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The Donation of Constantine has been regarded as the most famous forgery of the entire MiddJe Ages. The document seemed to be forged according to the thorough program of the papaJ curia in the middJe eighth century. The author fabricated the document for the purposes as follows.
First, the Donation purported to confirm that Roman Catholic religion is orthodoxy. The Roman Church suffered a lot of difficulties due to the Arius heresy of Lombards and the iconoclasm of the Constantinople church. The author wanted to secure the dogmas of the Roman Church to be orthodoxy instead of the heresies.
Second, the Donation intended to secure the primacy of the Roman Church. The papacy hoped to unification of the Christian faith under the initiative of the Roman Church holding back rival churches such as the Byzantine church. The desire of the papal curia was echoed in the document.
Third, the Donation was fabricated as an evidence of the papacy’s temporal right in Italy including the city of Rome. The Byzantine emperors had claimed their rights to rule the Italian peninsula as the legal successors of the ancient Roman emperors. The curia was in dire need of an evidence for the secular rulership in Italy instead of the Byzantine Empire. The evidence was also required against the Franks because they could claim their rights to the Italian territory once they subjugated Lombards in the north Italy.
Fourth, the eventual purpose of the document was to endow the papacy with the rights to dominate the whole world. That was why the author let Constantine confer the whole empire on Silverter.
Thus, the Donation was produced by the ambitious program of the papal curia. Through the mouth of Constantine, the author filled the document with the intention of the papacy. The document exactly reflected the Roman Church ’s ideology to enhance the papal authority and justify the papal govemment. Consequently, the Donation was boththe collection of the papal theories in the past and the expression of a desíre to acquíre papal rights ín the future.