Donation of Constantine

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Description

The Donation of Constantine is a forged Roman imperial decree by which the 4th-century emperor Constantine the Great transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to the Pope. It was probably used in the 8th century, especially in the 13th century, to support claims to political authority by the Pope. In many extant manuscripts, including the oldest, the document is titled (Constitutum Domini Constantini imperatoris). Constantine’s donation was included in the 9th-century collection of Pseudo-Isidorean Decretals.