The Forged Donation of Constantine and Its Medieval Impact
The Donation of Constantine, a forged 8th-century document, claimed Emperor Constantine I granted Pope Sylvester I spiritual supremacy and temporal authority over Italy and the Western Empire. Scholars date its composition to the 750s or 760s, likely authored by a Lateran cleric with Pope Stephen II's consent. The forgery became the legal basis for papal temporal power and claims of supremacy over secular rulers, fueling conflicts with the Holy Roman Empire. It was exposed as a forgery in 1440 by humanist Lorenzo Valla, whose treatise became a cornerstone of antipapal rhetoric and influenced the Protestant Reformation.
Key facts
- The Donation of Constantine was forged in the 750s or 760s.
- It claimed Constantine granted Pope Sylvester I supremacy over churches and temporal authority over Italy and the West.
- The document was used to justify papal temporal power and interference in secular rule.
- Pope Leo IX first cited it in an official act in 1049-1054, contributing to the Great Schism of 1054.
- Lorenzo Valla exposed the forgery in 1440 in his 'Declamatio'.
- Valla's work was printed in 1517, the same year Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses.
- The forgery was a product of the papacy's efforts to secure independence from the Byzantine Empire.
- The Donation of Pippin (754-756) established the Papal States and was linked to the Donation of Constantine.
Entities
Institutions
- Roman Church
- Lateran
- Byzantine Empire
- Holy Roman Empire
- Carolingians
- Papal States
Locations
- Rome
- Italy
- Constantinople
- Pavia
- Gaul
- France
- Quierzy
- Ravenna
- Venetia
- Istria
- Naples
- Aragon