Santa Pulcheria / Aelia Pulcheria
Sainte Pulchérie
Impératrice de
Byzance (+ 453)
Née et morte à Constantinople, c'était une femme supérieure qui marqua l'histoire politique et religieuse de son temps. Dès l'âge de quinze ans, à la mort de son père, elle avait été proclamée "auguste" et nommée tutrice de son frère, Théodose le Calligraphe dont la seule ambition de gouvernement était d'avoir une belle écriture. En 421, elle le maria à une jolie poétesse athénienne qui ne le supporta pas longtemps, le quitta et s'en alla rejoindre sainte Mélanie à Jérusalem où elle passa le reste de sa vie dans le pays de Jésus. Quant à lui, il passait toujours son temps à copier des manuscrits, laissant sa sœur gouverner à sa place jusqu'au jour où il s'enticha de l'eunuque Chrysaphe, destitua les évêques catholiques pour les remplacer par des évêques monophysites. Saint Léon Ier fit appel à Pulchérie. Elle chasse Chrysaphe, et épouse le général Marcien avec qui elle vécut dans la chasteté et qu'elle place à la tête de l'empire avec mission de mettre un peu d'ordre. Il convoque le concile de Chalcédoine, pourchasse les hérétiques et est assez heureux pour battre Attila qui se présente aux frontières de l'empire.
À Constantinople, en 453, sainte Pulchérie, impératrice, qui s'appliqua à
défendre et de promouvoir la vraie foi.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1830/Sainte-Pulch%C3%A9rie.html
Sainte Pulchérie :
Impératrice et sainteté
Fête saint : 10 Septembre
Présentation
Titre : Protectrice de
l’Église et mère des pauvres, ✞
453.
Pape : Saint Léon Ier, le
Grand
Empereur : Marcien
Découvrez la vie de
sainte Pulchérie, impératrice byzantine et sainte chrétienne, vénérée pour sa
piété, sa sagesse et son influence historique.
Sainte Pulchérie :
Impératrice et sainteté
Sainte Pulchérie,
impératrice byzantine du Ve siècle, fut une figure éminente de l'histoire
chrétienne et politique de l'Empire romain d'Orient.
Née en 399 à
Constantinople, elle était la fille de l’empereur Arcadius et la sœur de
Théodose II, empereur de l’Empire romain d’Orient. Dès son plus jeune
âge, sainte Pulchérie joua un rôle politique de premier plan,
notamment en tant que régente de l’empire pendant la minorité de son frère
Théodose II.
Sainte Pulchérie était
connue pour sa piété, son intelligence et sa détermination. Elle consacra sa
vie à défendre la foi chrétienne et à promouvoir la cause de l’orthodoxie dans
l’Empire romain d’Orient. Elle fut une fervente partisane du concile de
Chalcédoine en 451, qui affirmait la nature divine et humaine du Christ contre
les enseignements hérétiques du nestorianisme.
Outre ses activités
politiques, sainte Pulchérie était également une leader spirituelle.
Elle fonda des institutions caritatives, des églises et des monastères à
Constantinople, et elle fut une protectrice des saints et des théologiens de
son époque, notamment de saint
Cyrille d’Alexandrie et de saint Jean
Chrysostome.
Sainte Pulchérie est
surtout connue pour son rôle dans la préservation de la ville de Constantinople
lors de l’invasion d’Attila en 447. Grâce à sa diplomatie habile, elle parvint
à négocier avec le chef des Huns et à éviter la destruction de la ville,
sauvant ainsi l’Empire romain d’Orient d’une catastrophe imminente.
Après la mort de son
frère Théodose II en 450, sainte Pulchérie régna brièvement en tant
qu’impératrice régnante avant de se retirer dans un monastère, où elle vécut le
reste de sa vie dans la prière et la contemplation. Elle mourut en 453,
laissant derrière elle un héritage remarquable de piété, de sagesse et de
dévouement au service de Dieu et de son peuple.
Sainte Pulchérie est
vénérée comme une sainte dans l’Église orthodoxe et catholique, et elle est
reconnue pour son rôle important dans l’histoire de l’Empire romain d’Orient et
de l’Église chrétienne. Son exemple de leadership politique et spirituel
continue d’inspirer les chrétiens du monde entier, et elle est honorée pour sa
sainteté, sa piété et son engagement envers la foi chrétienne.
SOURCE : https://www.laviedessaints.com/sainte-pulcherie/
Santa
Pulcheria / Aelia Pulcheria
Jacques Callot (1592–1635). Sainte.
Pulchérie, impératrice et vierge, 10 septembre, Les Images de tous les Saincts
et Saintes de l'Année, 1636, 6.6 x 5, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sainte PULCHERIE
Impératrice de
Byzance (✝ 453)
Eudocie, parfois
orthographié Eudoxie (en latin : Ælia Licinia Eudoxia), née vers 400 et morte en 460, est une
impératrice byzantine et une femme de lettres du Ve siècle. Protégée de Pulchérie,
la sœur de l’empereur Théodose II, elle épouse celui-ci en 421. Son influence
croissante auprès de son mari finit par lui valoir l'inimité de Pulchérie et sa
disgrâce en 439.
Biographie
Fille du rhéteur
athénien nommé Léontias (de),
son nom de naissance est Athénaïs. Elle prit celui d'Ælia Licinia Eudocia ou
Eudocie lors de sa conversion au christianisme, quand elle devint impératrice byzantine par son mariage avec l'empereur Théodose
II le 7 juin
421. Elle est
la protégée de la sœur de celui-ci, Pulchérie.
Elle reçoit en 423 le titre d'Augusta,
après avoir donné naissance à une fille, Licinia
Eudoxia. Celle-ci est promise en mariage dès l'âge de 3 ans à un cousin de
Théodose II, Valentinien, qui a alors 6 ans.
Dès son mariage impérial,
Eudocie prend l'ascendant sur son époux au détriment de la sœur de celui-ci, Pulchérie.
Selon André Chastagnol, elle aurait peut-être inspiré la loi de 425 sur l'université de Constantinople. Dans la querelle du nestorianisme,
elle prend parti avec son mari pour le patriarche Cyrille
d'Alexandrie qui peut faire condamner Nestorius au
concile d'Éphèse en 431. Depuis 435,
elle aide Cyrus de Panopolis, égyptien originaire de Panopolis, à
devenir préfet de Constantinople puis à cumuler la préfecture de la
Ville et celle du prétoire à partir de 439.
Sa fille aînée Licinia
Eudoxia est mariée en 437 à Valentinien
III, devenu entre-temps l'empereur d'Occident.
En 438, elle fait un
pèlerinage en Terre sainte à l'invitation de Mélanie
la Jeune, fondatrice de l'Apostoleion, au cours duquel elle prononce un discours à Antioche qui
eut un grand succès devant le peuple et le sénat, elle offre de nombreux
cadeaux aux églises d'une valeur de plus de 20 000 livres d'or et les
remplit de reliques2.
En 439, de retour de
ce pèlerinage à Jérusalem, elle est faussement accusée d'infidélité à la
suite de la jalousie croissante de Pulchérie.
Privée par Théodose II de ses attributions d'Augusta, elle se retire à Jérusalem
en 443 et consacre la fin de sa vie à la méditation religieuse et à des œuvres
de piété, sans renoncer à son amour des lettres. Témoignage touchant de sa
venue en Terre
sainte, une inscription dédicatoire comportant un poème en vers homériques
a été récemment découverte à Hamat Gader, au sud du lac
de Tibériade.
Elle est favorable aux
monastères de Palestine
qui, s'opposant au concile
de Chalcédoine, deviennent suspects de monophysisme.
Doutant du chemin à suivre, elle envoie des émissaires à Antioche,
auprès de saint Siméon le Stylite qui lui rétorque : « Pourquoi
cherches-tu une eau lointaine, alors que tu as une source près de toi ?
Suis les enseignements d'Euthyme et tu seras sauvée. » C'est en effet
saint Euthyme
le Grand qui la remet dans le chemin de l'orthodoxie chalcédonienne.
Elle meurt en 460
et est canonisée par l'Église
orthodoxe.
Ses restes sont ensevelis
dans la crypte de la basilique Saint-Étienne de Jérusalem et sont dispersés lors
de l'invasion perse
SOURCE : https://www.paroisselimogne.fr/post/sainte-pulcherie
PULCHÉRIE (Ælia
PULCHERIA Augusta), célèbre impératrice d’Orient, née à Constantinople en 399,
morte en 453. Elle était fille de l’empereur Arcadius et d’Eudoxie et l’aînée
de leurs cinq enfants. Elle avait neuf ans à la mort d’Arcadius ; son
frère, moins âgé qu’elle de deux ans et proclamé empereur sous le nom de
Théodose II, était trop jeune pour exercer le pouvoir, et la régence fut
confiée à Anthémius, qui gouverna jusqu’en 414. À cette époque, Théodose fut
déclaré majeur, mais ce fut en réalité sa sœur qui régna sous son nom. Le
monarque, élevé en moine, absorbé dans les pratiques d’une dévotion minutieuse,
occupé à copier des missels en calligraphe émérite, lui abandonna toute la
direction des affaires. Pulchérie était intelligente, habile et ambitieuse.
Elle se fit déclarer Augusta, c’est-à-dire impératrice (415), choisit de sa
main une femme pour son frère, de façon à n’avoir pas à craindre de ce côté une
prépondérance politique, et éleva dans ce but au rang d’impératrice la fille du
sophiste grec Léontius, la belle et savante Athénaïs, à condition qu’elle
recevrait le baptême. Athénaïs y consentit et reçut le nom d’Eudoxie. La bonne
intelligence des deux impératrices dura vingt années et, pendant ce laps de
temps, Pulchérie conserva l’empire, sans qu’aucune intrigue de palais réussît à
l’écarter. Ce fut elle qui engagea Théodose à faire réunir le fameux corps de
droit connu sous le nom de Code théodosien, la seule gloire de son règne ;
qui conduisit, du fond de son palais, la guerre contre les Perses, les négociations
qui y mirent fin en 423, puis l’intervention de l’empire d’Orient dans les
affaires de l’Italie lorsqu’il s’agit d’assurer le trône d’Occident à
Valentinien III contre Jean, son compétiteur. Elle eut aussi à s’occuper des
Huns, qui ne menaçaient pas encore directement Constantinople, mais dont la
situation sur le bas Danube était inquiétante. Jusqu’en 443, son influence sur
le faible Théodose II ne fut contre-balancée par personne et, en dehors des
affaires de l’État, se livrant à son goût pour la dévotion et pour les
discussions religieuses, elle trouva encore moyen de se faire révérer comme une
sainte par les Pères de l’Église en combattant les nestoriens et les
eutychiens. « Elle fit vœu de rester vierge, dit Gibbon, et sa résolution,
adoptée par ses deux sœurs, Arcadie et Marine, fut célébrée par les chrétiens
comme le plus sublime effort de la piété. En présence du peuple et du clergé,
les trois sœurs d’Arcadius (Flacille, la fille aînée de Théodose, était marte à
cette époque) dédièrent à Dieu leur virginité ; ce vœu solennel fut
inscrit sur des tablettes d’or, enrichies de diamants, dont les princesses
firent publiquement l’offrande dans la cathédrale de Constantinople. Le palais
devint un monastère et tous les hommes, excepté ceux qui dirigeaient la
conscience des princesses, en furent scrupuleusement exclus. Pulchérie, ses
deux sœurs et une suite choisie de filles d’une naissance distinguée formèrent
une communauté religieuse et renoncèrent aux plaisirs mondains de la parure.
Malgré la frugalité de leur diète ordinaire, elles jeûnaient souvent et
employaient aux ouvrages de broderie le temps qu’elles ne passaient point en
prières. » À toutes ces pratiques du fanatisme religieux, il faut joindre
des libéralités nombreuses. L’histoire ecclésiastique donne le détail des
églises magnifiques que l’impératrice fit construire dans toutes les provinces
de l’Orient, de ses fondations de bienfaisance en faveur des pauvres et des
étrangers, des donations considérables qu’elle fit aux monastères et de ses pieux
efforts pour détruire les hérésies opposées d’Eutychès et de Nestorius. Il
parait pourtant que sa chasteté n’était pas à l’abri de tout soupçon, car les
nestoriens attribuaient l’antipathie qu’elle avait pour eux au blâme qu’ils lui
avaient infligé pour ses familiarités indécentes avec Paulin, accusé aussi
d’être l’amant d’Eudoxie, et à l’inceste qu’ils lui reprochaient d’avoir commis
avec son frère, l’empereur Théodose.
Quoi qu’il en soit, la
légende rapporte que sa piété fut agréable au Seigneur et qu’elle obtint, en
retour, le don de connaître l’avenir et de découvrir les corps saints.
Quarante-cinq martyrs avaient été inhumés dans un jardin de Constantinople, et
depuis on avait construit près de cet ossuaire un monastère de religieux
macédoniens, mais les reliques étaient totalement oubliées ; Pulchérie en
reçut avis en songe, dirigea les fouilles et les corps furent trouvés juste à
l’endroit indiqué par elle. L’Église célébra le fait en grande pompe et en fit
un miracle.
Jusqu’alors Pulchérie
avait été la véritable souveraine de l’empire d’Orient sous le nom de Théodose
II ; vers 443, son influence baissa devant celle de l’impératrice Eudoxie.
