Donation of Constantine

E121050

The Donation of Constantine is a famous forged medieval document that purported to grant the pope vast temporal authority over the Western Roman Empire, later exposed as inauthentic by Renaissance humanists.

All labels observed (5)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf forgery ⓘ
medieval Latin document ⓘ
papal document forgery ⓘ
assertsDoctrine primacy of the bishop of Rome ⓘ
supremacy of the Roman Church ⓘ
authenticity spurious ⓘ
citedIn canon law collections ⓘ
claimsToGrant imperial regalia to the pope ⓘ
privileges to the Roman Church ⓘ
sovereignty over Italy ⓘ
sovereignty over Rome ⓘ
sovereignty over the Western Roman Empire ⓘ
temporal power to the pope ⓘ
criticizedBy Nicholas of Cusa ⓘ
Reginald Pecock ⓘ
dateOfComposition 8th century ⓘ
exposedAsForgeryBy Lorenzo Valla ⓘ
exposedAsForgeryIn 15th century ⓘ
c. 1440 ⓘ
exposedAsForgeryWork De falso credita et ementita Constantini donatione declamatio ⓘ
featuresCharacter Constantine the Great ⓘ
linked to: Constantinus Magnus

Pope Sylvester I ⓘ
genre imperial charter ⓘ
hasAuthor unknown ⓘ
historicalImpact became a central text in debates over church and state ⓘ
contributed to the theory of papal monarchy ⓘ
strengthened medieval papal claims to territory ⓘ
influenced medieval political theory ⓘ
papal-imperial conflicts ⓘ
the Investiture Controversy ⓘ
language Latin ⓘ
legalForm donation charter ⓘ
mainSubject authority of the pope over the Western Roman Empire ⓘ
papal temporal power ⓘ
narrativeEvent Constantine’s baptism by Pope Sylvester I ⓘ
Constantine’s cure from leprosy ⓘ
placeOfOrigin Papal chancery (probable) ⓘ
Western Europe ⓘ
preservedIn medieval manuscript collections ⓘ
purportedAuthor Constantine the Great ⓘ
linked to: Constantinus Magnus
purpose to justify papal temporal authority ⓘ
to support papal claims over secular rulers ⓘ
relatedTo Constantinian shift ⓘ
Papal States ⓘ
Papal supremacy ⓘ
status forgery ⓘ
usedBy medieval canon lawyers ⓘ
papacy ⓘ
pro-papal polemicists ⓘ
usedIn Gratian’s Decretum ⓘ
Pseudo-Isidorean Decretals ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (12)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Lorenzo Valla → criticized → Donation of Constantine ⓘ
imperial coronation of Charlemagne in 800 → relatedTo → Donation of Constantine (document) ⓘ
linked to: Donation of Constantine
De falso credita et ementita Constantini donatione declamatio → claimsAboutDonationOfConstantine → the Donation of Constantine is a forgery ⓘ
linked to: Donation of Constantine
Pope Sylvester I → traditionallyAssociatedWith → Donation of Constantine (legend) ⓘ
linked to: Donation of Constantine
Hall of Constantine → depicts → Donation of Constantine ⓘ
The Donation of Rome → depicts → Donation of Constantine ⓘ
The Battles of Constantine (Raphael workshop) → depicts → Donation of Constantine to the Pope ⓘ
linked to: Donation of Constantine
Sylvester I → associatedLegend → Donation of Constantine ⓘ
subject linked to: Sylvester
Saint Sylvester → legendaryAssociation → Donation of Constantine ⓘ