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The Donation of Constantine

Explore the Donation of Constantine, the famous forgery that granted the pope temporal authority over the Western Roman Empire. Learn about its origins, its use, and its eventual exposure by Lorenzo Valla.

The Donation of Constantine, the famous document supposedly issued by Emperor Constantine I in the fourth century granting the pope temporal authority over the Western Roman Empire, is one of the most consequential forgeries in the history of Western civilization. The Donation was used by the medieval papacy to justify its claims to temporal power, and it was cited for centuries by popes and their supporters. The Donation was eventually exposed as a forgery by the humanist Lorenzo Valla in 1440, and the exposure of the Donation is one of the most famous examples of the application of modern historical and philological criticism to a historical document.

The story of the Donation of Constantine is a remarkable example of the way in which a forged document can shape the course of history. The Donation was a powerful tool in the hands of the medieval papacy, and it was used to justify some of the most controversial claims of the Western church. The Donation is, in this sense, a major element of the Byzantine legacy in the West, and it is one of the most important and most controversial documents in the history of the medieval world.

The Document

The Text

The Donation of Constantine, in the form in which it has been preserved, is a document allegedly issued by Emperor Constantine I in the fourth century, during his supposed recovery from a serious illness. The document records that Constantine, while he was suffering from leprosy, was visited by the Roman bishop Sylvester, who miraculously cured him by baptizing him. In gratitude for this cure, Constantine is said to have granted to the pope and his successors temporal authority over the Western Roman Empire, including the city of Rome itself.

The document specifies the terms of the grant. The pope is to have supremacy over the principal sees of the Christian world, including the sees of Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and Jerusalem, and the pope is to have authority over all the Christian churches of the West. The pope is to be the ruler of the city of Rome and of the provinces of Italy, and the pope is to have authority over the Western Roman Empire as a whole. The document also grants the pope various symbolic privileges, including the right to wear the imperial insignia and to ride on a white horse.

The document is written in a style that is meant to be that of a fourth-century imperial decree, and it contains a number of historical and linguistic errors that would be noticed by a critical reader. The most obvious of these errors is the reference to the pope as the bishop of Rome, rather than as the patriarch of the West, a title that was not in use in the fourth century. The document also contains references to the “province of Italy” and to the “Western Empire,” terms that were not in use in the fourth century.

The Origins of the Forgery

The Papal Chancery

The Donation of Constantine was almost certainly produced in the papal chancery in the eighth century. The most likely date of the forgery is the reign of Pope Stephen II (752–757) or Pope Paul I (757–767), when the papacy was in conflict with the Byzantine emperor over the question of iconoclasm and over the question of the papal authority in Italy. The forgery was produced to provide a legal basis for the papal claims to temporal authority in Italy, claims that the Byzantine emperor had rejected.

The forgery was almost certainly produced in Rome, and it was probably the work of a member of the papal chancery who was familiar with the legal and administrative traditions of the Roman Empire. The forger drew on the language of the imperial decrees, and he was able to produce a document that was convincing to the medieval readers who were not familiar with the original texts of the imperial decrees.

The forgery was first mentioned in the historical record in the ninth century, when it was cited by the papal legates in their dispute with the Byzantine patriarch Photios. The forgery was cited again in the eleventh century, when it was used in the dispute between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire over the question of the imperial authority. The forgery was used more extensively in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when the medieval papacy was at the height of its power and when the Donation was cited as the principal legal basis for the papal claims to temporal authority.

The Use of the Donation

The Medieval Papacy

The Donation of Constantine was used by the medieval papacy to justify its claims to temporal power, especially in the period from the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries. The Donation was cited by Pope Gregory VII in his dispute with the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV over the question of investiture, and it was cited by Pope Innocent III in his claim to universal authority. The Donation was the basis of the papal claims to the territory of central Italy, which the papacy controlled as the Papal States until the unification of Italy in the nineteenth century.

The Donation was also used by the papacy in its disputes with the secular rulers of Europe, especially the Holy Roman Emperors. The Donation was cited by the popes to support their claim to be the supreme authority in the Christian world, and it was used to justify the papal interference in the political affairs of the European states. The Donation was, in this sense, a major element of the medieval political theology, and it was one of the most important documents in the development of the Western political tradition.

