What is "pulcheria"

St. Aelia Pulcheria (19 January 398 or 399 – July 453) was the second child of Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius and Empress Aelia Eudoxia. Her older sister was Flaccilla, born in 397 but assumed to have died young. Her younger siblings were Arcadia, born in 400; Theodosius II, the future emperor, born in 401; and Marina, also born in 401. When her father died in 408, her brother became Emperor Theodosius II at 7 years of age. On 4 July 414, 15 year old Pulcheria proclaimed herself regent over her 13-year-old brother. In doing so, she also made herself " Augusta Imperatrix" and Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire. According to the historian Sozomen, in his Ecclesiastical History, Pulcheria made a vow of virginity when she became Augusta Imperatrix, and her sisters followed her example. Theodosius II died on 26 July 450, and thereafter Pulcheria married Marcian on 25 November 450, while simultaneously not violating her vow of virginity. Marcian and Pulcheria were proclaimed Emperor and Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire. Three years later, in July 453, Pulcheria died. The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church subsequently recognized her as a saint.

Pulcheria had significant political power during her brother's reign. She also greatly influenced the Christian Church and its theological practice by presiding over and guiding two of the most important ecumenical councils in ecclesiastical history, namely those of Ephesus and Chalcedon, in which the Church ruled on matters including anti-pagan policies, construction of ecclesiastical edifices, and the Marian title of " Theotokos" ("Birth-Giver to God").

Aelia Pulcheria (385–386) was the daughter of Roman Emperor Theodosius I and Roman Empress Aelia Flaccilla. This Pulcheria apparently died in childhood, and is not to be confused with her more famous niece of the same name.

Pulcheria is a genus of moths of the Noctuidae family.

Pulcheria may refer to:

• Pulcheria (398 or 399 – 453), daughter of Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius and Empress Aelia Eudoxia
• Pulcheria (daughter of Theodosius I) (385–386), daughter of Roman Emperor Theodosius I and Roman Empress Aelia Flaccilla
• Pulcheria (moth)