Giacobbe Giusti, Catherine of Alexandria

Giacobbe Giusti, Catherine of Alexandria

Ring of Saint Catherine, given to pilgrims visiting Mount Sinai.

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Catherine of Alexandria

Saint Catherine in a 15th-century fresco on the St. Jacob church in Urtijëi, Italy.

Giacobbe Giusti, Catherine of Alexandria

Catherine of Alexandria, by Carlo Crivelli

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Catherine of Alexandria

Bernardino Luini – Saint Catherine

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Catherine of Alexandria

Ambrogio Bergognone. The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Catherine of Siena

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Catherine of Alexandria

The Beheading of St. Catherine, Barcelona Cathedral

Saint Catherine of Alexandria Giacobbe Giusti, Catherine of Alexandria
Bernardino Luini – Portrait of Catherine of Alexandria (National Art Museum of Azerbaijan)
Martyr and Virgin
Born	c. 287 Alexandria, Roman Egypt[1]
Died	c. 305 (aged 17–18) Alexandria, Egypt
Venerated in	Coptic Orthodox Church Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodoxy Eastern Catholic Churches Roman Catholic Church Anglican Communion Lutheranism
Major shrine	Saint Catherine’s Monastery
Feast	25 November 24 November (Orthodox churches of Russian background) 29 Hathor (Coptic Orthodox church)[2]
Attributes	the « breaking wheel« ; sword; with a crown at her feet; hailstones; bridal veil and ring; dove; scourge; book; woman arguing with paganphilosophers[3]decapitation
Patronage	Unmarried girls, Aalsum; apologists; craftsmen who work with a wheel (potters, spinners); archivists; dying people; educators; girls; jurists; knifesharpeners; lawyers; librarians; libraries; Balliol College; Massey College; maidens; mechanics; millers; milliners; hat-makers; nurses; philosophers; preachers; scholars; schoolchildren; scribes; secretaries; spinsters; stenographers; students; tanners; theologians; University of Oviedo; University of Paris; haberdashers; wheelwrights; Żejtun, Malta; Żurrieq, Malta; Pagbilao, Quezon, Philippines; Carcar City, Cebu, Philippines; Katerini, Greece, Porac, Pampanga, Arayat, Pampanga, Philippines, Dumaguete City, Philippines, Santa Catalina, Negros Oriental, Philippines, Santa Catalina, Ilocos Sur, Philippines, Tayum, Abra, Diocese of Dumaguete, University of Santo Tomas

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, or Saint Catharine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine (Coptic: Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲕⲁⲧⲧⲣⲓⲛ, Greek: ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς – translation: Holy Catherine the Great Martyr) is, according to tradition, a Christiansaint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar, who became a Christian around the age of 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity, and was martyred around the age of 18. More than 1,100 years following her martyrdom, Saint Joan of Arc identified Catherine as one of the Saints who appeared to her and counselled her.^[4]

The Eastern Orthodox Churchvenerates her as a Great Martyr and celebrates her feast day on 24 or 25 November (depending on the regional tradition). In Catholicism she is traditionally revered as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. In 1969 the Roman Catholic Church removed her feast day from the General Roman Calendar;^[5] however, she continued to be commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on 25 November.^[6] In 2002, her feast was restored to the General Roman Calendar as an optional memorial.

According to modern scholarship, the legend of Catherine was probably based on the life and murder of the Greek philosopher Hypatia, with reversed roles of Christians and pagans.^[7]

Legend

According to the traditional narrative, Catherine was the daughter of Constus, the governor of Egyptian Alexandria during the reign of the emperor Maximian (286–305).^[8] From a young age she devoted herself to study. A vision of the Madonna and Child persuaded her to become a Christian. When the persecutions began under Maxentius, she went to the emperor and rebuked him for his cruelty. The emperor summoned 50 of the best paganphilosophers and orators to dispute with her, hoping that they would refute her pro-Christian arguments, but Catherine won the debate. Several of her adversaries, conquered by her eloquence, declared themselves Christians and were at once put to death.^[9]

Torture and martyrdom

Giacobbe Giusti, Catherine of Alexandria

Icon of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, with scenes from her martyrdom

Catherine was then scourged and imprisoned. She was scourged so cruelly and for so long, that her whole body was covered with wounds, from which the blood flowed in streams. The spectators wept with pity; but Catherine, strengthened by God, stood with her eyes raised to heaven, without giving a sign of suffering or fear. He ordered her to be imprisoned without food, so she would starve to death. During the confinement, angels tended her wounds with salve. Catherine was fed daily by a dove from Heaven and Christ also visited her, encouraging her to fight bravely, and promised her the crown of everlasting glory.

During her imprisonment, over 200 people came to see her, including Maxentius’ wife, Valeria Maximilla; all converted to Christianity and were subsequently martyred.^[10] Twelve days later, when the dungeon was opened, a bright light and fragrant perfume filled it, and Catherine came forth even more radiant and beautiful.

Upon the failure of Maxentius to make Catherine yield by way of torture, he tried to win the beautiful and wise princess over by proposing marriage. The saint refused, declaring that her spouse was Jesus Christ, to whom she had consecrated her virginity.

The furious emperor condemned Catherine to death on a spiked breaking wheel, but, at her touch, it shattered.^[9] Maxentius ordered her to be beheaded. Catherine herself ordered the execution to commence. A milk-like substance rather than blood flowed from her neck.

Burial

Angels transported her body to the highest mountain (now called Mt. Saint Catherine) next to Mount Sinai, where God gave His Law. In 850, her incorrupt body was discovered by monks from the Sinai Monastery. The monks found on the surface of the granite on which her body lay, an impression of the form of her body. Her hair still growing, and a constant stream of the most heavenly fragranced healing oil issuing from her body. This oil produced countless miracles.

In the 6th century, the Eastern Emperor Justinian had established what is now Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt (which is in fact dedicated to the Transfiguration of Christ). Her relics include her left hand, often warm to the touch and her head. Her incorrupt body is not publicly displayed. Countless people make the pilgrimage to the Monastery to receive miracle healing from Saint Catherine. ^[11]

Historicity

Giacobbe Giusti, Catherine of Alexandria

Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Artemisia Gentileschi

Pietro Aretino, Vita di santa Caterina vergine e martire, 1636.

Donald Attwater dismisses what he calls the « legend » of Saint Catherine, arguing for a lack of any « positive evidence that she ever existed outside the mind of some Greek writer who first composed what he intended to be simply an edifying romance. »^[12] Harold Davis writes that « assiduous research has failed to identify Catherine with any historical personage » and has theorized that Catherine was an invention inspired to provide a counterpart to the story of the slightly later pagan philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria (c. 350–370 – March 415 CE).^[13][14]

Modern scholarship supports Davis’ assumption that the legend of Catherine of Alexandria was probably based on the life and murder of Hypatia, with the roles of Christians and pagans reversed.^[15]

Hypatia was a Greekmathematician, astronomer, and philosopher, who was brutally murdered by a Christian mob after being accused of exacerbating a conflict between two prominent figures in Alexandria, the governor, Orestes, and the bishop, Cyril of Alexandria.^[16][17]

Sometimes cited as a possible inspiration of Saint Catherine, the writer Eusebius wrote, around the year 320, that the Emperor had ordered a young Christian woman to come to his palace to become his mistress, and when she refused, he had her punished, by having her banished and her estates confiscated.^[18] Although Eusebius did not name the woman, she had been identified with Dorothea of Alexandria.^{[citation needed]}

The earliest surviving account of Saint Catherine’s life comes around 600 years after the traditional date of her martyrdom, in the menologium a document compiled for Emperor Basil II (976), although the rediscovery of her relics at Saint Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinaiwas about 800,^[19] and presumably implies an existing cult at that date (the common name of the monastery developed after the discovery). The monastery was built by order of Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527–565), enclosing the Chapel of the Burning Bush ordered to be built by Helena, the mother of Constantine I, at the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the burning bush; the living bush on the grounds is purportedly the original. It is also referred to as « Saint Helen’s Chapel ». The main church was built between 548 and 565, and the monastery became a major pilgrimage site for devotees of Catherine and the other relics and sacred sites there. Saint Catherine’s Monastery survives, and is a famous repository of early Christian art, architecture and illuminated manuscripts that remains open to tourists and visiting scholars. The site is sacred to Christianity and Islam.^{[citation needed]}

In her book The Cult of St Katherine of Alexandria in Early Medieval Europe, Christine Walsh discusses « the historical Katherine »:

« As we have seen, the cult of St Katherine of Alexandria probably originated in oral traditions from the 4th-century Diocletianic Persecutions of Christians in Alexandria. There is no evidence that Katherine herself was a historical figure and she may well have been a composite drawn from memories of women persecuted for their faith. Many aspects of her Passio are clearly legendary and conform to well-known hagiographical topoi. »^[20]

Name

Rufinus states that her first name was Dorothea (Greek: Δωροθέα), and that at her christening she acquired the name Aikaterina (Αικατερίνα), a name that signifies her pure, clean and uncontaminated nature (from Greek αιέν καθαρινά ‘ever clean’).

