The Nicene Age · AD 313–400

Maximus of Jerusalem

d. c. AD 350 · Confessor · Bishop of Jerusalem · Jerusalem

The Nicene Age

Who Maximus of Jerusalem was

A confessor of the Great Persecution — maimed in one eye and hamstrung in one leg at the mines — who succeeded Macarius as bishop of Jerusalem and used a confessor's immunity boldly: when Athanasius passed through in 346, Maximus gathered a synod to receive him into communion, to the Arian party's fury. The see of the Resurrection kept by a man the persecution had marked.

Also listed in the bishops of Jerusalem.

Common questions

When did Maximus die?

Maximus of Jerusalem is dated d. c. AD 350 in the archive, which places Maximus 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 Maximus?

Maximus of Jerusalem is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Socrates Scholasticus and Sozomen. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Maximus from?

The archive associates Maximus of Jerusalem with Jerusalem.

Who were Maximus’ contemporaries?

The archive links Maximus of Jerusalem to 2 other figures, including Macarius of Jerusalem and Athanasius 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.

Socrates, Ecclesiastical History II.24

c. AD 439
Maximus, bishop of Jerusalem, who had lost an eye and been maimed in one leg in the persecution, assembled a synod of sixteen bishops and received Athanasius to communion as he returned from exile.
Socrates Scholasticus · source text

Church History II.20 (the confessor advanced to Aelia)

c. AD 445
Sozomen · Church History II.20 · source text

Connected in the archive

People

Events in this lifetime

Place

Places served

The one place the sources put Maximus.

  1. 1Jerusalem

See this place on the atlas →