Edict of Milan

Background

In the late third century, the Roman Empire was governed under a system in which several emperors shared power. Beginning in 303, Emperor Diocletian issued a series of edicts directed against Christians. Under these edicts, churches were destroyed, copies of the Scriptures were burned, and clergy were arrested. This period is commonly known as the "Great Persecution."

Galerius, one of the emperors who had led the persecution, issued an edict of toleration in 311 as he lay dying. This edict permitted Christians to practice their faith and to assemble, but it made no provision for the return of confiscated property. In parts of the East, persecution continued even afterward.

Course of Events

• 312: Constantine, ruler in the West, defeated his rival Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge near Rome. According to accounts by Lactantius and Eusebius, before the battle he had his forces display a Christian symbol.
• Early 313: Constantine and Licinius, the emperor in the East, met at Milan. On this occasion Licinius married Constantine's half-sister Constantia. The two emperors reached an agreement on religious policy.
• June 313: After defeating Maximinus Daia, Licinius sent a letter from Nicomedia to the provincial governors setting out the terms of the agreement.

The surviving text is this letter. It is preserved in Latin in Lactantius's On the Deaths of the Persecutors and in Greek in Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History.

Contents

The edict has two main provisions.

• It grants all people, Christians included, the freedom to follow whatever religion they choose.
• It requires that the meeting places and communal property of Christians confiscated during the persecution be returned without delay. Those who had purchased or received such property could seek compensation from the state.

The edict did not make Christianity the state religion; rather, it permitted a variety of religions to coexist. Nicene Christianity was established as the state religion only in 380, under Theodosius I.

Results and Influence

After the edict, Christianity was able to operate publicly. Constantine granted property and privileges to the church and sponsored the construction of great basilicas. In 321 he issued a law making Sunday a day of rest, a measure linked to the observance of the Lord's Day. After defeating Licinius in 324 and becoming sole ruler of the empire, he convened the Council of Nicaea in 325. This set a precedent for imperial involvement in the church's doctrinal questions. This period marks the beginning of the transformation of the early church from a persecuted minority community into a public religion under imperial protection.

In Korean church history textbooks and sermons, the edict is often presented as the "official recognition of Christianity" (313). As a result, it is sometimes confused with the establishment of Christianity as the state religion.

Assessment

The question of the name: Since the late nineteenth century, some scholars have questioned the document's name. They point out that it was not a formal "edict" promulgated at Milan but an administrative letter sent to governors on the basis of the agreement reached there. Nevertheless, the name "Edict of Milan" remains in wide conventional use.

Religious freedom: The edict is regarded as an early instance of a state guaranteeing the individual's choice of religion. At the same time, observers note that state power subsequently turned toward suppressing groups it classified as pagan or heretical.

Denominational perspectives: The Eastern Orthodox Church venerates Constantine as a saint "equal to the apostles" and regards this period as a providential turning point at which the church obtained peace. The Catholic Church likewise generally views the edict positively as marking the end of persecution. Within Protestantism, assessments are divided. Some see it as an act of God's grace that brought persecution to an end. Free church traditions such as the Anabaptists, however, have criticized this shift as "Constantinianism," the point at which church and state became joined and the church came to rely on secular power. This discussion is frequently cited in present-day debates over the relationship between church and politics.