Constantine the Great

c. 272 – 337 · b. Naissus

emperor

First Christian Roman emperor. Issued the Edict of Milan (313), convened the Council of Nicaea (325), and was baptized on his deathbed by Eusebius of Nicomedia.

Why Constantine the Great matters

Constantine is the hinge. Before him, Christianity was illegal and intermittently bloodied. After him, it was an imperial religion with property, councils, and emperors weighing in on theology. He didn't make it the state religion (Theodosius did, in 380) but he legalised it in 313, summoned the Council of Nicaea in 325, and built Constantinople as a Christian capital. He was baptised on his deathbed by Eusebius. Whether you think the Constantinian shift saved the church or corrupted it, every later Christian relationship to political power — Byzantine, medieval, Reformation, modern — is an argument about what Constantine did.

Chain to Jesus

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Common questions

Who was Constantine the Great?: Constantine the Great (272–337) — First Christian Roman emperor. Issued the Edict of Milan (313), convened the Council of Nicaea (325), and was baptized on his deathbed by Eusebius of Nicomedia.
Who did Constantine the Great correspond with?: Eusebius of Caesarea.
Who baptized Constantine the Great?: Eusebius of Nicomedia.

Sources for biography

Eusebius, Vita Constantini 1-4 primary
Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum 44-48 primary
Socrates Scholasticus, Hist. Eccl. 1.1-1.39 primary

documented connections(4)

corresponded Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius preserves multiple letters from Constantine and delivered an oration in his presence.
Eusebius, Vita Constantini 2.46, 3.60-63, 4.35-36
knew of (incoming) Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius wrote the Vita Constantini and the Tricennial Oration in his honour.
Eusebius, Vita Constantini 1-4
baptized by Eusebius of Nicomedia
Constantine received baptism from Eusebius of Nicomedia on his deathbed in 337.
Eusebius, Vita Constantini 4.61-62 · Jerome, Chronicon (s.a. 337)
knew of (incoming) Helena
Helena was the mother of Constantine.
Eusebius, Vita Constantini 3.42-47

tradition connections(2)

knew of (incoming) Lactantius
Jerome reports that in his old age Lactantius was tutor in Latin to Crispus, son of Constantine, in Gaul. Lactantius dedicated De Mortibus Persecutorum within Constantine's circle.
Jerome, De Viris Illustribus 80 · Jerome, Chronicon ad ann. 318
knew of (incoming) Gregory the Illuminator
Agathangelos's History of the Armenians records a journey of King Trdat and Gregory to Rome to meet Constantine; the historicity is debated but the tradition links them as contemporary Christian rulers/founders.
Agathangelos, History of the Armenians 877-895

Wikipedia