Medieval cult

Giacobbe Giusti, Catherine of Alexandria

Catherine of Alexandria, by Carlo Crivelli

Saint Catherine was one of the most important saints in the religious culture of the late Middle Ages, and arguably considered the most important of the virgin martyrs, a group including Saint Agnes, Margaret of Antioch, Saint Barbara, Saint Lucy, Valerie of Limoges and many others. Her power as an intercessor was renowned and firmly established in most versions of her hagiography, in which she specifically entreats Christ at the moment of her death to answer the prayers of those who remember her martyrdom and invoke her name.

The development of her medieval cult was spurred by the reported rediscovery of her body around the year 800 at Mount Sinai, with hair still growing and a constant stream of healing oil issuing from her body.^[19]There are several pilgrimage narratives that chronicle the journey to Mount Sinai, most notably those of John Mandeville and Friar Felix Fabri.^[21] However, the monastery at Mount Sinai was the best-known site of Catherine pilgrimage, but was also the most difficult to reach. The most prominent Western shrine was the monastery in Rouen that claimed to house Catherine’s fingers. It was not alone in the west, however, accompanied by many, scattered shrines and altars dedicated to Catherine, which existed throughout France and England. Some were better known sites, such as Canterbury and Westminster, which claimed a phial of her oil, brought back from Mount Sinai by Edward the Confessor.^[22][23] Other shrines, such as St. Catherine’s Hill, Hampshire were the focus of generally local pilgrimage, many of which are only identified by brief mentions in various texts, rather than by physical evidence.^[24]

St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge was founded on St Catharine’s Day (25 November) 1473 by Robert Woodlark (the then-provost of King’s College Cambridge) who sought to create a small community of scholars who would study exclusively theology and philosophy. Wodelarke may have chosen the name in homage to Catherine of Valois, mother of Henry VI of England, although it is more likely that it was named as part of the Renaissance cult of Saint Catharine, who was a patron saint of learning. At any rate, the college was ready for habitation and formally founded on Saint Catharine’s Day, 1473.

Saint Catherine also had a large female following, whose devotion was less likely to be expressed through pilgrimage. The importance of the virgin martyrs as the focus of devotion and models for proper feminine behavior increased during the Late Middle Ages.^[25] Among these, St. Catherine in particular was used as an exemplarfor women, a status which at times superseded her intercessory role.^[26] Both Christine de Pizan and Geoffrey de la Tour Landry point to Catherine as a paragon for young women, emphasizing her model of virginity and « wifely chastity. »^[27] From the early 14th century the Mystic marriage of Saint Catherine first appears in hagiographical literature and, soon after, in art. In the Western church, the popularity of her cult began to reduce in the 18th century.^[28]

Veneration

Her principal symbol is the spiked wheel, which has become known as the Catherine wheel, and her feast day is celebrated on 25 November by most Christian churches. However, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates it on 24 November. The exact origin of this tradition is not known. In 11th-century Kyivan-Rus, the feast day was celebrated on 25 November. Saint Dimitry of Rostov in his Kniga zhyttia sviatykh(Book of the Lives of the Saints), T.1 (1689) places the date of celebration on 24 November. A story that Empress Catherine the Great did not wish to share her patronal feast with the Leavetaking of the feast of the Presentation of the Theotokosand hence changed the date is not supported by historical evidence. One of the first Roman Catholic churches to be built in Russia, the Catholic Church of St. Catherine, was named after Catherine of Alexandria because she was Catherine the Great’s patron.

The 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia describes her historical importance:

Ranked with St Margaret and St Barbara as one of the fourteen most helpful saints in heaven, she was unceasingly praised by preachers and sung by poets. It is believed that Jacques-Benigne Bossuet dedicated to her one of his most beautiful panegyrics and that Adam of St. Victorwrote a magnificent poem in her honour: Vox Sonora nostri chori.

In many places her feast was celebrated with the utmost solemnity, servile work being suppressed and the devotions attended by great numbers of people. In several dioceses of France it was observed as a Holy Day of Obligation up to the beginning of the 17th century, the splendour of its ceremonial eclipsing that of the feasts of some of the Apostles. Numberless chapels were placed under her patronage and her statue was found in nearly all churches, representing her according to medieval iconography with a wheel, her instrument of torture.

In France, unwed women who have attained the age of 25 wear richly decorated bonnets on the day of her feast. This custom gave rise to the French idiom coiffer Sainte-Catherine (‘don St. Catherine’s bonnet’), to describe an unmarried woman between the ages of 25 and 30.^[29]

In memory of her sacrifice in some homes, Egyptian and other Middle Eastern foods are offered for her feast, such as hummus or tabbouleh salads. Favorites also are melons cut into circles with sherbet « hubs, » or cookies shaped as spiked wheels with icing.

Meanwhile, owing to several circumstances in his life, Saint Nicholas of Myra was considered the patron of young bachelors and students, and Saint Catherine became the patroness of young maidens and female students. Looked upon as the holiest and most illustrious of the virgins of Christ after the Blessed Virgin Mary, it was natural that she, of all others, should be worthy to watch over the virgins of the cloister and the young women of the world. The spiked wheel having become emblematic of the saint, wheelwrights and mechanics placed themselves under her patronage. Finally, as according to tradition, she not only remained a virgin by governing her passions and conquered her executioners by wearying their patience, but triumphed in science by closing the mouths of sophists, her intercession was implored by theologians, apologists, pulpitorators, and philosophers. Before studying, writing, or preaching, they besought her to illumine their minds, guide their pens, and impart eloquence to their words. This devotion to Saint Catherine which assumed such vast proportions in Europe after the Crusades,^[11] received additional éclat in France in the beginning of the 15th century, when it was rumoured that she had spoken to Joan of Arc and, together with Saint Margaret, had been divinely appointed Joan’s adviser.^[9]

Giacobbe Giusti, Catherine of Alexandria

Ring of Saint Catherine, given to pilgrims visiting Mount Sinai.

Devotion to Saint Catherine remains strong amongst Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians. With the relative ease of travel in the modern age, pilgrimages to Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai have increased. Pilgrims to her monastery on Mt Sinai are given a ring, which has been placed on the relics of the saint as an evlogia (blessing) in remembrance of their visit.

Legacy

The pyrotechnic Catherine wheel, from which sparks fly off in all directions, took its name from the saint’s wheel of martyrdom.^[18]

In art

Scenes from the Life of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Germany, ca. 15th century, Walters Art Museum

Countless images of Saint Catherine are depicted in art, especially in the late Middle Ages, which is also the time that the account of Saint Catherine’s Mystical Marriagemakes its first literary appearance. She can usually be easily recognised as she is richly dressed and crowned, as befits her rank as a princess, and often holds or stands next to a segment of her wheel as an attribute. She also often carries either a martyr’s palm or the sword with which she was actually executed. She often has long unbound blonde or reddish hair (unbound as she is unmarried). The vision of Saint Catherine of Alexandria usually shows the Infant Christ, held by the Virgin, placing a ring (one of her attributes) on her finger, following some literary accounts, although in the version in the Golden Legend he appears to be adult, and the marriage takes place among a great crowd of angels and « all the celestial court »,^[30] and these may also be shown.

She is very frequently shown attending on the Virgin and Child, and is usually prominent in scenes of the Master of the Virgo inter Virgines, showing a group of virgin saints surrounding the Virgin and Child. Notable later paintings of Catherine include single figures by Raphael (National Gallery) and Caravaggio (Madrid), (Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum).

