AD 43

Mark the Evangelist

Traditional founding of the Alexandrian see by Mark in 43

The man numbered as Alexandria's first pope could not have used the title. His own church dates its first use to roughly two centuries later.

Anchored to Claudius's third regnal year

The Coptic Orthodox Church's historical account dates Mark's arrival in Egypt to the third regnal year of Claudius — approximately 43 CE — and says he founded the Church of Alexandria in that year.

The same official account also reports a closely related 43/44 dating from the History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria, and acknowledges an alternative of 61. Even the traditional chronology is approximate.

One bishop, three priests, seven deacons

Within the Coptic foundation account the act was an ordination, not a proclamation. Mark consecrated Anianus as bishop and ordained three priests and seven deacons.

That is what the tradition means by a founded church at Alexandria: a working ministry with a designated successor.

"Pope" is a label applied backwards

Mark did not receive that title in 43. The official Coptic history says Heraclas was the first Alexandrian bishop given it, in the first half of the third century; Mark is numbered first only retrospectively.

Eusebius independently preserves the broad ecclesiastical tradition that Mark preached in Egypt and first established churches in Alexandria, but he neither dates it to 43 nor calls him Pope.

Modern historical work treats Mark's Alexandrian foundation as a hallowed tradition whose historical basis cannot presently be demonstrated.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited Traditional date

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet and rewritten from that sheet. This article has not yet had an independent model audit. How the pipeline works →

Traditional date. This date is the conventional one, not one fixed by a contemporary record.

What the sources leave uncertain

No first-century source records the event or its year.
The official Coptic account favors 43, summarizes another tradition as 43/44 and acknowledges a 61 alternative.
Eusebius wrote centuries later, gives no year and introduces the Alexandrian claim with “they say.”
Modern historical work treats Mark’s Alexandrian foundation as a hallowed tradition whose historical basis cannot presently be demonstrated.