NICEA
A small city where the famous Council of Nicea was called by
Constantine to settle some disputes in the church.
After his so-called conversion (there is a great deal of dispute
among scholars whether he did actually convert or not),
the Edict of Milan granted toleration of the
Christians and restored their confiscated property.
He began to lavish gifts and power to the church, and viewed the
unity of the church as an important pillar of his empire.
Thus, when the problem of
Arianism
continued to rage among the churches which
threatened the unity of his empire,
he personally directed that the bishops meet in the summer
of 325 A.D. in Nicea to deal with this issue.
More than 250 bishops attended.
The arguments, however, were above Constantine himself,
and so Constantine remained simply a moderator of the council.
From this meeting came the
Nicene Creed,
an important statement of belief for the Christians.
It also decided on various important behavioral issues
within the Church, called the Canons of Nicea.
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