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Catechetical School of Alexandria

180–400

attested. Attested by Eusebius, but how formal and continuous a 'school' it was is debated; many see a series of teachers rather than an institution.

Catechetical School of Alexandria
André Thévet / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain Public domainSource page

Eusebius describes a 'school of sacred learning' at Alexandria led by Pantaenus, then Clement and Origen, joining instruction of converts with philosophy and Bible scholarship. Its line of teachers continued to Didymus the Blind.

Place: Alexandria · On the map

People

  • Pantaenus (first known head, c. 180)
  • Clement of Alexandria
  • Origen (head from c. 203)
  • Heraclas
  • Dionysius
  • Didymus the Blind (4th c.)

Manuscripts made here

  • Clement's Protrepticus, Paedagogus and Stromata

    Kept now: Protrepticus and Paedagogus chiefly in Paris, BnF gr. 451 (Arethas codex, 914)

  • Origen's commentaries and On First Principles

    Kept now: Greek mostly lost; Rufinus's Latin survives

Sources

Coordinates are modern locations for ancient places. A gold circle is a region, not a surveyed gate.

DeChurched Atlas — Early Christianity as history, from every source