Edict of Milan

The 313 agreement associated with Constantine and Licinius that established religious toleration for Christians in the Roman Empire and ordered the return of confiscated Christian property.

Constantine the Great: Roman emperor who ruled from 306 to 337 and promoted Christianity while retaining imperial authority. He negotiated the settlement with Licinius and helped make its protections imperial policy.
Religious Toleration: A policy allowing people to practice religions without state punishment for their beliefs. The agreement applied this principle to Christians and other religious groups.
Constantinian Shift: The transformation of Christianity's status and imperial relationship during Constantine's reign. The agreement marks an early legal turning point in that broader transformation.
Edict of Serdica: The 311 decree by Galerius that granted Christians permission to worship before the Milan agreement. It shows that persecution had already been formally relaxed before Constantine and Licinius met.
Licinius: Roman emperor who ruled in the eastern provinces and later shared power with Constantine. He joined Constantine at Milan and issued the toleration measures in the eastern empire.
Rescript of 311: The decree by Galerius that ended the persecution of Christians and allowed them to worship. It established an earlier, limited precedent for the toleration reaffirmed in 313.
Christianization of the Roman Empire: The gradual adoption of Christianity across Roman institutions and society from the fourth century onward. Legal toleration opened conditions for Christianity's growing public presence, but did not itself complete the process.
Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire: The state-led punishment of Christians in the Roman Empire, varying by place and period. The agreement rejected coercive suppression as imperial policy toward Christian worship.
Diocletianic Persecution: The empire-wide persecution of Christians launched under Diocletian in 303. The settlement reversed policies that had imprisoned Christians and seized their property.
Lactantius: A Christian author and rhetorician whose works describe the Great Persecution and Constantine's reign. His account preserves a Latin version of the orders issued after the Milan meeting.

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