Edict of Milan

Examples of Edict of Milan in the following topics:

• The Rise of Christianity

  • Persecutory laws were nullified by different emperors at different times, but Constantine and Licinius's Edict of Milan (313) has traditionally marked the end of the persecution.
  • Constantine, Caesar in the Western empire and Licinius, Caesar in the East, also were signatories to the edict of toleration.
  • In 313, Constantine and Licinius announced in the Edict of Milan "that it was proper that the Christians and all others should have liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them appeared best," thereby granting tolerance to all religions, including Christianity.
  • The Edict of Milan went a step further than the earlier Edict of Toleration by Galerius in 311 and returned confiscated Church property.
  • The Edict of Milan did, however, raise the stock of Christianity within the empire and it reaffirmed the importance of religious worship to the welfare of the state.

• The Shift East

  • The age of Constantine marked a distinct epoch in the history of the Roman Empire.
  • In 313, he met Licinius in Milan to secure their alliance by the marriage of Licinius and Constantine's half-sister Constantia.
  • During this meeting, the emperors agreed on the so-called Edict of Milan, officially granting full tolerance to Christianity and all religions in the Empire.
  • In the year 320, Licinius allegedly reneged on the religious freedom promised by the Edict of Milan in 313 and began to oppress Christians anew, generally without bloodshed, but resorting to confiscations and sacking of Christian office-holders.
  • Constantine built the new Church of the Holy Apostles on the site of a temple to Aphrodite.

• Constantine

  • The first Roman emperor to claim conversion to Christianity, Constantine played an influential role in the proclamation of the Edict of Milan in 313, which decreed tolerance for Christianity in the empire.
  • The medieval church upheld him as a paragon of virtue while secular rulers invoked him as a prototype, a point of reference, and the symbol of imperial legitimacy and identity.
  • One of his major political legacy, aside from moving the capital of the Empire to Constantinople, was that, in leaving the empire to his sons, he replaced Diocletian's tetrarchy with the principle of dynastic succession.
  • In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan decriminalizing Christian worship.
  • The emperor became a great patron of the Church and set a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor within the Church and the notion of orthodoxy, Christendom, ecumenical councils and the state church of the Roman Empire declared by edict in 380.

• The Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine the Great, and Byzantium

  • The age of Constantine marked a distinct epoch in the history of the Roman Empire.
  • The medieval church upheld him as a paragon of virtue while secular rulers invoked him as a prototype, a point of reference, and the symbol of imperial legitimacy and identity.
  • In February 313, Constantine met with Licinius in Milan, where they developed the Edict of Milan.
  • The edict stated that Christians should be allowed to follow the faith without oppression.
  • The edict protected from religious persecution not only Christians but all religions, allowing anyone to worship whichever deity they chose.

• The Development of Papal Supremacy

  • During the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire, and throughout the Middle Ages, the office of pope not only gained supremacy over the entire Christian Church but also developed political power rivaling that of the secular rulers of Europe.
  • The creation of the term "papal supremacy" dates back to the 6th century, at the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which was the beginning of the rise of the bishops of Rome to not just the position religious authority, but the power to be the ultimate ruler of the kingdoms within the Christian community (Christendom), which it has since retained.
  • With Licinius (Eastern Roman emperor), he issued the Edict of Milan, which mandated toleration of all religions in the empire.
  • In 380, the Edict of Thessalonica declared Nicene Christianity, as opposed to Arianism, to be the state religion of the empire, with the name "Catholic Christians" reserved for those who accepted that faith.
  • With the exception of Pope Martin I, no pope during this period questioned the authority of the Byzantine monarch to confirm the election of the bishop of Rome before consecration could occur.

• The Pragmatic Sanction

  • The Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 was an edict issued by Charles VI to ensure that the Habsburg hereditary possessions could be inherited by a daughter, but it was contested after Charles' death in 1740, which resulted in the War of Austrian Succession.
  • The Pragmatic Sanction was an edict issued by Charles VI on April 19, 1713, to ensure that the Habsburg hereditary possessions could be inherited by a daughter.
  • The Head of the House of Habsburg ruled the Archduchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Italian territories awarded to Austria by the Treaty of Utrecht (Duchy of Milan, Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sicily), and the Austrian Netherlands.
  • In 1700, the senior (oldest, first-in-line) branch of the House of Habsburg became extinct with the death of Charles II of Spain.
  • His son, Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria, renounced claims on Austria in exchange for the return of his paternal duchy of Bavaria.

• Louis XIV and the Huguenots

  • The Edict of Nantes was issued in 1598 by Henry IV of France.
  • Through the Edict, Henry aimed to promote civil unity. 
  • After all, the Edict of Nantes was the pragmatic concession of his grandfather Henry IV to end the longstanding French Wars of Religion.
  • The Edict of Fontainebleau revoked the Edict of Nantes, and repealed all the privileges that arose therefrom.
  • However, French society would sufficiently change by the time of Louis' descendant, Louis XVI, to welcome toleration in the form of the 1787 Edict of Versailles, also known as the Edict of Tolerance.

• Ashoka's Conversion

  • Edict 13 on the Edicts of Ashoka Rock Inscriptions reflect the great remorse the king felt after observing the destruction of Kalinga:
  • The edict goes on to address the even greater degree of sorrow and regret resulting from Ashoka's understanding that the friends and families of deceased would suffer greatly too.
  • The use of Buddhist sources in reconstructing the life of Ashoka has had a strong influence on perceptions of Ashoka, as well as the interpretations of his Edicts.
  • The only source of information not attributable to Buddhist sources are the Ashokan Edicts, and these do not explicitly state that Ashoka was a Buddhist.
  • However, the edicts alone strongly indicate that he was a Buddhist.

• The War of Austrian Succession

  • In 1713, Charles VI of the Habsburg dynasty issued an edict known as the Pragmatic Sanction.
  • The Head of the House of Habsburg ruled the Archduchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Italian territories awarded to Austria by the Treaty of Utrecht (Duchy of Milan, Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sicily), and the Austrian Netherlands.
  • Also in 1740, Frederick the Great of the Hohenzollern dynasty took the title of King of Prussia upon his father's death.
  • The War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748) escalated and eventually involved most of the powers of Europe.
  • Under the terms of the Treaty of Dresden, signed in December 1745, Austria was forced to adhere to the terms of the Treaty of Breslau giving Silesia to Prussia.

• Expansion of the Maurya Empire

  • Perhaps one of the greatest-known accomplishments of Ashoka was his creation of his edicts, which were erected between 269 BCE and 232 BCE.
  • The Edicts of Ashoka, set in stone, are found throughout the Subcontinent.
  • Ashoka's edicts refer to the Greeks, Kambojas, and Gandharas as peoples forming a frontier region of his empire.
  • Ashoka's edicts also mentioned social and cultural attributes of his empire, emphasizing Buddhism, though not condemning other religions.
  • For this, the Edicts of Ashoka are known as an early document which promoted religious tolerance.