The Late Empire · document
The "Edict" of Milan
An agreement between Constantine and Licinius that granted religious freedom to all and returned confiscated property to Christians.
The hook
It’s famous as the “Edict of Milan.” It probably wasn’t an edict, and it wasn’t issued in Milan.
The story
In February 313, Constantine and his eastern co-emperor Licinius met in Milan for Licinius’s wedding to Constantine’s half-sister. They agreed on a religious policy, and Licinius later published it as a letter to provincial governors. Its key points:
- Freedom of worship for everyone, Christians included.
- Confiscated church property returned, with compensation from the treasury for buyers.
What we actually know
Two years earlier, in 311, the dying Emperor Galerius, chief architect of the Great Persecution, had already issued an edict of toleration. Milan went further by restoring property and treating Christians favorably. What survives is a rescript, a written ruling, not a formal edict. The policy was religious liberty, not a Christian state religion. Christianity became the official religion only under Theodosius I in 380 (Cunctos populos).
The Catholic thread
The text sounds surprisingly modern on freedom of conscience. It’s worth comparing with Vatican II’s Dignitatis Humanae (1965) on religious liberty.
Still standing
The principle of state toleration of religion. In 2013, Milan and Niš (Constantine’s birthplace) held 1700th-anniversary celebrations.
Teach it back
- Why is “Edict of Milan” technically a misnomer?
- What did Galerius’s edict of 311 already grant?
- When did Christianity actually become the state religion?
Sources
- Primary source On the Deaths of the Persecutors, ch. 48, Lactantius
Preserves the Latin text as Licinius posted it at Nicomedia.
- Primary source Church History, X.5, Eusebius of Caesarea
Greek version of the same text.