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Pope Peter I

Pope Peter I, seventeenth patriarch of Alexandria (300–311), is traditionally called the “Seal of the Martyrs” and is commemorated on 29 Hatur.[^1][^2]

Also known as: Peter I of Alexandria · Peter of Alexandria · Saint Peter the Seal of the Martyrs · Peter of Alexandria the Martyr · Saint Peter of Alexandria · Peter the Seal of the Martyrs

Published 10/2/2026Updated 2 revisionsPage history

Life and patriarchate

Pope Peter I was the seventeenth patriarch of the See of Saint Mark, serving from 300 to 311 and succeeding Theonas; tradition calls him the “Seal of the Martyrs.”1 Almost nothing is securely known about his early life or birth date, although an Alexandrian origin is probable.3

An Encomium attributed to Alexander, Peter’s second successor, recounts his life, imprisonment, and execution in Sahidic, Bohairic, and Arabic versions. This work is highly hagiographical and legendary, requiring caution when using its accounts as historical evidence.3

Persecution and pastoral teaching

Peter opposed imperial edicts prohibiting Christian services and advocated penance and reconciliation for Christians who had offered homage to pagan gods during persecution—the lapsi. This policy brought him into conflict with Melitius, bishop of Lycopolis (Asyut), who favored their exclusion from communion.4

Peter’s Canonical Letter distinguished between different circumstances of apostasy. Those who lapsed after imprisonment and torture received forty days of penance; those imprisoned but not tortured were assigned another year of atonement. Those who lapsed without imprisonment or torture and subsequently repented were to undertake a year of penance before their readmission was considered.5

Peter also insisted that authority to forgive sins and determine penance belonged to the bishop, rather than to confessors who had suffered for the faith. Melitius assumed Peter’s office in Alexandria while Peter was in hiding; Peter excommunicated him upon returning.6

Traditions concerning Arius

Accounts differ in their treatment of Peter’s relationship with Arius. One tradition holds that Achillas disobeyed Peter’s command by admitting Arius to communion.7 However, the account of Peter’s excommunication of Arius remains questionable, given the absence of independent, unequivocal confirmation even of a meeting between them.8

Martyrdom

Peter’s execution is dated to 25 November 311, during the reign of Maximin Daia.9 He is also described as beheaded under Diocletian; these accounts therefore differ over the ruler under whom his martyrdom occurred.29

The surviving Passion narratives also differ concerning the circumstances. A short Latin version places his beheading inside his cell, while a short Arabic version places it in the street outside the prison.10 A longer Arabic version describes him being taken from his cell and permitted to pray at Saint Mark’s tomb before his execution.1011

Writings and commemoration

Besides the Canonical Letter, letters, homilies, and theological fragments have been attributed to Peter, although the authenticity of several writings remains uncertain. Many fragments probably derive from On the Godhead and On the Soul and the Body.12 Peter’s fifteenth canon is a witness to the importance of Wednesday and Friday fasting.13

His feast day is 29 Hatur.2 A separate calendar commemoration on 1 Amshir recalls the dedication of the first church built in honor of Saint Peter, the “Seal of the Martyrs.”14

