As the River Ouse burst its banks and floodwater filled the streets of the city of York over Christmas, rubber boats came to the rescue, desperate residents were evacuated and the population rallied to help. But the doors of the Yorkshire Museum (yorkshiremuseum.org.uk), home to the oldest bust of Constantine “the Great” (272-337), did not stay closed for long.
It was as if this centre of the county’s history was boosted by his indomitable spirit.
Constantine’s name is more often associated with Rome or, of course, the city named after him, Constantinople (now Istanbul) than it is with York. But York was the place of his first triumph. It was here on July 25, 306, that his troops proclaimed him emperor after the sudden death of his father, Constantius Chlorus. After his coronation, like his father, he continued driving back the Picts and fortifying his control in the north-western region, as well as completing some military bases and roads. However, determined to be emperor of the whole of the mighty Roman Empire, he departed from Britain, accompanied by his mother, Helena, ready to fight his opponents in the German and Italian states.
Within six years of his crowning in York, on the eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridge in October 312, Constantine had a vision in the sky which changed the fate of Christianity. In his dream he saw a flaming cross and God told him: “By this sign, conquer.” Eusebius tells us that crosses were speedily painted on the shields and banners of his soldiers. In the battle, Constantine’s contender, Maxentius, drowned in the Tiber.
Constantine’s triumph marks the transition in Europe from pagan antiquity to the Christian Middle Ages. The grateful Constantine forsook his god, Mithras, for Christianity, stopped persecutions against Christians and introduced changes which are still part of everyday life.
To aid Christian worship, he made Sunday a public holiday. “On the venerable day of the sun,” he ordered, “let the magistrate and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed.” At the Council of Nicaea he was instrumental in setting the date of Easter and introduced the Nicene Creed. He also promoted his sign of victory, the Cross, turning it into a prominent Christian symbol. Cross-shaped churches were built and on battlefields, banners and shields bore its sign. The Cross went on to become the earliest mark placed upon a Christian child and the last thing held before the eyes of a dying Christian.
Constantine also sent his mother to Jerusalem to oversee the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to commemorate the site where Jesus had been nailed to the Cross. He also was the first Roman ruler to make marriage a permanent commitment and restrict divorce.
Yet, despite all his achievements, and although everyone knows that York is a Roman city, Constantine has never captured the hearts of the locals in York.
This is surprising, given York’s strong sense of regional identity and history. Yorkshire is not only the largest county in England but it is, perhaps, the proudest. It has the same size population as Scotland, nearly twice that of Wales and 10 times that of Cornwall.
Mention Constantine’s crowning in York and many a Yorkshireman will look puzzled. The fact that the career of one of the most remarkable rulers of the Roman empire (and the first to accept and spread Christian worship) was launched in York is forgotten. They feel happier to associate York with the Jorvik Viking Centre, the railway museum, the medieval castle or even, as one Yorkshire friend joked, “good old Yorkshire pudding with the Sunday roast”.
Perhaps the general lack of interest in Constantine is the reason why he doesn’t have a high profile in York’s online publicity. Anyone who looks at the Visit York website (visityork.org), is greeted by 18 colourful pictures of destinations and activities. None of the captions mentions the illustrious emperor.
But there have been efforts to re-establish Constantine in his rightful place. In 1998, the York Civic Trust commissioned a statue to stand near the south transept of York Minster – a site that could have been where he was crowned, as excavations under the cathedral indicate the area once housed a huge Roman fortress and barracks. Next, in 2006, a major exhibition commemorated the 1,700th anniversary of his coronation. Although there was loan material from all over the world, the star exhibit was the earliest known portrayal of Constantine. Unearthed beneath a city street, Stonegate, in the early 19th century, the bust is battered but still shows him as a handsome young man with almost Asian eyes and a determined posture. It contrasts with later idealised images of him as a mighty emperor with neatly arranged hair and a long, regal face.
But it seems that this man who gave us Sunday will never be to York what Richard III has become to Leicester.
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