The Council of Milan (AD 355)
| Date | 355 |
| Location | Milan (northern Italy) |
| Summoned by | Constantius II |
| Chaired by | Dionysius of Milan? |
| Number of Participants | Few from the East and supposedly over three hundred from the West. (This is believed to be a corruption in the text, and the number was probably closer to thirty.) |
| Key Participants | Eusebius of Vercelli; Paulinus of Trier; Dionysius of Alba; Lucifer of Cagliari |
| Purpose | Pope Liberius asked Constantius to call a general council to deal with the eastern bishops’ doctrinal claims and their condemnation of Athanasius. |
| Key Events | Imperial supporters reaffirm the condemnation of Athanasius; Eusebius of Vercelli, Lucifer of Cagliari and Dionysius of Milan were exiled; the anti-Nicene Auxentius replaced Dionysius as bishop. |
| Ancient Descriptions | Hilary Liber ad Constantium 1.8; Athanasius HA 31-34; Rufinus HE 1.20; Socrates HE 2.36; Sozomen HE 4.9; Theodoret HE 2.15 (2.12 in NCPNF), Sulpicius Severus, Chronicle 2.39. |
Surviving Documents:
Letter to Eusebius of Vercelli
Bibliography
A. Di Berardino,”Milan” in The Encyclopedia of the Early Church, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).
R.P.C. Hanson, The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God, (New York: T&T Clark, 1988).
D. Williams, Ambrose of Milan and the End of the Nicene-Arian Conflicts (Oxford, 1995), pp. 52-62.
Created by MKM, JCB and PSAM
Last updated: 2-11-2025 by JSW
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