The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Pelagius
b. c. AD 354, probably Britain; d. after 418 (held at the timeline’s ceiling) · Ascetic teacher · Biblical commentator · Britannia → Rome → Carthage → Palestine
The Nicene Age
Who Pelagius was
A British-born ascetic who came to Rome about 380, taught a rigorous Christian perfectionism there for a generation, and gave his name to the controversy that occupied Augustine for the rest of his life. He left Rome before Alaric took it in 410, went to Africa, then to Palestine, and was acquitted at the synod of Diospolis in 415 before being condemned at Carthage and Rome in 418. Gennadius lists the works he wrote before the condemnation. He is heavily cross-attested by Augustine, Jerome and Orosius, who were all against him.
Also listed in desert fathers & mothers.
Common questions
When did Pelagius live?
Pelagius is dated b. c. AD 354, probably Britain; d. after 418 (held at the timeline’s ceiling) in the archive, which places Pelagius 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.
What did Pelagius write?
Pelagius has 2 catalogued writings in the archive: Commentary on the Thirteen Epistles of Paul and Letter to Demetrias · On Nature · On Free Will.
Which early sources mention Pelagius?
Pelagius is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Jerome of Stridon and Gennadius of Marseilles. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Pelagius from?
The archive associates Pelagius with Britannia, Rome, Carthage, Palestine. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Writings (2)
Commentary on the Thirteen Epistles of Paul
c. AD 405–410[Survives, and is the principal source for his own teaching rather than his opponents’ account of it.]
Letter to Demetrias · On Nature · On Free Will
c. AD 413–415[Listed by Gennadius; some survive whole, some only in Augustine’s quotations.]
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Against the Pelagians, and the record of the synod of Diospolis
c. AD 415[Jerome and Orosius prosecuted him in Palestine; the synod of Diospolis acquitted him in 415.]Jerome of Stridon · Dialogus adversus Pelagianos · source text
On Illustrious Men 42 (the works written before the condemnation)
c. AD 490[Gennadius lists the commentaries and the letters as the work of Pelagius before he was condemned.]Gennadius of Marseilles · On Illustrious Men 42 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Named alongside Pelagius in the sources
These figures are placed with Pelagius by the record — in a council roll, a martyr-act, a letter or a history — without Pelagius naming them in return.
Events in this lifetime
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
- AD 366 · Damasus and the catacomb epigrams, AD 366
- AD 367 · Athanasius lists the 27 NT books, AD 367
- AD 372 · The martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth, AD 372
- AD 378 · Queen Mavia’s revolt, AD 378
- AD 380 · The Edict of Thessalonica, AD 380
- AD 381 · The Council of Constantinople, AD 381
- AD 381 · The Council of Aquileia, AD 381
- AD 384 · The Altar of Victory petition, AD 384
- AD 390 · Thessalonica and the penance of Theodosius, AD 390
- AD 397 · Carthage confirms the canon, AD 397
Place
Places served
The 4 places the sources put Pelagius, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.