Les deux femmes étaient jalouses l’une de l’autre, ce qui tenait peut-être à ce
qu’elles avaient le même amant, le beau Paulinus. Pulchérie profita de
l’ascendant qu’elle avait sur son frère, habitué à signer, sans les lire, les
actes qu’elle lui soumettait, et lui fit signer un contrat par lequel il
déclarait vendre sa femme. L’empereur trouva la plaisanterie un peu forte et,
se rapprochant d’Eudoxie, lui confia la direction des affaires (443-450).
Eudoxie, aidée de l’eunuque Chrysaphius, grand maître du palais, s’ingénia
surtout à détruire l’œuvre religieuse de sa rivale, fit exiler le patriarche de
Constantinople qu’elle protégeait, rappela Eutychès, banni comme hérésiarque,
et obtint enfin l’exil de Pulchérie (447). Celle-ci avait conservé un grand
nombre de-partisans ; les querelles religieuses s’étant exaspérées à la
suite du concile tenu à Constantinople par les eutychiens (449), l’empereur
exila Eudoxie, qui se retira à Jérusalem, et rappela Pulchérie ; il
mourut, du reste, l’année suivante, laissant sa sœur impératrice d’Orient.
Pulchérie partagea aussitôt le pouvoir avec un vieux sénateur, Marcien, qui lui
succéda comme empereur à sa mort, en 453. « Cette princesse, dit Voltaire,
après la mort de Théodose le Jeune, épousa un vieux militaire, aussi peu fait
pour gouverner que Théodose ; elle en fit son premier domestique sous le
nom d’empereur. C’était un homme qui n’avait su se conduire ni dans la guerre
ni dans la paix. Il avait été longtemps prisonnier de Genséric, et, quand il
fut sur le trône, il ne se mêla que des querelles des eutychiens et des
nestoriens. On sent un mouvement d’indignation quand on lit dans la
continuation de l’Histoire romaine de Laurent Echard le puéril et honteux
éloge de Pulchérie et de Marcien : « Pulchérie dont les vertus, dit
l’auteur, avaient mérité la confiance de tout l’empire, offrit la couronne à
Marcien, pourvu qu’il voulût l’épouser et qu’il la laissât fidèle à son vœu de
virginité. »
« Quelle
pitié ! il fallait dire, pourvu qu’il la laissât demeurer fidèle à son vœu
d’ambition et d’avarice : elle avait cinquante ans et Marcien
soixante-dix. »
Il y a quelques erreurs
dans ce jugement, trop peu favorable à Marcien ; il était moins âgé que ne
le fait Voltaire et il montra de l’habileté dans l’administration de l’empire.
Pulchérie mourut fort attachée à l’Église orthodoxe ; elle avait pris la
plus grande part à la convocation du concile d’Éphèse, qui condamna la doctrine
de Nestorius, et, à cette occasion, elle fit ériger une basilique dédiée à la
Mère de Dieu ; beaucoup d’autres églises furent encore fondées par elle,
ainsi que des hôpitaux et des monastères. L’Église, pour la récompenser, l’a
honorée du titre de Gardienne de la foi, de Nouvelle Hélène, et l’a
mise au nombre de ses saintes ; on célèbre sa fête le 11 septembre.
Pierre Larousse. Grand dictionnaire
universel du XIXe siècle/PULCHÉRIE (Ælia PULCHERIA Augusta), célèbre
impératrice d’Orient, Administration du grand dictionnaire
universel, 1875 (13, part. 2, p. 409).
Also
known as
Pulqueria
Profile
Daughter of Byzantine
Emperor Arcadius and Empress Eudoxia.
Her father died when
she was 15, and she became regent of the empire on 4 July 414 until
her younger brother Theodosius was old enough to rule. Pulcheria took special
care of her brother’s education,
ensuring a strong religious background. She took a vow of chastity,
and worked for religious reform and evangelization through
the empire.
When Theodosius took the
throne, Pulcheria faded for a while into court life.
She supported Pope Leo
the Great regarding the Monophysite controversy,
and when Theodosius married in 421,
his wife convinced
him to exile Pulcheria.
On the death of
Theodosius, Pulcheria was recalled to be empress of
the Byzantine
Empire. She sponsored the Council
of Chalcedon in 451, and
supported the Church against
the Nestorian and
Eutychian heresies.
Built churches, hospitals,
hospices, and a university in
the city of Constantinople.
Born
July 453 of
natural causes
Additional
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of Saints, by the Monks of
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Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
MLA
Citation
“Saint Pulcheria“. CatholicSaints.Info.
26 September 2022. Web. 9 September 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-pulcheria/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-pulcheria/
Book of Saints –
Pulcheria Augusta
Article
(Saint) Virgin (September
10) (5th
century) The daughter of the Eastern Emperor Arcadius. She wisely governed
the countries subject to Constantinople during
the minority of her brother, Theodosius II. The latter, on attaining his
majority, fell away from the Catholic Faith, and sadly mismanaged the affairs
of the Empire. On his death, Pulcheria, becoming Empress, entered into a
matrimonial contract with Marcion, an old soldier of valour and experience,
altogether fitted for the task of aiding her. She survived only three years,
passing away A.D. 453.
The Universal Council of Chalcedon salutes Pulcheria as “Guardian of the Faith,
Maker of Peace, pious, orthodox and a second Saint Helena.”
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Pulcheria Augusta”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
10 September 2016. Web. 9 September 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-pulcheria-augusta/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-pulcheria-augusta/
New
Catholic Dictionary – Saint Pulcheria
Article
Virgin empress of the
Eastern Roman Empire. Born in 399; died in 453.
Eldest daughter of the Emperor Arcadius. In 414 she
was proclaimed Augusta by the senate and for 10 years ruled jointly with her
younger brother. At his death,
she married the
general Marcian, but preserved her vow of virginity, and shortly afterwards had
him proclaimed Augustus. A strong opponent of Nestorianism,
she secured the condemnation of the Nestorian and Eutychian heresies.
By bringing the bones of Saint John
Chrysostom to Constantinople she
accomplished the reconciliation of the schismatic party of the Johannines with
the Church. Emblem:
a lily. Feast, 10
September.
MLA
Citation
“Saint Pulcheria”. People of the Faith. CatholicSaints.Info. 23
October 2010.
Web. 9 September 2024. <http://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-pulcheria/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-pulcheria/
St. Aelia Pulcheria
Born: January 19,
399
Died: July 453
Feast day: September
10
Patron saint of: N/A
Pulcheria was a daughter
of the emperor Arcadius, and her role was often one of great power and
faithfulness. Whether empress or regent, she ebbed and flowed in title but
remained committed to governing fairly and faithfully. Throughout her life and
her reign, Pulcheria remained a devout Christian, and her court was one of
great piety and decorum. She attended the Council of Chalcedon to much acclaim.
As empress, she built many churches and gave great sums of wealth to the poor.
She was very present at the tables of decision-making in the secular world and
in the world of the church. Pulcheria’s life witnesses to us the adage that “of
whom much is given, much is expected”; she used the opportunities afforded to
her to advance the gospel and advocate for the church. Wherever we find
ourselves, we too should honor the opportunities given to us as moments of
encounter, accompaniment, evangelization, and authentic Christian
witness.
SOURCE : https://uscatholic.org/calendar/st-aelia-pulcheria-feast/
Pulcheria, Aelia
one of the most
celebrated saints of the Greek Church, was an empress. She was the eldest
daughter of the emperor Arcadius, and was born between 398 and 400. In early
youth she showed rare intellectual gifts and a fervent piety. Her wisdom was an
object of general admiration. She was about fifteen when she came to assist her
younger brother Theodoa sius II in the government. Pulcheria then made a vow of
eternal chastity, prevailed upon her sisters to follow her example, and gave to
the Byzantine court the puritv which should prevail in a monastery. Some
writers charge that this chastity was feigned from political reasons, Pulcheria
desiring to prevent the marriage of her sisters, and thus avoid controversy on
the claims to the throne. By her wisdom and piety the prosperity of the empire
was certainly promoted: she seemed to be its good genius. She defended
zealously the purity of the Christian faith against the doctrines of Nestorius
and Eutyches, and her influence was most beneficial at the synods of Ephesus and
Chalcedon. St. Cyril of Alexandria sent her his celebrated work De Fide ad
Pulcheriam. She was in correspondence with the popes, especially with Leo
I. This great pope, in many letters, praises her wisdom and kindness. He
entreats her, in 449, to take measures against the heresy of Eutyches
(Jaffe, Reg. Pontif. n. 203, 204, p. 37); rejoices at the vigor and
energy of her faith (ibid. n. 226, p. 339), and praises her activity in
suppressing Eutychianism (451; ibid. n. 237, p. 40). There are in all
ten letters extant from Leo I to Pulcheria. The learned Theodoret, bishop of
Cyrrhus, also praised her attachment to the Church, and interceded with her for
his city, heavily burdened with taxes (Theod. Ep. 43; Baron. ad ann.
444). All her contemporaries praise her beneficent influence. She dissuaded her
brother Theodosius from Nestorianism, and celebrated the victory of the
orthodox creed over this heresy by building a splendid church in honor of the
Virgin Mary (Niceph. IL E. 14:2; Baron. ad ann. 431). She sent valuable
presents to Jerusalem, and built a number of new churches (Baron. ad ann. 439,
453). She was several times exposed to the plots of the courts, which tried to
destroy her good understanding with her brother and his wife Eudocia. In 446
she retired entirely from the court: but her absence was soon felt. After the
death of Theodosius, Pulcheria and Marcianus, who had been honored with the
title of Augustus, and whom she had wedded, took the reins of the empire. She
had married for the good of the empire, and with the stipulation that she
should be allowed to keep her vow of virginity. After benefiting the Church in
many ways as empress, and opposing Eutychianism with the same decision as she
had previously Nestorianism, she died, Sept. 11, 453. Her saintship is
recognised by the Latin as well as by the Greek Church. Baronius (ad ann. 453)
and the Bollandists (vol. i, Jul.) erected literary memorials to her memory.
Benedict XIV permitted, by decree of the Congregation of the Rites of Jan. 31,
1752, to the regular canons of St. Augustine in Portugal, and to some houses of
Jesuits, the celebration of her feast on July 7, sub ritu duplici: soon
afterwards, Feb. 11, the same year, this permission was extended to the whole
company of Jesus. These decrees, with the office and mass of St. Pulcheria, are
in the appendix of Benedict XIV's work De Sanctorum Canonizatione. The
oration of the feast praises the chastity of the saint, and her zeal for the
purity of the faith. See Smith, Dict. of Gr. and Rom. Biog. and Mythol.
s.v.; Wetzer u. Welte Kirchen-Lexikon, vol. 12 s.v.; Hefele, Conciliengesch. vol.
ii; Alzog, Kirchengesch. i, 309; Milman, Hist. of Latin
Christianity, ii, 243 sq.
SOURCE : https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/P/pulcheria-aelia.html
St. Pulcheria
Empress of the Eastern
Roman Empire, eldest daughter of the Emperor Arcadius, b. 19 Jan., 399; d. in
453. After the death of Arcadius (408), her younger brother, Theodosius II,
then only seven, became emperor under the guardianship of Anthimus. Pulcheria
had matured early and had great administrative ability; she soon exerted
salutary influence over the young and not very capable emperor. On 4 July, 414,
she was proclaimed Augusta (empress) by the Senate, and made regent for her
brother. She made a vow of
virginity and persuaded her sisters to do the same, the imperial palace thus
becoming almost a monastery (Socrates, Church History VII.22).
At the same time she fulfilled all her duties as a ruler
for about ten years jointly with her brother. After the marriage, brought about
by Pulcheria, of Theodosius II with Eudoxia, the new empress sought to weaken
Pulcheria's influence over the emperor, and, with the aid of some courtiers,
succeeded for a time. Nevertheless, Pulcheria had always a powerful position at
Court, which she used in behalf of ecclesiastical orthodoxy, as shown by
her opposition to the doctrines of Nestorius and Eutyches. Eudoxia
supported Nestorius. St.
Cyril of Alexandria sent Pulcheria his work, "De fide ad
Pulcheriam", and wrote her on behalf of the true Church doctrine, to which she
held unwaveringly (letter of Cyril in Mansi, "Concil.
coll.", IV, 618 sqq.). He also wrote to Eudoxia (ibid., 679 sq.).
Theodosius allowed himself to be influenced by Nestorius to the prejudice of
Cyril, whom he blamed for appealing to the two empresses (ibid., 1110).
Pulcheria, however, was not deterred from her determination to work against
Nestorius and to persuade the emperor to espouse Cyril's party which favoured
the definition of the Council of Ephesus. In the further course of the
negotiations over the Council of Ephesus, the Patriarch of Alexandria sought
to gain Pulcheria's zeal and
influence for the union and sent her presents as he did to other
influential persons at
the Court (Mansi,
loc. cit., V, 987 sq.). There is no doubt that the
final acknowledgement by the emperor of the condemnation of Nestorius was
largely due to Pulcheria. The Nestorians,
consequently, spread gross calumnies about her
(Suidas, s.v. Pulcheria). Court intrigues obliged her (446)
to leave the imperial palace and retire to a suburb of Constantinople, where
she led a monastic life. When the Empress Eudoxia went to Jerusalem, Pulcheria
returned (about 449) to Court. At the emperor's death (28 July, 450) she was
proclaimed empress, and then married the able general, Marcian, but with the
condition that her vow of
virginity should be respected. At her order Marcian was proclaimed Augustus.