Contemporary media

• The opening scene of The Sopranos episode 38, « Amour Fou« , features mob wife Carmela Soprano and her daughter Meadow Soprano in an art museum, where (among other topics) they discuss Jusepe de Ribera‘s painting: The Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria.
• A movie about Catherine, called Decline of an Empire, began production in January 2010 and was released in 2014.^[31]

• 

  Ambrogio Bergognone. The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Catherine of Siena

   

• 

  Konrad Witz, Saints Mary Magdalen and Catherine, shown as a crowned scholar with her wheel behind

   

• 

  Catherine, reading again, with sword on the ground, c. 1520

   

• 

  Master of the Legend of Saint Lucy, late 15th century Master of the Virgo inter Virgines

   

• 

  The Beheading of St. Catherine, Barcelona Cathedral

   

• 

  Girolamo Citolanzo, The Martyrdom of St. Catherine, Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome

   

• 

  The Resurrection of the Body of St. Catherine, Refectory Museum of the Cathedral of St. Mary, Pamplona, Spain

• 

  Lorenzo Lotto, Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Augustine

• 

  Saint Catherine in a 15th-century fresco on the St. Jacob church in Urtijëi, Italy.

• 

  Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherin’ (triptich by Hans Memling

• 

  Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England, painted as Catherine of Alexandria – by Jacob Huysmans

• Breaking wheel and the Catherine wheel firework named after it and St. Catherine
• Catharina—Lunar crater named after Saint Catherine
• Catherinettes, A French term for girls unmarried at 25
• Kaarina—A city in Finland named after Saint Catherine
• Santa Catalina Island—California Channel Island named after Saint Catherine
• Santa Catalina Mountains—A prominent mountain range north of Tucson, Arizona, United States was named after Saint Catherine in 1697.
• Santa Catarina—One of the three states in southern Brazil.
• Se Cathedral—dedicated to Saint Catherine
• St Catharine’s College, Cambridge University
• St Catherine’s College, Oxford University
• St. Catherine University, women’s college in Saint Paul, MN
• St. Catherine’s Day
• St. Catherine’s School, K-12 in Richmond, VA
• St Helen and St Katharine, girls school in Oxfordshire, England, which celebrates « St. Katharine’s Day » in November
• The Catherine Wheel (album)—David Byrne’s musical score commissioned by Twyla Tharp for her dance project.
• St. Catharine’s School for Girls (Kwun Tong),girls school in Hong Kong

Notes

1. Jump up^ Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. Accessed 11 December 2014.
2. Jump up^ http://www.copts-united.com/Article.php?I=1010&A=48162
3. Jump up^ « Liturgical Year : This Item Currently Unavailable ».
4. Jump up^ Williard Trask, Joan of Arc: In Her Own Words (Turtle Point Press, 1996), 99
5. Jump up^ Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 147
6. Jump up^ Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7)
7. Jump up^ See Christine Walsh: The Cult of St Katherine of Alexandria in Early Medieval Europe, Aldershot 2007, p. 3–26; Michael A. B. Deakin: Hypatia of Alexandria, Mathematician and Martyr, Amherst (New York) 2007, p. 135, 202; Maria Dzielska: Hypatia of Alexandria, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1995, p. 21; Christian Lacombrade: Hypatia. In: Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, Bd. 16, Stuttgart 1994, Sp. 956–967, here: 966; Gustave Bardy: Catherine d’Alexandrie. In: Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, Bd. 11, Paris 1949, Sp. 1503–1505, here: 1504.
8. Jump up^ « Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria ».
9. ^ Jump up to:^a b c « Clugnet, Léon. « St. Catherine of Alexandria. » The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 1 May 2013″. Newadvent.org. 1908-11-01. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
10. Jump up^ « Saint Catherine of Alexandria ». Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
11. ^ Jump up to:^a b « Foley O.F.M., Leonard.  »Saint of the Day, Lives, Lessons, and Feast,(revised by Pat McCloskey O.F.M.), Franciscan Media ». Americancatholic.org. ISBN 978-0-86716-887-7. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
12. Jump up^ Mateus Soares de Azevedo (25 April 2005). Ye shall know the truth: Christianity and the perennial philosophy. World Wisdom, Inc. p. 324. ISBN 978-0-941532-69-3. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
13. Jump up^ Harold Thayer Davis, Alexandria: The Golden City (Principia Press of Illinois, 1957), p 441
14. Jump up^ Allen, pp. 214–217
15. Jump up^ See Christine Walsh: The Cult of St Katherine of Alexandria in Early Medieval Europe, Aldershot 2007, p. 3–26; Michael A. B. Deakin: Hypatia of Alexandria, Mathematician and Martyr, Amherst (New York) 2007, p. 135, 202; Maria Dzielska: Hypatia of Alexandria, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1995, p. 21; Christian Lacombrade: Hypatia. In: Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, Bd. 16, Stuttgart 1994, Sp. 956–967, here: 966; Gustave Bardy: Catherine d’Alexandrie. In: Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, Bd. 11, Paris 1949, Sp. 1503–1505, here: 1504.
16. Jump up^ Edward Jay Watts, (2006), City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria. « Hypatia and pagan philosophical culture in the later fourth century », pages 197–198. University of California Press
17. Jump up^ A. B. Deakin, Michael (1994). Hypatia and Her Mathematics. Mathematical Association of America. pp. 234–243.
18. ^ Jump up to:^a b « Catherine of Alexandria, Lives of Saints« . John J. Crawley & Co., Inc. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
19. ^ Jump up to:^a b S. R. T. O d’Ardeene and E. J. Dobson, Seinte Katerine: Re-Edited from MS Bodley 34 and other Manuscripts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981), xiv.
20. Jump up^ Walsh, Christine. The Cult of St Katherine of Alexandria in Early Medieval EuropeAshgate Publishing Company, Burlington, 2007, p 143
21. Jump up^ John Mandeville, The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1964); Felix Fabri, The Wanderings of Felix Fabri (New York: AMS Press, 1971), 217.
22. Jump up^ Walsh, Christine. « The Role of the Normans in the Development of the Cult of St. Katherine », St. Katherine of Alexandria: Texts and Contexts in Western Medieval Europe (eds. Jacqueline Jenkins and Katherine J. Lewis) (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2003), p.31
23. Jump up^ Lewis, Katherine J., Pilgrimage and the Cult of St. Katherine of Alexandria in Late Medieval England, St. Katherine of Alexandria: Texts and Contexts in Western Medieval Europe (eds. Jacqueline Jenkins and Katherine J. Lewis) (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2003),p.44
24. Jump up^ Lewis, Pilgrimage and the Cult of St. Katherine, 49–51.
25. Jump up^ John Bugge, Virginitas: An Essay in the History of the Medieval Ideal (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1975), 132; Katherine J. Lewis, The Cult of St. Katherine of Alexiandria in Late Medieval England (Rochester: The Boydell Press, 2000), 229; Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England c. 1400-c. 1580 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992), 174.
26. Jump up^ Katherine J. Lewis, « Model Girls? Virgin-Martyrs and the Training of Young Women in Late Medieval England » in Young Medieval Women eds. Katherine J. Lewis, Noel James Menuge and Kim M. Phillips (New York: St. Martin’s PRess, 1999).
27. Jump up^ Christine de Pizan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies trans. by Sarah Lawson (New York: Penguin Books, 2003), 146; Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladiestrans. by Rosalind Brown-Grant (New York: Penguin Books, 1999), 203; Rebecca Barnhouse, The Book of the Knight of the Tower (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 126, 193.
28. Jump up^ Allen, 217
29. Jump up^ « Coiffer sainte Catherine ». La France pittoresque (in French). November 24, 2016.
30. Jump up^ Life of Saint « Katherine » in William Caxton‘s English version of the Golden Legend.
31. Jump up^ mohill05 (12 August 2014). « Katherine of Alexandria (2014) – IMDb ». IMDb.

