The Council of Nicaea fixes a creed

Emperor Constantine convened bishops to settle the Arian controversy; the resulting creed defined the core of Christian orthodoxy.

Why it matters

Nicaea shows a Roman emperor using state power to standardize doctrine — governance applied to belief. Its creed still divides Christians who recite it from those who rejected it.

People

Constantine I

Related events

• c. 30 CE – 100 CE

  Christianity emerges from Judea

  The teachings and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, carried by missionaries like Paul across the empire, founded communities that became the Christian church.

  Religion · middle east

• c. 397 CE – 400 CE

  Augustine writes the Confessions

  Augustine of Hippo invented the introspective autobiography, probing memory, time, will and desire in his search for God.

  Philosophy · europe

• 529 CE – 534 CE

  Justinian codifies Roman law

  The Corpus Juris Civilis distilled a thousand years of Roman legal writing into an ordered body of statute, commentary and instruction.

  Knowledge · middle east

Sources

• Encyclopædia Britannica — First Council of Nicaea