Meantime, at
Constantinople, Eutyches had
announced his heresy of
the unity of the natures in Christ, and the Patriarch Flavian had
expressed his opposition, as did also Pope Leo I. Once more
Pulcheria took up the cause of the Church. On 13 June, 449,
the pope had
written both to Pulcheria and to Theodosius, requesting them to end the
new heresy ("Leonis
epist.", xxx, in Migne,
LVI, 785 sq.). Nine other letters followed. Theodosius II confirmed the
decisions of the Robber
Synod of Ephesus (449) and the pope, who had rejected
them, sought to bring the emperor back to orthodox opinions.
On 13 Oct., 449, he wrote again to the emperor and also to Pulcheria (Epist.
xlv), begging the latter for aid. The Roman Archdeacon Hilarius also wrote with
the same object (Epist. xlvi in "Leonis Epist."), and at Leo's
entreaty Valentinian
III of the Western Empire, with Eudoxia and Galla Placidia, wrote to
Theodosius and Pulcheria (Epist. lviii). Another letter to Pulcheria was sent
by Leo on 16 July, 450 (Epist. lxx). After the death of Theodosius, conditions
were at once changed. Marcian and Pulcheria wrote to Leo (Epist. lxxvii). She
informed him that the Patriarch Anatolius had expressed his approbation and had
signed the papal letter
to Flavian concerning
the two natures in Christ. She requested the pope to let it be
known whether he would attend personally the council that had been summoned.
The empress was influential in the Council of Chalcedon (451)
and with the emperor attended the sixth session (25 Oct., 451). Leo in his
letter of 13 April, 451 (Epist. lxxix), wrote Pulcheria that both the Nestorian and Eutychian heresies had been
overcome largely by her efforts. He thanked her for the benefits she had
bestowed on the Church,
for her support of the papal legates, for the
recall of the banished Catholic bishops, and for the
honourable burial of the body of the Patriarch Flavius. Pulcheria showed no
less zeal in
promoting other interests of the Church. She built three
churches in Constantinople in honour of Mary the Mother of God;
one, erected after the condemnation of the Nestorian heresy, was exceedingly
beautiful. In other places also she built churches, hospitals, houses
for pilgrims,
and gave rich gifts to various churches (Sozomen, Church History IX.1).
She had the bones of St.
John Chrysostom, who had died in exile, brought back to Constantinople and
buried in the church of the Apostles on 27 Jan., 438; this led to the
reconciliation with the Church of the schismatic party of
the Johannines (Socrates, Church History VII.45).
Pulcheria had the relics of
the forty martyrs of Sebaste, which were
found near Constantinople, transferred to a church (Sozomen, Church History IX.2).
She is venerated as
a saint in the Greek and other Oriental Churches as
well as in the Latin
Church. Her feast is
given under 10 Sept. in the Roman Martyrology and in the Greek Menaia; in the other
Oriental calendars it
is under 7 Aug.
Sources
Acta SS., September,
III, 503-40; NILLES, Kalendarium manuale utriusque ecclesiæ, I (2nd
ed.), 238 sq.; HEFELE, Konziliengesch., II (2nd ed., Freiburg, 1875);
GÜLDENPENNING, Gesch. d. oströmischen Reiches unter Arkadius u. Theodosius
II (Halle, 1885); NAGL, Pulcheria in Frauencharakter aus d.
Kirchengesch., (Paderborn, 1910), 13 sqq.; STOKES in Dict. Christ.
Biog., s.v.; BUTLER, Lives of the Saints, III (Baltiimore, s. d.),
441-3.
Kirsch, Johann
Peter. "St. Pulcheria." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1911. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12561c.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by WGKofron. With thanks to Fr.
John Hilkert, Akron, Ohio.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Santa
Pulcheria / Aelia Pulcheria
St. Pulcheria, Virgin and Empress
From Sozomen, l. 9; Theodorus Lector,
the Paschal Chronicle of Alexandria, &c. See amongst the moderns,
Tillemont, t. 15, and especially Orsi. Stilting the Bollandist, t. 3, Sept. p.
504. Pinius the Bollandist, ib. t. 5, p. 778, in an Appendix, and Benedict
XIV.’s Bull to grant an office in her honour to several Congregations of
Regular Canons, to the Jesuits, &c. an. 1752.
A.D. 453.
IN this incomparable princess
virtue shone forth on the imperial throne in the brightest lustre, and showed
itself equally happy in itself, and equally invincible in the trials of
adversity, and those (which are usually more dangerous) of flattering
prosperity. The Empress Pulcheria was granddaughter to Theodosius the Great,
and daughter to Arcadius, emperor of the East, and his wife, Eudoxia. She was
born in 399, and had three sisters. Flaccilla, who was the eldest, but died
soon, and Arcadia and Marina, who were younger than Pulcheria. Arcadius was a
weak prince, always governed by his wife and his eunuchs; he reigned thirteen
years and three months from the death of his father, Theodosius, and died on
the 1st of May, in the year 408, having lived thirty-one years and some months.
He left a son eight years old, and appointed for his minister and tutor
Anthemius, one of the wisest men in the empire, who had been a constant friend
to St. Aphraates and St. Chrysostom. St. Pulcheria was only five years old when
she lost her mother, and nine when she lost her father; but for her prudence
and piety she was, from her infancy, the miracle of the world. On the 14th of
July, in 414, though only fifteen years of age, she was declared, in the name
of her young brother, Augusta and partner with him in the imperial dignity, and
charged with the care of his instruction, though but two years older than him.
Her wisdom, capacity, and sedateness, in which she far exceeded any of her age,
supplied her want of experience. To cultivate her brother’s mind, and give him
an education suitable to his rank, she placed about him the most learned and
virtuous masters, and made it her first concern to instil into him sentiments
of religion and piety, being sensible that all other qualifications are useless
and often dangerous when not guided by these principles. She taught him to pray
with great devotion, to love the places of divine worship, and to have a great
zeal for the Catholic church and its holy doctrine. Whatever was valuable in
that prince was, under God, owing to Pulcheria, and if she did not make him
greater, all agree that nothing was wanting on her side. She also took care of
the education of her two surviving sisters, who, to the end of their lives,
endeavoured to tread in her steps.
Out of a motive of perfect virtue
(not out of views of prudent policy lest suitors for marriage should embroil
the state), at fifteen years of age she made a public vow of virginity, and
induced her sisters to do the same. They had a share in all her employments
except those that regarded the state; they ate together, were united in all
acts of devotion and charity, and what time was not devoted to exercises of
piety, and to useful studies, they employed in working tapestry or embroidery.
Pulcheria only absented herself when she was obliged to attend upon business of
the state, finding a solitude in the palace itself. The penitential austerities
which she practised, were such as seemed rather to suit a recluse than one who
lived in a court. Men were denied entrance in hers and her sisters’ apartments
for avoiding the least suspicion or shadow of danger; and she never saw or
spoke to any man but in public places. The imperial palace, under her
direction, was as regular as a monastery. Upon all emergencies, in imitation of
Moses, she consulted heaven by devout prayer; then listened to the advice of
able counsellors before she took any resolution in matters of weight. The
imperial council was, through her discernment, composed of the wisest, most
virtuous, and most experienced persons in the empire; yet, in deliberations,
all of them readily acknowledged the superiority of her judgment and
penetration. Her resolutions were the result of the most mature consideration,
and she took care herself that all orders should be executed with incredible
expedition, though always in the name of her brother, to whom she gave the
honour and reputation of all she did. She was herself well skilled in the Greek
and Latin tongues, in history and other useful branches of literature; and was,
as every one must be who is endowed with greatness of soul, and a just idea of
the dignity of the human mind, the declared patroness of the sciences, and of
both the useful and polite arts. Far from making religion subservient to
policy, all her views and projects were regulated by that virtue; and by this
the happiness of her government was complete. She prevented by her prudence all
revolts which ambition, jealousy, or envy might stir up to disturb the
tranquillity of the church or state; she cemented a firm peace with all
neighbouring powers, and abolished the wretched remains of idolatry in several
parts. Never did virtue reign in the Oriental empire with greater lustre, never
was the state more happy or more flourishing, nor was its name ever more
respected even among the barbarians, than whilst the reins of the government
were in the hands of Pulcheria.
Theodosius was twenty years old when
it was thought proper for him to marry, and by the advice of Pulcheria, he
pitched upon Athenais, the daughter of an Athenian philosopher, who had given
her an excellent education, but had disinherited her. She came to court to
procure his will to be made void on that account, and, by her beauty, genius,
and uncommon accomplishments, raised the admiration of every one, insomuch that
the emperor judged her most worthy to be made his consort. She was first
baptized, for she had been brought up an idolater. Her name Athenais being
derived from Athena or Minerva, she changed it into that of Eudocia, and
Theodosius was married to her on the 7th of June, 421.
Two years after, in 423, he declared
her Augusta, This marriage made no alteration in the state, the chief
administration being still intrusted to Pulcheria, till the eunuch Chrysaphius,
a great favourite with the emperor, prepossessed Eudocia against her, who had
been long mortified at the great sway her sister had in the government. In 431
Nestorius was condemned in the council of Ephesus. Chrysaphius and Eudocia were
indefatigable in their intrigues and practices to ruin Pulcheria; and the
emperor, (whose misfortune was supine indolence, and weakness of
understanding,) after having been long deaf to their insinuations, at length
was so far worked upon as to give heartily into all that they said against her.
Upon their suggestion he sent an order to St. Flavian, bishop of
Constantinople, to make her a deaconness of his church. The good prelate waited
on the emperor, and urged cogent reasons against the proposal. Finding the
prince resolutely bent on the thing, he went home, promising to return to court
at an appointed time; but he first sent a private message to Pulcheria,
desiring her to take care to be out of the way. The princess understood by this
hint the contrivance of her enemies, and retired to a country seat in the
plains of Hebdomon, with a resolution of spending the remainder of her days in
silence and holy retirement. This happened in the year 447. The consequences of
this removal were most unhappy both to the emperor and to the state and church;
for the eunuch and empress, out of revenge, persecuted St. Flavian, patronised
Eutyches, the heresiarch, whom he had condemned, and supported Dioscorus and
other Eutychians in the most outrageous acts of fury and violence in the
Latrocinale of Ephesus in 449. Theodosius himself was prevailed upon blindly to
publish an edict, declaring an approbation of all these proceedings, and of the
second council of Ephesus, as he styled the violent assembly of Dioscorus and
the other furious heretics, usually called the Latrocinale, or assembly of
robbers.
Pulcheria looked upon her retreat as
a favour of heaven, and in it she consecrated all her time to God in prayer,
contemplation, and the exercise of good works. She made no complaints of her
brother’s ingratitude, of the empress who owed every thing to her, or of their
unjust ministers. Her desire was both to forget the world and to be forgotten
by it, esteeming herself most happy in having no other business on her hands
than that of conversing with God, and meditating on divine truths. Nothing
could have drawn her from the pleasure she enjoyed in this sweet solitude but
the dangers which threatened the church and state, and compassion for her
brother, whose credulity was so basely abused. Seeing at length impiety and
malice carried to the highest pitch, and pressed by the letters of the holy
Pope St. Leo, she boldly went to court, and having procured admittance, spoke
in such a manner to the emperor, that, upon the spot, he opened his eyes, saw
the brink of the precipice to which he had been pushed by designing persons,
disgraced Chrysaphius, banished him into an island, and caused him there to be
put to death. The emperor was thus happily disabused of his errors a little
before his death, which happened on the 29th of July, in the year 450, the
forty-ninth of his age, and forty-first of his reign. His widow Eudocia retired
into Palestine, where she ended her days.
St. Pulcheria, by the death of her
brother, remained mistress of the Eastern empire. To strengthen her authority
she chose a partner in the throne, who was an excellent general, a wise
statesman, very zealous for the Catholic faith, exceedingly virtuous, and
particularly charitable to the poor. His name was Marcian; he was a native of
Illyricum, and a widower. By a former marriage he had a daughter named
Euphemia, who married Anthemius, afterwards emperor of the West. Pulcheria,
judging it might be of great advantage to the state, and enhance Marcian’s
credit and authority, proposed to marry him, on condition she should be at full
liberty to preserve her vow of virginity. Marcian readily embraced the
proposal; and these two great souls governed together like two friends who had
in all things the same views and sentiments, which all centered in the advancement
of religion, piety, and the public weal. They received favourably, and with
great joy, four legates sent by St. Leo the Great to Constantinople, and their
zeal for the Catholic faith deserved the highest commendations of that pope,
and of the general council of Chalcedon, which, under their protection,
condemned the Eutychian heresy in 451. They did their utmost to have the
decrees of this synod executed over all the East, but met with great difficulty
in Egypt and Palestine, from the obstinacy of the Eutychians in those parts.
