Saint Constantine

Saint Constantine is the name of one or many British or Pictish saints.

Identification

South-west Britain A Saint Constantine is revered in Devon and Cornwall. He may be identified with the monarch Constantine of Dumnonia, despite the condemnation for immoral behaviour by Gildas. Which means he must have mended his ways. This Constantine is also remembered in the names of the parish church of Milton Abbot in Devon and the villages of Constantine and Constantine Bay in Cornwall, and also extinct chapels in Illogan and Dunterton. The saint at Constantine Bay was almost certainly the 'wealthy man' of this name mentioned in the Life of Saint Petroc. He was converted to Christianity by that holy man at nearby Little Petherick after the deer Constantine was hunting took shelter with him. A Constantine "King of the Cornishmen" also appears in the Life of Saint David as having given up his crown in order to enter this saint's monastery at St David's.

Scotland and Ireland The conversion of a Constantine is recorded in the Annals of Ulster in 588, and a Constantine appears in the Breviary of Aberdeen as entering a monastery in Ireland incognito before joining Saint Mungo (alias Kentigern) and becoming a missionary to the Picts. He was martyred in Scotland about 576

Veneration

The cult of Saint Constantine (of Dumnonia) centred on the two places bearing his name, both of which may have originally supported monastic establishments. The ruined chapel at Constantine Bay also has a nearby holy well (uncovered in 1911). Taking the waters there was said to bring rain during dry weather. The chapel's splendid font is now in the parish church at St Merryn. The name of the village of Constantine is recorded as Sanctus Constantinus in the Domesday Book. However, the monasteries seem to have declined into parish churches, after the Norman Conquest. The present Kerrier building is 15th century and bears no remnants of Constantinist iconography. The saint's day is generally celebrated on 9 March. An annual "Feast" is held in the village of Constantine, on the Sunday nearest to 9 March.