A Struggle for Consensus: Constantine’s Intervention in the Christian Quarrels of His Time

Abstract

Ever since the Edict of Milan was issued in 313, Emperor Constantine implemented a tolerance-based religious policy in which his intervention, both personally and by proxy, played an essential role. Tolerance would ultimately fail due to the many religious conflicts and constant doctrinal disagreements between various Christian groups, requiring new solutions in order to rule over a more peaceful population. The will to reach a doctrinal consensus that would not undermine the emperor’s powers in the management and arbitration of religious matters, as well as intervention by civil authority in fields that traditionally fell under ecclesiastic jurisdiction, would give rise to a confrontation with part of the Church which would resist the emperor’s strategy to reach a consensus in religious matters.