Leo I
390 CE – 461 CE · aged 71
Pope from 440 to 461 (390–461)
- Born
- 390 CE · Tuscany
- Died
- 461 CE · Rome
Life timeline
Their life from birth to death. On the timeline, world events of the time are shown faintly.
- 390 CEBornBorn in Tuscany
- 440 CE – 461 CERolePope
- 461 CEDiedDied in Rome
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Meanwhile in the world
Major world events during their lifetime (390 CE – 461 CE).
- 395 CE – 1453Byzantine Empire
- 395 CE – 476 CEWestern Roman Empire
Biography
Pope Leo I (Italian: Leone I) (c. 391 – 10 November 461), also known as Leo the Great (Latin: Leo Magnus; Italian: Leone Magno), was Bishop of Rome from 29 September 440 until his death on 10 November 461.
Leo was a Roman aristocrat. During his reign, he contributed significantly to developing ideas of papal authority, which he founded upon the apostolic succession of the bishop of Rome from Saint Peter. He is perhaps best known for meeting Attila the Hun in 452 and persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy, though how large a part his personal authority played is debated by scholars.
He is also well-known for his role in the debates of the Council of Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council, during which he issued the famous Tome of Leo, which elucidated the hypostatic union of Christ's two natures, divine and human, united in one person. For his theological contributions, he was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XV with the title Doctor unitatis Ecclesiae ("Doctor of the Church's Unity"). Additionally, he is the first of the three Popes listed in the Annuario Pontificio with the title "the Great," alongside Gregory I and Nicholas I.
Text from the Wikipedia article Pope Leo I, CC BY-SA 4.0
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