*Constantine the Great (Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus)
Emperor
born 17 February 0265 Naissus in Moesia
died in May 0336/37
buried
in the church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople
father:
*Constantius
I (Flavius Valerius Constantius Chlorus) "the Pale" Emperor
born
in 0242
died Eboracum (York, England) 25 July 0306
mother:
*Helen
(St. Helena of the Cross) of Britain ("Britannica")
born in
0265 Bythnia, Britain
died 0336/37
siblings:
unknown
spouse (1st):
*Minervina
wife of Constantine the Great
(end of information)
children (from 1st
wife):
*Flavius Julius Crispus Caesar
died
0325
spouse (2nd):
*Fausta daughter of Emperor
Maximian
married 31 March 0307
children (from 2nd mariage):
*Constantius
II
born 7 August 0317 Sirmium, Savia (now Sremska Mitrovica, Yugoslavia)
died
3 November 0361 Mopsucrenae, Honorias (Turkey)
Constantine II
Constans I
Helen
biographical
and/or anecdotal:
Constantine received only a meager education. He took up soldiering
early, and proved his valor in the wars against Egypt and Persia. He was of British
birth and education, and is known as the first Christian Emperor. He fought with
his father in the Boulogne campaign and shared in a British campaign. The Gallic
army, deeply loyal to the humane Constantius, came to love his handsome, brave, and
energetic son; and when the father died at York in 306, the troops proclaimed Constantine
not merely as "Caesar" but as Augustus - emperor. He accepted the lesser
title, excusing himself on the grounds that his life would be unsafe without an army
at his back. Consequently Constantine fought successfully against the invading Franks.
Later, with a British army he set out to put down the persecution of Christians forever.
The greatest of all Roman Emperors, he annexed Britain to the Roman Empire and founded
Constantinople. In the year 321 he decreed that the Christian Sunday be truly observed
as a day of rest. In 325 he assembled the Council of Nicea in Bithynia, Asia Minor,
which he attended in person. This Council formulated the Nicene Creed. The following
edict of Constantine sets forth the standards of his life: "We call God to witness,
the Savior of all men, that in assuming the government we are influenced solely by
these two considerations - the uniting of the empire in one faith, and the restoration
of peace to a world rent in pieces by the insanity of religious persecution."
notes or source:
ancestry.com & HBJ