Donation of Constantine

The Donation of Constantine (Latin, Constitutum Donatio Constantini or Constitutum domini Constantini imperatoris) is a famous forged Roman imperial edict devised probably between 750CE and 850CE. Its precise purpose is not entirely certain, but it was clearly a defence of papal interests, perhaps against the claims of either the Byzantine Empire, or the Frankish king Charlemagne, who had assumed the former imperial dignity in the West and with it the title "Emperor of the Romans". Another current theory is that the document was written during the papacy of Stephen III, around 752.

Related Topics:
Latin - Byzantine Empire - Charlemagne - Stephen III - 752

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Purportedly issued by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 324, the Donation grants Pope Sylvester I and his successors, as inheritors of St Peter, sovereignty over all the patriarchs of the Church (including the patriarch of Constantinople), as well as dominion over the city of Rome, Italy, and the entire Western Roman Empire, while Constantine would retain imperial authority in the Eastern Roman Empire from his new imperial capital of Constantinople. The text claims that the Donation was Constantine's reward to Sylvester for instructing him in the Christian faith, baptizing him and miraculously curing him of leprosy.

Related Topics:
Roman Emperor - Constantine I - 324 - Pope Sylvester I - St Peter - Sovereignty - Patriarchs - Rome - Italy - Western Roman Empire - Eastern Roman Empire - Capital - Constantinople - Leprosy

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Medieval popes used the Donation to bolster their powers and territorial claims as secular princes in medieval Italy. However, by the mid 15th-century, with the revival of Classical scholarship and textual critique, the Church had begun to realize that the document could not possibly be genuine. The Italian humanist Lorenzo Valla proved in 1440 that the Donation must be a fake by analyzing its language, and showing that while certain imperial-era formulas are used in the text, some of the Latin in the document could not have been written in the year 324. More recent scholars have further demonstrated that other elements, such as Sylvester's curing of Constantine, are later legends.

Related Topics:
Humanist - Lorenzo Valla - 1440 - Language - 324

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