References

• Allen, Prudence, The concept of woman: the Aristotelian revolution, 750 BC-AD 1250, 1997 (2nd edn.), Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, ISBN978-0-8028-4270-1
• Walsh, Christine. The Cult of St Katherine of Alexandria in Early Medieval Europe, (Ashgate 2007)

Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

• Passio sanctae Katharinae—11th century (between 1033–1048); at Latin Wikisource
• Details of Saint Catherine’s life—Saint Catherine Orthodox Church; includes a gallery of icons of the saint
• St Catherine’s church in Muhu island (Estonia)
• Representations of Saint Catherine
• Saint Catherine of Alexandria at the Christian Iconography web site
• « The Life of St. Catherine, Virgin and Martyr » from the Caxton translation of the Golden Legend
• « Catharine« . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
• « Catherine, Saint« . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
• Colonnade Statue St Peter’s Square

Katherine of Alexandria (film).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Alexandria

http://www.giacobbegiusti.com

Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)

Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)

Santa Helena con la Vera Cruz, por Francesco Morandini

St. Helena (ca. 247-ca. 327) was the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great (ca. 288-337), who, according to tradition, christianized the Roman Empire. Helena is shown holding the True Cross (the cross on which Christ was crucified), which she is said to have discovered in Jerusalem. Her elaborate headdress and idealized, slightly masculine facial features reveal the artist’s study of Michelangelo’s so-called teste divine (divine heads), admired for their great beauty. Morandini and other Florentine artists of the later 16th century thought of Michelangelo as the greatest artist of all time, and they devotedly imitated his works.

Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)

Seated statue of Helena in Musei Capitolini, Rome

Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)

Saint Helena with the Cross, Lucas Cranach the Elder

 Hélène et Sainte-Hélène.

Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)
Hélène, portant le titre d’augusta, monnaie frappée sous Constantin vers 327 – 329
Naissance	vers 248–249 Depranum en Bithynie
Décès	vers 329–330
Vénéré à	église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles
Fête	18 août et 21 mai
Attributs	Croix
Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)

Constantin et Hélène, sa mère(icône orthodoxe bulgare)

Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)

Statue de sainte Hélène dans la basilique Saint-Pierre de Rome

Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)

La tour de la mairie de Colchester, avec une statue de Sainte-Hélène à l’haut

Hélène ou sainte Hélène (vers 247/250 – vers 329/330), est une impératrice romaine, épouse de Constance Chlore et mère de Constantin.

Biographie

Sa biographie doit être lue avec précaution car les auteurs d’apologétiquechrétienne et son fils Constantin ont certainement voulu, dans un vaste programme de propagande chrétienne et impériale, donner une image de femme pieuse, charitable et honorable. La littérature sur elle relève donc plus du panégyrique impérial et de l’hagiographie¹.

Selon la tradition fixée² par l’historien Procope (vi^e siècle), elle serait née à Drépanumdans la province de Bithynieen Asie Mineure, bourg dont le nom est modifié après sa mort, par son fils Constantin, en Hélénopolis³. D’après l’évêque et historien Eusèbe de Césarée, elle aurait eu environ 80 ans lors de son retour de Palestine vers l’année 327 et donc serait probablement née entre 248 et 250⁴. D’origine très modeste, d’après saint Ambroise elle est stabularia⁵, ce qui peut se traduire comme « servante d’auberge » mais peut s’interpréter aussi comme une prostituée qui recrutait ses clients dans les étables (stabula) près des auberges ⁶.

On ne sait avec certitude où elle rencontre Constance Chlore, mais c’est peut-être en Asie Mineure lorsque Constance, officier de l’empereur Aurélien, participe à la campagne contre la reine Zénobie (271-273). Certaines sources la mentionnent comme son épouse, d’autres comme sa concubine, ce dernier statut étant plus probable étant donnée leur différence de condition sociale⁷. Avoir une mère honorable, mariée à Constance Chlore entre dans le cadre de la reconstruction propagandiste de son fils Constantin après son accession au pouvoir pour légitimer son titre et pour qu’il ne puisse être contesté par ses demi-frères³. Elle donna naissance à Constantin vers 272 à Naissus, en Mésie (Niš, Serbie), cité militaire sur le Danube. À l’époque de l’établissement de la Tétrarchie, en 293, Constance Chlore, devenu César, a probablement déjà épousé Théodora, fille de l’Auguste Maximien⁸. Hélène ne se marie – ou ne se remarie – pas, et vit alors dans l’ombre, cette période de sa vie étant inconnue.

Après l’avènement de Constantin en 306, Hélène retrouve une vie publique. La tradition incertaine⁹ la fait séjourner à la cour impériale à Trèves (Constantin en fait sa capitale jusqu’en 316). Elle vit à partir de 312 principalement à Rome (dans le complexe résidentiel du Palazzo Sessoriano(it)) où elle se convertit au christianisme comme son fils, peut-être avant lui et joue un rôle important de propagandiste de la foi nouvelle pour mieux asseoir l’Empire chrétien, encore fragile¹⁰. À l’automne 324, Constantin fait proclamer « augusta » (impératrice) sa mère Hélène que Constance Chlore avait répudiée, ce qui montre son influence grandissante à la cour et au sein de la dynastie constantinienne¹¹.

Connue traditionnellement pour avoir organisé la première restauration des lieux saints chrétiens de Jérusalem, c’est en réalité son fils, l’empereur Constantin qui ordonne cette restauration¹². Elle se rend en Terre sainte vers 326-328, voyage que présente Eusèbe comme un pèlerinage mais qui relève certainement plus de raisons politiques en sa qualité d’augusta, par exemple expliquer la politique de christianisation de son fils¹³. Elle y fonde l’Église du Pater Nosteret de la Basilique de la Nativité¹⁴, et découvre à Jérusalem, selon la tradition légendaire¹⁵, les saintes reliques de la Passion du Christ, donnant une impulsion importante aux pèlerinages en Terre sainte, et à l’aménagement des lieux.

La découverte légendaire la plus importante d’Hélène est l’Inventionde la Vraie Croix, sur le site du Saint-Sépulcre où l’empereur Hadrienavait fait construire un temple à Vénus qu’Hélène fait abattre. Elle meurt vers 330 avec son fils à ses côtés¹⁶. Constantin fait transformer sa résidence, le palais de Sessorium, en une église, la basilique Sainte-Croix-de-Jérusalem¹⁷.

Postérité

Canonisée, elle est considérée comme sainte par les églises catholique et orthodoxe, sa fête est fixée au 18 août pour les catholiques et au 21 mai pour les orthodoxes, qui fêtent le même jour Hélène et Constantin (« Fête des très Grands Souverains Constantin et Hélène, égaux aux apôtres »).

La ville d’Elne, ancienne Illiberis, tire son nom de l’impératrice Hélène. Constantin a en effet renommé au iii^e siècle la ville en Castrum Helenae, devenu Helna, puis Elna et enfin Elne en français.

À l’instar des empereurs chrétiens se proclamant comme « nouveau Constantin », plusieurs reines et impératrices (Pulchérie, Eudocie) sont présentées comme une « nouvelle Hélène »¹⁸.

Ses reliques

Selon la tradition légendaire, le corps de sainte Hélène est ramené à Rome et est placé dans un sarcophage en porphyre rouge dans un mausolée de Torpignattara(it), un quartier de Rome. En réalité, le commerce des reliques durant le haut Moyen Âge est si lucratif que les corps des grands saints sont démembrés et partagés pour un culte privé (reliques dans des oratoires, des petits reliquaires portatifs)) ou public (reliques insignes dans des sanctuaires qui favorisent les pèlerinages). Les reliques d’Hélène et de Constantin ont subi le même sort et rien ne permet d’affirmer que le mausolée d’Hélène(en) en contient une¹⁹.

Vers 840, un moine nommé Theutgise dérobe à Torpignattara les restes d’Hélène qu’il rapporte à l’abbaye bénédictine d’Hautviller dans le diocèse de Reims. Les reliques sont placées dans une châsse derrière le maître-autel de l’église et favorisent opportunément les pèlerinages, permettant probablement à l’abbaye de « sortir de difficultés financières, de réaffirmer le pouvoir d’un évêque ou de défendre le bien-fondé d’une réforme²⁰ ». En 868, l’archevêque de Reims charge le moine Hincmar de Reims (v. 830 – 889) de composer une vie d’Hélène (Vitae Helenae). Altmann (Altmannus) écrit également à son sujet un récit de translation et un recueil de miracles, manipulant les textes biographiques précédents pour élaborer une hagiographie. C’est lui qui compose un récit inventant l’authenticité des reliques²¹ et l’origine aristocratique de Trèves d’Hélène²². L’abbaye honore depuis la sainte, principalement au jour anniversaire de sa mort, le 18 août, ainsi qu’aux fêtes de la Sainte Croix qui voient la célébration d’un office solennel suivi d’une procession.

