The Edict of Milan was a proclamation that permanently established religious toleration for Christianity within the Roman Empire. Issued jointly by Emperors Constantine I and Licinius, the edict followed decades of periodic and sometimes brutal persecution of Christians. It did not make Christianity the official religion—that would happen later under Theodosius I—but it gave Christians the legal right to organize and returned confiscated property to them. This was a pivotal moment in Western history, as it allowed Christianity to come out of the shadows and begin its transformation from a minority sect into the dominant religious and cultural force of the Empire. Constantine's personal support for the faith, following his vision at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, signaled a fundamental shift in the relationship between the Roman state and religious institutions.