Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Saint Helena (1.)

HELENA, Saint, a woman of humble origin, said to have been the daughter of an innkeeper, was the wife of Constantius Chlorus. Of her nationality nothing certain is known. She had one son, Constantine the Great. In 292 a.d. Chlorus was raised to the purple by the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, and forced to divorce Helena to make room for a more noble wife. After her son became emperor she was treated with great respect and styled Augusta, and cities in Bithynia and Lysia were after her named Helenopolis. She became a Christian when her son was converted, and during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem she discovered the holy sepulchre and the true cross. Her zealous patronage of their religion made her a favourite with the Christian writers, and finally procured her the honour of canonization; but pagan historians, such as Zosimus, regard her with dislike, and even question, though without ground, the legality of her marriage. Many coins occur with the name of Helena, but it is difficult or impossible in many cases to determine whether they belong to Saint Helena or to others of the family of Constantine bearing the same name.