Pulcheria

Life events

1. Born — 399

   Pulcheria was born on 19 January 398 or 399 in Constantinople, the second child of Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius and Empress Aelia Eudoxia.

2. Other — 408

   Eudoxia died in 404 and Arcadius in 408, leaving four young children including Pulcheria and the seven-year-old future emperor Theodosius II as orphans in the imperial household.

3. Consecrated — 414

   On 4 July 414, Pulcheria took a public vow of virginity and was proclaimed Augusta at the age of fifteen, assuming the guardianship of her younger brother Theodosius II and directing the imperial government during his minority.

4. Council — 431

   Pulcheria was an active party in the First Council of Ephesus (431), opposing Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople, and supporting the condemnation of his theology and the confirmation of the Theotokos doctrine.

5. Other — 450

   Following the death of Theodosius II on 26 July 450, Pulcheria married the tribune Marcian on 25 November 450, on the explicit condition that Marcian respect her vow of virginity, thereby conferring dynastic legitimacy on the new emperor.

6. Council — 451

   Pulcheria and Marcian summoned the Council of Chalcedon in 451, attended by 452 bishops; it condemned the doctrines of both Nestorius and Eutyches, affirmed Christ as fully God and fully human, and reversed the verdict of the 449 Second Council of Ephesus. The assembled bishops hailed Pulcheria and Marcian as the 'new Helena' and the 'new Constantine'.

7. Died — 453

   Pulcheria died in July 453, probably in Constantinople; her will distributed her remaining wealth to the poor. She was subsequently declared a saint by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Relationships

Documented claims

• When Pulcheria took her vow of virginity in 414, her sisters Arcadia and Marina followed her example; Sozomen interpreted this partly as a strategy to remove potential rivals who might wield influence over the young emperor through marriage. (likely)
• Pulcheria's personal devotion to the Virgin Mary was directly tied to her political conflict with Nestorius: he allegedly attempted to remove her image and altar cloth from the altar of Hagia Sophia, and she responded by supporting Cyril of Alexandria's campaign to have Nestorius condemned at Ephesus. (likely)
• In the last years of her life Pulcheria dedicated three churches in Constantinople to the Virgin Mary: the Monastery of the Panagia Hodegetria, the Church of St. Mary of Blachernae, and the Chalkoprateia. (likely)
• At the Council of Chalcedon the assembled bishops acclaimed Pulcheria and her husband Marcian as the 'new Helena' and the 'new Constantine', associating them with the fourth-century imperial pair who had patronized the early ecumenical councils. (certain)
• Pulcheria's building program in Constantinople was extensive enough that the eleventh region of the city was named the Pulcherianai after her; Sozomen records that she erected many churches and charitable buildings for the poor in and around the capital. (likely)