The Chi-Rho and Constantine

Whilst in my Medieval Europe class we stumbled upon a man named Constantine 1, or Constantine the Great. He was born around the year 280 CE and was said to have died after living a full life somewhere around the year 337 CE. From the start Constantine was born into a family of power and wealth because of his high army officer of a father, Constantius. Which at some point will pass his heritage down to Constantine, giving him major political and militaristic sway in Europe.  Many people know of Constantine because of Constantinople, however, he is also known for being one of the men to have laid a preemptive base for christianity to begin its way  through the country. He had many successes throughout his life and near the end of his  journey was at one point the sole emperor of the East and West. 

One of his symbols he had adopted was the Chi-Rho (shown to the right). They symbolize the first letters of Christianity with chi being "Chi" and Rho being the "r" at the beginning. He had seen in a dream ton the day before the Battle of Milvan in 312 CE, and in this dream he saw the symbol with the inscription "By this sign, you shall conquer."  After winning the battle, he legalized the practice of the religion and began erecting Christian churches, he continued wielding
this symbol upon his armies shields and vestments to his deathbed. 

By: Zach Anderson

“Chi-Rho (Constantine’s Cross).” Symboldictionarynet Font Faceverdana Geneva Helvetica color660000 size4ChiRho Labarum Constantines Cross Christogram Monogram of Christ Font Comments, Symbol Dictionary, symboldictionary.net/?p=2043.

Matthews, J.F., and Donald MacGillivray Nicol. “Constantine I.”Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 26 July  2017, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Constantine-I-Roman-emperor.

Constantine the Great Rules.” Time Line of Early Christianity--The Lost Gospel of Judas--National Geographic, National Geographic, www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/timeline_10.html.