Flavia Julia Helena Augusta Constantinople

• Preferred Name: Flavia Julia Helena Augusta Constantinople
  
• Gender: F
  
• FSID: GKLW-PFQ
  
• Death: 330
  
• Birth: 246
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
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  Early life
  Marriage to Emperor Constantius
  After Constantine's ascension to the throne
  Pilgrimage and relic discoveries
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  The True Cross and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
  Cyprus
  Rome
  Death and burial
  Sainthood
  Relics
  Later cultural traditions
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  In British folklore
  Filipino legend and tradition
  Medieval legend and fiction
  Modern fiction
  Notes
  References
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  Citations
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  Further reading
  External links
  Helena, mother of Constantine I
  
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  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Helena of Constantinople)
  "Flavia Julia Helena" redirects here. For her granddaughter, see Helena (wife of Julian).
  Helena
  Augusta
  Elena Colosseo Rome Italy.jpg
  Seated statue of Helena in Musei Capitolini, Rome
  Born c. AD 246/48
  Drepanon (later Helenopolis), Bithynia, in Asia Minor
  (modern-day Hersek, Altınova, Yalova, Turkey)
  Died c. AD 330
  Rome, Tuscania et Umbria
  (modern-day Italy)
  Burial Mausoleum of Helena
  Spouse Constantius Chlorus
  Issue Constantine I
  Names
  Flavia Julia Helena
  Regnal name
  Flavia Julia Helena Augusta
  Dynasty Constantinian
  Religion Nicene Christianity
  Roman imperial dynasties
  Römische Goldmünze Gaudium Romanorum.jpg
  Medallion of Constantine I from the Szilágysomlyo Treasure, showing the augustus (C) crowned by the manus Dei, with his eldest son Constantine II crowned by Victory (R) accompanied by the other caesares, Constans and Constantius II (L)
  Constantinian dynasty
  Chronology
  Constantius I 305–306
  Constantine I 306–337
  Constantine II 337–340
  Constans 337–350
  Constantius II 337–361
  Julian 361–363
  Succession
  Preceded by
  Tetrarchy Followed by
  Jovian and Valentinianic dynasty
  vte
  Flavia Julia Helena Augusta[a] (also known as Saint Helena[b] and Helena of Constantinople, /ˈhɛlənə/; Greek: Ἑλένη, Helénē; c. AD 246/248– c. 330) was an Augusta of the Roman Empire and mother of Emperor Constantine the Great. She was born in the lower classes[1] traditionally in the Greek city of Drepanon, Bithynia, in Asia Minor, which was renamed Helenopolis in her honor, though several locations have been proposed for her birthplace and origin.
  
  A fresco from Trier, Germany, possibly depicting Helena, c. 310
  Helena ranks as an important figure in the history of Christianity. In her final years, she made a religious tour of Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem, during which ancient tradition claims that she discovered the True Cross. The Eastern Orthodox Church, Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and Anglican Communion revere her as a saint, and the Lutheran Church commemorates her.
  
  Early life
  Sources agree that Helena was a Greek, probably from Asia Minor in modern Turkey. Her birthplace is not known with certainty, but Helenopolis, then Drepanum, in Bithynia is, following Procopius, "generally assumed" to be the place.[2] Her name is attested on coins as Flavia Helena, Flavia Julia Helena and sometimes Aelena.[3][c] Joseph Vogt suggested that the name Helena was typical for the Greek-speaking part of the Roman Empire and that therefore her place of origin should be looked for in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.[7] The 6th-century historian Procopius is the earliest authority for the statement that Helena was a native of Drepanum, in the province of Bithynia in Asia Minor. The name Helena appears in all areas of the Empire, but is not epigraphically attested in inscriptions of Bithynia (Helena's proposed region of origin) and it was also common in Latin-speaking areas. Procopius lived much later than the era he was describing and his description may have been actually intended as an etymological explanation about the toponym Helenopolis.[7] On the other hand, her son Constantine renamed the city "Helenopolis" after her death around AD 330, which supports the belief that the city was indeed her birthplace.[8] The Byzantinist Cyril Mango has, however, argued that Helenopolis was refounded to strengthen the communication network around Constantine's new capital in Constantinople, and was renamed simply to honor Helena, not to necessarily mark her birthplace.[9] There was also a Helenopolis in Palestine[10] and a Helenopolis in Lydia.[11] These cities, and the province of Helenopontus in the Pontus, were probably all named after Constantine's mother.[8] Two other locations in France and the Pyrenees have been named after Helena.[7] Equally uncertain to Drepanum and without strong documentation suggestions about her birthplace are: Naissus (central Balkans), Caphar or Edessa (Mesopotamia), Trier.[7]
  
