Peter the Fuller

Who was Peter the Fuller?

Peter Fullo was Patriarch of Antioch and Non-Chalcedonian.

Peter received his surname from his former trade as a fuller of cloth. Tillemont considers that Peter was originally a member of the convent of the Akoimetoi, which he places in Bithynia on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, at Gomon, "The Great Monastery" and being expelled thence for his behavior and heretical doctrine, passed over to Constantinople, where he courted persons of influence, through whom he was introduced to Zeno, the son-in-law of Leo I and future emperor, whose favor he secured, obtaining through him the chief place in the church of St. Bassa, at Chalcedon. Here his Non-Chalcedonian beliefs quickly became apparent, resulting with his flight to Zeno, who was then setting out for Antioch as commander of the East.

Arriving at Antioch 463, Peter greatly desired the patriarchal throne, then filled by Martyrius. He quickly befriended the populace, with whom he raised suspicions against Martyrius as a concealed Nestorian, thus causing Martyrius' tumultuous expulsion and his own election to the throne. Theodorus Lector dates this to 469 or 470.