Patronage
3 saints are venerated as patrons of rulers, led by Constantine the Great (feast day May 21).
272 — 337 · Feast day: May 21
The first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine turned the empire from a persecutor of Christians into their patron. His Edict of Milan (313) granted legal toleration to Christianity and all religions across the empire, while his convening of the Council of Nicaea (325) produced the Nicene Creed, the enduring statement of Christian orthodoxy.
347 — 395 · Feast day: January 17
The last emperor to rule both halves of the Roman Empire, Theodosius established Nicene Christianity as the official state religion with the 380 Edict of Thessalonica and confirmed its orthodoxy at the First Council of Constantinople in 381. A capable general who ended the Gothic War and defeated two usurpers, he is remembered in Christian tradition above all for submitting to public penance imposed by St. Ambrose after ordering the Massacre of Thessalonica in 390.
849 — 899 · Feast day: October 26
The only English monarch styled 'the Great,' Alfred defended Wessex against Viking invasion while rebuilding the intellectual life that the invasions had nearly destroyed. Dismayed by the collapse of Latin learning, he personally translated Boethius, Gregory the Great, and Bede into Old English so that his people could read the works that had shaped Christian civilization.