This article is about the forged imperial decree. For the painting inspired by the decree, see The Donation of Constantine (painting).
A 13th-century fresco of Sylvester I and Constantine the Great, showing the purported Donation (Santi Quattro Coronati, Rome)A 9th century copy of the Donation of Constantine as part of the False Decretals by Pseudo-Isidore. The heading in red reads "Epistola Constantini Imperator ad Silvestrum Papam," or "Letter of Emperor Constantine to Pope Sylvester."
The Donation of Constantine (Latin: Donatio Constantini) is a forged Roman imperial decree by which the 4th-century emperor Constantine the Great supposedly transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to the Pope. Composed probably in the 8th century, it was used, especially in the 13th century, in support of claims of political authority by the papacy.[1]
In many of the existing manuscripts, including the oldest, the document bears the title Constitutum domini Constantini imperatoris.[2] The Donation of Constantine was included in the 9th-century Pseudo-Isidorean decretals. Lorenzo Valla, an Italian Catholic priest and Renaissance humanist, is credited with first exposing the forgery with solid philological arguments in 1439–1440,[3] although the document's authenticity had been repeatedly contested since 1001.[1]
^ abVauchez, Andre (2001). Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Routledge. p. 445. ISBN 978-1-57958-282-1.
^Cite error: The named reference WikisourceCatholicEncyclopedia1913 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Whelton, M. (1998). Two Paths: Papal Monarchy – Collegial Tradition. Salisbury, MA: Regina Orthodox Press. p. 113.
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The DonationofConstantine (Latin: Donatio Constantini) is a forged Roman imperial decree by which the 4th-century emperor Constantine the Great supposedly...
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Sylvester I and Constantine in a 1247 fresco Relics of Saint Sylvester in the Abbey of Saint Sylvester in Nonantola The DonationofConstantine is a document...
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with Pope Stephen II, who presented the king of the Franks a copy of the forged "DonationofConstantine" at Paris and in a magnificent ceremony at Saint-Denis...
The Donationof Sutri was an agreement reached at Sutri by Liutprand, King of the Lombards and Pope Gregory II in 728. At Sutri, the two reached an agreement...
Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The Council of Nicaea met from May until the end of July 325. This ecumenical...
the Catholic view of a universal primacy with actual universal jurisdiction. Catholicism portal Caesaropapism DonationofConstantine Erastianism Integralism...
the general provisions of the DonationofConstantine. The ban on lay investiture in Dictatus papae did not shake the loyalty of William's bishops and...
Peter's Basilica for reuse in the high altar and presbytery; The DonationofConstantine, a painting from Raphael's workshop, shows these columns in their...
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date of the writing; – second indication of forgery. Examples are: The exposure by Lorenzo Valla in 1440 of the so-called DonationofConstantine, a decree...
Racial Program for the Twentieth Century, an anti-Semitic forgery DonationofConstantine Epistolary novel False documentation Fictional book Fictitious...
acquired and held by the bishops of Rome, as landlords, from the time ofConstantine onward. This donation came about as part of a process whereby the popes...
law of the Catholic Church, the loss of clerical state (commonly referred to as laicization, dismissal, defrocking, and degradation) is the removal of a...
publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "DonationofConstantine". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company....
portal Christianity portal History portal List of Catholic saints List of popes DonationofConstantine A Western Rite Orthodox Martyrology, p. 105. Washington...
bequests to the Roman Church would become the basis of the forged DonationofConstantine centuries later. The third section narrates a dispute between Sylvester...
Consanguinity (from Latin consanguinitas 'blood relationship') is the characteristic of having a kinship with a relative who is descended from a common ancestor....
against the practice of making a donation following a baptism.: 60 Following the Edict of Milan (313), the increased power and wealth of the church hierarchy...
necessarily broad in character and limited in number. As early as the time ofConstantine I, especial insistence was put upon the obligation to hear Mass on Sundays...
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