Eusebius of Nicomedia

d. c. 341 · Bishop · Leader of the Arian party · Berytus → Nicomedia → Constantinople

The Nicene Age

Who Eusebius of Nicomedia was

The great ecclesiastical politician of the Arian cause — a fellow-pupil of Arius under Lucian, bishop of the imperial city of Nicomedia and later of Constantinople, and the man who, more than any theologian, kept Arianism alive by court influence after Nicaea. He signed the Creed at Nicaea only under pressure and soon worked to rehabilitate Arius and depose the Nicene leaders, engineering the exiles of Athanasius and others. He baptized the dying Constantine. Not to be confused with Eusebius of Caesarea the historian; this Eusebius was the party manager whose network nearly overturned Nicaea from within the palace.

Also listed in bishops beyond the great sees and heretics & schismatics.

Common questions

When did Eusebius die?

Eusebius of Nicomedia is dated d. c. 341 in the archive, which places Eusebius in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). 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 Eusebius?

Eusebius of Nicomedia is named in 5 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Arius, Alexander of Alexandria, Athanasius of Alexandria and Philostorgius. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Eusebius from?

The archive associates Eusebius of Nicomedia with Berytus, Nicomedia, Constantinople. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.

Who were Eusebius’ contemporaries?

The archive links Eusebius of Nicomedia to 12 other figures, including Arius, Constantine the Great, Athanasius of Alexandria and Lucian of Antioch. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.

Primary-source mentions (5)

Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Arius's letter addressed to him ('fellow-Lucianist, truly pious')

c. AD 318

To his very dear lord, the man of God, the faithful and orthodox Eusebius, Arius, unjustly persecuted by Alexander the Pope on account of that all-conquering truth.

Arius · Letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia · source text

Alexander's encyclical (the enemy portrait: 'he thinks the affairs of the church are under his control')

c. AD 319

Eusebius, now in Nicomedia, who thinks that the affairs of the Church are under his control, has taken upon himself the patronage of these apostates.

Alexander of Alexandria · Encyclical letter · source text

History of the Arians 7 (Athanasius)

c. AD 350

Eusebius… having the lead in this impiety, used every means, writing and journeying, to establish the heresy, and to bring the emperors over to his side against the true faith.

Athanasius of Alexandria · 7 · source text

Church History II (the Arian side's own hero)

c. AD 430

Philostorgius · Church History II · source text

Ecclesiastical History I.14 (the recantation letter of Eusebius and Theognis quoted)

c. AD 440

Socrates Scholasticus · Ecclesiastical History I.14 · source text

Connected in the archive

People

Named alongside Eusebius in the sources

This figure is placed with Eusebius by the record — in a council roll, a martyr-act, a letter or a history — without Eusebius naming them in return.

Patrophilus of Scythopolis

Events in this lifetime

Place

Others of Berytus → Nicomedia → Constantinople in the The Nicene Age

Places served

The 3 places the sources put Eusebius, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.

See these places on the atlas →