Edict of Milan

   A modern term for an edict that was issued, allegedly, by Constantine I and Licinius (qq.v.) at a meeting in Milan (q.v.) in 313. It granted religious freedom to all, and ordered previously confiscated private buildings and churches of Christians to be returned. The original version does not exist. There is only a Latin rescript preserved by Lactantius (q.v.), and a Greek translation of the rescript by Eusebios of Caesarea (q.v.) in his Ecclesiastical History. It has been argued that there never was a specific Edict of Milan, only the edict of toleration issued by Galerius (q.v.) in 311. It has also been argued that it is an edict of Licinius that simply restates Galerius's edict. In any case, since Constantine had granted such toleration in 306, and Maxentius (q.v.) had followed suit in 311, the Edict of Milan, if there ever was one, appears redundant for the western provinces.