References

Sources

  1. 1.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 609)
    PETER I, seventeenth patriarch of the See of Saint Mark (300-311). Peter succeeded THEONAS (282-300) and, according to tradition, he was the last or the "seal" of the martyrs.
  2. 2.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 514)
    PETER I (feast day: 29 Hatur), early fourth-century patriarch of Alexandria who was beheaded under Diocletian.
  3. 3.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 609)
    Almost nothing is known of Peter's early life, including his date of birth, but it is probable that he was from Alexandria. Peter's life, including the account of his incarceration and his execution, a section known as the Passio, is the subject of an Encomium attributed to ALEXANDER (312-326), his second successor. The encomium, highly hagiographical and legendary in nature, survives in Sahidic (Orlandi, 1970, pp. 247-62), in Bohairic (Hyvernat, 1882; Vivian, 1988, pp. 78-84), and in a considerably different Arabic version written by the tenth-century Coptic bishop of al-Ashmunayn, SAWIRUS IB
  4. 4.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 609)
    Peter not only defended the orthodox faith against schism but also opposed the edicts of the emperors DIOCLETIAN and Maximin Daia proscribing Christian services, and further expounded upon his theological position while in prison awaiting execution. MELITIUS, bishop of Lycopolis (Asyut), figures prominently in the many ancient references to Peter. As an advocate of leniency and terms of penance for those Christians who paid homage to the pagan gods after Diocletian's edict of 303 (the lapsi), Peter ran afoul of the more stringent Melitius, who favored excluding them from communion with the chu
  5. 5.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 611)
    Melitius, bishop of Lycopolis, refused to accept Peter's schedule for the readmission of the lapsi as promulgated in the Canonical Letter issued in the third year and after the fourth Easter since Diocletian's edict. … Those who lapsed after incarceration and torture were given forty days' penance … Those who lapsed after incarceration but were not tortured had to spend one more year in atonement. … Those who lapsed but were neither incarcerated nor tortured and then repented also had to spend a year in penance; thereafter, readmission would be discussed.
  6. 6.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 613)
    Peter, along with Cyprian and Dionysius, shows the bishops' insistence on episcopal authority. All three insisted that only the bishop (and not the "confessors," those who had confessed the faith under persecution) had the right to forgive sins and to set terms of penance. When Peter fled to escape persecution, Melitius went to Alexandria and usurped his office. Upon his return, Peter excommunicated Melitius, who, nonetheless, plagued the Alexandrian church for years to come.
  7. 7.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 212)
    Alexander succeeded ACHILLAS, who died in the year 312, after one of the shortest episcopates in Coptic history. His death was ascribed by the pious Copts to supernatural chastisement for breaking the command of PETER I, "Seal of the Martyrs," by accepting ARIUS into communion.
  8. 8.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 611)
    Although the Encomium states explicitly that Peter excommunicated Arius, no independent and unequivocal confirmation exists for a meeting between the two, much less the excommunication.
  9. 9.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 609)
    Peter went into hiding to escape persecution, but finally came to trial and was executed on 25 November 311, during the reign of Maximin Daia.
  10. 10.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 613)
    The different versions of the Passio vary in their accounts of Peter's execution (Telfer, 1949). In the "short" Latin version by F. Laurentius Surius, Peter is beheaded in his cell. In another "short" version contained in the Arabic translation, Peter is decapitated in the street outside the prison. The Arabic edition of the Passio also contains the single extant "long" version, in which Peter is taken
  11. 11.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 614)
    from his cell, allowed to pray at Saint Mark's tomb, and then executed.
  12. 12.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 614)
    One partially published collection of letters in Sahidic (Orlandi, 1975) and two unpublished homilies in Sahidic and Bohairic have been attributed to Peter. … In addition to his Canonical Letter, several other excerpts of Greek translations of works attributed to Peter survive (PG 18, pp. 509-522). Although the authenticity of these writings has been questioned, some may be genuine, and the existence of additional texts in Greek, Latin, Coptic, and other languages remains possible. It is probable that most of the fragments come from one of two works by Peter, On the Godhead and On the Soul and
  13. 13.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 223)
    Reference to Wednesday and Friday fasts occurs in various sources … Its importance was also stressed by Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-215) in Stromata, vii, 12 (1956, p. 544); Tertullian (c. 160-c. 220) in On Fasting, xiv (1951, Vol. 4, p. 112); and Peter of Alexandria the Martyr (d. 311) in his fifteenth Canon (1956, xiv, p. 601).
  14. 14.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 363)
    1 Amshir-26 Jan. Ecumenical Council of Constantinople (A.D. 381) Dedication of the first church built in commemoration of Saint Peter the "Seal of the Martyrs"

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