- Pulcheria
Infobox Monarch
name =Pulcheria
title =Empress of theEastern Roman Empire
caption =Coin of Aelia Pulcheria
reign =28 July 450 – July 453
coronation =28 July 450
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full name =Aelia Pulcheria
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consort =Marcian
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father =Arcadius
mother =Aelia Eudoxia
date of birth =19 January ,399
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date of death =453
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place of burial =|Aelia Pulcheria (
January 19 ,399 – 453) was the daughter of the Eastern Roman EmperorArcadius andAelia Eudoxia .As the elder sister of
Theodosius II , she held much of the power when he came to the throne as a child in 408. She took a vow ofvirgin ity to avoid being forced into a marriage, and tended to rely on the support of the various Germanic military officers she appointed, such as the AlanAspar . By 416 Theodosius was capable of ruling by himself, but she remained a very strong influence, having had herself proclaimed Empress in 414. That year she had Theodosius remove all pagans from the civil service; she was a devout Christian and under her influence both Theodosius and his wifeAelia Eudocia (a former pagan) became devout Christians as well. In 421 Theodosius declared war on Persia, due to Pulcheria's influence, apparently because the Persians were persecuting Christians. She did not opposeArianism , the form of Christianity practised by the Germanic tribes. Theodosius originally supported Archbishop Nestorius, but Pulcheria, with the help of ArchbishopCyril of Alexandria , convinced him to return to Orthodoxy. Nestorius was exiled in 435. Pulcheria also convinced her brother to exile theJew s and destroy theirsynagogue s inConstantinople .In 441
Chrysaphius , aeunuch , convinced Theodosius to dismiss Pulcheria, although Chrysaphius simply took her place leaving Theodosius with little power. Pulcheria became a nun, but by 450, when Theodosius died, Pulcheria had been allowed to return to court. Chrysaphius and Pulcheria struggled for control after Theodosius' death; Pulcheria allied with the Germanic military officers, and married one of Aspar's generals,Marcian , declaring that Theodosius had declared Marcian his successor. The marriage was arranged with the understanding that he respect Pulcheria's vow of chastity. Pulcheria then had Marcian execute Chrysaphius.In 451 she helped organize the
Council of Chalcedon to condemn Nestorianism. The Council also condemned theSecond Council of Ephesus (which its opponents called the "Robber Synod") of 449, which had supported theMonophysite heresy and the Monophysite abbotEutyches , who was deposed and exiled at Chalcedon. At Chalcedon Pulcheria declaredFlavian of Constantinople a martyr, after his deposition at the Robber Synod and his death at the hands of the supporters of Eutyches, whom he had opposed.Pulcheria also commissioned many new churches in Constantinople, especially to
the Virgin Mary . Among them the most important is the Church of St. Mary of the Blachernae. She died in July, 453, leaving Aspar as the dominant influence on Marcian, who himself died in 457. Pulcheria is recognized as asaint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.Aunt and namesake
Pulcheria was also the name of a daughter of
Theodosius I andAelia Flaccilla . She was born in 378 and died in 385.See also
*
Icon of the Hodegetria
*Monastery of the Panaghia Hodegetria References
*Warren Treadgold, "A History of the Byzantine State and Society", Stanford, 1997.
*CathEncy|wstitle=St. Pulcheria
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