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The Donation of Constantine (Latin: Donatio Constantini) is a forged Roman imperial decree by which the emperor Constantine the Great supposedly transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to the Pope.
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Lorenzo Valla, Discourse on the Forgery of the Alleged Donation of Constantine
The Donation of Constantine (Constitutum Constantini), the most famous of all medieval forgeries, was probably written in the eight century, and at the time established the legal basis for the clerical supremacy of Pope Sylvester and his successors; it also ceded vast regions of Constantine’s empire to the Vatican. A wide-ranging document, it was supposed to have been authored by the Emperor Constantine himself. The Donation begins by recounting Constantine’s conversion to the Christian faith and his being healed of leprosy by Sylvester, the Bishop of Rome. Having testifies thus, Constantine then supposedly goes on to grant to Sylvester primacy over all other patriarchates, making him chief of all Christian clergy, and creates in the papacy an imperial empire of sorts, with extensive territorial claims at its disposal. Parts of this forgery were included in medieval canon law, and the validity of the document, and therefore the legitimacy of Papal claims based upon it, continued to be asserted well into the fifteenth century.
A rise in skepticism in general and more directly toward the assumed piety and power of the Catholic Church was one of the hallmarks of Renaissance thought, culminating in the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. As the foundation of many of the inherent rights and privileges of the Church, The Donation of Constantine came to be viewed by many with a far more critical eye during the Renaissance, and it was in of this atmosphere of questioning that Lorenzo Valla, an Italian humanist and rhetorician, came to examine the forged document. It must also be noted that Valla’s patron at the time was Alfonso of Aragon, who was involved in a territorial conflict with the Papal States, and it must be assumed that Valla was prodded by his loyalty to Alfonso. As long as The Donation of Constantine continued to be accepted as valid, competing claims by monarchs such as Alfonso could be characterized as not merely flawed, but in fact anti-Christian. Valla would set out to change that.
Early in his discourse, Valla acknowledges that he is likely to encounter violent opposition due to his efforts, but gamely asserts that “…to give one's life in defense of truth and justice is the path of the highest virtue, the highest honor, the highest reward.” (Valla, 23) He also provides an ethical imperative to his attack on the Church saying, “Nor is he to be esteemed a true orator who knows how to speak well, unless he also has the courage to speak. So let us have the courage to accuse him, whoever he is, that commits crimes calling for accusation.” (Valla, 23)
On the _Discourse on the Forgery of the Alleged Donation of Constantine_.html
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Lorenzo Valla, Discourse on the Forgery of the Alleged Donation of Constantine
The Donation of Constantine (Constitutum Constantini), the most famous of all medieval forgeries, was probably written in the eight century, and at the time established the legal basis for the clerical supremacy of Pope Sylvester and his successors; it also ceded vast regions of Constantine’s empire to the Vatican. A wide-ranging document, it was supposed to have been authored by the Emperor Constantine himself. The Donation begins by recounting Constantine’s conversion to the Christian faith and his being healed of leprosy by Sylvester, the Bishop of Rome. Having testifies thus, Constantine then supposedly goes on to grant to Sylvester primacy over all other patriarchates, making him chief of all Christian clergy, and creates in the papacy an imperial empire of sorts, with extensive territorial claims at its disposal. Parts of this forgery were included in medieval canon law, and the validity of the document, and therefore the legitimacy of Papal claims based upon it, continued to be asserted well into the fifteenth century.
A rise in skepticism in general and more directly toward the assumed piety and power of the Catholic Church was one of the hallmarks of Renaissance thought, culminating in the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. As the foundation of many of the inherent rights and privileges of the Church, The Donation of Constantine came to be viewed by many with a far more critical eye during the Renaissance, and it was in of this atmosphere of questioning that Lorenzo Valla, an Italian humanist and rhetorician, came to examine the forged document. It must also be noted that Valla’s patron at the time was Alfonso of Aragon, who was involved in a territorial conflict with the Papal States, and it must be assumed that Valla was prodded by his loyalty to Alfonso. As long as The Donation of Constantine continued to be accepted as valid, competing claims by monarchs such as Alfonso could be characterized as not merely flawed, but in fact anti-Christian. Valla would set out to change that.
Early in his discourse, Valla acknowledges that he is likely to encounter violent opposition due to his efforts, but gamely asserts that “…to give one's life in defense of truth and justice is the path of the highest virtue, the highest honor, the highest reward.” (Valla, 23) He also provides an ethical imperative to his attack on the Church saying, “Nor is he to be esteemed a true orator who knows how to speak well, unless he also has the courage to speak. So let us have the courage to accuse him, whoever he is, that commits crimes calling for accusation.” (Valla, 23)
On the _Discourse on the Forgery of the Alleged Donation of Constantine_.html
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