:Citing* Cites: [[w:Peter Bartrum|P.C. Bartrum]]. ''Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts.'' Cardiff: University of Wales, 1966. p.179.</ref> or '''Costentyn''' (ca. 520-576 AD)<ref name=SYNAX-MARCH-9>Great Synaxaristes: {{el icon}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/2392/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Ἅγιος Κωνσταντίνος ὁ Μάρτυρας ὁ τῆς Κορνουάλλης].'' 9 Μαρτίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ. (†576)</ref><ref name=NASH-FORD>David Nash Ford's '''Early British Kingdoms (EBK)'''. ''[http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/constsdm.html St. Constantine of Cornwall, King of Dumnonia (c.AD 520-576)].'' Nash Ford Publishing, 2001.</ref> is a 6th century Cornish saint that is identified with a minor British king Constantine. After a life of vice, he came to repentance at [[w:St Davids|St Davids]] monastery in Wales. Two places in Cornwall are still named after him.<ref name=LATIN>Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome. ''[http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/stdmar.htm Constantine March 9].''</ref> In addition, Furthermore it is maintained said that he went from Wales to Ireland , and from there went as a missionary to the Picts in Scotland, where he was [[Martyr|martyred]] by pirates at [[w:Mull of Kintyre|Cantyre]] (Kintyre). However ; however there are difficulties with this latter part of his [[hagiography]] involving a conflation of events with one or more other 'Constantines'.

:* Cites: [[w:Richard Challoner|Challoner's]] ''' ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=JbZWQAAACAAJ&dq=Britannia+Sancta&hl=en&ei=jixlTv3lGKb40gG_gZGECg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA Britannia Sancta]'' ''' (Meighan, 1745).</ref><ref>Katherine I. Rabenstein. ''[http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0311.shtml March 11 - Constantine of Scotland M (AC)].'' St. Patrick Catholic Church, Washington, D.C. - Saint of the Day.</ref> in the Scottish and Irish traditions. It is possible that the British king (†576)<ref name="SYNAX-MARCH-9"/> is not the same person as the Scottish martyr (†576,<ref>Great Synaxaristes: {{el icon}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/3082/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Ἅγιος Κωνσταντίνος ὁ Μάρτυρας βασιλέας τῶν Σκώτων].'' 9 Μαΐου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.</ref> or †590<ref name="FLEMING"/>).<ref group="note">If it is to be argued that the Scottish martyr Constantine is a separate individual from the Cornish Saint Constantine, then perhaps he was a King of [[w:Damnonii|Damnonia]] (Strathclyde) not Dumnonia (Cornwall); however this is guesswork and there is no way to tell for certain. The ''Great Synaxaristes'' (in the Greek) includes an entry for March 9 for ''"St Constantine the Martyr of Cornwall"'' (†576) (translated), and another entry for May 9 for a ''"St Constantine the Martyr, King of the Scots"'' (†576) (translated), with the exact same death date for both. It also has a third entry for March 11 for ''"St Constantine the King"'' of Strathclyde (†640).</ref> To add to the ambiguity there is another (third?) saint from a slightly later period, King [[Constantine of Strathclyde]] (†640), whose feast day is on [[March 11]] as well, but who is said to have reposed in peace (i.e. not the martyrmartyred),<ref>Great Synaxaristes: {{el icon}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/2409/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Ἅγιος Κωνσταντίνος ὁ βασιλεὺς].'' 11 Μαρτίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.</ref> and whose life has been inextricably conflated with the Scottish king-martyr.

