Early Christian churches in Milan

45°28′N 09°11′E / 45.467°N 9.183°E / 45.467; 9.183

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Early Christian churches in Milan are the first churches built immediately after the Edict of Milan (Edictum Mediolanense) in February 313, issued by Constantine the Great and Licinius, which granted tolerance and religious liberty to Christianity within the Roman Empire.

Historical and artistic context

Ever since the fall of the

During the

An edict of toleration was issued by the emperor

It was from Mediolanum that the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, granting tolerance to all religions within the Empire, thus paving the way for Christianity to become the dominant religion of the Empire. Constantine was in Mediolanum to celebrate the wedding of his sister to the Eastern Emperor, Licinius. The agreement between Constantine and Licinius directed the provincial magistrates to execute its orders at once and with all energy, so that public order may be restored and the continuance of the Divine favour may "preserve and prosper our successes together with the good of the state." It marked the beginning of profound and radical transformations; the encouragement of Christian worship led to the methodical destruction of Christian monuments invisible to the authorities.

Stones taken from the

The early Christian basilicas in Mediolanum can be divided into several categories, corresponding to their periods.

The first basilicas we know are divided into two separate churches, one for the

Basilica di Santa Tecla (45°27′50″N 45°27′50″E / 45.46389°N 45.46389°E / 45.46389; 45.46389), whose ruins can be visited under the Milan Cathedral, has apse of traditional type, reminiscent of those of the churches annexed to great civic buildings.

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A later stage corresponds to that of the great cathedrals of the late Roman Empire. They are formed by a polygonal shape and cross-stitch. These churches were the models adopted for some of the largest most famous basilicas of the late Roman Empire, such as those in Constantinople.

The religious center of the city, now Piazza del Duomo, included two cathedrals: the basilica vetus or basilica minor, used during the winter season, and basilica nova or basilica major, used during the summer. These churches are only partly known because the Milan Cathedral has been built over there.^[6]

• Basilica vetus (313)
• Basilica di Santa Tecla
  / Basilica maior
• Basilica of San Lorenzo (c. 370)^[7]

doctors of the Church, he is patron saint

of Milan.

When

Aemilia provinces, arrived with soldiers from the Roman army to suppress the violence by force.^[8] According to Ambrose's Sermon Against Auxentius and his 76th Epistle when the bishop was summoned to the court of the boy-emperor Valentinian II (r. 375–392) and his Arian Christian mother Justina in 385, the Nicene Christians appeared en masse to support him, threatening the emperor's security and offering themselves to be martyred by the army.^[8] In March 386, the court asked that the city's summer-time cathedral, the Basilica Nova, be made available for the Arians for Easter; Ambrose refused.^[8] On Palm Sunday, Ambrose rejected the court's request to use the Portian Basilica instead, and the Nicene Christians occupied the building.^[8] On Holy Wednesday, the army surrounded the Portian Basilica, but Ambrose held a service at the wintertime Basilica Vetus, after which the Nicenes moved to rescue their co-religionists in the Portian Basilica, among them Augustine of Hippo and his mother, chanting Psalm 79.^[8]

Ambrosian churches

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With the Roman governor and bishop Ambrose began a program to build basilicas dedicated to various categories: a basilica for the

martyrs (martyrium, which later housed his remains and became the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio), one for the virgins (Basilica of San Simpliciano

).

The first Ambrosian church in Milan was founded by Saint Ambrose in the 4th century. This church, known as the Basilica Ambrosiana, became the center of the Ambrosian Rite, which is still used in some parts of the world today. Other Ambrosian churches were later built in Milan and other cities in Italy, but the Basilica Ambrosiana remains the most important and influential of these.[9]

• Basilica martyrium / Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio (379–386)
• San Nazaro in Brolo (382–397)
• Basilica of San Simpliciano
• Basilica Salvatoris/Basilica of San Dionigi

Other churches

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Other early Christian churches in Milan that preserve some of their Palaeo-Christian appearance are:

• San Vittore al Corpo (originally the imperial mausoleum of Maximian
  (r. 285–305, 306–310))
• Basilica di San Calimero (5th-century, rebuilt 19th century)
• San Vincenzo in Prato (8th-century)

References

1. ^ Frend, W. H. C. (1965). The Early Church. SPCK. p. 135.
2. ^ ^{a b} Halsall, Paul (January 1996). "Galerius and Constantine: Edicts of Toleration 311/313". Fordham University.
   • Lactantius (1844). "34, 35, 48". In Fritzsche, O. F. (ed.). Opera: De Mortibus Persecutorum. Vol. II. Leipzig. pp. 273, 288. (Bibl. Patt. Ecc. Lat. XI)
   • University of Pennsylvania. Department of History (1907) [1897]. Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History. Vol. 4. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 28–30.
3. ^ Stevenson, J. (1965). A New Eusebius. SPCK. p. 296.
4. ^ Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5.15-17
5. ^ Benario, Herbert W. (February 1981). "Amphitheatres of the Roman World". The Classical Journal. 76 (3): 255–258.
6. ^ Lusardi Siena, Silvia (2012). Biscottini, Paolo; Sena Chiesa, Gemma (eds.). Quale cattedrale nel 313 d.C.? Nota per una messa a punto del problema del primitivo gruppo episcopale [Which Cathedral in 313 AD? Note for a Tune-up of the Problem of the Primitive Episcopal Group] (in Italian). Milan: Mondadori Electa/Mostra di Palazzo Reale (25 October 2012 – 17 March 2013). pp. 29–33.
7. ^ Sutton. Western Architecture. p. 24.
8. ^
   ISBN 978-0-521-19605-5
   .
9. ISSN 0004-3443
   .

Bibliography

• De Vecchi, Pierluigi; Cerchiari, Elda (1999). I tempi dell'arte [The Times of the Art] (in Italian). Vol. 1. Milan: Bompiani.