St. Pulcheria wrote herself two letters, one to certain monks, another to an
abbess of nuns, in Palestine, to convince them that the council of Chalcedon
did not revive Nestorianism, but condemned that error together with the
opposite heresy of Eutyches. 1
This great empress built many
churches, and among these, three in honour of the Blessed Virgin, namely, that
of Blaguerna, that of Chalcopratum, and that of Hodegus. 2 In
this last she placed a famous picture of the Blessed Virgin, which the empress
Eudocia had sent her from Jerusalem, as the work of St. Luke the evangelist. 3 Historians
assure us that volumes would be required to sum up all the churches,
monasteries, and especially the hospitals which St. Pulcheria founded and
richly endowed. After despatching public affairs her whole employment was to
pray, read good books, visit and serve the poor with her own hands. Sozomen
relates, that she was admonished by several visions to procure a solemn
translation to be made of a considerable part of the relics of the forty
martyrs, which she enclosed in a rich.shrine. That historian, who was an
eye-witness to this ceremony, makes mention of the extraordinary devotion with
which the people applied cloths and handkerchiefs to these relics. 4 This
good empress having been all her life the protectress of the church, and the
tender mother of the poor, she at her death gave to these latter, by her will,
all her goods or private estates, which were very considerable in different
parts of the empire. If we consider her great actions and heroic virtues, we
shall be persuaded that the great commendations which St. Proclus in his
panegyric on her, St. Leo, and the general council of Chalcedon bestowed on this
empress, were so far from being compliments or strains of eloquence, as to fall
far short of her extraordinary merit, which no words can sufficiently
celebrate. A little before her death she had finished the court of the church
of St. Laurence, in her own palace, which was of most excellent workmanship.
She passed from a temporal to an eternal crown in 453, on the 10th of
September, being sixty-eight years and some months old. Marcian punctually
executed her will in favour of the poor, and being enriched with the treasure
of his devotion, almost boundless charities and good works, followed her to
immortal bliss on the 26th of January, 457, aged threescore and five years,
having reigned six and a half. His memory is blessed for his virtues, and for
the great services he did religion. Leo, a native of Thrace, was chosen his
successor in the empire. Both Latins and Greeks celebrate the feast of St.
Pulcheria as of a holy virgin. The learned Pope Benedict XIV. expresses a
singular veneration for her memory
Note 1. Conc. Chalced. par. 3, l. et vit. S.
Euthym. p. 67. [back]
Note
2. Du Cange, Constant. l. 4, c. 5, n.
57, c. 2. [back]
Note 3. Theodor. Lector, l. 1, initio, et p.
552. [back]
Note
4. Sozom. l. 9, c. 2. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler
(1711–73). Volume IX: September. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
Weninger’s
Lives of the Saints – Saint Pulcheria, Empress
Article
We find this day, in the
Roman book of Martyrs, a record of the life of the holy empress, Saint
Pulcheria. This Saint was a daughter of the emperor Arcadius, who, at his
death, left four daughters and one son. The latter succeeding him upon the
throne; reigned most gloriously under the name of Theodosius the younger.
Pulcheria, though hardly two years older than her brother, supplied to him the
place of a counsellor, without whose advice he did not undertake anything. God
had gifted her with such wisdom, that she administered the most important
affairs of the state, to the universal satisfaction and great benefit of the
people. She instructed her brother, the emperor, most carefully, how to lead a
holy life, not only for himself, but also as an example to his subjects, whose
happiness she taught him to consider his greatest study. She had a peculiar way
of correcting his faults, of which the following may serve as an example: The
emperor had the most implicit trust in some of his counsellors, and used to
sign, without reading them, all the orders and letters they placed before him.
Pulcheria, desiring to break him of so dangerous a habit, prepared an order, by
force of which, his imperial spouse, Eudoxia, was to be delivered to Pulcheria as
a prisoner. This order was laid before the emperor, among many others, and he
signed it with the rest. Pulcheria took it, invited the empress into her
apartments, and presenting the imperial order to her, said that she was and
should remain her prisoner, until the emperor would countermand his order.
Somewhat later, Theodosius sent for the empress, but Pulcheria returned for
answer that Eudoxia was her prisoner, and that, as such, she would not release
her. The emperor, surprised, hastened to his sister for an explanation of her
answer. Placing before him the order he had signed, she said: “Behold, my
brother and emperor, what may happen, when we are too hasty in our affairs, and
sign what we have not read and examined.” The emperor, kindly receiving the admonition,
promised in future, to be more guarded.
For several years, all
went well, and God visibly blessed what the emperor, advised by his sister, had
done. At length, however, Chrysaphius, a wicked counsellor, succeeded in
prejudicing the emperor against Pulcheria to such an extent, that he desired to
be free from her presence, and to govern his people without her guidance. When
Pulcheria became aware of this, she withhrew from the affairs of the
government, and leaving the court, she went to a country-seat, not far from
Constantinople, where she served God most fervently in peaceful solitude. She
had long since taken, the vow of perpetual chastity, and had persuaded her
three sisters, Flaccilla, Arcadia and Marina, to do the same. Hence it became
no difficult task for her to leave the pleasures and honors of the court, and
occupy herself only with Him whom she had chosen as her spouse. The imperial
court, however, soon wore a different aspect. Omitting many other disgraceful
acts which were performed there, we will mention only a new heresy, which was
allowed to spring up and thrive at Constantinople. Its author was a certain
Eutyches. Chrysaphius, won by him, imparted the poisonous doctrines to the
emperor and empress, who, favoring the heresiarch, soon began to persecute the
faithful Catholics. Pulcheria, when informed of it, was deeply distressed that
her brother had allowed himself to be so unhappily seduced, as to become, from
a zealous protector of the true church, its persecutor. She prayed ceaselessly
to the Almighty to enlighten and convert her brother, and requested the prayers
of other pious servants of the Lord, to the same effect God granted her
request, and bestowed upon Theodosius the grace to recognize and correct his
error. As, at the same time, it became clear to him that he never would have
become guilty of so grave a fault, if his pious sister had been near him with
her counsel, he besought her to return to court. Although Pulcheria was happy
and contented, and had no desire to return to the tumult of the world, the wish
to lead her brother in the right path, and to guard him from again wandering
from it, determined her to consent. She returned, therefore, to the court and
city, and after having entirely restored her brother to the true faith, she
endeavored, to the utmost of her power, to exterminate the new heresy,
employing the same means which she had used when Nestorius began to disseminate
his heretical errors. The bishops at the Council of Chalcedon hence called her
a protector of the faith, an exterminator of heresy, and another Saint Helena.
The holy Pope, Leo I, thanked her, and congratulated her on account of the
twofold victory she had won over those two heretics.
On the death of
Theodosius, Pulcheria remained mistress of the empire. To assist her in this
difficult position, she chose Marcian, who had been an officer of high rank
under the late emperor, and was a man of distinguished merit and great sanctity
of life. To him she gave her hand in marriage, but with the condition that both
should live in continency, as she had consecrated her virginity to the
Almighty. Marcian promised to respect her vow, and faithfully kept his word.
The benefit which the holy church and the state derived from this union, cannot
be described in the limited space allowed to us. The sole desire of the people,
was, that Pulcheria and Marcian might be spared to reign over them for many
years. But it pleased the king of all kings to call his faithful handmaid,
Pulcheria, to her heavenly home, A. D., 453, before she had completed her
fifty-fifth year. As she had never set her heart on temporal things, it was not
hard for her to leave the world; indeed, when she felt that death was
approaching, her desire to be united with Christ, whom she had served in chastity
and faithful love, became more and more intense. Having devoutly received the
Holy Sacraments, she ended her holy life calmly and peacefully.
The poor, to whom this
incomparable empress had always been a most loving mother, became, by her will,
her heirs. She had built, and richly endowed many churches and hospitals.
Although in the midst of constant gaieties, she exercised herself in various
penances, read daily in a devout book, and frequently rose at midnight to honor
the Almighty by chanting the Psalms. She paid due reverence to the Saints and
their relics, and was deeply devoted to the Queen of Heaven. She defended the
honor of the Blessed Virgin, especially against the heresiarch, Nestorius, who
blasphemously pretended that although Mary was the mother of Christ, she was
not therefore the mother of God. The council of Ephesus condemned this
blasphemy, and Saint Pulcheria, on this account, built a magnificent church, in
honor of the Blessed Virgin. May the Almighty give to his church many such
protectors, and guard and keep those who endeavor to follow the example of this
Saint in her zeal, her generosity and magnanimity.
Practical Considerations
• The holy Empress, Saint
Pulcheria, evinced an intense longing to be united to her heavenly spouse, when
she felt that death was approaching. Saint Nicholas also made use of the words
of Saint Paul, expressing a desire to be with Christ. We are created for heaven
and for God; we are here in exile; heaven is our home. We are in the world like
pilgrims on the road. The end of this road is heaven, which we shall reach by
walking straight onward. Why then do we not long more after heaven? Why do we
not sigh more to see the face of the Almighty? We surely do great wrong by
thinking so seldom of heaven, and by manifesting no desire to see God. This is
a sign, either that we do not believe the teachings of our faith in regard to
heaven and God, or that we do not sufficiently esteem so great a blessing. Both
are wrong. Hence, endeavor, in future, frequently to awaken a desire for
heaven, a longing to see God, the Supreme Good. Say with attention the
following words of the Lord’s prayer: “Thy kingdom come.” Say with the holy
King David: “When shall I come and appear before the face of the Lord?” (Psalm
41) or, with Saint Nicholas, after the example of Saint Paul: “I desire to be
dissolved, and to be with Christ.” (Philippians 1) “How negligent, thoughtless
and slothful are we in not endeavoring to sigh more frequently for heaven, for
the blessed company of the Saints, and the contemplation of the Supreme
Goodness!” says Saint Paulinus.
MLA
Citation
Father Francis Xavier
Weninger, DD, SJ. “Saint Pulcheria, Empress”. Lives
of the Saints, 1876. CatholicSaints.Info.
4 May 2018. Web. 9 September 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-pulcheria-empress/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-pulcheria-empress/
September 10, 2014
The Woman Who Saved
Orthodoxy—Twice
Few women have performed
such indispensable service to the whole Church as Pulcheria, the late
Roman empress who towered over sacred and secular affairs alike for the better
part of half a century.
She was born in 399
living just past the mid-century. This was a period marked by two of the
greatest heresies of the early Church—Nestorianism and Monophysitism. Pulcheria
was to play a leading role not only in defeating both heresies, but also in
putting the final stamp of orthodoxy on what Christians believe about the dual
natures and single person of Christ.
Pulcheria lived in the
sunset years of the old Roman Empire (its fall is traditionally dated to 476
AD). But she was in the Eastern Empire, which was at the beginning of a
millennium-long arc through world history. Pulcheria presided over it all from
the highest levels of society from an early age.
Pulcheria, whose
traditional feast day is September 10, was the oldest daughter of the Eastern
Emperor, Arcadius. A few years after he died, Pulcheria became the effective
emperor for her brother, Theodosius II, who, at 13 years old, was too young to
rule. Pulcheria herself was just 15 but she had “matured early and had great
administrative ability,” as the Catholic Encyclopedia puts it.
She was far more than
just a substitute emperor for her brother. Pulcheria had a hand in every aspect
of his upbringing: she was his teacher, foster parent, and imperial tutor. She
supervised his education in everything from horsemanship to letters. She also
personally instructed him in how to behave like an emperor, “showing him how to
gather up his robes, and how to take a seat, and how to walk” (as recounted by
early Church historian Sozomen).
Pulcheria even went so far as to pick his wife for him.
All this is to say that
even though her brother officially took over as emperor in 416, Pulcheria
continued to exert an extraordinary influence (his marriage, for example,
didn’t happen until 421). Pulcheria was to put this influence to the service of
the Church as it confronted the first great heresy of that century,
Nestorianism, which rejected Mary was the Mother of God and ultimately denied
the full union of Christ’s human and divine natures.
The Nestorian controversy
flared up in Constantinople at the end of 428 after its namesake, Nestorius
first aired his heretical musings in a series of Christmas sermons. That
sparked a fierce war of letters between Nestorius, who was patriarch of
Constantinople, and his counterpart in Alexandria, Cyril.
It’s usually said that
Nestorians was finally condemned as heresy at the Council of Ephesus in 431.
The real story of what happened is, of course, more complex. For one thing,
there were actually two councils: the officially sanctioned one that upheld
orthodoxy and a rump council convened by supporters of Nestorius. The official
council sent its decrees to Emperor Theodosius, but so did the Nestorian one.
The emperor’s own
household was divided: Pulcheria was firmly on the side of Cyril while his
wife, Eudocia, favored Nestorius. Unable to decide, Theodosius took the
extraordinary step of ratifying the decrees of both councils and then promptly
had both Nestorius and Cyril incarcerated.
Eventually, the emperor
warmed up to the orthodox view and Nestorius opted for retirement while Cyril
was restored to his see. In this we can see, perhaps, the enduring influence of
Pulcheria on her brother. “There is no doubt that the final acknowledgement by
the emperor of the condemnation of Nestorius was largely due to Pulcheria,”
declares the Catholic Encyclopedia in its entry on Pulcheria.
Pulcheria’s commitment to
orthodox Christian teaching sprang from a profound personal piety. When she
became empress, at the age of 15, she took a vow of virginity and her sisters
followed suit. Pulcheria, her sisters, and her brother were committed to daily
prayer, rising “early in the morning” to recite hymns to God, according to the
ancient Church historian Socrates Scholasticus. The imperial palace, as
he puts it,
became “little different than a monastery.” (Pulcheria’s name, by the way, is
from the Latin word for “beautiful.”)
