Laws on the Estates of Martyrs and on Church Property

Such were the benefits the emperor’s written orders secured to the persons of those who had suffered in this way for the faith. His laws also made ample provision for their property.

As for the holy martyrs of God who had laid down their lives in confessing his name, he directed that their estates should go to their nearest relatives, and, if there were none of these, that the right of inheritance should pass to the churches. Further, the emperor’s generous order directed that whatever property had been handed over from the treasury to other parties, whether by sale or by gift, together with what the treasury itself still held, should be restored to its original owners. Such were the benefits his generosity, spread so widely, gave to the church of God.