Edict

An edict is a decree or announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism, but it can be under any official authority. Synonyms include "dictum" and "pronouncement". Edict derives from the Latin edictum.^[1]

Notable edicts

• Telepinu Proclamation, by Telipinu, king of the Hittites. Written c. 1550 BC, it helped archeologists to construct a succession of Hittite Kings. It also recounts Mursili I's conquest of Babylon.
• Mauryan emperor, Ashoka
  , during his reign from 272 BC to 231 BC.
• Reform of Roman Calendar, Julian Calendar, took effect on 1 January AUC 709 (45 BC).
• Edictum perpetuum (129), an Imperial revision of the long-standing Praetor's Edict, a periodic document which first began under the late Roman Republic
  (c. 509–44 BC).
• Roman Emperor Diocletian. It attempted to reform the Roman
  system of taxation and to stabilize the coinage.
• Edict of Toleration (311), by Galerius before his death. This proclamation removed all previous restrictions on the Christian religion, allowing it and all other religions to be practiced throughout the Roman Empire
  .
• Edict of Milan (313), by Constantine the Great, and Licinius, the Eastern tetrarch. It declared that the Roman Empire would be neutral with regard to religious worship, officially ending all government-sanctioned religious persecution, especially of Christianity.
• Clotaire II of Neustria. It tried to establish order by standardising the appointment process for public officials across the realm. It guaranteed the nobility their ancient rights, and in this respect has been seen as a French Magna Carta
  .
• Viking
  raiders.
• Edict on the Transfer of the Capital (1010), by Lý Thái Tổ, founder of the Lý dynasty. The capital of Đại Cồ Việt was shifted from Hoa Lư to Đại La as a result.
• Chinese dynasty, and explicitly claimed political succession from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the Tang dynasty.^[2]
• Edict of Expulsion (1290), by King Edward I of England. It ordered the expulsion of all Jews from England and the confiscation of their real property.
• Edict of Worms (1521), by the Diet of Worms, with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V presiding. It declared Martin Luther to be an outlaw and banned the reading or possession of his writings. The edict permitted anyone to kill Luther without legal consequence.
• Huguenot worship within towns (where conflicts flared up too easily), but permitted Protestant synods and consistories
  .
• Catholic
  nation.
• Edict of Restitution (1629), by Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II. It attempted to restore the religious and territorial settlement after the Peace of Augsburg (1555). It forbade the secularization of land and property belonging to the Catholic Church.
• Nagasaki
  , a port city located in southwestern Japan.
• Huguenot
  churches.
• Sacred Edict (1670), by the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty of China. Made up of 16 maxims, it served to instruct the average Chinese people of the basic principles of Confucianism. The Sacred Edict was subsequently expanded upon in a separate edict issued by the Yongzheng Emperor in 1724.
• A
  cloth. This law declared that if a merchant
  's cloth was not found to be satisfactory on three occasions, then he was to be tied to a post with the cloth attached to him.
• Edict of Gülhane (1839), Ottoman edict that ushered in the Tanzimât period
• Hawaii. It allowed for the establishment of the Catholic Church in Hawaii
  .
• Abdülmecid I
  , promised equality in education, government appointments, and administration of justice to all regardless of creed.
• Imperial Decree of the Declaration of War Against Foreign Powers (1900), issued in the name of the Guangxu Emperor of the Qing dynasty of China, declared war against the Russian Empire, the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Empire of Japan, the French Republic, the German Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, the Kingdom of Spain, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the Kingdom of Belgium, and the Netherlands simultaneously, which culminated in the Eight-Nation Alliance Invasion.
• Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor (1912), issued in the name of the Xuantong Emperor of the Qing dynasty of China, marked the end of the dynasty and 2133 years of imperial rule in China, whilst simultaneously transferred the sovereignty of China (including Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet) to the nascent Republic of China.^[3][4][5]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edicts.

Look up edict in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Edict of government, a category of uncopyrightable works according to the US Copyright Office
• Decree
• Fatwa
• Proclamation
• Rescript
• Official communications of the Chinese Empire
• All articles on English Wikipedia starting with "Edict"

References