The New International Encyclopædia/Donation of Constantine

​DONATION OF CONSTANTINE. (Lat. donatio Constantini). A forged document of uncertain date, possibly published about A.D. 754, professing to be the record of a gift bestowed by Constantine the Great upon Pope Sylvester I. By it the Bishop of Rome was granted, besides certain marks and insignia of honor, such as the tiara, the lorum and imperial robes, the temporal sovereignty over Rome and all Italy. The Donation of Constantine, though a very clumsy forgery, was regarded for a long time as genuine, but up to the twelfth century was never made use of to vindicate Papal claims. A translation of the Donation is given in Henderson, Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages (New York, 1892).


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