(In)tolerance and Consensus. Constantine's Political and Religious Legacy (335-343) ; (In)tolerancia y consenso: el legado políticoreligioso de Constantino (335-343)

Abstract

Constantine's political and religious legacy must be looked at beyond the tolerance decreed at Milan in 313. The numerous ecclesiological and doctrinal conflicts which Christianity suffered throughout the reign of this emperor led him to reconsider his religious policy and to advocate the search for a consensus which would allow a more effective government for the whole of Christianity. However, far from obtaining the expected result, consensus failed due to the existence of two legitimate references to re-establish religious concord: the Council of Nicaea and the practice of having civil power intervene in the synods summoned during the last years of Constantine's rule, especially the Synod of Tyre of 335. Constans and Constantius ii, sons and heirs of the former, would use Constantinian praxis at Nicaea and Tyre, respectively, as a reference, promoting the rupture of the homogeneity and consensus which their father had attempted to establish with so much effort and so little success. ; El legado político-religioso de Constantino debe contemplarse más allá de la tolerancia decretada en Milán en 313. Los numerosos conflictos doctrinales y eclesiológicos que sufre el cristianismo durante el reinado de este emperador obligan a replantear su política religiosa y abogar por la búsqueda de un consenso que posibilite un gobierno más efectivo sobre el conjunto de la Cristiandad. Sin embargo, lejos de obtener el resultado apetecido, el consenso fracasara debido a la existencia de dos referencias legítimas para establecer la concordia religiosa: el concilio de Nicea y la práctica de intervención del poder civil en los sínodos reunidos los últimos años de mandato de Constantino (especialmente el de Tiro de 335). Constante y Constancio ii, hijos y herederos del anterior, tomaran como referencia la praxis constantiniana en Nicea y en Tiro, respectivamente, promoviendo la ruptura de la homogeneidad y el consenso que, con tanto empeño como escaso éxito, trato de establecer su padre.