The Milan edict and the European tradition of scientific substantiation of the norms of religious freedom and tolerance

The Milan Edict (313), the Nuntian Edict (1598) and its abolition (1685), the Declaration of Tolerance (1689), adopted in England, became peculiar milestones, which reflected the concern of secular and religious-ecclesiastical authorities with large-scale and long-standing religious conflicts that from time to time grew into religious wars that destabilized states and societies. The abolition of the Nantes' edict, in particular, which at one time tried to consolidate certain rules of tolerance, equality of religious beliefs, signaled a new surge of religious persecution in France and other countries, the introduction of repressive and discriminatory measures in the religious sphere.