International Conference on "Constantine the Great, at the roots of Europe"

April 17, 2012: An International Study Conference on "Constantine the Great, at the roots of Europe " is being organized from 18-21 April by the Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences, to mark the 1700^th anniversary of the Battle of Milvian Bridge and the conversion of Constantine, revealed at a press conference held at the Vatican press office on Tuesday.
The conference will open on Wednesday in the Synod in Vatican, continues at the Teutonic College on April 19 and at the Pontifical Lateran University on April 20, and ends on Saturday, April 21 at the Vatican.
The conference is the first of a diptych which will be completed in 2013 in Milan, for the 1700 anniversary of the so-called Edict of Milan, said Ardura Bernard, O. Praem. President of the Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences, at the Press conference. The conference will focus on research in progress, having as main purpose to shed light on the context in which Constantine lived, beginning with his education and the relations between Christians and the Roman Empire before 313, he added.
There will be discussions on the conversion of Constantine, on his baptism and his attitude towards the Christians in the aftermath of the Battle of Milvian Bridge. In 313, with his colleague Licinius, who now controlled the eastern part of the empire, Constantine proclaimed religious freedom for all, especially for Christians, to them he returned all property confiscated during the persecution.
The conference will also look at more complex and important issues in the history of Late Antiquity and the formidable changes in religious, political and cultural factors that have marked the last centuries of Roman Empire and the rise of medieval Europe.