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Pulcheria
Byzantine empress, wife of Marcian
Feast: 10 September (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Pulcheria, eldest daughter of Emperor Arcadius, was proclaimed Augusta and regent for her young brother Theodosius II in 414. She vowed virginity and led her sisters to do the same, making the palace almost a monastery.
She used her position for the true faith against Nestorius and Eutyches, brought back the body of St John Chrysostom to Constantinople, and gave generously to churches. She died in 453.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: she has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
An empress who defended the faith and lived as a consecrated virgin.
Connected on this site
- Marcian Saint Spouse
- Theodosius II Saint Brother or sister“Aelia Pulcheria (; Ancient Greek: Πουλχερία; 19 January 398 or 399 – July 453) was an Eastern Roman empress who advised her brother, the emperor Theodosius II, during his minority and then became wife to emperor Marcian from November 450 to her death in 453.” — Wikipedia
- John Chrysostom Saint“She used her position for the true faith against Nestorius and Eutyches, brought back the body of St John Chrysostom to Constantinople, and gave generously to churches.” — this site's research
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Pulcheria
- Wikidata Q231919 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Pulcheria (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.