Eusebius of Nicomedia

Not to be confused with Eusebius of Caesarea.
Eusebius of Nicomedia
Archbishop of Constantinople
Installed339
Term ended341
PredecessorPaul I of Constantinople
SuccessorPaul I of Constantinople
Personal details
DenominationArian Christianity

Eusebius of Nicomedia (/juːˈsiːbiəs/; ‹See Tfd›Greek: Εὐσέβιος; died 341) was an Arian priest who baptized Constantine the Great on his deathbed in 337.[1][2] A fifth-century legend evolved that Pope Sylvester I was the one to baptize Constantine, but this is dismissed by scholars as a forgery 'to amend the historical memory of the Arian baptism that the emperor received at the end of his life, and instead to attribute an unequivocally orthodox baptism to him.'[3][4] He was a bishop of Berytus (modern-day Beirut) in Phoenicia. He was later made the bishop of Nicomedia, where the Imperial court resided. He lived finally in Constantinople from 338 up to his death.

  1. ^ Eusebius of Caesarea (1890). Life of Constantine. New York, The Christian literature Company. p. 556. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  2. ^ Jerome (380). Chronicon. Retrieved 24 March 2021. Constantine, baptized by Eusebius of Nicomedia at the very end of his life, falls into the dogma of Arius, and from that time until now seizures of churches and discord of the whole world have followed.
  3. ^ Canella, Tessa (January 2018). "Sylvester I". Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. Academia.edu: 2. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  4. ^ Loomis, Louise Ropes (1916). The book of the popes (Liber pontificalis). Columbia University Press. p. 42.