Constantius of Capri

Constantius (born, Antonii de Ripolis;[1] Italian, San Costanzo di Capri) (d. 7th or 8th century, near Marina Grande)[2] was a Bishop of the Catholic Church who, after many wandering, became the patron saint of Capri. Little is known about him except that his body was placed in a barrel:[3] the homilies Sermo de virtute Constantii (BHL 1931) and the Sermo de transito s. Constantii date from the end of the 10th century, when the saint's protection was invoked at Capri and Amalfi against Saracen raiders.[4] How he came to be on the island is Capri is undocumented and shrouded in legend.[5] In the Catalogus of monk Filippo Ferrari (d. 1626), Constantius was described to be "of imperial lineage and Bishop of Constantinople".[5] He may have been the Arian Constantius II who destroyed idols, or a bishop who fled from Africa to Italy.[3] The Chiesa di San Costanzo is located between Marina Grande and Anacapri.[6] The feast day of St Costanzo is celebrated on May 14th and includes commemoration of his arrival on Capri, which according to tradition, occurred circa 739.[7]

A reliquary at Montevergine contains a bone with the label "Ossa S. Costantio E.C." [Episcopus Confessor].[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Constantius <de Capri>". Consortium of European Research Libraries. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  2. ↑ Constantius of Capri is undocumented, but may be the same as Constantine I, Patriarch of Constantinople - see Santiebeati.it: San Costanzo di Capri.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Douglas, Norman (1952). Footnote on Capri. Sidgwick and Jackson. p. 19. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  4. ↑ A. Hofmeister, "Aus Capri und Amalfi: Der Sermo de virtute und der Sermo de transito s. Constantii und der Sarazenenzug von 991" , 1922).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Andrén, Arvid (1980). Capri: from the stone age to the tourist age. Paul Åströms förlag. p. 92. ISBN 978-91-85058-98-3. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  6. ↑ Ring, Trudy; Salkin, Robert M.; Boda, Sharon La (1 January 1996). International Dictionary of Historic Places: Southern Europe. Taylor & Francis. pp. 121–. ISBN 978-1-884964-02-2. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  7. ↑ Valdes, Giuliano; Fabbri, Patrizia; Lewis, Rhiannon (May 2009). Capri. Casa Editrice Bonechi. pp. 8–. ISBN 978-88-476-0785-9. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  8. ↑ Santi e beati: "San Costanzo di Capri.