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The Edict of Milan was a letter signed by emperors Constantine
Constantine I

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus , commonly known in English_language as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine , was Roman Emperor from 306, and the undisputed holder of that office from 324 until his death in 337....
 and Licinius
Licinius

Valerius Licinianus Licinius was Roman emperor from 308 to 324.Of Dacian peasant origin, born in Moesia Superior, Licinius accompanied his close childhood friend, the Emperor Galerius, on the Persian expedition in 297....
 that proclaimed religious toleration
Religious toleration

Religious toleration is the condition of accepting or permitting others' religion beliefs and practices which disagree with one's own.In a country with a state religion, toleration means that the government permits religious practices of other sects besides the state religion, and does not persecute believers in other faiths....
 in the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. The letter was issued in 313 AD, shortly after the conclusion of the Diocletian Persecution
Diocletian Persecution

The Diocletianic Persecution was the last, and most severe, episode of persecution of Christians in the Roman empire. It began in 303, under the rule of Roman Emperor Diocletian and his colleagues, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius Chlorus....
.

Edict of Milan was issued in 313 AD, in the names of the Roman Emperors Constantine I
Constantine I

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus , commonly known in English_language as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine , was Roman Emperor from 306, and the undisputed holder of that office from 324 until his death in 337....
, who ruled the western parts of the Empire, and Licinius
Licinius

Valerius Licinianus Licinius was Roman emperor from 308 to 324.Of Dacian peasant origin, born in Moesia Superior, Licinius accompanied his close childhood friend, the Emperor Galerius, on the Persian expedition in 297....
, who ruled the east. The two augusti were in Milan to celebrate the wedding of Constantine's sister with Licinius.

A previous edict of toleration had been recently issued by the emperor Galerius
Galerius

Galerius Maximianus , formally Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus was Roman Emperor from 305 to 311....
 from Serdica and posted up at Nicomedia
Nicomedia

Nicomedia was founded by Nicomedes I of Bithynia at the head of the Gulf of Astacus which opens to the Propontis. In earlier antiquity, the city was called Astacus or Olbia ....
 on 13, May 311.






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The Edict of Milan was a letter signed by emperors Constantine
Constantine I

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus , commonly known in English_language as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine , was Roman Emperor from 306, and the undisputed holder of that office from 324 until his death in 337....
 and Licinius
Licinius

Valerius Licinianus Licinius was Roman emperor from 308 to 324.Of Dacian peasant origin, born in Moesia Superior, Licinius accompanied his close childhood friend, the Emperor Galerius, on the Persian expedition in 297....
 that proclaimed religious toleration
Religious toleration

Religious toleration is the condition of accepting or permitting others' religion beliefs and practices which disagree with one's own.In a country with a state religion, toleration means that the government permits religious practices of other sects besides the state religion, and does not persecute believers in other faiths....
 in the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. The letter was issued in 313 AD, shortly after the conclusion of the Diocletian Persecution
Diocletian Persecution

The Diocletianic Persecution was the last, and most severe, episode of persecution of Christians in the Roman empire. It began in 303, under the rule of Roman Emperor Diocletian and his colleagues, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius Chlorus....
.

History

The Edict of Milan was issued in 313 AD, in the names of the Roman Emperors Constantine I
Constantine I

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus , commonly known in English_language as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine , was Roman Emperor from 306, and the undisputed holder of that office from 324 until his death in 337....
, who ruled the western parts of the Empire, and Licinius
Licinius

Valerius Licinianus Licinius was Roman emperor from 308 to 324.Of Dacian peasant origin, born in Moesia Superior, Licinius accompanied his close childhood friend, the Emperor Galerius, on the Persian expedition in 297....
, who ruled the east. The two augusti were in Milan to celebrate the wedding of Constantine's sister with Licinius.

A previous edict of toleration had been recently issued by the emperor Galerius
Galerius

Galerius Maximianus , formally Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus was Roman Emperor from 305 to 311....
 from Serdica and posted up at Nicomedia
Nicomedia

Nicomedia was founded by Nicomedes I of Bithynia at the head of the Gulf of Astacus which opens to the Propontis. In earlier antiquity, the city was called Astacus or Olbia ....
 on 13, May 311. By its provisions, the Christians, who had "followed such a caprice and had fallen into such a folly that they would not obey the institutes of antiquity", were granted an indulgence.
Wherefore, for this our indulgence, they ought to pray to their God for our safety, for that of the republic, and for their own, that the commonwealth may continue uninjured on every side, and that they may be able to live securely in their homes.


By the Edict of Milan the meeting places and other properties which had been confiscated from the Christians and sold or granted out of the government treasury were to be returned:
...the same shall be restored to the Christians without payment or any claim of recompense and without any kind of fraud or deception...


It directed the provincial magistrates to execute this order at once with all energy, so that public order may be restored and the continuance of the Divine favor may "preserve and prosper our successes together with the good of the state."

The actual edicts have not been retrieved inscribed upon stone. However, they are quoted at length in a historical work with a theme of divine retribution, Lactantius
Lactantius

Lucius Caelius Firmianus Lactantius was an early Christian author ....
' De mortibus persecutorum ("Deaths of the persecutors"), who gives the Latin text of both Galerius's Edict of Toleration as posted up at Nicomedia on 30 April 311 AD, and of Licinius's letter of toleration and restitution addressed to the governor of Bithynia, posted up also at Nicomedia on 13 June 313 AD. Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea

Eusebius of Caesarea became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima c 314. He is often referred to as the Father of Church History because of his work in recording the history of the early Christianity church, especially Chronicon and Church_History_....
 translated both into Greek in his History of the Church (Historia Ecclesiastica
Church History (Eusebius)

The Church History of Eusebius of Caesarea was a fourth-century pioneer work giving a chronological account of the development of Christianity from the first century....
). His version of the letter of Licinius must derive from a copy as posted up in Palestine (probably at Caesarea) in the late summer or early autumn of 313 AD, but the origin of his copy of Galerius's edit of 311 AD is unknown, since that does not seem to have been promulgated in Palestine.

See also

  • Constantine I and Christianity
    Constantine I and Christianity

    Constantine I, Roman Emperor adopted Christianity following his victory in the Battle of Milvian Bridge 312. Under his rule, Christianity rose to become the dominant religion in the Roman Empire, and for his example of a "Christian monarch" Constantine is revered as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church....
  • Constantinian shift
    Constantinian shift

    Constantinian shift is a term used by Anabaptist and Post-Christendom theologians to describe the political and theological aspects of the 4th century process of Constantine I and Christianity....
  • List of treaties
    List of treaties

    This list of treaties contains historic agreements, pacts, peaces, and major contracts between states, armies, governments, and tribal groups....
  • Edict of toleration
    Edict of Toleration

    An edict of toleration is a declaration made by a government or ruler and states that members of a given religion will not be persecuted for engaging in their religious practices and traditions....

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