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E05485: Galla Placidia describes her own veneration at the altar of *Peter (the Apostle S00036) in two letters, written in Rome in Latin around 449.

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posted on 2018-05-21, 00:00 authored by frances

Letter from Galla Placidia Augusta to Theodosius II (= Leo the Great, Letter 56)

Summary:

Galla Placidia describes how she was venerating the Apostle Peter at his altar in Rome when Leo stopped her and asked her to intervene with Theodosius to oppose the conclusions of the Council of Ephesus.

Letter from Galla Placidia Augusta to Pulcheria (= Leo the Great, Letter 58)

Galla Placidia describes the same scene again, stating she had travelled to Rome to show devotion to Peter. She encourages Pulcheria to oppose the conclusions of the Council of Ephesus and instead intervene in support of the pope, who sits in the see of Peter, who holds the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Summary: Frances Trzeciak.

History

Evidence ID

E05485

Saint Name

Peter the Apostle : S00036

Saint Name in Source

Petrus

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Peter_the_Apostle/13729195

Type of Evidence

Literary - Letters

Language

Latin

Evidence not before

449

Evidence not after

Activity not before

449

Activity not after

449

Place of Evidence - Region

Rome and region

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Rome

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Rome Rome Rome Roma Ῥώμη Rhōmē

Cult activities - Places

Altar

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Visiting graves and shrines

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops Monarchs and their family

Source

Two letters from Galla Placidia to Theodosius II and Pulcheria in 449, transmitted as part of Leo the Great's letter collection as Letters 56 and 58.

Discussion

The second council of Ephesus took place in 449. At this council, the delegates absolved Eutyches – an advocate of the docetist theory that the body of Christ was not made of human flesh – from heresy and deposed Flavian, the bishop of Constantinople. Leo was a strong opponent of Eutyches and supporter of Flavian (see e.g. E05480). He petitioned the imperial family for a second council, which was convened in Chalcedon in 451 (see E05462).

Bibliography

Text: Leo the Great, Epistolae, Patrologia Latina 54. Translation: Lett Feltoe, C., Leo the Great. Gregory the Great (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 12; New York, 1895). Further Reading: Salzman, M.R., "Leo’s Liturgical Topography: Contestations for Space in Fifth-Century Rome," Journal of Roman Studies 103 (2013), 208-232. Thacker, A., "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, S., Leo the Great and the Spiritual Rebuilding of Rome (Leiden, 2008).

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Keywords

S00036 History

Licence

CC0

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