The Renaissance and the Reformation

The Donation of Constantine remained an important document in the political theology of the Renaissance and the Reformation. The Donation was cited by the popes of the Renaissance period, especially Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X, in their claims to temporal power, and the Donation was one of the most important documents in the development of the modern political theory.

The Donation was, however, also the subject of increasing criticism in the Renaissance. The humanist scholars of the fifteenth century, especially Lorenzo Valla, subjected the Donation to a rigorous philological and historical criticism, and they identified a number of errors and anachronisms in the document. The exposure of the Donation by Valla in 1440 was one of the most important events in the development of the modern historical criticism, and it was a major contribution to the development of the modern historical method.

The Exposure by Lorenzo Valla

The Discourse of Valla

Lorenzo Valla (1407–1457), the great Italian humanist, exposed the Donation of Constantine as a forgery in his famous Discourse on the Donation of Constantine, written in 1440. Valla’s Discourse was a systematic analysis of the Donation, in which he identified a number of linguistic, historical, and theological errors that proved that the document could not have been written in the fourth century.

Valla’s argument was based on a careful comparison of the language of the Donation with the language of the genuine fourth-century documents. Valla identified a number of words and phrases that were not in use in the fourth century but that were common in the eighth and later centuries. Valla also identified a number of historical errors, including the reference to the pope as the bishop of Rome, the reference to the “province of Italy,” and the reference to Constantinople as a major city (Constantinople was not founded until 330, and the Donation refers to it as if it were already a major city).

Valla’s argument was strengthened by the historical context of the Donation. Valla pointed out that the Donation was not mentioned by any of the early church fathers, including St. Jerome, who was a contemporary of the events supposedly recorded in the Donation. Valla also pointed out that the Donation was not cited by the popes of the early medieval period, who were the supposed beneficiaries of the document. The Donation was first cited in the late eighth century, which is consistent with the hypothesis that it was forged in that period.

The Reception of Valla’s Argument

Valla’s argument was not immediately accepted, and the Donation continued to be cited by the papacy for several centuries after the publication of Valla’s Discourse. The Donation was, however, increasingly subject to criticism, and the number of those who accepted the authenticity of the document gradually declined. The Donation was eventually abandoned as a serious historical document in the sixteenth century, and it has been universally accepted as a forgery since the seventeenth century.

The exposure of the Donation by Valla was one of the most important events in the development of the modern historical method, and it was a major contribution to the development of the modern critical study of historical documents. Valla’s Discourse is still read today as a model of the application of modern historical criticism, and it has been the basis of the development of the modern study of historical forgeries.

The Modern Significance

The Lesson of the Forgery

The Donation of Constantine is one of the most famous forgeries in the history of the world, and it has been the subject of intense scholarly study. The forgery is significant not only for its historical importance but also for its lesson about the way in which historical documents can be used and misused for political purposes.

The Donation is, in this sense, a major element of the Byzantine legacy in the West, and it is one of the most important and most controversial documents in the history of the medieval world. The story of the Donation is a powerful reminder of the importance of critical historical scholarship, and it is a major example of the way in which a single document can shape the course of history.

The Cultural Memory

The Donation of Constantine has remained a powerful cultural reference, and it has been the subject of many modern works of art, literature, and scholarship. The Donation has been cited in discussions of papal authority, the separation of church and state, and the development of the modern historical method, and it has been a major element of the modern political theory.

The Donation is also a major element of the modern discussion of the Byzantine legacy in the West. The forgery was produced in the context of the dispute between the papacy and the Byzantine emperor, and it was used to justify the papal claims to authority in the West. The Donation is, in this sense, a major element of the cultural and political history of the early medieval period, and it is one of the most important documents of the Byzantine era.

Conclusion

The Donation of Constantine is one of the most famous and most consequential forgeries in the history of Western civilization. The document, which was produced in the papal chancery in the eighth century, was used by the medieval papacy to justify its claims to temporal power, and it was cited for centuries by popes and their supporters. The Donation was eventually exposed as a forgery by the humanist Lorenzo Valla in 1440, and the exposure of the Donation is one of the most famous examples of the application of modern historical criticism to a historical document. The study of the Donation of Constantine is, in this sense, the study of one of the most important and most controversial documents in the history of the medieval world, and it is essential for understanding the Byzantine legacy in the Western world.

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