Ecclesius (died 532) was

bishop of Ravenna This page is a list of Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops of Ravenna and, from 1985, of the Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia.Basilica of San Vitale The Basilica of San Vitale is a late antique church in Ravenna, Italy. The sixth-century church is an important surviving example of early Christian Byzantine art and architecture. It is one of eight structures in Ravenna inscribed on the UNESCO ...

in Ravenna.

Biography

Ecclesius was one of the bishops who joined

Pope John I Pope John I ( la, Ioannes I; died 18 May 526) was the bishop of Rome from 13 August 523 to his death. He was a native of Siena (or the "Castello di Serena", near Chiusdino), in Italy. He was sent on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople by the ...

in 525 when he was sent by

Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy b ...

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

to express opposition to the Byzantine emperor

Justin I Justin I ( la, Iustinus; grc-gre, Ἰουστῖνος, ''Ioustînos''; 450 – 1 August 527) was the Eastern Roman emperor from 518 to 527. Born to a peasant family, he rose through the ranks of the army to become commander of the imperial ...

's edict against

Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...

Christianity. Upon his return to Ravenna, Ecclesius came into conflict with a group of local priests, who protested against the bishop to Pope Felix IV. Felix instead rebuked the dissenting clergy and reaffirmed Ecclesius's authority in a letter preserved by the historian

Andreas Agnellus Andreas Agnellus of Ravenna (c. 794/799 – after 846) was a historian of the bishops in his city. The date of his death is not recorded, although his history mentions the death of archbishop George of Ravenna in 846; Oswald Holder-Egger cites a pap ...

. It was also after his return from the east that Ecclesius began construction of the famous

Basilica of San Vitale The Basilica of San Vitale is a late antique church in Ravenna, Italy. The sixth-century church is an important surviving example of early Christian Byzantine art and architecture. It is one of eight structures in Ravenna inscribed on the UNESCO ...

with the support of Julian the Banker (Julius Argentarius). He also began construction of the around the same time. Ecclesius died in 532, and his remains are housed in the Basilica of San Vitale. He was succeeded by Ursicinus as bishop of Ravenna.

References

External links

St. Ecclesius – Catholic Online

Saint Ecclesius of Ravenna – Saint of the Day – July 27
4th-century Christian saints 4th-century Italian bishops Bishops of Ravenna {{Italy-saint-stub