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As the elder sister of Theodosius II, she held much of the power whenhe came to the throne as a child in 408. She took a vow of virginityto avoid being forced into a marriage, and tended to rely on thesupport of the various Germanic military officers she appointed, suchas the Alan Aspar. By 416 Theodosius was capable of ruling by himself,but she remained a very strong influence, having had herselfproclaimed Empress in 414. That year she had Theodosius remove allpagans from the civil service; she was a devout Christian and underher influence both Theodosius and his wife Aelia Eudocia (a formerpagan) became devout Christians as well. In 421 Theodosius declaredwar on Persia, due to Pulcheria's influence, apparently because thePersians were persecuting Christians. She did not oppose Arianism, theform of Christianity practised by the Germanic tribes. Theodosiusoriginally supported Patriarch Nestorius, but Pulcheria, with the helpof Archbishop Cyril of Alexandria, convinced him to return toOrthodoxy. Nestorius was exiled in 435. Pulcheria also convinced herbrother to exile the Jews and destroy their synagogues inConstantinople. In 441 Chrysaphius, a eunuch, convinced Theodosius to dismissPulcheria, although Chrysaphius simply took her place leavingTheodosius with little power. Pulcheria became a nun, but by 450, whenTheodosius died, Pulcheria had been allowed to return to court.Chrysaphius and Pulcheria struggled for control after Theodosius'death; Pulcheria allied with the Germanic military officers, andmarried one of Aspar's generals, Marcian, declaring that Theodosiushad declared Marcian his successor. The marriage was arranged with theunderstanding that he respect Pulcheria's vow of chastity. Pulcheriathen had Marcian execute Chrysaphius. In 451 she helped organize the Council of Chalcedon to condemnNestorianism. The Council also condemned the Robber Synod of 449,which had supported the Monophysite heresy and the Monophysite abbotEutyches, who was deposed and exiled at Chalcedon. At ChalcedonPulcheria declared Flavian of Constantinople a martyr, after hisdeposition at the Robber Synod and his death at the hands of thesupporters of Eutyches, whom he had opposed. Pulcheria also commissioned many new churches in Constantinople,especially to the Virgin Mary. She died in July, 453, leaving Aspar asthe dominant influence on Marcian, who himself died in 457. Pulcheriais recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the EasternOrthodox Church.
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