Constantine summons the Council of Arles as a public episcopal hearing on the African Donatist quarrel
The 1 August 314 Arles sitting is the dated conciliar hearing. In the causal graph this event weakens Judicial independence erosion (court capture), a driver that strengthens Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score — an improving welfare path.
Read the full account
The 1 August 314 Arles sitting is the dated conciliar hearing. Constantine’s documented role is: He convened and underwrote travel. Bishops judged. This hearing is a different instrument from the later 316 coercion row. Hearing versus later coercion. Later editors, printers, and excavators remain named where they appear. Bishops judged.
Context
Arles in Gaul. Caecilian versus Donatist appellants. Milan 313 is already stored as the property-restoration instrument. Named others on the file: Marinus of Arles as received chair; unnamed western bishops; Caecilian as the African file. The public setting is the file around 0314-08-01. The instrument stays Constantine summons the Council of Arles as a public episcopal hearing on the African Donatist quarrel. The setting of Constantine summons the Council of Arles as a public episcopal hearing on the African Donatist quarrel is the public file around 0314-08-01. Driver justice-judicial-independence-erosion is attached because the significance names a mechanism from this act, not because a standing list needed coverage.
That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.
Why it matters
Conciliar legal access. Welfare reading improving. Lag to any modern indicator is not treated as zero. This path is attached because the mechanism is named from this act, not because a driver list needed coverage. The welfare reading on this path is improving.
Shared responsibility is part of Constantine summons the Council of Arles as a public episcopal hearing on the African Donatist quarrel. Naming Constantine does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 0314-08-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Constantine the Great
PersonDirect responsibility
responsibility level 0.4 · verified
He convened and underwrote travel. Bishops judged. This hearing is a different instrument from the later 316 coercion row.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactConstantine summons the Council of Arles as a public episcopal hearing on the African Donatist quarrel
- weakensDriverJudicial independence erosion (court capture)
- strengthensIndicators (4)Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score
impact weight 0.35 · Effect from 1 August 314 · verified
- Better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.25 (weight 0.35 × strength 0.72)
Observed
43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.
Normal is zero · any amount = worse
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.24 (weight 0.35 × strength 0.7)
Observed
0.55 index score (0-1) · 0.26 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normalAbove normal = better
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.24 (weight 0.35 × strength 0.69)
Observed
0.62 score from 0 to 1 · 0.25 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.37 score from 0 to 1 to 0.62 score from 0 to 1.
Above normal = better
All indicators on this path (4)
- Better
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.1 (weight 0.35 × strength 0.3)
Observed
42.5 index score (0-100) · 7.53 below the normal line (2025)
Worse than normalAbove normal = better
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.Fourth Century Christianity — The Council of Arles (AD 314)Wisconsin Lutheran College / Fourth Century Christianity · High credibility · verified
- 2.Britannica — Constantine IEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish
The Fourth Century documentary page and Britannica independently place Constantine behind the 314 Arles council. Official: Fourth Century Christianity — The Council of Arles (AD 314) (https://www.fourthcentury.com/the-council-of-arles-ad-314/ (opens in a new tab); Wisconsin Lutheran College / Fourth Century Christianity). Independent: Britannica — Constantine I (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Constantine-I-Roman-emperor (opens in a new tab); Encyclopaedia Britannica). The two URLs are different pages. Where the carrier is a later edition or a received narrative, that limit is stated rather than upgraded to an autograph. Official carrier: Fourth Century Christianity — The Council of Arles (AD 314) (https://www.fourthcentury.com/the-council-of-arles-ad-314/ (opens in a new tab); Wisconsin Lutheran College / Fourth Century Christianity). Independent carrier: Britannica — Constantine I (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Constantine-I-Roman-emperor (opens in a new tab); Encyclopaedia Britannica).
Canons and letters, not a tape of every vote. Established: a sourced public record of Constantine summons the Council of Arles as a public episcopal hearing on the African Donatist quarrel under 0314-08-01.
If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.
Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.
Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Hearing versus later coercion. Mixed effects of Constantine summons the Council of Arles as a public episcopal hearing on the African Donatist quarrel are separate paths.
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorConstantine the Great
- contributed toFactConstantine summons the Council of Arles as a public episcopal hearing on the African Donatist quarrel
- weakensDriverJudicial independence erosion (court capture)
- strengthensIndicatorRule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). Constantine summons the Council of Arles as a public episcopal hearing on the African Donatist quarrel. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/co-arles-314
https://factrail.ai/facts/co-arles-314
Accessed 16 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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