Edict of toleration

Edict of toleration

An edict of toleration is a declaration made by a government or ruler and states that members of a given religion will not be persecuted for engaging in their religious practices and traditions. The edict implies tacit acceptance of the religion rather than its endorsement by the ruling power.

Edicts of toleration in history

* 313 - Roman Emperors Constantine I and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan that legalized Christianity across the whole Empire.

*1562 - The Edict of Saint-Germain was an edict of limited toleration issued by Catherine de' Medici (currently the regent for the young Charles IX of France) that ended insistent persecution of non-Catholics (mostly Huguenots). The persecution was a result of the Concordat of Bologna (1516). A massacre of Huguenots a few weeks later began open hostilities in the French Wars of Religion.

*1563 Edict of Tolerance (Act of Religious Tolerance and Freedom of Conscience) enacted by King John Sigismund of Transylvania gave the Unitarian Church the right to worship freely within the kingdom. Sigusmund was trying to pacify conflicts between Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Lutherans, Calvinists, and Unitarians in his realm.

* 1573 - Warsaw Confederation made all Christian confessions equal in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

*1598 - The Edict of Nantes, issued by the King of France, Henry IV, was the formal religious settlement which ended the first era of the French wars of religion. The Edict of Nantes granted to French Huguenots legal recognition as well as limited religious freedoms, including: freedom of public worship, the right of assembly, rights of admission to public offices and universities, and permission to maintain fortified towns. The Edict of Nantes, however, would be revoked in 1685 by Henry IV's grandson, Louis XIV, who once again proclaimed Protestantism to be illegal in France through the Edict of Fontainebleau.

*1781 - Bohemia

*1782 - An Edict of Toleration - also known as the Patent of Toleration - issued by the Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph II, extended religious freedom to non-Catholic Christians living in Habsburg lands, including: Lutherans, Calvinists, and the Greek Orthodox. However, in the end, Joseph's Catholic conscience got the best of him, as he rescinded his own toleration patent while on his deathbed.

*1787 - An Edict of Toleration, issued by King Louis XVI of France, ended persecutions of non-Catholics - including Huguenots.

ee also

* French Wars of Religion

External links

* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/edict-milan.html Medieval Edicts: Galerius and Constantine]


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