Although Patriarch Juvenal of Jerusalem (c. 420-458) had previously been a supporter of Pope Dioscorus of Alexandria, and signed on to the deposition of Patriarch Flavian of Constantinople at Ephesus 449; he changed his stance at the Council of Chalcedon and condemned Dioscorus and Eutyches of Constantinople. During the proceedings of Chalcedon, the see of Jerusalem was granted autocephaly from the Patriarchate of Antioch and made a patriarchate in its own right. However, when Juvenal returned to his see he was not welcome and was driven out of the city by an angry cohort of clergy and laity who refused to accept the Council of Chalcedon. Juvenal fled to Constantinople, and in his place the non-Chalcedonian Theodosius was elevated as bishop of Jerusalem, with the support of the widow Eudoxia (the former wife of Saint Theodosius II), who was living in Jerusalem at the time. Theodosius occupied the episcopal throne for twenty months until Juvenal returned with the support of imperial troops sent by the Emperor Marcian and retook his see by force.
In the late fifth century Palestine was heavily divided between Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian factions. The Palestinian bishops had originally been some of the most vocal supporters of Dioscorus at Chalcedon, and they had been reluctant to subscribe to the Definition of Faith of the council. Among monastic circles Euthymius of Judea was one of the most vocal supporters of Chalcedon, and he was able to convince Eudoxia to accept the council. Abba Gerasimus of the Jordan had initially refused to accept Chalcedon, along with hundreds of monks who followed him in the wilderness near the Jordan River; but he was persuaded by Abba Euthymius to accept the decrees of the council. In 457, a young man named Sabbas entered the Lavra of Abba Euthymius and became his disciple.
Abba Euthymius of Judea
Abba Gerasimus of the Jordan
Abba Sabbas of Judea
On the non-Chalcedonian side some of the major figures included Peter the Iberian, a Georgian royal prince, theologian and philosopher who lived as an ascetic in a monastery between Gaza and Maiuma. He had been a disciple of Saint Zeno the Prophet (+451), and in 452 he was consecrated bishop of Maiuma by Bishop Theodosius of Jerusalem. After the return of Juvenal to Jerusalem in 453, Peter was forced to flee to Egypt where he participated in the organization of the non-Chalcedonian hierarchy; assisting in the consecration of Timothy Aelurus as Patriarch of Alexandria in 457. Eventually Peter returned to Palestine, and built the first Georgian monastery in Bethlehem. In 479, John Rufus was accepted as a disciple at Peter's monastery. He would later succeed Peter as the non-Chalcedonian bishop of Maiuma, after the latter's death in 491.
Saint Peter the Iberian
Another companion of Peter the Iberian among the non-Chalcedonian community of Palestine was Saint Isaiah of Gaza who reposed in the same year (491). He had originally come from the monastic desert of Scetes in Egypt and he was most known for his famous work the Asceticon, a diverse anthology of essays.
Saint Isaiah of Gaza