Download THE EDICT OF MILAN (313 A

THE EDICT OF MILAN (313 A.D.)
Background:
 The persecution of the Christians started as early as the 1st
century but was sporadic, localized, and regional.
 Around 303 A.D., Emperor Diocletian unleashed one of the
worst persecutions ever since it was an ‘empire-wide’ ruling
that all citizens must sacrifice to the Roman gods.
 The persecution of Christians was cruel and violent with the
intent of using their death for entertainment purposes.
 Initially, Christians were thought to be a part of the Jewish
religion and therefore, exempt from the idol worship of Roman
gods. Once the distinction was made that Christians were
different from Judaism, Christians were no longer exempt. This
was around the time of Emperor Nero.
 At around this time in 300’s A.D. that the Roman Empire had
become so huge that Diocletian decided to divide the whole
empire into an Eastern and a Western Empire each with a ruler
that answered to Diocletian.
Enter Constantine
 Constantine was borne of a father who was also a “co-emperor”
and a mother who was a Christian convert (St. Helen)
 Constantine was ambitious and capable of kindness and cruelty
 He did not share the same hatred of Christians.
 Although he adopted Christian practices, he did not publicly
profess his Christianity.
 In 306 A.D., he was proclaimed as ‘emperor’ of the Western
Roman Empire by Diocletian.
 After Diocletian’s death, Constantine and his brother-in-law
battled for power.
 It was at the Battle of Milvian Bridge along the Tiber River that
supposedly Constantine had a vision of a cross in the sky with
the words “By this sign, conquer” that led him to victory over
his brother-in-law Maxentius. (312 A.D.)
The Edict
 In 313 A.D., both Constantine and Licinius announced that
Christians may practice their faith freely without persecution.
 This edict was met with both expectation and skepticism.
 This edict began as a charter of liberation for Christians.
Post-declaration
 Constantine built magnificent churches for worship
 Sunday was proclaimed as a day of rest
 Crucifixion was abolished
 Constantine encouraged Christian customs and feasts.
 In 325 A.D., Constantine encouraged bishops to convene the
Council of Nicaea to combat the Arian heresy and to proclaim
the Nicene Creed that Christ is the only begotten Son of God the
Father.
 With all this, Constantine himself did not necessarily practice
Christianity: he had his political opponents tortured and killed.
He had Licinius, his brother-in-law, executed because he still
persecuted Christians in the Eastern Empire. Constantine also
had his ex-wife Fausta killed as well as Crispus, his son with
Fausta, killed.
 With all this political turmoil, Constantine’s mother, Helena,
embarked on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to discover the
holiest sites of Christianity.
Other Significant Outcomes of the Edict of Milan
I.
Constantine decides to move the capital of the empire to the
Greek town of Byzantium.
For a number of reasons:
1. Rome was still pagan to some degree or another. He
wanted a city built that was originally Christian.
2. Constantine had too many political enemies in Rome.
II.
3. Byzantium, later known as Constantinople, was near
major trade routes and virtually impregnable, unlike
Rome.
Moving to Constantinople had its consequences
1. The Eastern Church (Byzantium) became more
Hellenized (Greek-speaking, Greek-thinking, and Greek
in worship)
2. The Eastern emperors became dominant in the Church
affairs that there was no separation of Church and state.
3. When Rome eventually fell to the barbarian invasions in
the 5th Century, Constantinople thrived for a thousand
years.
4. Heresies abound, many from the Eastern churches
5. The hellenization of the Eastern Church while the
Western Church remained Roman (Latin) caused a rift
between the East and the West which later became the
East-West Schism.
6. Constantine’s move to Byzantium forced the Church in
Rome to its own devices and ‘separate’ from imperial
meddling. (Although centuries later, the kings of
Germany and France did)
7. The papacy acquired the Papal States which became a
‘buffer zone’ against invasion from other European
kingdoms.