Fundacja Konstantynopola 8 listopada 324 roku i jej chrześcijańskiej konotacje
The Founding of Constantinople on November 8th 324 and its Christian connotations

Summary/Abstract: The article shows the association between the founding of Constantinople on November 8th 324 and the cult of archangel Michael, understood in the early Christian thought as one of the „incarnations” of Logos, i.e. of the pre-existent Christ. Constantinople was founded immediately after the battle of Chrysopolis, in which Constantine defeated his last Roman rival, Licinius. In the sources we notice clear reminiscences of a tradition that Constantine attributed his victory precisely to the help of Logos (St. Michael). Some indices allow us to derive this tradition from the very events connected with the battle of Chrysopolis and the founding of Constantinople. Closer reading of the sources written before the confl ict between Constantine and Licinius shows furthermore, that the symbolic explanation of Constantine’s triumph fi ts clearly in the early Christian interpretations of the struggle between Christianity and paganism and can be considered as its consequent development. Moreover, the cult of St. Michael-Logos turns out to be very tightly connected with Hagia Sophia. The evidence we have comes from the post-iconoclastic era, but many indices suggest a very early origin of this cult. Its early date may be derived from the location of the cult of St. Michael next to the Hagia Sophia’s „places of power”, as well as, again, from the image we fi nd in the evidence from Constantine’s era, most of all in the writings of Eusebius and Lactantius.

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