An edict is a decree or announcement of a law, often associated with monarchies, but it can be under any official authority. Synonyms include "dictum" and "pronouncement". ''Edict'' derives from the Latin edictum.

Notable edicts

* Telepinu Proclamation, by Telipinu, king of the Hittites. Written c. 1550 BC, it helped archeologists to construct a succession of Hittite Kings. It also recounts Mursili I's conquest of Babylon. * Edicts of Ashoka, by the Mauryan emperor, Ashoka, during his reign from 272 BC to 231 BC. * Reform of Roman Calendar,

Julian Calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

, took effect on 1 January AUC 709 (45 BC). * Edictum perpetuum (129), an Imperial revision of the long-standing Praetor's Edict, a periodic document which first began under the late

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

(c. 509–44 BC). * Edict on Maximum Prices (301), by Roman Emperor Diocletian. It attempted to reform the Roman system of taxation and to stabilize the coinage. * Edict of Toleration (311), by Galerius before his death. This proclamation removed all previous restrictions on the Christian religion, allowing it and all other religions to be practiced throughout the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. * Edict of Milan (313), by Constantine the Great, and Licinius, the Eastern tetrarch. It declared that the

would be neutral with regard to religious worship, officially ending all government-sanctioned religious persecution, especially of Christianity. * Edict of Paris (614), by Clotaire II of Neustria. It tried to establish order by standardising the appointment process for public officials across the realm. It guaranteed the nobility their ancient rights, and in this respect has been seen as a French Magna Carta. * Edict of Pistres (864), by

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

. It reformed the West Frankish army and laid the foundations for the famous French chivalry of the High Middle Ages. It also ordered the construction of fortified bridgeheads to deal with Viking raiders. * Edict on the Transfer of the Capital (1010), by Lý Thái Tổ, founder of the Lý dynasty. The capital of Đại Cồ Việt was shifted from Hoa Lư to Đại La as a result. * Edict on the Proclamation of the Dynastic Name (1271), by Kublai Khan (Emperor Shizu) of the Yuan dynasty of China. The edict promulgated the dynastic title of "Great Yuan", officially established the Yuan dynasty as a Chinese dynasty, and explicitly claimed political succession from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. * Edict of Expulsion (1290), by King

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

. It ordered the expulsion of all Jews from England and the confiscation of their real property. * Edict of Worms (1521), by the Diet of Worms, with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V presiding. It declared Martin Luther to be an outlaw and banned the reading or possession of his writings. The edict permitted anyone to kill Luther without legal consequence. * Edict of Saint-Germain (1562), by Catherine de' Medici, Queen of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, in January 1562. It was an edict of toleration that recognized the existence of the Protestants and guaranteed freedom of conscience and private worship. It forbade Huguenot worship within towns (where conflicts flared up too easily), but permitted Protestant synods and consistories. * Edict of Nantes (1598), by King Henry IV of France. It granted all of the above listings the French Protestants (also known as

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

) substantial rights in

, a Catholic nation. * Edict of Restitution (1629), by Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II. It attempted to restore the religious and territorial settlement after the Peace of Augsburg (1555). It forbade the secularization of land and property belonging to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. * Sakoku Edict (1635), the third of a series issued by Tokugawa Iemitsu, '' shōgun'' of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

from 1623 to 1651. The Edict of 1635 is considered a prime example of the Japanese desire for isolationism (). This decree is one of the many acts that were written by Iemitsu to eliminate Catholic influence, and enforced strict government rules and regulations to impose these ideas. The Edict of 1635 was written to the two commissioners of Nagasaki, a port city located in southwestern Japan. * Edict of Fontainebleau (1685), by Louis XIV of France. It revoked the Edict of Nantes (1598) and ordered the destruction of Huguenot churches. * Sacred Edict (1670), by the Kangxi Emperor of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

of China. Made up of 16 maxims, it served to instruct the average Chinese people of the basic principles of

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...

. The Sacred Edict was subsequently expanded upon in a separate edict issued by the Yongzheng Emperor in 1724. * A French edict by Finance Minister Colbert (17th century) was intended to improve the quality of cloth. This law declared that if a merchant's cloth was not found to be satisfactory on three occasions, then he was to be tied to a post with the cloth attached to him. * Edict of Gülhane (1839), Ottoman edict that ushered in the Tanzimât period * Edict of Toleration (1839), by King Kamehameha III of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. It allowed for the establishment of the Catholic Church in Hawaii. * Hatt-ı Hümayun of 1856 (Reform Edict of 1856) by Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid I, promised equality in education, government appointments, and administration of justice to all regardless of creed. * Imperial Decree of the Declaration of War Against Foreign Powers (1900), issued in the name of the Guangxu Emperor of the

of China, declared war against the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

, the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...

, the Empire of Japan, the French Republic, the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, the Kingdom of Italy, the Kingdom of Spain, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the Kingdom of Belgium, and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

simultaneously, which culminated in the Eight-Nation Alliance Invasion. * Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor (1912), issued in the name of the Xuantong Emperor of the

of China, marked the end of the dynasty and 2133 years of imperial rule in China, whilst simultaneously transferred the sovereignty of China (including Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet) to the nascent Republic of China.

References

{{Authority control Sources of law

Notable edicts

See also

References