After the Nestorian
controversy had simmered down, Eudocia was able to take her revenge on
Pulcheria, successfully exiling her from the imperial court in 439.
But her story doesn’t end
there. Pulcheria was to have a second act in this, a most crucial century for
deciding the shape of Christian orthodoxy for so many more to come. In 450, her
brother died in a fall from a horse. Pulcheria swept back to power. (Eudocia
was long gone at that point having been exiled in 442 on suspicion of
adultery.)
Pulcheria’s return was
just in time to address the rise of the Monophysite heresy—an over-reaction to
the old Nestorian heresy that went in the opposite direction, insisting on such
a close union between Christ’s human and divine natures that the distinction
between them starts to become blurred.
Within a year of her
return, the Council of Chalcedon was convened and Monophysitism was condemned.
This time, as before, Pulcheria played a role both behind the scenes and
publicly. Unlike before, she didn’t have the encumbrance of an indecisive and
feckless brother.
It’s a great credit to
Pulcheria’s theological acumen and spiritual insight that she was able to help
the Church steer a course through the two heretical extremes of both
Nestorianism and Monophysitism. Few women have wielded such influence in
secular affairs, let alone in the religious realm.
In a way, Pulcheria is a
virtuous version of the fated Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra. Both women remained
forces to be reckoned with as a succession of male rulers faded in and out of
the picture. Both were masters of imperial politics. And both proved to be a
nearly irresistible influence on the men around them. For Cleopatra, it was the
allure of her legendary beauty. For Pulcheria, it was the power of her inner
beauty. Cleopatra was out for personal gain while Pulcheria served a higher
purpose. Cleopatra’s story ended in the tragedy of suicide, while Pulcheria’s
ended in the triumph of sainthood.
images: Hagai Sophia via
Shutterstock
Statue of Pulcheria, Constantinople / Sailko via Wikimedia
Commons
Tagged as: Best of Week, orhtodoxy, Pulcheria, saints
Stephen Beale is a
freelance writer based in Providence, Rhode Island. Raised as an evangelical
Protestant, he is a convert to Catholicism. He is a former news editor at
GoLocalProv.com and was a correspondent for the New Hampshire Union Leader,
where he covered the 2008 presidential primary. He has appeared on Fox News,
C-SPAN and the Today Show and his writing has been published in the Washington
Times, Providence Journal, the National Catholic Register and on MSNBC.com and
ABCNews.com. A native of Topsfield, Massachusetts, he graduated from Brown
University in 2004 with a degree in classics and history. His areas of interest
include Eastern Christianity, Marian and Eucharistic theology, medieval
history, and the saints. He welcomes tips, suggestions, and any other feedback
at bealenews at gmail dot com. Follow him on Twitter at
https://twitter.com/StephenBeale1
SOURCE : https://catholicexchange.com/woman-saved-orthodoxy-twice/
Right-Believing
Pulcheria, Byzantine Empress
Commemorated on September 10
The Holy Right-Believing
Empress Pulcheria, daughter of the Byzantine emperor Arcadius (395-408), was
coregent and adviser of her brother Theodosius the Younger (408-450). She
received a broad and well-rounded education, and distinguished herself by her
wisdom and piety, firmly adhering to Orthodox teaching. Through her efforts the
church of the Most Holy Theotokos was built at Blachernae, and also other
churches and monasteries.
Through the intrigues of
enemies and of Eudokia, the wife of the emperor Theodosius the Younger, Saint
Pulcheria was removed from power. She withdrew into seclusion, and lived a
pious life. Without her benificent influence, conditions in the capital
deteriorated. She returned after a while, following the urgent request of her
brother. Then the unrest provoked by emerging heresies was quelled.
After the death of Theodosius
the Younger, Marcian (450-457) was chosen emperor. Saint Pulcheria again wanted
to withdraw into her seclusion, but both the emperor and officials entreated
her not to refuse the throne, but to marry the emperor Marcian. For the common
good she consented to become Marcian’s wife if she were allowed to preserve her
virginity within the marriage. They were married, but lived in purity as
brother and sister.
Through the efforts of
Saint Pulcheria, the Third Ecumenical Council was held at Ephesus in 431 to
address the heresy of Nestorius; and also the Fourth Ecumenical Council which
was convened at Chalcedon in the year 451, to deal with the heresies of
Dioscorus and Eutychius.
Saint Pulcheria built the
church of the Mother of God at Blachernae at Constantinople, and also found the
relics of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (March 9).
Throughout her life Saint
Pulcheria defended the Orthodox Faith against various heresies. After giving
away her wealth to the poor and to the Church, she died peacefully at the age
of fifty-four in the year 453.
SOURCE : https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/09/10/102566-right-believing-pulcheria-byzantine-empress
Pulcheria (c. 398–453)
Romano-Byzantine empress
who shaped a decisive period in the history of an empire in which few women
reached such positions of power and influence. Name variations: Aelia
Pulcheria or Aelia Pulcheria Augusta; Pulcheria means "beautiful
woman" from the Latin word pulcher (beautiful). Reigned 408–450;
born on January 19, 398 or 399; died in 453; daughter of Emperor Arcadius (r.
395–408); mother's name unknown; stepdaughter of Eudocia of Byzantium (d. 404);
half-sister of Emperor Theodosius
II; married Marcian (a general).
Death of Emperor Theodosius
I the Great and partition of the Roman
Empire between his sons Arcadius, who received the Eastern half, and
Honorius, who received the West (395); Pulcheria born (398 or 399); birth of
her brother Theodosius (c. 400); German tribes crossed the frozen Rhine and
began their conquest of the West Roman
Empire (December 31, 406); death of Pulcheria's father Arcadius (408);
sack of Rome by the East Goths (Ostrogoths, 410); Pulcheria granted title
"Augusta" and appointed regent for her brother Theodosius
II (July 4, 414–416); arranged brother's marriage to Athenais (renamed
Eudocia) (421); founding of the University of Constantinople (February 25,
425); Council of Ephesus (431); Code of Theodosius promulgated (438); Pulcheria
quarreled with sister-in-law Eudocia, who moved permanently to Jerusalem (c.
440); the eunuch grand chamberlain, Chrysaphius, became all-powerful at the
court of Theodosius; Pulcheria retired from court life (443); earthquake ruined
the walls of Constantinople (447); death of Theodosius and Chrysaphius' fall
from grace (450); Pulcheria became first woman to hold the Roman throne,
marrying General Marcian, whom she made her co-ruler (450); Council
of Chalcedon (451); siege of Rome by Attila the Hun (452); death of
Pulcheria (453); sack of Rome by the Vandals (455); death of Marcian (January
457); fall of the Roman Empire in the West (476).
Written in the late 4th
century, the history of Ammianus
Marcellinus, the last great chronicler of the Roman Empire, ends the series
of works by classical Roman historians that illuminate the history of the Roman
world. Not until the emergence of Procopius, court historian of Emperor
Justinian (r. 527–565), is there another historian of the first rank upon whom
to rely. Therefore, the years from 395 to 527—the period including the final
partition of the Roman Empire into East and West (395), the fall of the Western
Empire (476), and the life of Empress Pulcheria—must be pieced together from a
variety of minor sources, many of them extant only as fragments quoted by later
authors. To assemble the history of the period, we must look to details passed
down by inferior chroniclers, such as Claudian, Olympiodorus, Zosimus, John of
Antioch, John Malalas, Priscus, Cedrenus, Sozomenus, Eunapius, Theophanes,
the Paschale Chronicle, Orosius, and Arian Philostorgus.
Pulcheria was born around
398 in Constantinople, the daughter of Emperor Arcadius (r. 395–408), into the
last decades of the Roman Empire. (Her mother's name is unknown.) She was
apparently named after a paternal aunt who had died in infancy, and her name
meant "beautiful woman" (from the Latin pulcher, "beautiful").
Hers was an illustrious family. She was the great-granddaughter of Emperor
Valentinian I (r. 364–375), granddaughter of Theodosius
I (r. 379–395) and his wife Flaccilla (c.
355–386), grandniece of Valentinian II (r. 375–392), niece of Emperor Honorius
(r. 395–423), and first cousin of Valentinian III (r. 425–455). Through the
first marriage of her half great-uncle, Emperor Gratian, to the granddaughter
of Constantine I the Great, Pulcheria was linked, however distantly, to the
first Christian emperor of Rome.
She was the second of
four sisters, of the eldest of whom, Flaccilla, we hear nothing; she may have
died young or, as some have speculated, was perhaps considered deficient in
some way. Well educated, knowing both Greek and Latin, at an early age
Pulcheria together with her two sisters Arcadia and Marina took
a vow of chastity in the presence of the high clergy and the people; they did
this, it is said, as a means of avoiding what they felt would be the
destructive rivalries inevitable between their husbands were they to marry.
Though dedicated to the religious life, Pulcheria would play a significant role
in the politics of the late Roman Empire, serving as regent and co-ruler with
her brother Emperor Theodosius II, becoming the first woman to rule Rome in her
own right, and eventually (after being absolved from her vow of chastity)
entering into a platonic marriage with General Marcian to enable him to serve
as her co-ruler at a critical point in Roman history.
Pulcheria's brother
Theodosius II (with whom she shared the same father but not the same mother)
came to the throne at the age of 7 and reigned for 42 years (408–450). Son of
the weak and slow-witted Arcadius, whose character he appears to have
inherited, Theodosius was nevertheless a better physical specimen than his
father. He was tall and fair in appearance, apparently taking after his
mother Eudocia
of Byzantium , who was of Frankish German birth. At first, the
seven-year-old boy-emperor ruled under the wise regency of Anthemius,
Praetorian prefect of the East, while his education was entrusted to Antiochus,
a palace eunuch. However, it was Pulcheria—designated an "Augusta" on
July 4, 414, and thereafter in effect co-ruler with her brother—who assumed
responsibility for his rearing. Guided by Aurelian, the new Praetorian prefect
of the East, and Atticus, patriarch of Constantinople, she raised her brother
with the greatest attention, providing him with a good education and keeping
him free from the immorality and other vices easily accessible in the capital.
Despite her efforts, Theodosius, though kindly and good natured, grew up weak,
self-indulgent and indolent, and it has been said that he did not even read the
famed code of laws to which his name would forever be attached. Renowned for
his elegant hand, he passed his time in copying manuscripts, collecting
theological works, and studying astronomy. During Pulcheria's entire reign, he
does not appear to have undertaken a single political act on his own
initiative. Fortunately, however, he had the good sense to leave affairs of
state largely in the hands of his sister.
Pulcheria and her sisters
had imparted a tone of almost monastic piety to the Eastern court, in part from
natural inclination, in part from a desire to avoid political difficulties in
the imperial succession by avoiding marriage in Christian chastity.
—Stewart Irwin Oost
Sincerely devoted to the
religious life, Pulcheria and her sisters turned the imperial palace in
Constantinople into a kind of nunnery into which they retreated together with a
select group of women. No man was allowed to enter the confines of this
cloister except for the priests and the high ministers through whom Pulcheria
ruled. In the palace, the women, simply dressed, devoted themselves to a regime
of church services, fasting, vigils and prayer, their recreation being the
embroidering of vestments and altar cloths. Together, the sisters founded
churches, hospitals and monasteries throughout the eastern provinces of the
empire, endowing them with lands and other emoluments for their support. To
Pulcheria must also be given at least some of the credit for the founding of
the University of Constantinople (425), and, above all, for the convocation of
the Council of Ephesus (431).
Pulcheria also appears to
have selected the emperor's bride, the gifted Athenais (Eudocia ,
c. 400–460). Athenais was a native of Athens, the daughter of the pagan
philosopher Leontius. Educated by her father, she was relegated to poverty when
he died and left most of his wealth to his two sons. Athenais, unable to secure
from her brothers enough to live on comfortably, appears to have gone to the
capital to seek the intercession of Pulcheria. Impressed by the girl's breeding
and education, Pulcheria introduced her to the emperor and succeeded in
convincing her brother that in Athenais she had found him a suitable bride.
Upon her conversion to
Christianity, Athenais gave up her original pagan name for the Christian name
Eudocia (eudocia meaning "good teaching"), whereupon she was
married to Theodosius in June 421. Eudocia (often referred to incorrectly by
modern authors as Athenais-Eudocia) gave birth to three children with
Theodosius: a son Arcadius and a daughter Flaccilla (d.
431), both of whom died young, and another daughter, Licinia
Eudoxia , who in 437 was married to Emperor Valentinian III (r.
425–455), cousin of Theodosius and Pulcheria and ruler of the Western Roman
Empire. The following year, 438, Eudocia made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Traveling in great pomp through Asia
Minor, the young empress arrived in Antioch, capital of the province of
Syria, where she addressed the local senate, donated a sum of 200 gold pieces
for the restoration of the municipal baths, and induced Theodosius to erect a
new basilica in the city and to extend its walls. Proceeding on to Jerusalem,
she visited the Holy Places, distributing alms and endowments beyond even those
granted by Helena (c.
255–329), the sainted mother of Emperor Constantine I the Great whose
pilgrimage to the birthplace of Christianity the empress may have been
consciously emulating.
