Anthusa of Constantinople (

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: Ανθούσα) commonly known as Saint Anthusa of Constantinople and in Orthodox usage as Saint Anthousa the Younger (750 or 757 – 801 or 808 AD) is a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

venerated in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Anthusa's

feast days The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

in the Orthodox Church are 12 and 18 April, while her feast in the Catholic Church is 27 July. In the Catholic Church, Anthusa is patroness of

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

s and

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

s. She was the daughter of Byzantine Emperor

Constantine V Constantine V (; July 718 – 14 September 775) was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able military leader, Constantine took advantage of Third Fitna, civil war ...

Life

Childhood

During a campaign in

Paphlagonia Paphlagonia (; , modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; ) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus (region), Pontus to the east, and separated from Phrygia (later, Galatia ...

, Emperor Constantine V summoned the

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

Anthusa of Mantinea Saint Anthusa of Mantinea (), also called Anthusa the Confessor was an anchoress and abbess in Constantinople during the 8th century. Anthusa became an ascetic at a young age, living in the mountains near Constantinople in complete solitude. She ...

(Saint Anthousa the Elder), who he had tortured earlier for worshipping

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

s, and asked for her prayers due to the difficulty of the empress' pregnancy. The abbess predicted the birth of twins, and the daughter was named in her honor. Anthusa of Constantinople was the daughter of the

iconoclast Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

Byzantine Emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Constantine V and one of his wives. Details about her Anthusa's birth are uncertain. According to one source, she and her brother, the future Emperor Leo the Khazar, were

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

s born on 25 January 750 to Constantine's first wife (i.e.

Tzitzak Tzitzak (; died 750), baptised Irene (), was a Khazar princess, the daughter of ''khagan'' Bihar, who became empress by marriage to Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine V (r. 741–775). Etymology According to Gyula Moravcsik, ''Tzitzak'' is most ...

), while another states that she was born in 757, a date which would make Eudokia her mother and rule out the possibility of being a twin, given that it is known for certain that Leo was born on the former date.Grierson, Philip (2001). ''Scritti Storici E Numismatici''. Centro Italiano di Studi sull'Alto Medioevo. p. 273. {{ISBN, 9788879882446.

Religious life

When Anthusa became of

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, her father urged her to marry. However, Anthusa desired

monasticism Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Chr ...

and did not follow the emperor's orders. After the death of her father, Anthusa used all her personal property to help the poor and the orphaned. The devout

Empress Irene Irene of Athens (, ; 750/756 – 9 August 803), surname Sarantapechaena (, ), was Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Eastern Roman empress, empress consort to Emperor Leo IV from 775 to 780, regent during the childhood of their son Constantine VI from ...

, Leo's consort and therefore Anthusa's sister-in-law, regarded Anthusa highly and invited her to be her co-regent during the minority of

Constantine VI Constantine VI (, 14 January 771 – before 805), sometimes called the Blind, was Byzantine emperor from 780 to 797. The only child of Emperor Leo IV, Constantine was named co-emperor with him at the age of five in 776 and succeeded him as sol ...

. However, Anthusa declined the offer. At court, she wore clothes befitting her position as the late emperor's daughter, but underneath her elaborate clothes, she wore a hair-shirt. Anthusa entered the monastery of Saint Euthymia. She was later tonsured by

Patriarch Tarasios of Constantinople Tarasios of Constantinople (also ''Saint Tarasius'' and ''Saint Tarasios''; ; 730 – 25 February 806) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 25 December 784 until his death on 25 February 806. Background Tarasios was born and ...

, and she founded the Omonoia Monastery ("omonoia" means 'concord' or 'charity') in Constantinople, which became known for its strict regulations.

Death

According to one source, Anthusa lived to the age of fifty-two, and died in 801 AD. Other sources claim that she died in 808 at the age of fifty-seven.

References

Greek Roman Catholic saints Eastern Orthodox royal saints 9th-century Christian nuns Byzantine female saints 8th-century Byzantine women 8th-century Byzantine people 9th-century Byzantine women Daughters of Byzantine emperors 750s births 800s deaths Founders of Christian monasteries 8th-century Christian nuns