20. Debunking the Donation of Constantine
The Donation of Constantine’s authenticity was finally challenged during the Renaissance, after secular humanism began to spread. With the revival of Classical scholarship and textual criticism, scholars took a fresh look at the document. It quickly became clear that the text could not possibly have dated to the days of Constantine the Great and Pope Sylvester I.
One hint was the use of language and terms that had not existed in the fourth century, but only came into use hundreds of years later. The document also contained dating errors that a person writing at the time could not have made. The Popes did not officially renounce the document, but from the mid-fifteenth century onwards, they stopped referencing it in their Bulls and pronouncements.