À la Révolution, le dernier procureur de l’abbaye, dom Jean-Baptiste Grossard sauve les reliques en les transmettant en novembre 1819 à l’ordre des Chevaliers du Saint-Sépulcre. Les reliques sont translatées dans l’église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles par cet ordre. Sur la réclamation de son curé et de ses paroissiens, l’église d’Hautvillers peut récupérer, grâce à la compréhension du clergé de Saint-Leu, une partie des reliques de sainte Hélène qu’elle accueille avec ferveur le 17 août 1827²³.

L’incertitude sur la tombe d’Hélène, (Rome, Constantinople), différentes traditions sur les translations et le partage de ses reliques font que d’autres villes revendiquent détenir les restes de la sainte : Trèves, Rome, Venise²⁴.

La chapelle du château de Genech aurait abrité la tête de sainte Hélène jusqu’à la Révolution, des traditions concurrentes la font reposer dans la cathédrale de Trèves ou la basilique Santa Maria in Aracoeli, cette dernière revendiquant posséder les principales reliques de la sainte depuis 1140²².

Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)

• 

  Reliquaire contenant le chef de sainte Hélène dans la crypte de la cathédrale de Trèves

• 

  Le sarcophage de sainte Hélène, musées du Vatican

   

Iconographie

musées du Vatican

Vue de l’intérieur de l’église copte orthodoxe de la Reine-Hélène, près du Saint-Sépulcre, à Jérusalem. Une représentation de sainte Hélène de Constantinople orne le rideau rouge du fond.

Hélène est représentée déjà âgée, en costume d’impératrice, tenant une croix ou les clous de la Crucifixion. Elle est parfois associée à son fils Constantin. On la représente aussi tenant à la main une maquette d’église.

• Retablexi^e siècle – Chapelle Sainte-Hélène – Cathédrale Sainte-Marie et Saint-Julien de Cuenca.
• Peinture de Simon Marmion – xv^e siècle, musée du Louvre, Paris,
• Cima da Conegliano : Sainte Hélène, (v.1495), National Gallery of Art, Washington.
• Miguel Jimenez : Sainte Hélène et Héraclius rapportent la Vraie Croix à Jérusalem, (v.1485-1487), musée de Saragosse.
• Véronèse: La Vision de sainte Hélène, (v.1560-1565), National Gallery, Londres.

Protectrice

• Dans la tradition catholique, Hélène est la sainte patronne des teinturiers, des marchands de clous et d’aiguilles.
• C’est la sainte patronne des archéologues chez les Grecs orthodoxes.
• Les deux villes anglaises Abingdon-on-Thames et Colchester ont lui comme sainte patronne.

Notes et références

1. ↑ (de) R. Klein, « Helena II (Kaiserin) », Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, vol. 14,‎ 1988, p. 355-375
2. ↑ Cette tradition incertaine explique que des légendes médiévales placent son lieu de naissance à Yorck, Colchester, Trèves, Édesse.
3. ↑ ^a et b (en) Jan Willem Drijvers, Helena Augusta: The Mother of Constantine the Great and her Finding of the True Cross, 1992, p. 11
4. ↑ Eusèbe de Césarée, Vie de Constantin, 3.46.1
5. ↑ Ambroise de Milan, Oratio de Obitu Theodosii, 42
6. ↑ (en) Jean Pierre Callu, Culture profane et critique des sources de l’antiquité tardive, 2006, p. 543
7. ↑ (en) Jan Willem Drijvers, Helena Augusta: The Mother of Constantine the Great and her Finding of the True Cross, 1992, p. 17-19
8. ↑ (en) Timothy D. Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, Harvard University Press, 1981, p. 125-126
9. ↑ (de) Heinz Heinen, Frühchristliches Trier: von den Anfängen bis zur Völkerwanderung, Paulinus, 1996, p. 84-117
10. ↑ (en) David Stone Potter, The Roman Empire at Bay: AD 180-395, Routledge, 2004, p. 351
11. ↑ (en) Jan Willem Drijvers, Helena Augusta: The Mother of Constantine the Great and her Finding of the True Cross, 1992, p. 41
12. ↑ Eusèbe de Césarée, Vie de Constantin, 3.46.2-46
13. ↑ (en) K.G. Holum, « Hadrian and St. Helena: Imperial Travel and the Origins of Christian Holy Land Pilgrimage », dans R. Ousterhout (éd.), The Blessings of Pilgrimage, Urbana, 1990, p. 66–81
14. ↑ Eusèbe de Césarée, Vie de Constantin, 3.43
15. ↑ (en) E. D. Hunt, « Constantine and Jerusalem », The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, vol. 48, n^o 03,‎ juillet 1997, p. 415 (DOI 10.1017/S0022046900014858)
16. ↑ Eusèbe de Césarée, Vie de Constantin, 3.46-47
17. ↑ (en) Sible de Blaauw, « Jerusalem in Rome and the Cult of the Cross », in Pratum Romanum. Richard Krautheimer zum 100. Geburtstag, R.L. Colella, M.J. Gill, L.A. Jenkens et al., Wiesbaden, 1997, p. 55-73
18. ↑ (en) Jan Willem Drijvers, « Helena Augusta: Exemplary Christian Empress », Studia Patristica, vol. 24,‎ 1993, p. 85-90
19. ↑ (en) Mark Johnson, « Where were Constantius I and Helena Buried ? », Latomus, vol. 51,‎ 1992, p. 145-150
20. ↑ Michèle Gaillard, « Les Reliques. Objets, cultes, symboles », Médiévales, vol. 20, n^o 40,‎ 2001, p. 168-169
21. ↑ Selon Altmannus, à Hautvillers on a d’abord douté qu’un moine si simple, si chétif, puisse s’emparer d’un pareil trésor, du corps d’une véritable impératrice. Les moines ont effectué plusieurs expertises, ils ont notamment fait une analyse historique pour s’assurer que sainte Hélène fut bien à Rome. Ensuite on a envoyé une commission compétente à Rome pour constater la disparition des reliques. Enfin, on a fait subir à Teutgis l’épreuve de l’ordalie. En présence de l’évêque de Reims, le célèbre Hincmar, du roi Charles le Chauve et de sa cour, Teutgis est passé par l’eau bouillante, croyant fermement que sainte Hélène le délivrerait : il resta sain et sauf. À la prière d’Hinomar, archevêque de Reims, le pape voulut bien régulariser le transfert
22. ↑ ^a et b (en) Jan Willem Drijvers, Helena Augusta: The Mother of Constantine the Great and her Finding of the True Cross, 1992, p. 75
23. ↑ Jean-Pierre de Gennes, Les chevaliers du Saint-Sépulcre de Jérusalem, Mémoire & documents, 2004, p. 326
24. ↑ (en) Gilles Constable, « Troyes, Constantinople, and the relics of St. Helen in the thirteenth century », in: Constable, Religious Life and ThoughtPt. XIV, 1979, p. 1035-1042

Voir aussi

• Hélène de Constantinople,

Sources et bibliographie

• J. Maurice, Sainte Hélène, 1930.
• H. H. Lauer, Kaiserin Helena, Leben und Legende, 1967.
• Jacques de Voragine, la Légende Dorée, chapitre 64
• Edgarda Ferri, Imperatrix, Elena, Costantino e la Croce, Mondadori, 2010.
• A. M. Rouillon (Ord.Praem.), Sainte Hélène, Paris, 1908.
• J. W. Drijvers, Helena Augusta. The Mother of Constantine the Great and the Legend of her Finding of the True Cross, Leyde, Brill, 1991.
• Hélène Yvert-Jalu, L’impératrice sainte Hélène : À la croisée de l’Orient et de l’Occident, Paris, éditions Pierre Téqui, 2013, 270 p.(ISBN 9782740318003)