:“…there is not the smallest evidence that Constantine of Gildas is the St. Constantine whom we find honoured in the five parishes of Devon and Cornwall, as some persons, forgetful of the fact that Constantine was a very common name at the time, have rashly assumed.” <br>:* (Thomas D. O'Sullivan. ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=q2U3i1X8B50C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false The De Excidio of Gildas: Its Authenticity and Date].'' BRILL, 1978. p.95.)</ref>

Constantine of Cornwall probably succeeded his father, [[w:Cador|Cador]], as King of Dumnonia in the early 6th century. Literary tradition indicates AD 537, after the [[w:Battle of Camlann|Battle of Camlann]] from which, some sources say, "Sir Constantine" was the only survivor.<ref name="NASH-FORD"/>He is reputed to have been married to the daughter of the King of Brittany and to have led a life full of vice and greed until he was led to conversion by [[w:Saint Petroc|Saint Petroc]]:

The only contemporary information about him comes from [[Gildas]], who calls him king of ''Damnonia'' (probably [[w:Dumnonia|Dumnonia]]) and castigates him for his various sins, including the murder of two "royal youths" inside a church.<ref group="note"blockquote>"According to [[w:Geoffrey of Monmouth|Geoffrey of Monmouth]]One day, these werewhile out hunting a deer, his prey took shelter in fact, the treacherous sons of the evil usurper, [[w:Mordred|Mordred]], who were killed in Winchester & LondonSt." (David Nash FordPetroc's '''Early British Kingdoms (EBK)'''cell. So impressed was the King by the saint''[http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/constsdm.html Sts power that he and his body guard immediately converted to Christianity. Constantine gave Petroc an ivory hunting horn in commemoration of Cornwall, King of Dumnonia (c.AD 520-576)].the event and this was long revered along with the Saint'' Nash Ford Publishing, 2001.)</ref> Much later, s other relics at [[w:Geoffrey of MonmouthBodmin Parish Church|Geoffrey of MonmouthBodmin]] included the figure in his pseudohistorical chronicle ''[[w:. The History of the Kings of Britain|Historia Regum Britanniae]]'', adding fictional details to [[Gildas|Gildas]]' account and making Constantine the successor to King Arthur as King became co-founder of Britain. Under the influence of Geoffrey, derivative figures appeared in a number of later worksthis famous Cornish monastery.<ref name="NASH-FORD"/></blockquote>

===Gildas' Account===[[Gildas]] writing in 547 AD mentions Constantine in chapters 28 and 29 After the death of his work ''[[w:De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae|De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae]].''<ref name=EXCIDIO>''[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Ruin_of_Britain#28 De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, ch. 28–29].''</ref><ref name=GILES>Giles, John Allen, ed. (1841). ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=3R1mCE7p44MC&printsec=titlepage#v=onepage&q&f=false The Works of Gildas and Nennius].'' London: James Bohn — English translation.</ref> He is one of five [[w:Britons (historical)|Brythonic]] kings whom queen he resigned the author rebukes and compares crown to Biblical beasts. Constantine is called the "tyrannical whelp of the unclean lioness of Damnonia". This Damnonia is generally associated with the kingdom of [[w:Dumnonia|Dumnonia]]his son, a Brythonic kingdom in [[w:South West England|Southwestern Britain]].<ref>[[w:John Edward Lloyd|Lloyd, John Edward]]. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=NYwNAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Lloyd+history+of+Wales#v=onepage&q=&f=false A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest].'' Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912.</ref> However, it is possible that Gildas was instead referring order to take up the territory of the [[w:Damnonii|Damnonii]] in what was later known as the [[w:Hen Ogledd|Hen Ogledd]] or "Old North"religious life himself.

Gildas says that despite swearing an oath against deceit <blockquote>He moved amongst his people, founding churches at the two Constantines, near Padstow and tyrannyFalmouth, Constantine disguised himself and at Illogan; also at Milton Abbot and Dunsford in an Devon. Later, he travelled across the Bristol Channel to join St. Dewi (David) at Mynyw ([[abbotw:St Davids|St. Davids]]'s robes and attacked two "royal youths" praying before ), where he resided as a monk for many years. He founded the church altarat Cosheston, killing them and their companions. Gildas is clear that Constantine's sins were manifold even before thisnear Pembroke, but eventually settled as he had committed "many adulteries" after casting off his lawfully wedded wifea hermit in Costyneston (Cosmeston) near Cardiff. Gildas encourages ConstantineHe may have died there, whom though there are persistent stories that he knows travelled still further north and preached to still be alive at the time, to repent his sins lest he be damnedpeople of Galloway before being martyred in Kintyre on 9th March AD 576.<ref name="EXCIDIONASH-FORD"/><ref name="GILES"/blockquote>

