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Im wondering


drewmeister2

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I recently learned about the Donation of Constantine. I heard that somewhere in the 1400's, Rome found out it was forged, but still continued to claim power from it. Can anyone explain to me this situation? Is this true?

Edited by drewmeister2
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Kilroy the Ninja

Pepin the Short, the first official Carolingian King, (annointed King of the Franks by Pope Stephen II in 751) the son of Charles Martel ("Charles the Hammer" responsible for halting the Muslim invasion at the Battle of Poitiers-Tours in 732), gave the Papacy what has become known as the "Donation of Pepin" - a formal recognition by Pepin of a territory in the center of the Italian peninsula governed by the pope. From this would slowly grow the Papal States, a region ruled by the pope. The Papal States would remain important in Italian polities until the late nineteenth century, and even today the Vatican, a vestigial remain of a once greater papal territory, is an autonomous polity within Italy.

In the 740's, the papal chancery produced a document called the "Donation of Constatine" by which that first Christian emperor allegedly sent the pope the imperial crown and ceded to him governance over Rome, the Italian peninsula, and all the West. The pope was said to have returned the crown but kept the power of governance. Hence, popes could regard the Carolingians as subordinates - stewards who exercised political authority by delegation from the papacy. The "Donation of Constatine" is perhaps the most famous forged document in history.

Source: [i]Medival Europe: A Short History[/i]by C.Warren Hollister and Judith M. Bennett, 9th Edition, 2002 McGraw Hill. Page 107.



I have a test on this monday. yay for me!

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