The Apostolic Fathers · AD 70–130
Cerdon of Alexandria
d. c. 106 · Bishop of Alexandria · Alexandria
The Apostolic Fathers
Who Cerdon of Alexandria was
Third of the Alexandrian line: “Abilius died in the first year of Trajan and was succeeded by Cerdon, the third in charge of the church there after Annianus” — c. 98 to c. 106 by the chronicle’s arithmetic. Not to be confused with Cerdo the Syrian heretic of the 130s. The bare notice is the biography; Egypt’s church kept its earliest history in a list, and the list is here honored name by name.
Also listed in the bishops of Alexandria.
Common questions
When did Cerdon die?
Cerdon of Alexandria is dated d. c. 106 in the archive, which places Cerdon in the Apostolic Fathers (AD 70–130). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Cerdon?
Cerdon of Alexandria is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Eusebius of Caesarea and Jerome of Stridon. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Cerdon from?
The archive associates Cerdon of Alexandria with Alexandria.
Who were Cerdon’s contemporaries?
The archive links Cerdon of Alexandria to 3 other figures, including Abilius of Alexandria, Annianus of Alexandria and Primus of Alexandria. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Ecclesiastical History III.21
c. AD 325…Cerdon received the episcopate of the church at Alexandria, being the third that presided over it after Annianus the first.Eusebius of Caesarea · III.21 · source text
Chronicle of Jerome (the Alexandrian succession)
c. AD 380Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 44 · Persecution under Herod Agrippa I, AD 44
- AD 49 · The Council of Jerusalem, AD 49
- AD 57 · Paul writes Romans, AD 57
- AD 62 · James the Just stoned, AD 62
- AD 64 · The Great Fire and Nero’s persecution, AD 64
- AD 70 · The fall of Jerusalem, AD 70
- AD 95 · Domitian’s reprisals, AD 95
- AD 96 · Rome writes to Corinth: 1 Clement, AD 96
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Cerdon.