Cyprian of Carthage

Cyprian was bishop of Carthage during the Decian and Valerian persecutions, guiding his church through the crisis of Christians who had lapsed under threat of death and the question of how -- and whether -- they could be reconciled to the Church. He was beheaded for his faith in AD 258. His extensive correspondence with fellow bishops, clergy, and the wider Church survives as some of the most valuable pastoral writing of the third century.