Evidence ID
E05481
Type of Evidence
Literary - Letters
[Leo the Great] Letter 77, from Pulcheria Augusta to Leo
Summary:
Pulcheria refers to the burial of Flavianos in the church of the Apostles and states that all other exiled bishops have been restored. She additionally asks for Leo’s aid in arranging a synod.
Summary: Frances Trzeciak.
Cult PlacesBodily relic - entire body
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Cult building - independent (church)
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Monarchs and their family
Source
A letter from the eastern empress, Pulcheria, addressed to Leo the Great and composed in 451. This letter was transmitted as part of Leo the Great's letter collection, as Letter 77.Discussion
For several years, Leo was a vociferous opponent of Eutyches – an advocate of the docetist theory that the body of Christ was not made of human flesh. He supported another of Eutyches’ opponents – Flavianos, the bishop of Constantinople – who was deposed at the second council of Ephesus in 449. Flavianos died shortly afterwards. In 451, the mood changed against Eutyches. Flavianos' body was honoured in Constantinople and interred in the Church of the Holy Apostles. Throughout the previous two years, Leo had petitioned the imperial family to organise a synod to overturn the decisions of Ephesus. This synod was held at Chaledon in 451, and is the synod referred to in this letterThroughout several other letters, for example Letters 79, 82 and 88, Leo refers to Flavianos as a bishop of holy memory and frames him as a persecuted and saintly hero. Leo was a strong opponent of Eutyches and supporter of Flavianos (see e.g. E05480).
Bibliography
Text:Leo the Great, Epistolae, Patrologia Latina 54 (Paris, 1846).
Translation:
Lett Feltoe, Charles, Leo the Great. Gregory the Great, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 12 (New York, 1895).
Further Reading:
Demacopoulos, George E., The Invention of Peter: Apostolic Discourse and Papal Authority in Late Antiquity (Philadelphia, 2013).
Price, Richard, and Whitby, Mary (eds.), Chalcedon in Context: Church Councils 400-700 (Liverpool, 2009).
Salzman, Michele R., "Leo’s Liturgical Topography: Contestations for Space in Fifth-Century Rome," Journal for Roman
Studies, 103 (2013), 208-232.
Thacker, Alan, "Patrons of Rome: the cult of Sts Peter and Paul at court and in the city in the fourth and fifth centuries,", Early Medieval Europe, 20:4 (2012), 380-406.
Wessel, Susan, Leo the Great and the Spiritual Rebuilding of Rome (Leiden, 2008).
Record Created By
Frances Trzeciak
Date of Entry
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S02069 | Flavianos, bishop of Constantinople, ob. 449 | Flavianus | Certain | S02422 | All Apostles | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Frances Trzeciak, Cult of Saints, E05481 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05481