Who began the fiercest persecution of the christians?

Answer 1

During the various revolutions of the empire, the Christians had flourished in relative peace and prosperity, with two brief periods of official persecution in 249-251 and 257 CE. The Great Persecution was instituted by Diocletian (284-305) in 303, and lasted until 305 in the western Empire, but until 311 in the East. During this period, nearly two thousand Christians are beleived to have died for their faith.

During more than eighteen years from the start of the reign of Diocletian, he exhibited a mild and liberal spirit of toleration towards Christianity. The emperor's principal eunuchs, Lucian and Dorotheus, Gorgonius and Andrew, were Christians. The bishops held an honourable rank in their respective provinces and were treated with distinction and respect, not only by the people, but by magistrates themselves. In almost every city, the ancient churches were being replaced by more stately and capacious edifices for the public worship of the faithful.

Meanwhile, Diocletian's two associates, Maximian and Galerius, held the most implacable aversion for Christianity. Examples of Christian civil disobedience, even treason, were becoming widespread and well known. It seemed that the Christians, renouncing the gods and institutions of Rome, had constituted a distinct republic that needed to be suppressed before it had acquired any military force. It was atready governed by its own laws and magistrates, was possessed of its own public treasury and was intimately connected to all its parts bv the frequent assemblies of the bishops, to whose decrees their numerous and.opulent congregations yielded obedience before their obedience to the emperor.

It was enacted that the churches, in all the provinccs of tho empire, should be demolished to thcir foundations; and the punishment of dcath was denounced against all who attempted to hold any secret assemblies for the purpose of religious worship. The judges were authorised to hear and to determine any action that was brought against a Christian, but the Christians not permitted to complain of any injury which they themselves had sufferred. Within fifteen days of the edict being published, the palace of Nicomedia, even the bedchamber of Diocletian, were twice in flames. Both times they were extinguished without any material damage, but the repetition of the fire was justly considered as an evident proof that it had not been the effect of chance or negligence. The suspicion naturally fell on the Christians. A few days later Galerius hastily left Nicomedia, declaring his fear that he would fall victim to the rage of the Christians. In some ways, the empire seemed to be in a state of civil war.

Galerius may have been the instigator of the Great Persecution, but it was Diocletian whoi authorised it and determined the extent to which it would be pursued.

Answer 2

There are known to have been at least three official persecutions of Christians under the pagan Roman emperors: under Decius, Valerian and Diocletian. There may also have been some limited persecution of Christians under Domitian, but Edward Gibbon (The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) says that any persecution, if it deserves that epithet, that took place was of no long duration. The greatest persecution of Christians was that under Diocletian and was known as the Great Persecution.

The bishops of Rome instigated persecution of the Donatists, a schismatic Christian sect of North Africa, until Emperor Constantine tired of persecution and decreed that the Donatists be left in peace. This makes the fourth or fifth persecution of Christians.

Perhaps the greatest persecution of Christians, although not necessarily the tenth, was the persecution of the Cathars of southern France. Pope Innocent III launched a crusade against the Cathars in 1208, lasting until 1229. This was a period when thousands of innocent Christians died, surpassing all those who died throughout the persecutions of the pagan empire. In March 1244 alone, over two hundred Cathars were burnt at the stake.

Answer 3

The group of poeple who first persecuted Christian groups were the Papacy.