However according to Bishop [[w:Richard Challoner|Richard Challoner]]'s hagiography of ''"Saint Constantine, Prince and Priest",'' in ''' ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=JbZWQAAACAAJ&dq=Britannia+Sancta&hl=Identificationen&ei=jixlTv3lGKb40gG_gZGECg&sa=X&oi=====South-west Britain=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA Britannia Sancta]'' ''' (1745), as listed in William Canon Fleming's ''A Complete History of the British Martyrs'' (1902): [[Image:Constantine Church and Yard.jpg|right|thumb|<blockquote>Martyred at [[w:Constantine, CornwallMull of Kintyre|ConstantineCantyre]], in Kerrier]]: The 15th century ChurchScotland, on March 11th, dedicated to Saint Constantine590.]]<br>A "The Scottish Breviaries commemorate on March 11th the Feast of Saint Constantine is revered in Devon and Cornwall, and has become identified with the monarch Constantine of Dumnonia (Constantine III of Britain)Martyr. His name He is given said to have been a prince who, after the parish church death of Milton Abbot in Devonhis princess, retired from the world, and , having resigned his kingdom to his son, became a monk in the villages Monastery of [[w:Constantine, CornwallSt Davids|Constantine, CornwallSaint David's]] and . Going afterwards to Ireland, he entered a religious house at St. Carthag at [[w:Constantine BayRahan, County Offaly|Constantine BayRathene]], where, unknown to any, he served for four years at a mill, until his name was discovered. He was then fully instructed, ordained priest, and sent as well as a missionary to extinct chapels the Picts in Scotland. Having for many years laboured with Saint [[Columba of Iona|Columba]] for their conversion, he established a religious community of men at [[w:IlloganGovan|IlloganGovan]] , and Duntertonconverted the inhabitants of [[w:Mull of Kintyre|Cantyre]] to Christianity. At length the happiness he so long desired came to him in his advanced age; he was [[Martyr|slain]] by infidels actuated by hatred of the Christian religion."<ref name="FLEMING"/></blockquote>

==Sources=='''Gildas'''<br>The saint at only contemporary information about him comes from [[Gildas]], writing in 547 AD, who mentions Constantine Bay was almost certainly the in chapters 28 and 29 of his work ''[[w:De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae|De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae]].''<ref name=EXCIDIO>''[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Ruin_of_Britain#28 De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, ch. 28–29].''</ref><ref name=GILES>Giles, John Allen, ed. (1841). 'wealthy man' [http://books.google.com/books?id=3R1mCE7p44MC&printsec=titlepage#v=onepage&q&f=false The Works of this name mentioned in the Gildas and Nennius].''Life London: James Bohn — English translation.</ref> He is one of Saint five [[w:Saint PetrocBritons (historical)|PetrocBrythonic]] kings whom the author rebukes and compares to Biblical beasts. Constantine is called the "tyrannical whelp of the unclean lioness of Damnonia". This Damnonia is generally associated with the kingdom of [[w:Dumnonia|Dumnonia]], a Brythonic kingdom in [[w:South West England|Southwestern Britain]].<ref>[[w:John Edward Lloyd|Lloyd, John Edward]].'' He [http://books.google.com/books?id=NYwNAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Lloyd+history+of+Wales#v=onepage&q=&f=false A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest].'' Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912.</ref> However, it is possible that Gildas was converted instead referring to Christianity by the territory of the [[w:Damnonii|Damnonii]] in what was later known as the [[w:Hen Ogledd|Hen Ogledd]] or "Old North". Gildas says that holy man at nearby despite swearing an oath against deceit and tyranny, Constantine disguised himself in an [[abbot]]'s robes and attacked two "royal youths" praying before a church altar, killing them and their companions.<ref group="note">"According to [[w:Geoffrey of Monmouth|Geoffrey of Monmouth]], these were, in fact, the treacherous sons of the evil usurper, [[w:Little PetherickMordred|Little PetherickMordred]] , who were killed in Winchester & London."<br>:* (David Nash Ford's '''Early British Kingdoms (EBK)'''. ''[http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/constsdm.html St. Constantine of Cornwall, King of Dumnonia (c.AD 520-576)].'' Nash Ford Publishing, 2001.)</ref> Gildas is clear that Constantine's sins were manifold even before this, as he had committed "many adulteries" after casting off his lawfully wedded wife. Gildas encourages Constantine, whom he knows to still be alive at the deer Constantine was hunting took shelter with himtime, to repent his sins lest he be damned. <ref name="EXCIDIO"/><ref name="GILES"/>

