congregation, and was, therefore, the first antipope. From 222 to 230, Emperor Alexander Severus disregarded the laws of persecution of Christians. At this time, Pope Urban I was appointed, who regulated the use of tithes for ecclesiastical purposes. In 250, Pope Fabian sent missions to evangelize the province of Gaul, being martyred when Emperor Decius began a new persecution in which some Christians apostatized to save their lives. In early 251, the persecution diminished, and two schools of thought emerged, led by two candidates for the papacy: One side, advocated by Novatian, believed that apostates could not be forgiven even if they repented; the opposite side, advocated by Cornelius, professed that sinners would be forgiven if they showed repentance. Attempting to provoke a crisis in the Church, Decius prevented the election of a new pope, however, when he was forced to leave the area to fight the Goth invaders, elections were held, and Cornelius was elected in March 251. Soon after, Novatian proclaimed himself antipope and led a schism. Cornelius convened a synod in Carthage of 60 bishops that reaffirmed him as the legitimate pope and excommunicated Novatian, as well as anathemizing Novatianism. The verdict of the synod was sent to the Christian bishops, their letters being proof of the size of the Roman Church in the third century, counting with approximately fifty thousand worshipers. In 254, Stephen I became Bishop of Rome, and quickly rivaled St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, over the deposition and replacement of Marcian, bishop of Arles. Later their rivalry was renewed when the controversy over the use of baptism began; Stephen I defended the Roman tradition that baptism is effective even if done by apostates (the lapsi); while Cyprian defended the African and Asian belief that baptism administered by heretics is invalid, rebaptism being necessary. The issue did not cause a schism because Stephen and Cyprian were martyred during the conflict in Diocletian's persecution. The next pope, Sixtus II, was more conciliatory than Stephen and restored relations and communion with these Churches, although, like his predecessor, disapproved of rebaptism. Apocryphal documents, speculations and legends about the early popes Several apocryphal documents have been attributed to early popes, the most famous and notable being the "Decrees of Pseudo-Isidore" or "False Decretals," a collection of sixty letters containing canonical laws composed in the mid-ninth century by an author using the pseudonym Isidorus Mercator, attributed to popes St.