the donation of constantine

The theologian, philosopher, and writer Nicholas of Cusa (l. 1401-1464 CE), best known for his work The Layman on Wisdom and the Mind, seems to have been the first to seriously question the validity of the document and declared it a forgery. For centuries, until Lorenzo Valla proved it was forgery during the Renaissance it provied the basis for papal territorial and jurisdictional claims in Italy. A freelance writer and former part-time Professor of Philosophy at Marist College, New York, Joshua J. The Donation of Constantine is located in the Sala di C… The Donation of Constantine. Mark, published on 01 July 2019 under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Composed probably in the 8th century, it was used, especially in the 13th century, in support of claims of political authority by the papacy. The vast Hall of Constantine, painted by Raphael’s most successful student Giulio Romano after Raphael’s untimely death, tells the legend of Constantine’s miraculous conversion to Christianity. The Donation of Constantine is often called the most famous forgery of all time, but actually very few people know about it outside of academic circles. The Origin and Decline of the Papal States, The Avignon Papacy - When the Popes Resided in France, Key Dates in Renaissance Philosophy, Politics, Religion, and Science, Biography of Catherine of Siena, Saint, Mystic, and Theologian, Indulgences and their Role in the Reformation, The Diet of Worms 1521: Luther Squares Off with the Emperor, The Concordat of 1801: Napoleon and the Church, Industry and Agriculture History in Europe, M.A., Medieval Studies, Sheffield University, B.A., Medieval Studies, Sheffield University. 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. Thank you! Simon LeVay's new historical novel Valla applied the textual criticism and interest in history and classics which grew so prominent in the Renaissance to show, among many criticisms and in an attacking style we might not consider academic these days, that the Donation was not written in the fourth century. Mark has lived in Greece and Germany and traveled through Egypt. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. Valla further noted anachronisms such as the use of the word satrap and certain references which clearly argued against the document’s 4th-century CE date. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Pepin, for his part, needed the Church to legitimize his reign. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. The Donation of Constantine was a document that, before it was discovered to be a hoax in the Renaissance, presumably gave the Pope supreme temporal power in the Western Roman Empire and laid the foundation of the Papal States, as well as numerous disputes with kings and emperors throughout the Middle Ages. Last modified July 01, 2019. He proclaimed it a forgery upon concluding that the Latin was too poor for a 4th-century CE Roman text, that there was no evidence of any change in the administration of the Western Roman Empire from Constantine’s time until its fall which could be attributed to such a document, that portions of the piece were blatantly plagiarized from a 5th-century CE text on Pope Sylvester’s life, and that the emperor of Rome had no legal right to cede his power to any pope. Zachary had died by this time and the new pope was Stephen II. "23 Dante marked with the Donation of Constantine The Eastern Orthodox Church denied these claims and cut contact with the west. Mark, Joshua J. Ancient History Encyclopedia. The Donation of Constantine or Donation of Rome is a painting by assistants of the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 01 Jul 2019. It appears that the rumor of a Donation or something similar had been traveling around the relevant parts of Europe since the sixth century and that whoever created it was producing something people expected to exist. The Donation, in fact, had no impact on doctrinal assertions as the primacy of the papacy had been legitimately recognized in the 4th century CE as established by Church historian Eusebius (l. 263-339 CE). 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