A Constantine "King '''Life of the Cornishmen" also appears in the Saint Petroc'''<br>The ''Life of Saint [[David of Walesw:Saint Petroc|Saint DavidPetroc]]'' as having given up his crown in order mentions a Constantine who was converted to enter this saint's monastery Christianity by that holy man at nearby [[w:St DavidsLittle Petherick|St David'sLittle Petherick]]after the deer Constantine was hunting took shelter with him.

====Scotland and Ireland====The conversion '''Life of a ConstantineSaint David'''<ref group="note"br>A Constantine "Conversion," be it noted is a term which may apply either to the acceptance King of the Christian faith or to the adoption of monastic life.</ref> is Cornishmen" also recorded appears in the ''Life of [[w:Annals David of UlsterWales|Annals of UlsterSaint David]]'' as having given up his crown in 588 and a Constantine appears in the ''Breviary of Aberdeenorder to enter this saint'' as entering a s monastery in Ireland incognito before joining at [[Kentigern of Glasgoww:St Davids|Saint MungoSt David's]] (alias Kentigern) and becoming a missionary to the Pictsin Wales.

According to Bishop '''Geoffrey of Monmouth'''<br>Much later, [[w:Richard ChallonerGeoffrey of Monmouth|Richard ChallonerGeoffrey of Monmouth]]'s life of ''"Saint Constantine, Prince and Priest",'' included the figure in his pseudohistorical chronicle ''' ''[http[w://books.google.ca/books?id=JbZWQAAACAAJ&dq=Britannia+Sancta&hl=en&ei=jixlTv3lGKb40gG_gZGECg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA Britannia SanctaThe History of the Kings of Britain|Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' , adding fictional details to [[Gildas|Gildas]]''' (1745)account and making Constantine the successor to King Arthur as King of Britain. Under the influence of Geoffrey, cited by William Canon Fleming derivative figures appeared in ''A Complete History a number of the British Martyrs'' (1902):later works.

<blockquote>Martyred at [[w:Mull '''Annals of Kintyre|Cantyre]], in Scotland, on March 11th, 590.Ulster'''<br>"The Scottish Breviaries commemorate on March 11th the Feast conversion of Saint a Constantine<ref group="note">"Conversion, Martyr. He " be it noted is said a term which may apply either to have been a prince who, after the death acceptance of his princess, retired from the world, and, having resigned his kingdom Christian faith or to his son, became a monk in the Monastery adoption of [[w:St Davids|Saint David's]]monastic life. Going afterwards to Ireland, he entered a religious house at St. Carthag at [[w:Rahan, County Offaly|Rathene]], where, unknown to any, he served for four years at a mill, until his name was discovered. He was then fully instructed, ordained priest, and sent as a missionary to the Picts </ref> in 588 AD is also recorded in Scotland. Having for many years laboured with Saint [[Columba of Iona|Columba]] for their conversion, he established a religious community of men at [[w:Govan|Govan]], and converted the inhabitants of ''[[w:Mull Annals of KintyreUlster|CantyreAnnals of Ulster]] to Christianity. At length the happiness he so long desired came to him in his advanced age; he was [[Martyr|slain]] by infidels actuated by hatred of the Christian religion''."<ref name="FLEMING"/></blockquote>

