Pulcheria Aelia
399 – 453 · Generation XX · Valentinian · Theodosian
Pulcheria (AD 399 – AD 453). Married Marcian around AD 450. Ran her brother’s court from girlhood under a vow of virginity; chose Marcian as emperor and married him in name to crown him. The eldest surviving child of Arcadius and Aelia Eudoxia, she was about fifteen when, in July 414, she took her vow and was proclaimed Augusta; her sisters followed her lead, and the palace settled into an almost monastic round of prayer and fasting. She coached the young Theodosius II in bearing, speech and riding, and Sozomen credits her with governing until he came of age, though some historians assign that role to his council. She clashed with his wife Eudocia and the eunuch Chrysaphius, whom she and Marcian later had killed. A champion of Mary as “Mother of God,” she worked against Nestorius, condemned at Ephesus in 431, and with Marcian summoned the Council of Chalcedon in 451, where the pair were hailed as a new Constantine and Helena. She built churches across Constantinople, left her wealth to the poor and is venerated as a saint.
Place in the family
- Pulcheria Aelia was the elder of 2 children of Arcadius Flavius and Aelia Eudoxia recorded in this archive.
One of 18 people of Valentinian · Theodosian (321–493) in this archive. The last house to rule both halves of the empire at once.
Line of descent: Theodosius I the Great → Arcadius Flavius → Pulcheria Aelia.
Parents
- Arcadius Flavius (377 – 408)
- Aelia Eudoxia (380 – 404)
Siblings
- Theodosius II Flavius (401 – 450)
Partners
- Married Marcian Flavius (392 – 457) in 450
Life
- 399 — Born
- 450 — Married Marcian
- 453 — Died