III311-483
The Imperial Church
Constantine changes everything: the persecuted sect becomes the empire's church, and Rome's bishop becomes a public figure.
Popes No. 32-47
Constantine's conversion handed the popes a situation no one had planned for: basilicas, endowments, imperial attention, and imperial interference. Through the great doctrinal wars of the fourth and fifth centuries, the bishops of Rome built a reputation as the see that did not bend: Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon all ended with Rome on the winning side of orthodoxy.
The era peaks with Leo the Great, who faced down Attila in 452, watched Rome sacked anyway three years later, and articulated the theory of Petrine primacy so completely that every later pope has essentially footnoted him. When the western empire dissolved in 476, the papacy did not fall with it; it inherited the stage.
The world at the time
- 313
religiousEdict of Milan
Constantine and Licinius legalize Christianity; overnight the bishop of Rome leads a favored, funded church.
- 325
councilCouncil of Nicaea
The first ecumenical council defines Christ's divinity; papal legates sign before all but the council's host.
- 451
councilCouncil of Chalcedon
Bishops acclaim Leo I's Tome with the cry that Peter has spoken through Leo, a landmark for papal doctrinal authority.
- 476
politicalFall of the Western Empire
The last western emperor is deposed; in the vacuum, the bishop of Rome becomes the city's most permanent institution.
Popes of this era
MiltiadesNo. 32 · 311-314- Sylvester INo. 33 · 314-336
- MarkNo. 34 · 336
- Julius INo. 35 · 337-352
- LiberiusNo. 36 · 352-366
- Damasus INo. 37 · 366-384
- SiriciusNo. 38 · 384-399
- Anastasius INo. 39 · 399-401
- Innocent INo. 40 · 402-417
- ZosimusNo. 41 · 417-418
- Boniface INo. 42 · 418-422
- Celestine INo. 43 · 422-432
- Sixtus IIINo. 44 · 432-440
- Leo INo. 45 · 440-461
- HilariusNo. 46 · 461-468
- SimpliciusNo. 47 · 468-483