Edict of Milan
313 AD
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📖 About This Event
The Edict of Milan, issued in 313 AD by Emperors Constantine I and Licinius, granted religious tolerance throughout the Roman Empire, effectively ending the persecution of Christians. After Constantine's victory at the Milvian Bridge in 312 — where he reportedly saw a cross in the sky with the words 'In hoc signo vinces' ('In this sign, you will conquer') — he became the first Christian Roman emperor. The Edict declared: 'It seemed fitting to us, Constantine Augustus and Licinius Augustus, now meeting at Milan on all matters which regard the public good, to settle first those which relate to Divine providence, that belonging to God the Supreme Deity.' Both emperors granted 'Christians and all others the liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them appeared best.'
The Edict returned confiscated Christian property and allowed the Church to function openly for the first time. Constantine went further: he convened the First Council of Nicaea in 325, built churches across the Empire (including Old St. Peter's Basilica and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre), and moved the capital to Constantinople. By 380, under Emperor Theodosius I, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.
The Catholic Church sees the Edict of Milan as a turning point in Church history — the moment when the faith that began in a stable and spread through the witness of martyrs became the faith of an empire. Key Scripture: Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History; CCC 772-773
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313 AD
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