  The bishop and historian Eusebius of Caesarea states that Helena was about 80 on her return from Palestine.[12] Since that journey has been dated to 326–28, she was probably born around 246 to 249.[13][14] Information about her social background universally suggests that she came from the lower classes. Fourth-century sources, following Eutropius' Breviarium, record that she came from a humble background. Bishop Ambrose of Milan, writing in the late 4th century was the first to call her a stabularia, a term translated as "stable-maid" or "inn-keeper". He makes this comment a virtue, calling Helena a bona stabularia, a "good stable-maid",[15] probably to contrast her with the general suggestion of sexual laxness considered typical of that group.[16] Other sources, especially those written after Constantine's proclamation as emperor, gloss over or ignore her background.[13]
  
  Both Geoffrey of Monmouth and Henry of Huntingdon promoted a popular tradition that Helena was a British princess and the daughter of "Old King Cole" from the area of Colchester. This led to the later dedication of 135 churches in England to her, many in around the area of Yorkshire,[17] and revived as a suggestion in the 20th century in the novel by Evelyn Waugh.
  
  Marriage to Emperor Constantius
  It is unknown where she first met Constantius.[18] The historian Timothy Barnes has suggested that Constantius, while serving under Emperor Aurelian, could have met her while stationed in Asia Minor for the campaign against Zenobia. It is said that upon meeting they were wearing identical silver bracelets; Constantius saw her as his soulmate sent by God. Barnes calls attention to an epitaph at Nicomedia of one of Aurelian's protectors, which could indicate the emperor's presence in the Bithynian region soon after AD 270.[19] The precise legal nature of the relationship between Helena and Constantius is also unknown. The sources are equivocal on the point, sometimes calling Helena Constantius' "wife", and sometimes, following the dismissive propaganda of Constantine's rival Maxentius,[20] calling her his "concubine".[18] Jerome, perhaps confused by the vague terminology of his own sources, manages to do both.[21]
  
  Some scholars, such as the historian Jan Drijvers, assert that Constantius and Helena were joined in a common-law marriage, a cohabitation recognized in fact but not in law.[22] Others, like Timothy Barnes, assert that Constantius and Helena were joined in an official marriage, on the grounds that the sources claiming an official marriage are more reliable.[23]
  
  Helena gave birth to the future emperor Constantine I on 27 February of an uncertain year soon after 270[24] (probably around 272).[25] At the time, she was in Naissus (Niš, Serbia).[26] In order to obtain a wife more consonant with his rising status, Constantius divorced Helena some time before 289, when he married Theodora, Maximian's daughter under his command.[27] The narrative sources date the marriage to 293, when Constantius was appointed caesar (heir-apparent) of Maximian, but the Latin panegyric of 289 refers to the new couple as already married.[28] Helena and her son were dispatched to the court of Diocletian at Nicomedia, where Constantine grew to be a member of the inner circle. Helena never remarried and lived for a time in obscurity, though close to her only son, who had a deep regard and affection for her.
  
  After Constantine's ascension to the throne
  Constantine was proclaimed augustus (emperor) in 306 by Constantius' troops after the latter had died, and following his elevation his mother was brought back to the public life in 312, returning to the imperial court. She appears in the Eagle Cameo portraying Constantine's family, probably commemorating the birth of Constantine's son Constantine II in the summer of 316.[d] She received the title of Augusta in 325. According to Eusebius, her conversion to Christianity followed her son becoming emperor.[citation needed]
  
  She lived in the Horti Spei Veteris in Rome which she converted into an even more luxurious palace.
  
  Pilgrimage and relic discoveries
  See also: Early centers of Christianity § Jerusalem
  
  The church of the Archangel Michael founded by St. Helen in Sille, Konya in Asia Minor in 327
  
  Helena finding the True Cross, Italian manuscript, c. 825
  
  St Helena in the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493
  Constantine appointed his mother Helena as Augusta Imperatrix, and gave her unlimited access to the imperial treasury in order to locate the relics of the Christian tradition. In AD 326–28 Helena undertook a trip to Palestine.[29] According to Eusebius of Caesarea (260/265 – 339/340), who records the details of her pilgrimage to Palestine and other eastern provinces, she was responsible for the construction or beautification of two churches, the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, and the Church of Eleona on the Mount of Olives, sites of Christ's birth and ascension, respectively. Local founding legend attributes to Helena's orders the construction of a church in Egypt to identify the Burning Bush of Sinai. The chapel at Saint Catherine's Monastery—often referred to as the Chapel of Saint Helen—is dated to the year 330.
  
  The True Cross and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
  
  Helena of Constantinople by Cima da Conegliano, 1495 (National Gallery of Art, Wash

1. Flavius Julius Constantius Patricius of the Roman Empire , b. 289     d. 337
2. Constantine "the Great" Emperor of Rome, b. 27 FEB 272 in Naissus, Moesia, Roman Empire[2] (modern-day Serbia)     d. 22 MAY 337 in Achyron, Nicomedia, Bithynia, Roman Empire