Upon her return to
Constantinople, Eudocia was likely a different woman from the desperate young
girl who had once sought the protection of the emperor's sister, and it seems
that she now attempted to dominate Theodosius in Pulcheria's place. The
execution of Eudocia's supporter Paulinus, the master of offices, and the
disgrace of Cyrus, Praetorian prefect of the East, both of whom were high
ministers of state inclined to support Eudocia, may have been due to the power
struggle between Pulcheria and Eudocia that now ensued. Whatever the case, the
two women quarrelled. Eudocia lost the struggle and in 443 (still empress,
though estranged from her husband over an alleged adulterous relationship between
herself and his childhood friend Paulinus) she returned to Jerusalem where she
would spend the rest of her life. There, she supervised the rebuilding of its
fortifications and the construction of several splendid churches. A highly
cultivated woman, Eudocia wrote religious poetry, including a panegyric on the
Roman victory over the Persians in 422, and had a considerable influence on her
weak husband until she left the court.
Another close
contemporary of Pulcheria's was her aunt Empress Galla
Placidia , who had served as regent for her son Valentinian III (r.
423–455) and had led a particularly stormy life. Born in Constantinople around
390, she was less than ten years older than Pulcheria, but the two never met as
children. At six years old, Galla Placidia had left Constantinople for Rome
where she was taken prisoner by the Goths, then carried off to Spain and
married to the Gothic chieftain Athaulf (Adolf). Released in 416 after his
assassination, she settled in Ravenna where her worthless brother Honorius was
emperor of the Western Roman Empire (r. 410–423). In 417, Galla Placidia
married Constantius III, the master of soldiers (commander-in-chief of the
Roman army), with whom she had two children. Having aroused the suspicions of
her brother, however, she was banished from Ravenna after her husband's death
in 422. After a brief sojourn in Constantinople with her niece Pulcheria and her
nephew Theodosius II, in 425 she returned to Italy after her brother Honorius'
death. There, supported by Theodosius and Pulcheria, she became regent for her
son Valentinian III, who was later to marry Theodosius' daughter Licinia
Eudoxia. In return for this support, however, Theodosius and Pulcheria obtained
for their share of the empire the disputed province of Dalmatia and the eastern
part of Pannonia.
After the marriage of
Licinia Eudoxia to Valentinian III, which took place in Constantinople, Pulcheria
retired from the court for a time, moving to the Hebdomon Palace. Domination
over the emperor passed to the grand chamberlain, the eunuch Chrysaphius. An
intelligent woman and a fine scholar, Pulcheria led a life characterized by
extreme piety and chastity. Devoted both to her church and to the welfare of
her people, she may have had something to do not only with the establishment of
the University of Constantinople in 425, but also with the construction of the
famed Theodosian walls that protected Constantinople from land and sea, and
with the codification of Roman
law (429–438) known as the Theodosian
Code. Promulgated in the Eastern Roman Empire on February 15, 438, the Code
was accepted in the West by the Roman Senate on December 23. Pulcheria was
probably present at the arrival of St. Mesrop Mashtots, inventor of the
Armenian alphabet, who was received at court in Theodosius' time and obtained
from the emperor the authorization to combat heresy in the part of Armenia
under imperial control.
Pulcheria was also on the
friendliest of terms with Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria (r. 412–444), who was
chief bishop of the Christian Church in Africa and one of the great theologians
of the day. Eventually Pulcheria became involved in the christological
controversies of her time, disputes that erupted in the capital with the
teachings of Nestorius and which revolved around the nature of Christ,
particularly in what way Christ was to be accounted for as either God, man or
both. Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople (i.e. chief bishop of the Christian
Church in Eastern
Europe and Anatolia, 428–431), was born of Persian parentage at
Germanicia (now Marash) in eastern Anatolia in the late 4th century. With the
emperor's support, he had been zealous in the suppression of heresy in the
eastern half of the empire. On November 22, 428, however, his domestic
chaplain, Anastasius, preached a sermon denouncing the use of the term theotokos (Begetter
of God) for Mary
the Virgin on the grounds that Christ was but a man in whom God had
dwelled, as in a temple, and that Mary was therefore mother only of Christ the
man. In this, Anastasius was supported by Nestorius, who, that Christmas, began
a series of sermons in the Cathedral of Constantinople (the old Hagia
Sophia, replaced a century later by the one still standing in Istanbul); in
these sermons, he affirmed that in Christ there existed two different and
distinct persons, human and divine, united by an external, accidental, moral
union. Denouncing the concept of the unity of God and man in Christ, he seemed
almost to divide the God and man in Christ into two persons acting in concert.
This new doctrine stirred up an enormous controversy, not only among
theologians and clerics, but also among the common people, who were
particularly offended by the rejection of the title "Mother of God"
to which they had already developed a great devotion. Moreover, it pitted the
so-called "Antiochene school" of theology against that of Alexandria,
where different approaches to the understanding of the nature of Christ were
beginning to take form largely through a differing theory of Biblical exegesis.
At this juncture, Cyril intervened, writing to Nestorius in support of the
doctrine of the unity of the divine and human natures in the one Christ and
arguing that Mary the Virgin was thus indeed the "Mother of God."
Although Nestorius
rebuffed the letter of Cyril, he had offended Empress Pulcheria with his
doctrines. She influenced Theodosius to settle the issue by having her brother
call for the convening of a church council at Ephesus. At the first session of
the Council of Ephesus (431), the third so-called ecumenical
council of the Christian Church, Cyril dominated the convocation. He
represented not only himself but also Pope Celestine (r. 422–432), who was
gravely alarmed by the teachings of Nestorius and whose position was in
complete agreement with that of Cyril. Nestorius, who refused to attend the
council, was condemned in absentia, removed from his patriarchate and
banished to Syria. At the second session of the council, three bishops arrived
from Rome as the pope's emissaries, and they approved the acts of the first
session.
The third session of the
council is of the greatest historical importance. It was here that one of the
pope's delegates, Bishop Philip, proclaimed the undoubted primacy of the See of
St. Peter, i.e. the papacy, and of the pope as the head of the Church. This
pronunciamento was received without opposition or question, together with the
assertion that this doctrine was centuries old. Four more sessions of the
council were held which dealt, among other things, with the heretical teachings
of the British prelate Pelagius (his name a Greek translation of the British
Morgan, "man of the sea"), who denied the existence of original
sin, and whose doctrine was likewise condemned. Four years later, when it
became clear that Nestorius was still influential in his Syrian exile, he was
banished to Petra in the Jordanian desert and later to Egypt, where he died (c.
451). As a result of the Council of Ephesus, Pulcheria was on good terms with
both Cyril of Alexandria and Pope Leo I the Great. In this period of bitter
theological and christological argument, her orthodoxy was beyond reproach as
far as the mainstream of the Church was concerned.
The religious controversy
that had engendered the Council of Ephesus surfaced again in 448. Flavian, patriarch
of Constantinople—supported by dogmatic letters from Pope Leo I (the so-called
Tome of Leo)—condemned Eutyches, abbot of a monastery near Constantinople.
Eutyches taught a doctrine almost the exact opposite of Nestorius', namely that
there was no human nature at all in Christ. He maintained that there existed
only a divine nature in Christ, making Christ in effect simply God in the form
of a man. This condemnation by Flavian of what amounted to the last great
heresy of the age led Diocorius, patriarch of Alexandria, to convoke a new
council at Ephesus in 449 (later known as "the robber council"
because of the irregularities in its proceedings). But before the council
opened in 451, a new emperor was reigning at Constantinople, and Pulcheria was
at the height of her power as his consort and co-ruler.
Emperor Theodosius died
in 450 from the effects of a fall from his horse while hunting. Because he left
no son, his throne would naturally have passed to his son-in-law and cousin
Valentinian III, still reigning at Ravenna. This was impractical, however, for
the troubles in the West had made it clear that the reunion of the empire into
a single political entity was not a particularly good idea at that time; the
domination of Theodosius by the eunuch Chrysaphius—having been characterized by
a series of raids across the eastern frontier of the empire as well as by an
invasion of Huns in the Balkan
Peninsula and a war with Persia—would have made such a union seem
undesirable at Rome as well. On his deathbed, Theodosius indicated as his
successor a certain Marcian, aide-de-camp of Aspar, master of the soldiers.
Pulcheria probably had a hand in her brother's choice and, by agreeing to marry
Marcian, she provided a needed link between the new emperor and the Theodosian
dynasty.
Pulcheria herself duly
crowned Marcian emperor on August 25, 450, in the Hebdomon Palace at
Constantinople. At the very outset of his reign, he issued a gold coin showing
himself and Pulcheria on one side with a depiction of victory and the cross on
the obverse. The new emperor soon proved himself to be capable of decisive
action. He executed the incompetent Chrysaphius, refused to pay tribute to the
Huns, and was able to preserve the Eastern Empire untroubled during the storms
that convulsed the West and which saw Rome besieged by the Huns (451) and
sacked by the Vandals (455). Economically, he eased the burden of taxes in the
empire, remitting arrears, yet left the treasury full at the time of his death.
On her part, Pulcheria devoted herself to the adornment of Constantinople with
new religious edifices including the churches of Our Lady of Blachernae; The Mother
of God of Chalkopratreia, near Hagia
Sophia; and The Mother of God of Hodegetria (Our Lady of Victory), on the
eastern shore of the city, where she placed an icon of the Virgin sent to her
from Jerusalem by her sister-in-law Eudocia.
Early in the reign of
Marcian and Pulcheria, it was Pulcheria's influence that led the emperor to
consider the calling of another ecumenical
council to settle the old religious controversies anew. The new
council—held at Chalcedon in the province of Bithynia across the Bosporus from
Constantinople—opened on October 8, 451, with the consent of Pope Leo; its last
session would be on November 1 of the same year. Of all the so-called
ecumenical councils of the Church, from that of Nicea in 325 to that of Vatican
II in 1962, this was by far the most truly ecumenical in terms of numbers. No
less than 500 to 636 bishops were in attendance (depending on which of the
surviving lists one consults), most of them coming from sees in the eastern
provinces of the empire. It has also been the most controversial council of its
kind.
The council opened under
the presidency of Paschasinus, one of the three bishops sent by Pope Leo I to
represent him at the conclave. Anatolius, the master of soldiers for the East,
represented the emperor. From the very opening session, the council was
dominated by the papal delegation from Rome, and there is no question that this
conclave marked the zenith of the acceptance of papal supremacy in the East. By
the end of the month-long gathering, Dioscurius had been deposed as patriarch
of Alexandria, the Tome of Leo had been accepted, and, after violent debates,
Eutyches was found innocent of heresy but his doctrine that in Jesus Christ
there is but one nature had been rejected. The council asserted that in Jesus
Christ the two natures, divine and human, each perfect and distinct, existed
without mixture or change; without division or separation, these natures were
said to be united in one person in the Word, the second person of the
Trinity. The council thereby rejected the Nestorian doctrine that taught
that in Jesus Christ there are two persons. The 30 canons of the council dealt
largely with the curbing of clerical abuses, and canon 28 conceded to the see
of Constantinople the second place among the patriarchates of the Christian
Church, after that of Rome. In addition, Nestorius and all his ilk were once
more condemned, and the presence of his disciple the theologian Theodoret of
Cyprus was (unsuccessfully) denounced. Pulcheria—who with Marcian attended the
session of October 25—was enthusiastically acclaimed by the bishops and
publicly praised for her orthodoxy: "The Empress drove out Nestorius—long
live the orthodox Empress."
In noting the triumph of
Marcian and Pulcheria at Chalcedon, it is important to realize the political
implications of their victory there. As the capital of the Eastern Empire, it
was necessary for Constantinople to be also the seat of orthodoxy. This
Pulcheria accomplished by siding with Cyril of Alexandria and the pope at
Ephesus, and she repeated her accomplishment here at Chalcedon. Just as the
Council of Ephesus had humbled the position of the Patriarchate of Antioch in
the Christian Church, so did the Council
of Chalcedon humble that of Alexandria. The reason for supporting the
papal position in both cases was based on the fact that Rome, lying as it did
in the Western Empire, posed no challenge—at least at that time—to the position
of Constantinople as the font of orthodoxy in the East. Unfortunately, we do
not know the details of Pulcheria's involvement in all of these affairs or even
of her consciousness of all of their implications; but that she was involved we
do know and it seems difficult to doubt that a woman as intelligent as she
obviously was would not have been aware at least to some degree of the
political ramifications involved in the otherwise religious controversies of
the day.
The Council of Chalcedon
was a failure, however, when it came to unifying the beliefs of the Christian
Church, for its doctrines went against the christological position of most of
the theologians of the East. The Nestorian
Church not only remained unshaken in eastern Syria, Mesopotamia, the
Persian Empire and beyond, but the west Syrian, Egyptian, Ethiopian and
Armenian Christians seceded to form the so-called Monophysite Churches. Even
the estranged Empress Eudocia, retired in Jerusalem, showed herself sympathetic
to the Monophysites though she died a devout Orthodox Christian. After
Chalcedon, Orthodox, i.e. mainstream, Christianity in the Middle
East was confined almost exclusively to the Anatolian peninsula, while
the Church of Persia clearly accepted the teachings of Nestorius at the Council
of Seleucia held in 498. The christological problems that had engendered the
Council of Chalcedon survived Marcian and Pulcheria both, and all of the
succeeding emperors as late as Justinian (d. 565) had to deal with them in one
way or another. The name of Marcian was regularly denounced in the polemical
literature of Monophysite Christianity, usually in concert with that of
"the wicked Pulcheria."
