Konstantin – Crispus – Fausta: Einige Beobachtungen und Bemerkungen zur Debatte um das Jahr 326

Although Constantine the Great played a major role in the formation of christianity, scholars often bring into sole focus the religious developments of his time and therefore exclude the broader and more heterogeneous spectrum of historical developments. Thus, it is a little known fact that Constantine’s first born son Crispus and the first christian emperor’s first wife lost their lifes under mysterious circumstances. The professional world brought forward manifold explanations and among them is the article’s point of origin located. Battistella surveys the different theories postulated within the scientific community and points to individual inconsistencies and states some problems. He articulates precisely the tendentious quality of the historical sources and accentuates their philological complexity on the one hand. On the other hand, he points to the scholarly procedure’s possible effects on the public’s historical thinking (“Geschichtsbewusstsein”).