Helena
Empress of the Roman Empire Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)
Seated statue of Helena in Musei Capitolini, Rome
Augusta
Reign	325 – 330 (5 years)
Born	c. 246/50 Drepanum, Bithynia and Pontus
Died	c. 327/30 (aged 80) Rome, Tuscania et Umbria
Burial	Mausoleum of Helena
Spouse	Constantius Chlorus
Issue	Constantine the Great
Dynasty	Constantinian
Religion	Nicene Christianity

Saint Helena of Constantinople Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)
Icon of Saint Constantine the Great and his mother Saint Helena of Constantinople
Empress, Mother of Saint Constantine and Equal to the Apostles
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodoxy Anglican Communion Lutheran Church
Canonized	Pre-Congregation[a]
Major shrine	The shrine to Saint Helena in St. Peter’s Basilica
Feast	18 August (Roman Catholic Church); 21 May (Orthodox, Anglican, and most Lutheran Churches); 19 May (some Lutheran Churches); 9 Pashons(Coptic Orthodox Church)
Attributes	Cross

Roman imperial dynasties
Constantinian dynasty
Chronology
Constantine I as Caesar		307–311
-with Maximinus II as Caesar		307–311
-with Galerius and Severus as Augusti		307–308
-with Galerius and Licinius as Augusti		308–311
-with Maxentius as usurper in Rome (and Asia Minor 311–312)		308–312
Constantine I as Caesar (self proclaimed Augustus)		311–312
-with Maximinus II and Liciniusas Augusti of East and West		311–312
Constantine I as Augustus of the West		312–324
Licinius as Augustus of the East		312–324
-with Constantine II, Crispusand Licinianus as Caesares		317–324
Constantine I as sole Emperor		324–337
Constantine II as Augustus of Gaul, Britannia and Hispania		337–340
Constans as Augustus of Italy and Africa (and Gaul, Britannia and Hispania 340–350)		337–350
Constantius II as Augustus of Asia and Egypt		337–350
Constantius II as sole Emperor		350–361
Succession
Preceded by Tetrarchy		Followed by Jovian and Valentinian dynasty

Helena, or Saint Helena (Greek: Ἁγία Ἑλένη, Hagía Helénē, Latin: Flavia Iulia Helena Augusta; c. 250 – c. 330), was an Empress of the Roman Empire, and mother of EmperorConstantine the Great. Born in Drepana, Bithynia in Asia Minor, she became the consort of the future Roman EmperorConstantius Chlorus (reigned 293–306) and the mother of the future Emperor Constantine the Great (reigned 306–337). She ranks as an important figure in the history of Christianity and of the world due to her major influence on her son. In her final years, she made a religious tour of Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem, during which she allegedly discovered the True Cross. Pious beliefs also associate her to the foundation of the Vatican Gardens.

The Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Oriental Orthodox Church revere her as a Saint on the 21th May): in the same day they rever as a Saint her son Costantine I the Great, with the title of Equal-to-the-Apostles. Instead, the Roman Catholic Church, revers a saint only Helena Empress on 18th August). The Lutheran Churchcommemorates her.

Family life

Saint Helena with the Cross, Lucas Cranach the Elder

Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)

Helena of Constantinopleby Cima da Conegliano

Helena’s birthplace is not known with certainty. 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. Her son Constantine renamed the city « Helenopolis » after her death around 330, which supports the belief that the city was her birthplace.^[1] The Byzantinist Cyril Mango has argued that Helenopolis was refounded to strengthen the communication network around his new capital in Constantinople, and was renamed simply to honor Helena, not to mark her birthplace.^[2] There was also a Helenopolis in Palestine ^[3] and a Helenopolis in Lydia.^[4] These cities, and the province of Helenopontus in the Diocese of Pontus, were probably both named after Constantine’s mother.^[1]

The bishop and historian Eusebius of Caesareastates that she was about 80 on her return from Palestine.^[5] Since that journey has been dated to 326–28, Helena was probably born in 248 or 250. Little is known of her early life.^[6] Fourth-century sources, following Eutropius‘ « Breviarium, » record that she came from a low background. Saint Ambrose was the first to call her a stabularia, a term translated as « stable-maid » or « inn-keeper ». He makes this fact a virtue, calling Helena a bona stabularia, a « good stable-maid ».^[7] Other sources, especially those written after Constantine’s proclamation as emperor, gloss over or ignore her background.^[6]

It is unknown where she first met Constantius.^[8]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 270.^[9]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,^[10] calling her his « concubine ».^[8]Jerome, perhaps confused by the vague terminology of his own sources, manages to do both.^[11]

Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)

Helena’s sarcophagus in the Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican Museum, Rome

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.^[12]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.^[13]

Helena gave birth to the future emperor Constantine I on 27 February of an uncertain year soon after 270^[14] (probably around 272).^[15] At the time, she was in Naissus (Niš, Serbia).^[16] 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.^[17] (The narrative sources date the marriage to 293, but the Latin panegyric of 289 refers to the couple as already married).^[18] 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.

Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)

The shrine to Saint Helena in St. Peter’s Basilica

Constantine was proclaimed Augustus of the Roman Empire 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.^[b] She received the title of Augusta in 325 and died around 330, with her son at her side. She was buried in the Mausoleum of Helena, outside Rome on the Via Labicana. Her sarcophagus is on display in the Pio-Clementine Vatican Museum, although the connection is often questioned. Next to her is the sarcophagus of her granddaughter Saint Constantina (Saint Constance). Her skull is displayed in the Cathedral of Trier, in Germany.

Sainthood

Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)

OrthodoxBulgarianicon of Saint Constantine and Saint Helena

Helena is considered by the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern and Latin Catholicchurches, as well as by the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Churches, as a saint, famed for her piety. She is sometimes known as Helen of Constantinople to distinguish her from others with similar names.

Her feast day as a saint of the Orthodox Christian Church is celebrated with her son on 21 May, the « Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helena, Equal to the Apostles ».^[19] Likewise, Anglican churches, and some Lutheran churches, keep the Eastern date. Her feast day in the Roman Catholic Church falls on 18 August. Her feast day in the Coptic Orthodox Church is on 9 Pashons.

Eusebius records the details of her pilgrimage to Palestine and other eastern provinces (though not her discovery of the True Cross). She is the patron saint of new discoveries.

Her discovery of the Cross along with Constantine is dramatised in the Santacruzan, a ritual pageant in the Philippines. Held in May (when Roodmaswas once celebrated), the procession also bears elements of the month’s Marian devotions.

Letter From Constantine to Macarius of Jerusalem
« Such is our Saviour’s grace, that no power of language seems adequate to describe the wondrous circumstance to which I am about to refer. For, that the monument (the cross) of his (Christ) most holy Passion, so long ago buried beneath the ground, should have remained unknown for so long a series of years, until its reappearance to his servants now set free through the removal of him who was the common enemy of all, is a fact which truly surpasses all admiration. I have no greater care than how I may best adorn with a splendid structure that sacred spot, which, under Divine direction, I have disencumbered as it were of the heavy weight of foul idol worship;(Roman temple of Venus) a spot which has been accounted holy from the beginning in God’s judgment, but which now appears holier still, since it has brought to light a clear assurance of our Saviour’s passion. »^[20]

« There was a temple of Venus on the spot. This the queen (Helena) had destroyed. »^[21]

Relic discoveries

 Early centers of Christianity § Jerusalem

Titular statue of Santa Liena, Birkirkara Malta, during the village festa procession, 21 August 2011

Constantine appointed his mother Helena as Augusta Imperatrix, and gave her unlimited access to the imperial treasury in order to locate the relics of Judeo-Christian tradition. In 326-28 Helena undertook a trip to the Holy Places in Palestine. According to Eusebius of Caesarea 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 AD 330.