After what must have
appeared to her and to her contemporaries as a full and rewarding life, Empress
Pulcheria died in 453 at about 53 or 54 years of age. In her will, she left all
of her wealth to the poor, a bequest honored by her husband. Marcian died in
January 457, aged 65. He left his throne to his steward, Leo I, whereupon the
dynasty founded by Theodosius the Great at last came to an end. Nineteen years
later, the Roman Empire fell in the West; the Eastern Empire, so ably governed
by Pulcheria, survived the disaster and endured for another 1,000 years.
As the Roman emperors
were deified in pagan times, it is not surprising to find that for some time
after the conversion of the Romans to Christianity emperors were canonized as
saints, a practice that persisted through much of the 5th century. Marcian (the
first emperor to be crowned by the Church) and Pulcheria—twin paragons of
orthodoxy and personae gratissimae at Rome—were both duly canonized
as well. His feast is on February 17. Her dual feasts are celebrated on
February 17 and August 7. A rich medallion of Pulcheria preserved in the British
Museum shows us an attractive woman with a prominent chin and a
"Roman" nose, but it is unlikely to have been an actual portrait.
Like her aunt Galla
Placidia, who guided the Western Roman Empire during the minority of her son
Valentinian III, Pulcheria had far more character than the emperor for whom she
served as regent. The Roman world, disastrous as this period was for it, was
fortunate that the women of the imperial family were both willing and able to
assert some sort of direction in the affairs of state. The role of Empress
Pulcheria in guiding the Eastern Roman Empire through so many of its most
perilous early years, as well as the important role she played in generating
the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, two of the most significant events in
the annals of the Christian Church, assure her a permanent place as one of the
most important women in history.
sources:
Oost, Stewart
Irwin. Galla Placidia Augusta. Chicago, IL: University
of Chicago, 1968.
suggested reading:
Bury, J.B. The Later
Roman Empire. Vol. II. NY: Dover, 1958.
Ostrogorsky,
George. The History of the Byzantine State. New
Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1957.
related media:
Pulcheria has been
depicted in Sign of the Pagan (92 min. film), starring Jeff Chandler,
Jack Palance, and Ludmilla Tcherina , directed by Douglas
Sirk, 1954, and at least one other motion picture dealing with Attila the
Hun. In one, she was portrayed as a beautiful siren, in the other as a virtuous
heroine.
Robert H. H. ,
Professor of History, Rowan University, Glassboro, New
Jersey, and author of a book and several articles relevant to late Roman
and Byzantine history
Women in World History: A
Biographical Encyclopedia
SOURCE : https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/pulcheria-c-398-453
.jpg)
Santa
Pulcheria / Aelia Pulcheria
Императрица
Пульхерия (рисунок Ф. Солнцева с фрески киевского Софийского собора, 1869
Santa Pulcheria Imperatrice
Festa: 10 settembre
Costantinopoli, 19
gennaio 399 – luglio 453
Figlia degli imperatori
d'Oriente Arcadio ed Eudocia, Pulcheria nacque nel 399 a Costantinopoli. Ancora
bambina perse i due genitori, e fino al conseguimento della maggiore età del
fratello Teodosio II (detto "il Calligrafo") fu reggente dell'impero.
Alquanto autoritaria, compì il proprio dovere con estrema religiosità e
consacrò la sua verginità al Signore. Ebbe un ruolo determinante nelle nozze
del fratello convincendolo a sposare la greca Atenia. Dopo la morte del
fratello, nel 450, Pulcheria, diventata imperatrice, sposò il senatore Marciano
con il patto che rispettasse la sua verginità. Ebbe un ruolo determinante nella
sconfitta del nestorianesimo, e per questo fu canonizzata. La sua festa si
celebra il 10 settembre. Il suo culto in Occidente ebbe nuovo impulso con papa
Benedetto XIV il quale, colpito dal valore del suo casto matrimonio, con un
decreto del 2 febbraio 1752 lo estese in buona parte
dell'Europa. (Avvenire)
Martirologio
Romano: A Costantinopoli, santa Pulcheria, che difese e promosse la retta
fede.
Le notizie su s. Pulcheria ci sono pervenute dalle cronache bizantine; pertanto essendo numerose e piene di date, è necessario per snellire e visto lo spazio disponibile, di riassumere il più possibile.
I suoi genitori furono gli imperatori Arcadio ed Eudocia, i quali ebbero nell’ordine cinque figli: Flacilla, Pulcheria, Arcadia, Teodosio (il futuro imperatore) e Marina.
Pulcheria nacque il 19 gennaio 399 a Costantinopoli, ancora bambina perse in pochi anni dal 403 al 408, la sorella Flacilla e i due genitori, per cui lei insieme al fratello e le altre sorelle, rimasero sotto la tutela dell’eunuco Antioco, scelto come loro precettore dal reggente Antemio.
Ricevette un’ottima istruzione, che le permise di potersi esprimere correttamente sia in latino che in greco; non aveva ancora 16 anni, che il 4 luglio 414 fu elevata alla dignità di “Augusta” e reggente del fratello Teodosio e del governo; quindi divenne la personalità più in vista dell’Impero Bizantino, al punto che il 30 dicembre dello stesso 414, il prefetto Aureliano fece erigere nel Senato, tre busti in onore di Pulcheria e degli imperatori Onorio e Teodosio II.
Alquanto autoritaria, compì il proprio dovere e con una estrema religiosità, consacrò la sua verginità al Signore; con un voto sigillato pubblicamente, donò alla Chiesa di S. Sofia, uno splendido altare con iscrizione, inoltre aveva convinto anche le due sorelle a seguire la sua stessa strada; il palazzo imperiale era diventato quasi un convento, perché giorno e notte vi si cantavano le lodi divine, si leggeva la Sacra Scrittura, si pranzava e si digiunava insieme e il lavoro era manuale.
Fece da educatrice perfetta per il fratello, destinato a regnare, inculcandogli il rispetto per il clero ed i monaci. Divenne la strenua difenditrice dell’ortodossia cristiana, emanando o ripristinando leggi contro gli eretici di vari movimenti, contro l’accesso dei pagani agli uffici pubblici, moderando l’influsso degli ebrei nella vita dell’Impero, ebbe come consigliere il patriarca Attico.
Nel 417 vi fu, con l’accordo della corte bizantina, il ristabilimento della comunione del patriarca di Costantinopoli con la Sede Apostolica. Come reggente del fratello, Pulcheria era stata impegnata a cercare per Teodosio II, una sposa fra le più belle vergini dell’impero, la scelta cadde sulla greca Atenaide (poi imperatrice Eudossia), che Teodosio II sposò il 7 giugno 421.
Ma i rapporti futuri fra le due donne non furono sempre cordiali, per i temperamenti così diversi; avvenente e intraprendente Eudossia, dispotica e ultrareligiosa Pulcheria; la controversia di Nestorio, patriarca di Costantinopoli dal 428 al 431, che con la sua eresia affermava la separazione fra la natura umana e divina di Gesù, che tanta influenza ebbe nel mondo bizantino, aggravò le tensioni fra le due donne, che erano su posizioni opposte.
Pulcheria fu accusata di incesto presso il magistrato Paolino, il patriarca Nestorio le proibì l’ingresso al palazzo vescovile, fece cancellare la sua immagine dipinta sul già ricordato altare votivo e le tolse il permesso, concessale dal suo predecessore Sisinnio, di comunicarsi a Pasqua nel santuario della cattedrale.
A tutto questo seguì un lungo periodo, che vide protagoniste le due ‘basilisse’ (imperatrici romane d’Oriente), alle quali venivano rivolte richieste d’intervento dalle parti in conflitto ideologico, come s. Cirillo d’Alessandria e il vescovo d’Antiochia Giovanni, prima e durante il Concilio di Efeso, che condannò il “nestorianesimo”.
Un pellegrinaggio di Eudossia a Gerusalemme nel 438, permise a Pulcheria di recuperare l’antica superiorità a corte, ma per il gioco degli intrighi dei favoriti e per le gelosie femminili, l’atmosfera al ritorno di Eudossia divenne di nuovo pesante, finché nel 440 il favorito di Eudossia, Paolino fu condannato a morte e nel 443 l’imperatrice decise di ritirarsi per sempre a Gerusalemme.
A questo punto, quanti avevano bisogno di un appoggio decisivo, ormai ricorrevano a Pulcheria, come nel 446-447 il celebre Teodoreto di Ciro, preoccupato delle imposte che gravavano sulla sua città.
In quegli anni Pulcheria si ritirò a vita privata nel palazzo dell’Ebdomon, posto alla periferia della capitale e qui risiedeva ancora il 13 giugno 449, quando il papa s. Leone Magno, allora in lotta contro l’eretico Eutiche, le mandò varie lettere pregandola di aiutarlo a soffocare la nuova eresia, condannata poi nel 451 nel Concilio di Calcedonia e di mettere il suo intervento a favore della partecipazione bizantina al Concilio generale che papa Leone I voleva riunire in Italia.
L’eresia di Eutiche, archimandrita greco (378-454 ca.), accanito sostenitore dell’eresia di Nestorio, cadde nell’errore opposto; negava che in Gesù ci fossero due nature, affermando probabilmente l’assimilazione della natura umana in quella divina.
Con una sua lettera del 17 marzo 450, l’’Augusta’ Pulcheria rispose affermativamente, con il compiacimento del papa, che ancora una volta, apprezzò l’ortodossia della sovrana.
La sorella dell’imperatore fu pure coinvolta nella controversia che vide protagonista s. Flaviano patriarca di Costantinopoli, l’eunuco Crisafio, l’egiziano patriarca Anatolio; nel cui contesto avvenne il cosiddetto ‘ladrocinio di Efeso’, l’uccisione dello stesso Flaviano, l’esilio dell’eunuco, il riconoscimento dell’errore da parte di Teodosio II, il richiamo a corte della sorella Pulcheria (sono tutti episodi, che narrati in questa scheda l’avrebbero allungata molto, pertanto le notizie dettagliate, si possono trovare nella scheda di s. Flaviano, patriarca di Costantinopoli).
Ad ogni modo, convertito o no dall’eresia di Eutiche, che in quei tempi coinvolgeva fattivamente la corte, il ‘basileus’ (imperatore) Teodosio II, morì il 28 giugno 450 a 49 anni, in seguito ad una caduta da cavallo; a lui si deve il “Codice Teodosiano”, raccolta delle costituzioni imperiali da Costantino in poi.
Pulcheria, che aveva ormai 51 anni, forse adempiendo un’ultima volontà del fratello, il 25 agosto 450 introdusse a corte un ufficiale in congedo di 58 anni, il tribuno Marciano e lo sposò dietro la promessa di rispettare la sua verginità; la cerimonia fu fastosa con la presenza del patriarca Anatolio e si dice che Pulcheria stessa, pose il diadema imperiale sul capo del maturo sposo.
Ancora di lei sappiamo che fece trasferire il corpo dell’ucciso s. Flaviano, nella chiesa dei SS. Apostoli di Costantinopoli e che diede uno apporto decisivo per la riunione del Concilio di Calcedonia del 451, voluto dal papa, per riportare la pace fra le opposte fazioni in lotta per le eresie, che funestavano il mondo cristiano orientale della sua epoca.
Al Concilio, cui partecipavano allora anche i sovrani bizantini, Pulcheria fu acclamata più volte come nuova s. Elena e difenditrice e salvatrice della Croce di Cristo, presente il marito il nuovo imperatore Marciano.
Fra lei e il papa s. Leone Magno, intercorse una fitta corrispondenza, per consolidare le norme del Concilio di Calcedonia e riguardo le successive agitazioni monofisite, specie in Palestina, Pulcheria intervenne nel 453 con due lettere dirette ai monaci palestinesi e a s. Bassa e le sue monache.
Nel terzo anno del regno di Marciano, l’imperatrice Pulcheria morì nel mese di luglio del 453 (stranamente in tanta precisione di notizie, si ignora il giorno), nel suo testamento, redatto da Marciano, ella lasciò tutti i suoi beni ai poveri.
Gli storici bizantini ricordano fra le sue opere la costruzione di sontuosi templi per la venerazione dei martiri, dei numerosi monasteri, ospizi e ricoveri, a cui dava una dote di sostegno. Si ricordano alcuni di questi templi: Chiesa dei Quaranta Martiri di Sebaste, in occasione della scoperta delle loro reliquie; il Santuario nel palazzo di Daphnè, dedicato a S. Stefano con la reliquia della mano destra del protomartire; una speciale chiesa in onore del profeta Isaia; poi il meraviglioso atrio di S. Lorenzo per deporvi le reliquie di s. Lorenzo e di s. Agnese e temporaneamente quelle di s. Stefano e di Isaia; la Chiesa di s. Mena in Acropoli.
Inoltre Pulcheria è ricordata per aver dato inizio dal 449 in poi, con l’appoggio di Marciano, alla costruzione dei Santuari mariani più cari alla pietà bizantina.
Il corpo dell’’Augusta’ Pulcheria fu sepolto nella Chiesa dei Ss. Apostoli di Costantinopoli, dove già riposavano i grandi s. Gregorio Nazianzeno, s. Giovanni Crisostomo e s. Flaviano. L’imperatore Leone (457-474) successore di Marciano, pieno di ammirazione per lei, fece apporre sulla sua tomba l’’indalma’ (immagine) di Pulcheria e fece trasportare in città, le statue di lei e del marito, che ornavano i portici del palazzo dell’Ebdomon; i corpi dei due sovrani erano sistemati in un’urna di porfido egiziano.
