Cyrillus

(Κύριλλος). (1) A bishop of Jerusalem, A.D. 351-386, and a firm opponent of the Arians, by whose influence he was banished three times from Jerusalem. His works are not numerous. The most important are lectures to catechumens, etc., and a letter to the emperor Constantius, giving an account of a luminous cross which appeared at Jerusalem in 351. The best editions are by Milles (Oxford, 1703), Touttée (Paris, 1720), and Reischl and Rupp (1845-60). There is an English translation of his works in the Oxford Library of the Fathers, vol. iii. (1838). See also the works by Gounet (1876) and Marquardt (1882).

(2) Bishop of Alexandria, A.D. 412-444, of which city he was a native. He was fond of power, and was of a remarkably polemical spirit. He persecuted the Jews, whom he expelled from Alexandria; and after a long protracted struggle he procured the deposition of Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople. He was the author of a large number of works, many of which are extant; but in a literary view they are almost worthless. The best edition is still that of Aubert, 6 vols. (Paris, 1638). See Newman's Historical Sketches, vol. ii.; Hefele's History of the Councils, vol. ii.; and Kopallik, Cyril von Alexandria (Mainz, 1881).