation)

c. 305 – 5th century (later traces uncertain)

attested. Attested by documents on both sides. Epiphanius' account is unusually favourable to Melitius, and the two traditions conflict over who was the true rigorist.

Leaders

  • Melitius of Lycopolis (d. after 327)
  • John Arkaph (successor)

Beliefs

There was no doctrinal difference at first. The dispute was over church order and the readmission of the lapsed: Melitius demanded stricter terms than Peter of Alexandria and ordained clergy in other bishops' sees during the persecution. Later the Melitians allied with the anti-Nicene party against Athanasius.

Home bases

Loading the map…

  • Lycopolis: see of Melitius

    Asyut, Egypt · 4th–5th

    Melitius, bishop of Lycopolis, ordained clergy in other bishops' dioceses during the Great Persecution, around 305–306, while Peter of Alexandria was in hiding. This founded a rival 'Church of the Martyrs' in Egypt. Nicaea (325) let his clergy keep their rank under the Alexandrian bishop, but the schism continued.

    Lycopolis: see of Melitius
    Own work. CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThis photograph shows the modern city, or the Wikipedia lead subject, rather than the ancient site itself.

Spread

It spread through Egypt, especially in the Thebaid, with its own bishops; a list of about 29 Melitian bishops was presented to Alexander of Alexandria after Nicaea. Melitian monastic communities are known from 4th-century papyri.

Books

What happened to it

Nicaea's compromise failed, and Melitians joined Athanasius's accusers at Tyre (335). Theodoret still knew Melitian monks in the 5th century, after which they fade from the record.

Hostile sources

Their own words

  • Melitian monks. Papyrus letters (P.Lond. VI 1913–1922, Paieous archive; Nepheros archive) c. 330s

    Insider documentary papyri.

Sources

DeChurched Atlas — Early Christianity as history, from every source