Jerusalem was still being rebuilt following the destruction caused by Titus in AD 70. Emperor Hadrian had built during the 130s a temple over the site of Jesus‘s tomb near Calvary, and renamed the city Aelia Capitolina. Accounts differ concerning whether the temple was dedicated to Venus or Jupiter.^[22] According to tradition, Helena ordered the temple torn down and, according to the legend that arose at the end of the 4th century, chose a site to begin excavating, which led to the recovery of three different crosses. The legend is recounted in Ambrose, On the Death of Theodosius (died 395) and at length in Rufinus‘ chapters appended to his translation into Latin of Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, the main body of which does not mention the event.^[c] Then, Rufinus relates, the empress refused to be swayed by anything short of solid proof and performed a test. Possibly through Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem, she had a woman who was near death brought from the city. When the woman touched the first and second crosses, her condition did not change, but when she touched the third and final cross she suddenly recovered,^[d] and Helena declared the cross with which the woman had been touched to be the True Cross. On the site of discovery, Constantine ordered the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; churches were also built on other sites detected by Helena. Sozomen and Theodoretclaim that Helena also found the nails of the crucifixion. To use their miraculous power to aid her son, Helena allegedly had one placed in Constantine’s helmet, and another in the bridle of his horse.

Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)

Helena’s head relic in the crypt of Trier cathedral

Helena left Jerusalem and the eastern provinces in 327 to return to Rome, bringing with her large parts of the True Cross and other relics, which were then stored in her palace’s private chapel, where they can be still seen today. Her palace was later converted into the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. This has been maintained by Cistercian monks in the monastery which has been attached to the church for centuries.

Tradition says that the site of the Vatican Gardens was spread with earth brought from Golgotha by Helena^[23][e] to symbolically unite the blood of Christ with that shed by thousands of early Christians, who died in the persecutions of Nero.^[23]

According to one tradition, Helena acquired the Holy Tunic on her trip to Jerusalem and sent it to Trier.

According to Byzantine tradition, Helena is responsible for the large population of cats in Cyprus. Local tradition holds that she imported hundreds of cats from Egypt or Palestine in the fourth century AD to rid a monastery of snakes. The monastery is today known as « St. Nicholas of the Cats » (Greek Άγιος Νικόλαος των Γατών) and is located near Limassol.^[24]

Several relics purportedly discovered by Saint Helena are now in Cyprus, where she spent some time. Among them are items believed to be part of Jesus Christ’s tunic, pieces of the holy cross, and pieces of the rope with which Jesus was tied on the Cross. The rope, considered to be the only relic of its kind, has been held at the Stavrovouni Monastery, which was also founded by Saint Helena.

Depictions in British folklore

Giacobbe Giusti, Hélène (mère de Constantin)

Helena finding the True Cross, Italian manuscript c. 825

In Great Britain, later legend, mentioned by Henry of Huntingdon but made popular by Geoffrey of Monmouth, claimed that Helena was a daughter of the King of Britain, Cole of Colchester, who allied with Constantius to avoid more war between the Britons and Rome.^[f] Geoffrey further states that she was brought up in the manner of a queen, as she had no brothers to inherit the throne of Britain. The source for this may have been Sozomen’s Historia Ecclesiastica, which however does not claim Helena was British but only that her son Constantine picked up his Christianity there.^[25]Constantine was with his father when he died in York, but neither had spent much time in Britain.

The statement made by English chroniclers of the Middle Ages, according to which Helena was supposed to have been the daughter of a British prince, is entirely without historical foundation. It may arise from the similarly named Welsh princess Saint Elen (alleged to have married Magnus Maximus and to have borne a son named Constantine) or from the misinterpretation of a term used in the fourth chapter of the panegyric on Constantine’s marriage with Fausta. The description of Constantine honoring Britain oriendo (lit. « from the outset », « from the beginning ») may have been taken as an allusion to his birth (« from his beginning ») although it was actually discussing the beginning of his reign.^[26]

At least twenty-five holy wells currently exist in the United Kingdom dedicated to a Saint Helen. She is also the patron saint of Abingdon and Colchester. St Helen’s Chapel in Colchester was believed to have been founded by Helena herself, and since the 15th century, the town’s coat of arms has shown a representation of the True Cross and three crowned nails in her honour.^[27]Colchester Town Hall has a Victorian statue of the saint on top of its 50-metre-high (160 ft) tower.^[28]The arms of Nottingham are almost identical because of the city’s connection with Cole, her supposed father.^[29]

Depictions in fiction

In medieval legend and chivalric romance, Helena appears as a persecuted heroine, in the vein of such women as Emaré and Constance; separated from her husband, she lives a quiet life, supporting herself on her embroidery, until such time as her son’s charm and grace wins her husband’s attention and so the revelation of their identities.^[30]

Helena is the protagonist of Evelyn Waugh‘s novel Helena. She is also the main character of Priestess of Avalon (2000), a fantasy novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson. She is given the name Eilan and depicted as a trained priestess of Avalon.

Helena is also the protagonist of Louis de Wohl‘s novel The Living Wood, 1947, in which she is again the daughter of King Coel of Colchester.

Notes

1. Jump up^ Her canonization pre-dates the practice of formal canonization by the Holy See and by the relevant Orthodox Churches. « August 18 in German History ». TGermanCulture.com.ua. Retrieved 2016-10-16. Her designation as a saint precedes the practice of canonization by the Pope.
2. Jump up^ The cameo was incorporated in the rich binding of the Ada Gospels; the year 316 is argued in Stephenson 2010:126f.
3. Jump up^ Noted in Stephenson 2010:253f, who observes « None of this is true » noting Rufinus’ source in a lost work of Gelasius of Caesarea.
4. Jump up^ There are actually several different accounts: Catholic Encyclopedia: Archæology of the Cross and Crucifix: « Following an inspiration from on high, Macarius caused the three crosses to be carried, one after the other, to the bedside of a worthy woman who was at the point of death. The touch of the other two was of no avail; but on touching that upon which Christ had died the woman got suddenly well again. From a letter of St. Paulinus to Severus inserted in the Breviary of Paris it would appear that St. Helena herself had sought by means of a miracle to discover which was the True Cross and that she caused a man already dead and buried to be carried to the spot, whereupon, by contact with the third cross, he came to life.
   From the 1955 Roman Catholic Marian Missal: St. Helen, the first Christian Empress, went to Jerusalem to try to find the True Cross. She found it in 320 on September 14. In the eighth century, the feast of the Finding was transferred to May 3rd and on Sept. 14 was celebrated the « Exaltation of the Cross, » the commemoration of a victory over the Persians by Heraclius, as a result of which the relic was returned to Jerusalem.
   From yet another tradition, related by St. Ambrose following Rufinus, it would seem that the titulus, or inscription, had remained fastened to the Cross. »; see also Socrates’ Church History at CCEL.org: Book I, Chapter XVII: The Emperor’s Mother Helena having come to Jerusalem, searches for and finds the Cross of Christ, and builds a Church.
5. Jump up^ Patron saint of archaeologists
6. Jump up^ The purely legendary British connection is traced by A. Harbus, Helen of Britain in Medieval Legend, 2002.

References

Citations

1. ^ Jump up to:^a b Harbus, 12.
2. Jump up^ Mango, 143–58, cited in Harbus, 13.
3. Jump up^ Günter Stemberger, Jews and Christians in the Holy Land: Palestine in the fourth century, 2000, p. 9 full text
4. Jump up^ Hunt, 49, cited in Harbus, 12.
5. Jump up^ Eusebius, Vita Constantini 3.46.
6. ^ Jump up to:^a b Harbus, 13.
7. Jump up^ Ambrose, De obitu Theodosii 42; Harbus, 13.
8. ^ Jump up to:^a b Lieu and Montserrat, 49.
9. Jump up^ Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae 2776, cited in Barnes, « New Empire, » 36.
10. Jump up^ Paul Stephenson, Constantine, Roman Emperor, Christian Victor, 2010:126f.:130.
11. Jump up^ Hieronymus, Chronica, s.a. 292, p. 226, 4 and s.a. 306, p. 228, 23/4, cited in Lieu and Montserrat, 49.
12. Jump up^ Drijvers, Helena Augusta, 17–19.
13. Jump up^ Barnes, New Empire, 36.
14. Jump up^ Barnes, CE, 3, 39–42; Elliott, Christianity of Constantine, 17; Odahl, 15; Pohlsander, « Constantine I »; Southern, 169, 341.
15. Jump up^ Barnes, CE, 3; Barnes, New Empire, 39–42; Elliott, « Constantine’s Conversion, » 425–6; Elliott, « Eusebian Frauds, » 163; Elliott, Christianity of Constantine, 17; Jones, 13–14; Lenski, « Reign of Constantine » (CC), 59; Odahl, 16; Pohlsander, Emperor Constantine, 14; Rodgers, 238; Wright, 495, 507.
16. Jump up^ Barnes, CE, 3.
17. Jump up^ Barnes, CE, 8–9.
18. Jump up^ Origo 1; Victor, Caes. 39.24f; Eutropius, Brev. 9.22.1; Epitome 39.2; Pan. Lat. 10(2).11.4, cited in Barnes, CE, 288 n.55.
19. Jump up^ « May 21: Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, Equal to the Apostles ». Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Archived from the original on 7 November 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
20. Jump up^http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iv.vi.iii.xxx.html
21. Jump up^http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iv.iii.iv.viii.html
22. Jump up^ Stephenson 2010:252.
23. ^ Jump up to:^a b « MO Plants: Vatican Gardens« . MoPlant. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
24. Jump up^ Dubin, Marc (2009). The Rough Guide To Cyprus. Rough Guide. pp. 135–136.
25. Jump up^ « Socrates and Sozomenus Ecclesiastical Histories ». Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
26. Jump up^ « CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Helena ».
27. Jump up^ « Colchester In The Early Fifteenth Century ». Dur.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 29 December 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
28. Jump up^ « Colchester Town Hall:: OS grid TL9925 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland – photograph every grid square! ». Geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
29. Jump up^ « Nottinghamshire history > Articles > Articles form the Transactions of the Thoroton Society > An itinerary of Nottingham: St Mary’s churchyard ». Nottshistory.org.uk. 2010-06-01. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
30. Jump up^ Laura A. Hibbard, Medieval Romance in England p29 New York Burt Franklin,1963

