Cyril of Alexandria

Life events

1. Born — 376

   Cyril was born circa 376 in Didouseya, Egypt (modern-day El-Mahalla El-Kubra). His maternal uncle Theophilus, who rose to become Patriarch of Alexandria, oversaw his upbringing and formal education.

2. Educated

   Cyril completed the standard Christian curriculum in Alexandria: grammar (ages 12-14, 390-392), rhetoric and humanities (ages 15-20, 393-397), and theology with biblical studies (398-402). His writings demonstrate familiarity with Eusebius, Origen, Didymus the Blind, and the Alexandrian theological school.

3. Council — 403

   In 403 Cyril accompanied his uncle Theophilus to Constantinople for the Synod of the Oak, at which Theophilus arrived with twenty-nine suffragan bishops and orchestrated the deposition of John Chrysostom as Archbishop of Constantinople.

4. Consecrated — 412

   On 18 October 412, three days after Theophilus died, Cyril was made Patriarch of Alexandria following a violent riot between his supporters and those of his rival Archdeacon Timotheus. He immediately moved to close the Novatianist churches and seize their sacred vessels.

5. Wrote — 430

   In 430, following a series of letters to ecclesiastical authorities since 429 defending the orthodoxy of Theotokos, Cyril composed his Twelve Anathemas condemning anyone who refused to call Mary 'God-bearer.' His written output during the Christological controversy was described as exceeding what his opponents could match.

6. Council — 431

   Emperor Theodosius II convoked the Council of Ephesus in 431 to resolve the Theotokos dispute. Cyril presided and, before John of Antioch's delegation arrived, the council deposed Nestorius for heresy. John of Antioch's counter-council condemned Cyril in turn, labelling him a 'monster, born and educated for the destruction of the church.'

7. Exiled — 431

   After the counter-council condemned him, Theodosius II arrested Cyril. Cyril escaped and fled to Egypt, bribed the emperor's courtiers, and sent the hermit Dalmatius with a mob to besiege the imperial palace. The emperor eventually capitulated and sent Nestorius into exile in Upper Egypt.

8. Died — 444

   Cyril died around 444. The Roman Catholic Church added his feast in 1882 on 9 February, then moved it to 27 June in 1969, the day observed by the Coptic Orthodox Church. Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches celebrate his feast on 9 June and, jointly with Athanasius of Alexandria, on 18 January.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Cyril is counted among the Church Fathers and recognized as a Doctor of the Church, bearing the titles 'Pillar of Faith' and 'Seal of all the Fathers' — epithets that reflect the scope of his doctrinal authority across Catholic and Orthodox traditions. (certain)
• Cyril taught 'μία φύσις τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου σεσαρκωμένη' (one physis of the Word of God made flesh), the formula that became the theological touchstone for miaphysite Christology in the Coptic, Armenian, and other Oriental Orthodox churches. (certain)
• Historians dispute Cyril's responsibility for the murder of the philosopher Hypatia in March 415; the sole ancient source naming him is the Neoplatonist Damascius, while Socrates Scholasticus condemns the mob without identifying Cyril as its instigator. (disputed)
• Around 425, Cyril devised a Paschal table using a 19-year Metonic lunar cycle, dedicated to Emperor Theodosius II; this Alexandrian cycle became the structural basis for Dionysius Exiguus's Easter table of 525, which still underlies the Western computation of Easter. (likely)
• Cyril's Homily IV at the Council of Ephesus contains one of the first historical attestations of the salutation Χαῖρε ('Hail') used to invoke the Virgin Mary, a practice later standardized in Byzantine homiletics and the Akathist hymn. (likely)