Due città, una in Frigia e l’altra nel Nuovo Epiro, ricordavano il suo nome, il quale deriva dal latino ‘Pulchra’ che significa ‘bella’.
La parte avuta dall’imperatrice nella difesa dell’ortodossia cristiana contro il nascente monofisismo (eresia che negava la natura umana di Cristo, affermandone l’unica natura divina) e che derivava dalla precedente eresia di Eutiche, spiega principalmente il culto datogli come santa, sia in Oriente che in Occidente, infatti le fu dato il titolo di “custode della Fede”.
Santa Pulcheria è ricordata nei sinassari orientali al 10 settembre, forse in dipendenza della commemorazione di s. Eudossia sua cognata; al 17 febbraio con s. Marciano, s. Flaviano e s. Leone I; al 7 agosto con s. Irene.
Nel ‘Martirologio Romano’ è ricordata al 10 settembre; il suo culto in Occidente ebbe un nuovo impulso con papa Benedetto XIV il quale, colpito dal valore altamente significativo del casto matrimonio di Pulcheria e di Marciano, con un decreto del 2 febbraio 1752, ne estendeva il culto con Messa propria in buona parte dell’Europa.
Autore: Antonio Borrelli
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/69750
Pulcheria
Costantinopoli (Istanbul)
399 - Costantinopoli (Istanbul) 455
Imperatrice di fatto se
non di nome, Aelia Pulcheria nacque nel gennaio del 399 e morì attorno al 455
d.C.. Era figlia di Arcadio ed Eudocia, prima coppia a regnare sulla pars
orientalis dell'Impero romano dopo la spartizione definitiva di Teodosio
I.
Figura già bizantina,
dunque, e non solo in ossequio alle ripartizioni della storiografia, ma per
l'atmosfera di ieratica religiosità e rigida ortodossia che Pulcheria seppe
imporre alla corte di Costantinopoli e ai rituali della vita cittadina.
Quando nacque, la coppia
imperiale aveva già una figlia, Flacilla; poco dopo nacquero altre due sorelle
e soprattutto l'erede al trono, Teodosio. Le cronache non registrano differenze
nelle solennità del cerimoniale di battesimo, a conferma del ruolo cruciale,
retaggio della tradizione romana, svolto dalle donne della famiglia imperiale
nel garantire la continuità dinastica. Tradizione che Pulcheria seppe mantenere
e al contempo innovare, con una formula inconsueta attinta ai principi della
fede cristiana.
Lo storico palestinese
Sozomeno, nel V secolo, ne ricorda l'ottima istruzione: nonostante le fonti
siano molto lacunose a riguardo, possiamo immaginare che abbia ricevuto
l'educazione che si richiedeva alle donne del suo rango. Tuttavia, Pulcheria
seppe distinguersi: con ammirazione forse agiografica si ricorda la sua
perfetta conoscenza sia del greco che del latino e la familiarità con la
letteratura classica. Ricevette sicuramente anche un'educazione religiosa,
affidata a un alto prelato, a un monaco o a una guida spirituale. Rimasta
presto orfana dei genitori, Pulcheria dovette occuparsi del fratello e delle
sorelle, facendo da tutrice e occupandosi della loro educazione e formazione
religiosa. Nel 408 Teodosio salì al trono: aveva otto anni; nel 414, Pulcheria
venne nominata Augusta, benché ne avesse solo quindici. Sozomeno e altri
storici descrivono l'evento come un riconoscimento del ruolo di tutela che da
tempo la sorella esercitava nei confronti del fratello. Una procedura
istituzionale quantomeno inconsueta che elevava di fatto una donna al rango
ufficiale di reggente. Ruolo che Pulcheria continuò a mantenere, anche quando il
fratello divenne adulto e prese in mano le redini dell'Impero.
Già due anni prima, nel
412, Pulcheria aveva reso pubblica la decisione che avrebbe segnato
definitivamente la sua immagine: la scelta del voto di castità, alla quale si
aggiunse la rinuncia al matrimonio, non sappiamo se spontanea o imposta, da
parte delle sue tre sorelle. Era pratica non inconsueta, da parte di matrone
cristiane dell'aristocrazia tardo-imperiale, quella di abbandonare la mondanità
e gli impegni pubblici per ritirarsi a vita privata, dedicandosi alla preghiera
e alle opere pie. Ma la scelta di Pulcheria, amplificata dalla cassa di
risonanza del suo rango e “istituzionalizzata” attraverso la proclamazione
pubblica, imprimeva al fenomeno contorni quasi epocali: la commistione tra
legittimazione politica e virtù religiose si faceva sempre più stretta. Se è
vero, come ha scritto Georg Ostrogorsky nella Storia dell'Impero
bizantino, che Bisanzio fu un connubio di struttura statale romana, cultura
greca e religione cristiana, non c'è dubbio che la figura di Pulcheria abbia
nutrito quell'alone d'incenso sacro che gravita da sempre sull'immagine della
corte di Costantinopoli. Alla porpora, all'oro e ai broccati della tradizione
tardo-imperiale romana, alle raffinatezze dell'erudizione greca, Pulcheria
associò, e spesso cercò di sostituire, i toni austeri e i silenzi della
meditazione, il salmodiare delle processioni religiose, la frugalità, i digiuni
e le mortificazioni dell'ascetismo cristiano.
La partecipazione
dell'Augusta alla vita dell'impero fu intensa. Le fonti insistono sul
ruolo svolto nelle dispute teologiche e nelle fondazioni religiose, ma
Pulcheria fu attiva anche nella politica culturale: alla sua influenza si fa
risalire il provvedimento con cui, tra il 415 e il 416, Teodosio II interdisse
i pagani da tutte le pubbliche funzioni. Non fu l'unica occasione in cui
Pulcheria seppe imporre le sue idee: persino la moglie di Teodosio II, la
giovane Athenai, fu scelta dall'Augusta. Figlia di un retore pagano di Atene,
nutrita di letture classiche ma autrice anche di ispirati inni religiosi,
Eudocia, questo il nome cristiano che la giovane prese dopo il matrimonio, fu a
lungo rivale della cognata a corte, fino a essere costretta, per intrighi di
palazzo, a ritirarsi a Gerusalemme.
La religiosità
dell'Augusta impose alla vita di palazzo le cadenze pie della vita
monastica: «Egli [Teodosio] - scrive Socrate Scolastico - rese il suo palazzo
simile a un monastero: poiché, insieme alle sue sorelle, si alzava presto la
mattina per recitare gli inni di lode a Dio» (Socrate Scolastico,Ecclesiastica
Historia, VII, 22). Pulcheria fu la guida spirituale di Teodosio: lo incitava a
dedicarsi alla vita semplice e alla devozione quotidiana. Preghiere, funzioni,
digiuni e letture edificanti: l'imperatore e le tre sorelle conducevano vita
comunitaria, assistendo alle funzioni religiose e conducendo le processioni che
attraversavano le vie di Costantinopoli e che saranno poi una scena ricorrente
nella capitale; visitando chiese, monasteri e ospizi e occupandosi di poveri e
malati; dedicandosi a lavori manuali. Tra preghiere e astinenze, la vita della
famiglia imperiale scorreva secondo le cadenze di una ritualità già bizantina.
Il nome di Pulcheria è
legato a opere pie e a molte fondazioni, anche se è difficile stabilire con
certezza quali chiese e monasteri siano riconducibili a iniziativa diretta
dell'Augusta e quali alla sua influenza presso il fratello: le fonti che
ce ne parlano, come la Chronographia di Teofane nel IX secolo, sono
tarde, e probabilmente già orientate a costruire il culto di Pulcheria, vergine
e santa, più che alla realtà storica della sua azione evergetica. Ma certo il
suo ruolo non fu secondario nel graduale processo di trasformazione che fece di
Costantinopoli una città cristiana: parafrasando il detto di Ottaviano (I sec.
d.C.), che si sarebbe ascritto il merito di aver trovato Roma in mattoni e di
averla lasciata di marmo, si può dire che Pulcheria nacque in una capitale che
era la città di Costantino e la lasciò “Città della Vergine”. Alcuni episodi
sono rivelatori: lo storico palestinese Xanthopulos, nel XIV secolo, riporta la
notizia dell'invio a Pulcheria di un prezioso carico di reliquie dalla
Palestina, comprendenti alcune gocce del latte della Vergine, qualche goccia
del sangue di Cristo, un fuso per filare appartenuto a Maria e l'icona della
Vergine dipinta da san Luca; l'Augusta le fece deporre solennemente nel
santuario della Theotokos a Costantinopoli. Il racconto ha già il tono
favolistico delle cronache medievali di Rodolfo il Glabro.
Certo è invece il suo
ruolo nelle controversie teologiche che sancirono la progressiva affermazione
dell'ortodossia nicena sulla natura umana e divina di Cristo. In particolare il
ruolo dell'Augusta fu decisivo al Concilio di Calcedonia, nel 451, che
sancì la condanna del credo nestoriano. Pulcheria vi venne acclamata come la
“nuova Elena” - essendo già sant’Elena madre di Costantino. L'imperatrice
presiedette l'apertura delle sedute conciliari accanto a Marciano, il generale
sposato pochi mesi prima: morto Teodosio II, la continuità dinastica era
passata alla sorella che l'aveva trasferita a Marciano, accettando di sposarlo
purché rispettasse i suoi voti di verginità. Dall'esito del Concilio Pulcheria
guadagnò fama di grande intransigenza morale; da cui la santificazione come
“custode della fede” e l'istituzione del culto il 10 settembre. Prima e dopo
Calcedonia, l'imperatrice intrattenne una fitta corrispondenza con il papa
Leone I, con monaci e prelati, calandosi con grande energia nel ruolo di
paladina dell'ortodossia contro le minacce dell'eresia monofisita. Sul versante
opposto, le sue prese di posizione le valsero, da parte di nestoriani e
monofisiti, accuse di ogni nefandezza e in modo particolare di incesto col
fratello. Morì nel luglio del 453; fu sepolta nella chiesa dei santi Apostoli a
Costantinopoli.
«Castità al potere», ha
scritto in merito, a ragione, la storica Christine Angelidi. Ma sarebbe forse
più preciso parlare di castità come potere. La rinuncia alla
procreazione, e quindi al destino “naturale” della femmina, diventa rifiuto del
ruolo imposto e strumento culturale per l'accesso al potere che solo il ruolo
di madre-di-re sembrava rendere possibile. Armata della propria castità come
un'Atena cristiana, e in controtendenza rispetto all'ostilità del diritto
romano verso la verginità femminile in genere, in Pulcheria la fecondità
biologica lascia spazio a quella spirituale, in una transizione del modello
femminile dalla peccatrice Eva a Maria redentrice del genere umano.
Fonti, risorse
bibliografiche, siti su Pulcheria
Socrate
Scolastico, Ecclesiastica Historia in J. P. Migne (éd.), PG LXVII, c.
30-842
Sozomeno, Ecclesiastica
Historia in J. P. Migne (éd.), PG LXVII, c. 843-1724
Teofane, Chronographia,
I, De Boor, Leipzig 1883
Xanthopulos, Historia
Ecclesiastica in J. P. Migne (a cura di), PG 145 (604-1333), PG 146, PG
147 (8-448)
C.
Angelidi, Pulcheria. La castità al potere, Jaca Book, Milano 1998
E. Cantarella, La
condizione femminile in U. Eco (a cura di), La grande storia. L'antichità,
vol. 10, Encyclomedia Publishers, Milano 2011
G.
Dagron, Costantinopoli. Nascita di una capitale (330-451), Einaudi, Torino
1991
K. G.
Holum, Theodosian Empresses. Women and Imperial Dominion in Late
Antiquity, University of California Press, Berkeley-London-Los Angeles 1982
G.
Ostrogorsky, Storia dell'impero bizantino, Einaudi, Torino 1968
A.M. Talbot, La
donna in G. Cavallo (a cura di), L'uomo bizantino, Laterza, Bari-Roma
1992
Il sito I giorni di Pulcheria
Referenze
iconografiche: Moneta dedicata a Pulcheria, quinto secolo. Fonte: CNG
Coins. Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com.
Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 2.5 Generic license.
Roberto Limonta
Studioso di teologia e
filosofia del linguaggio nella tradizione monastica medievale, è docente di
filosofia e storia nella scuola secondaria e collabora con il Dipartimento di
Filosofia e Comunicazione dell’Università di Bologna, dove è cultore di storia
della filosofia medievale e membro del Centro interdisciplinare di ricerca
Apt-Ancient Philosophy Today. Tra le ultime pubblicazioni, si segnala la
curatela del De divina omnipotentia di Pier Damiani (Milano, 2020).
Il resto del tempo lo dedica a famiglia, amici, bibliofilia e numismatica
bizantina (non sempre in quest’ordine).
Leggi tutte le voci
scritte da Roberto
Limonta
SOURCE : https://www.enciclopediadelledonne.it/biografie/pulcheria
Voir aussi : Geoffrey Greatrex, University of Ottawa. Pulcheria (Wife of the Emperor Marcian) : https://roman-emperors.sites.luc.edu/pulcheria.htm
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