Wooden Greek Christian Orthodox Wood Icon of Saint Constantine & Helen /R3 Wooden Greek Orthodox Icon of Saint Constantine & Helen WIDTH: 31 CM OR 12.2 IN LENGTH: 21 CM OR 8.26 IN The holy and right-believing Empress Helen (also Helena and Elena), Equal to the Apostles (c. 248  c. 329), was the mother of Emperor Saint Constantine the Great. Her feast day is on May 21, together with her son. She was probably born in Drepanum (afterwards re-named Helenopolis) on the Gulf of Nicomedia and allegedly the daughter of an innkeeper. Later legend, mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth, claimed that she was a daughter of Briton King Coel, who married her off to Constantius Chlorus I to avoid more war between the Britons and Rome. Monmouth further states that she was brought up in the manner of a queen, as she had no brothers to inherit the throne of Britain. Constantius Chlorus divorced her (circa 292) to marry the step-daughter of Maximian, Theodora. Helen's son Constantine later became emperor of the Roman Empire, and following his elevation she became a presence at the imperial court. She is considered by the Church to be a saint, and is famed for her piety. Eusebius of Caesarea records the details of her pilgrimage to Palestine and other eastern provinces. She is traditionally credited with the finding of relics of the cross of Christ, and with finding the remains of the Three Wise Men, which currently reside in the Shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne Cathedral. Equal to the Apostles Emperor Saint Constantine the Great (February 27, 272-May 22, 337) was proclaimed Augustus by his troops on July 25, 306 and ruled an ever-growing portion of the Roman Empire to his death. Constantine is famed for his re-founding of Byzantium as "New Rome," which was always called "Constantine's City"Constantinople. With the Edict of Milan in 313, Constantine and his co-Emperor removed all onus from Christianity. By taking the personal step of convoking the Council of Nicea (325) Constantine began the Roman Empire's unofficial sponsorship of Christianity, which was a major factor in the faith's spread. His reputation as the "first Christian Emperor" was promulgated by Lactantius and Eusebius and gained ground in the succeeding generations. The Orthodox Church keeps his feast on May 21, along with his mother, Empress Saint Helen, as Holy Equals-to-the-Apostles. He was born at Naissus, today's city of Ni in Upper Moesia (modern Serbia and Montenegro), to Constantius I Chlorus and an innkeeper's daughter, Helen. Constantine was well educated and served at the court of Diocletian in Nicomedia as a kind of hostage after the appointment of his father Constantius, a general, as one of the two Caesars (at that time a junior emperor), in the Tetrarchy in 293. In 305, the Augustus, Maximian, abdicated, and Constantius succeeded to the position. However, he died in 306. Constantine managed to be at his deathbed in Eboracum (York, England), where troops loyal to his father's memory proclaimed him Emperor. For the next 18 years, he fought a series of battles and wars that left him first as emperor of the west, and then as supreme ruler of the Roman Empire.