Edict of Milan, 313

Edict of Milan

Meeting at Milan, Constantine and Licinius agreed to grant Christians and everyone else freedom of worship and to return confiscated church property, ending the age of persecution.

Date

February 313month known

Place

Milan (Mediolanum)today: Milan, Italy · Western and Central Europe

Participants

Constantine the Great, Licinius, Roman Empire

Threads

Europe in the Roman age (1st–5th c.)

Also known as

Edictum Mediolanense; Миланское соглашение

The two emperors met at Milan in February 313, when Licinius married Constantine’s half-sister Constantia. The policy they agreed is known from a letter Licinius sent to the governors of the East, posted at Nicomedia on 13 June 313 and preserved by Lactantius in Latin and by Eusebius in Greek. It went beyond Galerius’s edict of 311 by ordering the return of churches and property, with compensation for their current holders.

Historians point out that no formal “edict” was issued at Milan, but the agreement marked the turning point: Christianity became a lawful and soon a favoured religion, with far-reaching consequences for the empire and for Europe.

Connections

Causes and preconditions

Battle of the Milvian Bridge28 October 312 · Western and Central Europe

Related events

Great Persecution24 February 303 – 313 · Balkans and Anatoliathe Milan agreement ended the persecution

Same participants

First Council of Nicaeabetween May and June 325 – between July and August 325 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Constantine the Great

Same place

Establishment of the Tetrarchy1 March 293 · Western and Central Europe

Division of the Roman Empire17 January 395 · Western and Central Europe

Siege of Pavia and fall of the Lombard kingdomSeptember 773 – June 774 · Western and Central Europe

Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supperc. 1495 – 1498 · Western and Central Europe

Voltaic pile20 March 1800 · Western and Central Europe

Meanwhile in the world

Other regions, within 25 years of this event

Eastern Europe

Kyiv culturec. 200 – between 400 and 430
Chernyakhov culturebetween 200 and 250 – between 400 and 430

Balkans and Anatolia

Great Persecution24 February 303 – 313
First Council of Nicaeabetween May and June 325 – between July and August 325
Founding of Constantinople11 May 330