Pulcheria
399 – 453 · Generation VII · Empress · Valentinian · Theodosian
Pulcheria (AD 399 – 453). Empress. Married Marcian around AD 450. Augusta and regent for her brother Theodosius II; later married Marcian. The eldest surviving child of Arcadius and Eudoxia, she was proclaimed augusta on 4 July 414, aged fifteen, and took a vow of virginity that her sisters also adopted — perhaps partly to keep ambitious husbands away from the young emperor — turning the palace into a place of prayer and fasting. She schooled Theodosius in imperial bearing, though historians disagree over how far she actually ran the government. A champion of the title Theotokos, she campaigned against Archbishop Nestorius, condemned at Ephesus in 431, and her relations with Theodosius’s wife Eudocia were marked by rivalry. After her brother’s death in 450 she conferred legitimacy on the officer Marcian by marrying him, on condition that her vow be respected; together they had the eunuch Chrysaphius killed and summoned the Council of Chalcedon. She died in 453, leaving her wealth to the poor, and is venerated as a saint.
Place in the family
- Pulcheria was the elder of 2 children of Arcadius and Aelia Eudoxia recorded in this archive.
One of 13 people of Valentinian · Theodosian (321–460) in this archive. The emperors who saw the western half fall away while the east held.
Line of descent: Theodosius I → Arcadius → Pulcheria.
Parents
- Arcadius (377 – 408)
- Aelia Eudoxia (377 – 404)
Siblings
- Theodosius II (401 – 450)
Partners
- Married Marcian (392 – 457) in 450
Life
- 399 — Born
- 450 — Married Marcian
- 453 — Died