Sources

• Barnes, Timothy D. Constantine and Eusebius(CE in citations). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981. ISBN978-0-674-16531-1
• Barnes, Timothy D. The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine (NE in citations). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982. ISBN0-7837-2221-4
• Drijvers, Jan Willem. Helena Augusta: The Mother of Constantine the Great and her Finding of the True Cross. Leiden & New York: Brill Publishers, 1992.
• Drijvers, Jan Willem. « Evelyn Waugh, Helena and the True Cross. » Classics Ireland 7 (2000).
• Elliott, T. G. « Constantine’s Conversion: Do We Really Need It? » Phoenix 41 (1987): 420–438.
• Elliott, T. G. « Eusebian Frauds in the « Vita Constantini ». » Phoenix 45 (1991): 162–171.
• Elliott, T. G. The Christianity of Constantine the Great . Scranton, PA: University of Scranton Press, 1996. ISBN0-940866-59-5
• Harbus, Antonia. Helena of Britain in Medieval Legend. Rochester, NY: D.S. Brewer, 2002.
• Jones, A.H.M.Constantine and the Conversion of Europe. Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1978 [1948].
• Hunt, E.D. Holy Land Pilgrimage in the Later Roman Empire: A.D. 312–460. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982.
• Lenski, Noel. « The Reign of Constantine. » In The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine, edited by Noel Lenski, 59–90. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Hardcover ISBN0-521-81838-9 Paperback ISBN0-521-52157-2
• Lieu, Samuel N. C. and Dominic Montserrat. From Constantine to Julian: Pagan and Byzantine Views. New York: Routledge, 1996.
• Mango, Cyril. « The Empress Helena, Helenopolis, Pylae. » Travaux et Mémoires 12 (1994): 143–58.
• Odahl, Charles Matson. Constantine and the Christian Empire. New York: Routledge, 2004.
• Pohlsander, Hans. The Emperor Constantine. London & New York: Routledge, 2004. Hardcover ISBN0-415-31937-4 Paperback ISBN0-415-31938-2
• Rodgers, Barbara Saylor. « The Metamorphosis of Constantine. » The Classical Quarterly 39 (1989): 233–246.
• Wright, David H. « The True Face of Constantine the Great. » Dumbarton Oaks Papers 41 (1987): 493–507

Further reading

• Bietenholz, Peter G. (1994). Historia and fabula: myths and legends in historical thought from antiquity to the modern age. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 90-04-10063-6.
• Burckhardt, Jacob (1949). The Age of Constantine the Great. Moses Hadas, trans. New York: Pantheon Books.
• Grant, Michael (1994). Constantine the Great: the man and his times. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0-684-19520-8.
• Pohlsander, Hans A. (1995). Helena: empress and saint. Chicago: Ares Publishers. ISBN 0-89005-562-9.

Helena of Constantinople.

Helena (empress).

• St. Helena at Catholic Online
• Kirsch, Johann Peter (1913). « St. Helena« . Catholic Encyclopedia.
• Delehaye, Hippolyte (1911). « Helena, St« . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.).
• De Imperatoribus Romanis: Helena Augustus (248/249-328/329 A.D.)
• Eternal Word Television Network: Saint Helena Widow C. 330
• The Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America: St. Helen, Mother of Emperor Constantine, Equal of the Apostles
• s9.com: Helena
• Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church: The Lives of Sts. Constantine & Helen
• A Treasury of Martyrs and Saints: Saint Helen, and Emperor Constantine the Great
• Saint Eleanor Catholic Church (Ruidoso, NM) & Saint Jude Catholic Mission (San Patricio, NM): St Helena
• Holy Monastery of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai: Saint Helen and the Holy Monastery of Sinai
• Saint Helena at the Christian Iconographyweb site
• Of the Invention of the Holy Cross from Caxton’s translation of the Golden Legend

聖ヘレナ

聖ヘレナ(エレナ)皇后
伝統的なブルガリアのイコンに描かれたヘレナ
証聖者
崇敬する教派	カトリック教会、正教会
記念日	8月18日

聖ヘレナ（Helena、246年/250年 – 330年8月18日）は、古代ローマ帝国の皇后、コンスタンティヌス1世の母。キリスト教会の聖人。

目次

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概略

チーマ・ダ・コネリアーノ作の聖ヘレナ

生まれた場所に諸説あり、メソポタミアのカパル・パカルともエデッサともビテュニアともいわれる。身分は低く、セルビアのナイッススにあった旅館、または酒場で働いていたところを捕虜としてコンスタンティウス・クロルスの手に陥る。コンスタンティウスの妾（正妻ともいう）となり、274年にはコンスタンティヌスを生む。293年にコンスタンティウスがマクシミアヌス帝の娘フラウィア・マクシミアナ・テオドラと結婚するために政略的に離婚させられるが、306年にコンスタンティウス1世が死にヘレナの息子が副帝に任命されたことにより彼女の皇后としての地位が追認された。313年頃にキリスト教に改宗。その後は私財を投じて巡礼・慈善・教会建立の仕事をしてキリスト教のためにつくした。彼女が死んだ後にビテュニアのドレパヌムという街はヘレノポリスと名づけられた。

伝説・逸話

聖ヘレナの石棺（バチカン美術館蔵）

• 320年頃、ゴルゴタに巡礼し、キリストが磔になった十字架を発見した、とされる。伝説によればヘレナは息子のコンスタンティヌスに依頼されてこの地を訪れ、9月14日に探し出したという。このとき同じ場所で聖釘（キリストに打ち付けた釘）も見つかった^[1]。聖釘と十字架の破片はモンツァ（イタリア）の博物館が所蔵している^[2]。この十字架をめぐるヘレナの伝説は4世紀末にヨーロッパから起こった^[3]。
• イエスの脇腹を刺した槍を発見^[4]。
• イエス生誕に来訪し救世主として礼拝したという3人の博士（王）の遺骸を発見しコンスタンティノポリスに運び、ミラノ司教であった聖エウストルギウスに懇願されてこれらを贈与した^[5]。
• 聖母マリアがイエスを産み落とす時に使った飼い葉桶のまぐさをローマに持ち帰った^[6]。
• ヘレナがキリスト教に改宗したきっかけは、聖シルウェステルが異教徒との争論の際に示した奇跡のためであった^[7]。
• ヘレナは自分がそのために離婚させられたテオドラの孫（ダルマティウスとユリウス・コンスタンティウスの息子たち）を憎み、彼女の存命中は宮廷から遠ざけた^[8]。
• ヘレナはイギリス王の娘であったという伝説は、ジェフリー・オブ・モンマスによって広まる。

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_(empress)

http://www.giacobbegiusti.com