In addition, the ''Life 'Breviary of Saint KentigernAberdeen''' names another [[Constantine of Strathclyde|<br>A Constantine]] ([[March 11]], †ca.640) as also appears in the son and successor [[w:Riderch I ''Breviary of Alt Clut|Riderch Hael]], king of Alt Clut, later known Aberdeen'' as entering a monastery in Ireland incognito before joining [[w:Kingdom Kentigern of StrathclydeGlasgow|StrathclydeSaint Mungo]].<ref>Clarkson, Tim (Winter 1999alias Kentigern)and becoming a missionary to the Picts. "[http://www.mun.ca/mst/heroicage/issues/2/ha2rh.htm Rhydderch Hael]". ''The Heroic Age'' '''1''' (2). Retrieved August 12, 2009.</ref>

[[Image:Constantine Church and Yard.jpg|right|thumb|[[w:Constantine, Cornwall|Constantine, in Kerrier]]: The 15th century Church, dedicated to Saint Constantine.]]The two major centers for the cult of Saint Constantine (of Dumnonia) were the church in [[w:Constantine, Cornwall|Constantine Parish]] , and the Chapel of Saint Constantine in [[w:St Merryn|St Merryn]] Parish (now [[w:Constantine Bay|Constantine Bay]]), both in Cornwall,.<ref>Orme, Nicholas. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=JxIjiMStTKIC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q&f=false The Saints of Cornwall].'' Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0198207654</ref> and both Both of which these may have originally supported monastic establishments, although this has been challenged.<ref group="note">However, Dr. Lynette Olson (1989) has challenged Charles Henderson's assertion (Henderson 1937) that there was a monastic establishment at [[w:Constantine, Cornwall|Constantine, Kerrier]], Cornwall.</ref>

The saint at [[w:Constantine Bay|Constantine Bay]] was almost certainly the 'wealthy man' of this name mentioned in the ''Life of Saint [[w:Saint Petroc|Petroc]].'' 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 [[w:St Merryn|St Merryn]].  In addition, Constantine's name is given to the parish church of Milton Abbot in Devon, as well as to extinct chapels in [[w:Illogan|Illogan]] and Dunterton.

The [[w:Govan Old Parish Church|monastery at Govan]] however is said to have been founded by Saint [[Constantine of Strathclyde]] whose shrine at Govan is still in existence. English archaeologist and historian [[w:Ralegh Radford|C. A. R. Radford]] has said that the Constantine whose shrine is at [[w:Govan Old Parish Church|Govan ]] ([[Constantine of Strathclyde]]), and the Constantine connected to an important church in the Deanery of [[w:Kirkcudbrightshire|Desnes]] ([[w:Diocese of Galloway|Diocese of Galloway]]) are possibly different men, though although the two are inextricably conflated in the hagiographical literature.<ref>[[w:Ralegh Radford|C. A. Ralegh Radford]] (Fellow of the British Academy). ''"[http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-769-1/ahds/dissemination/pdf/vol11/11_105_126.pdf The Early Church In Strathclyde and Galloway]".'' '''Medieval Archaeology''', 11 (1967), pp.105-126. p.118.</ref>

'''OtherMonographs'''* [[w:Charles Henderson (historian)|Henderson, Charles]] (d. 1933), and [[w:Gilbert Hunter Doble|G. H. Doble]] (editor) (1937Ed.). ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=rhfyMAAACAAJ&dq=A+history+of+the+parish+of+Constantine+in+Cornwall&hl=en&ei=ASFoTtvBKsPi0QH1r9DKCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA A history of the parish of Constantine in Cornwall].'' Truro: Royal Institution of Cornwall. (pp.42–43 + footnote), 1937.