Petros I.

Petros I.

Petros I of Alexandria († November 311 ) was from 300 to 311 Christian bishop of Alexandria in Egypt, the last martyr of the Egyptian Church; therefore it is called the Seal of Martyrs .

Life and history

In the legends of the Coptic Church it is reported that Petros' parents gave their son into the care of the Alexandrian bishop Theonas (282-300), who trained him as a priest and made him his successor. Before he was elected bishop, Petros was the head of the Alexandrian Catechist School. Petros was also a teacher of Athanasiou (around 300–373) of the later Bishop of Alexandria (328–373). Around 305 he fled from the persecution of Christians under Diocletian and his successors and was therefore sharply attacked by Bishop Meletios of Lycopolis , the founder of a church of martyrs . Petros excommunicated Meletios and thus caused the Meletian schism, while Meletios went into exile and won many followers, including the co-author of the Arian dispute, the priest Arius (Areios), who was also excommunicated by Petros. In a renewed wave of persecution, Petros remained steadfast, he died a martyr in Alexandria, where he was beheaded. In 313, under Petros' successor Achillas (312-313), the Edict of Tolerance of Milan gave Christians freedom of religion for the first time. His teachings concerning Christ and the resurrection were considered binding by the ancient church. The Coptic Church celebrates its Memorial Day on November 25th.

literature

• Alain Le Boulluec: Pierre d'Alexandrie. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Vol. 5, Part 1, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2012, ISBN 978-2-271-07335-8 , pp. 619-621
• Ernst Lüdemann:  Peter of Alexandria. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 7, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, ISBN 3-88309-048-4 , Sp. 326-328.

Web links

Commons : Petros I.  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Entry in the Catholic Encyclopedia

predecessor	Office	successor
Theonas	Bishop of Alexandria 300–311	Achillas