The Nicene Age · AD 313–400

Isidore the Hosteller

c. AD 318 – 403 (held at the timeline's ceiling) · Presbyter & guest-master of Alexandria · Ascetic · Alexandria

The Nicene Age

Who Isidore the Hosteller was

The hospital-priest of Alexandria whom Palladius met first of all his saints — a desert-trained ascetic who administered the church's guest-house, wept at table, and died at eighty-five owing and owning nothing. His last years were darkened by Theophilus's Origenist purge.

Verified single attestation

Lausiac History 1 only.

Also listed in desert fathers & mothers.

Common questions

When did Isidore live?

Isidore the Hosteller is dated c. AD 318 – 403 (held at the timeline's ceiling) in the archive, which places Isidore 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 Isidore?

Isidore the Hosteller is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Palladius of Galatia. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Isidore from?

The archive associates Isidore the Hosteller with Alexandria.

Who were Isidore’s contemporaries?

The archive links Isidore the Hosteller to 2 other figures, including Athanasius of Alexandria and Melania the Elder. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.

Primary-source mentions (1)

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

Lausiac History 1

c. AD 420
When I first set foot in Alexandria I met Isidore, guest-master of the church there — a wonderful man, adorned in every way, in meeting whom I thought I had gained the whole object of my journey.
Palladius of Galatia · 1 · source text

Connected in the archive

People

Events in this lifetime

Place

Places served

The one place the sources put Isidore.

  1. 1Alexandria

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