Biography
Eusebius of Milan
About Eusebius of Milan
Eusebius was bishop of Milan in the fifth century. His surviving letter to Pope Leo records a gathering of bishops in 451 to consider Leo’s teaching on the Incarnation.
Abundius and the priest Senator had returned from their mission to the East with instructions from the pope. Eusebius assembled his fellow bishops, heard the report of the envoys, and arranged for Leo’s letter to Flavian to be read. The gathering accepted its teaching as consistent with Scripture and with Ambrose’s account of the Incarnation. Its members subscribed the reply, which Bishop Cyriacus of Lodi would carry to Rome. The subscriptions also condemned opposing teaching.
Eusebius is remembered for restoring Milan’s cathedral of Santa Tecla after a fire. An inscription preserved in a medieval collection credits an Eusebius with rebuilding it. The identification with this bishop is probable; the fire’s connection with Attila’s invasion cannot be established securely.
The surviving remains add detail but also uncertainty. Excavations exposed changes to the sanctuary, including a raised floor and a passage extending into the nave. These works have traditionally been associated with Eusebius. Emergency conditions during the excavations made their interpretation difficult, however, and some of the renovation may belong to the later bishop Lorenzo. The cathedral’s rebuilding should therefore not be treated as a securely dated project completed entirely under Eusebius.
Ennodius later praised Eusebius for charity, devotion and justice. Medieval episcopal lists placed his burial at San Lorenzo on August 9; they are later witnesses rather than a contemporary record of his death.
Nominis records his local feast on August 8.
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