31. The Donation of Constantine Transformed Popes From Mere Priests To Power Players
Incredibly, people – including kings, popes, and emperors – eventually ended up believing in the Donation of Constantine, and acted accordingly. The donation of such vast territories elevated the Popes from mere priests and religious leaders to independent princes and sovereign rulers of territory in their own right.
In reality, the Donation was forged in the eighth century by some unknown monks, hundreds of years after both Constantine the Great and Sylvester I were dead and buried. The forgery had little impact when it was concocted, but centuries later, during a period of political upheavals that wracked Medieval Europe, the Donation ended up playing a huge role in shaping Christendom and the West.