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THE DONATION OF CONSTANTINE

AS GIVEN IN THE DECRETUM GRATIANI (CONCORDIA

C

DISCORDANTIUM CANONUM)1

PRIMA PARS DISTINCTIO XCVI

[PALEA.

CAPITULUM XIII. DE EODEM.2

ONSTANTINUS imperator coronam, et omnem regiam dignitatem in urbe Romana, et in Italia, et in partibus occidentalibus Apostolico concessit. Nam in gestis B. Silvestri (que B. Papa Gelasius in concilio LXX. episcoporum a catholicis legi commemorat, et pro antiquo usu multas hoc imitari dicit ecclesias) ita legitur:]

[PALEA.

C. XIV. DE EODEM.

ONSTANTINUS imperator quarta die sui baptismi privilegium Romanae ecclesiae Pontifici contulit, ut in toto orbe Romano sacerdotes ita hunc caput habeant, sicut iudices regem.

1 Corpus Iuris Canonici, ed. Aemilius Friedberg, Leipsic, 1879, vol. I, p. 342. 2 The subject of cc. xi and xii is; Imperatores debent Pontificibus subesse, non preesse. [Ed.]

THE DONATION OF CONSTANTINE

AS GIVEN IN PART ONE, DIVISION XCVI, CHAPTERS XIII AND XIV OF GRATIAN'S DECRETUM, OR HARMONY OF THE CANONS.

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PART ONE. DIVISION XCVI.

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CHAPTER XIII. CONCERNING THE SAME.2

HE Emperor Constantine yielded his crown, and all his royal prerogatives in the city of Rome, and in Italy, and in western parts to the Apostolic [See]. For in the Acts of the Blessed Sylvester (which the Blessed Pope Gelasius in the Council of the Seventy Bishops recounts as read by the catholic, and in accordance with ancient usage many churches he says follow this example) occurs the following:]

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C. XIV. CONCERNING THE SAME.

HE Emperor Constantine the fourth day after his baptism conferred this privilege on the Pontiff of the Roman church, that in the whole Roman world priests should regard him as

1 The meaning of this word in this connection is unknown. The chapters to which it is prefixed are for the most part supposed to have been early marginal annotations afterwards incorporated in the text of the Decretum. Cf. Friedberg, Corpus Iuris Canonici, vol. I, Prolegomena, p. lxxxvi.

2 The subject of chapters xi and xii is, "The Emperors must be under the Pontiffs, not over them." Chapters xiii and xiv continue the same subject.

In eo privilegio ita inter cetera legitur: "Utile iudicavimus una cum omnibus satrapis nostris, et universo senatu optimatibusque meis, etiam et cuncto populo Romanae gloriae imperio subiacenti, ut sicut B. Petrus in terris vicarius Filii Dei esse videtur constitutus, ita et Pontifices, qui ipsius principis apostolorum gerunt vices, principatus potestatem amplius quam terrena imperialis nostrae serenitatis mansuetudo habere videtur, concessam a nobis nostroque imperio obtineant, eligentes nobis ipsum principem apostolorum vel eius vicarios firmos apud Deum esse patronos. Et sicut nostram terrenam imperialem potentiam, sic eius sacrosanctam Romanam ecclesiam decrevimus veneranter honorari, et amplius quam nostrum imperium et terrenum thronum sedem sacratissimam B. Petri gloriose exaltari, tribuentes ei potestatem, et gloriae dignitatem atque vigorem, et honorificentiam imperialem. Atque decernentes sancimus, ut principatum teneat tam super quatuor precipuas sedes, Alexandrinam, Antiocenam, Ierosolimitanam, Constantinopolitanam, quam etiam super omnes in universo orbe terrarum ecclesias Dei, et Pontifex, qui pro tempore ipsius sacrosanctae Romanae ecclesiae extiterit, celsior et princeps cunctis sacerdotibus totius mundi existat, et eius iudicio queque ad cultum Dei vel fidei Christianorum stabilitatem procuranda fuerint disponantur. Et infra: §. 1. Ecclesiis beatorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli pro continuatione luminariorum possessionum predia contulimus, et rebus diversis eas ditavimus, et per nostram imperialem iussionem sacram tam in oriente, quam in occidente, vel etiam septentrionali et meridiana plaga, videlicet in Iudea, Grecia, Asia, Thracia, Affrica et Italia, vel diversis insulis, nostra largitate ei concessimus, ea prorsus ratione, ut per manus beatissimi patris nostri Silvestri summi Pontificis successorumque eius omnia disponantur. Et infra: §. 2. Beatro Silvestro Patri nostro, summo Pontifici et universalis urbis Romae Papae, et omnibus, eius successoribus Pontificibus, qui usque in finem mundi

their head, as judges do the king. In this privilege among other things is this: "We-together with all our satraps, and the whole senate and my nobles, and also all the people subject to the government of glorious Rome-considered it advisable, that as the Blessed Peter is seen to have been constituted vicar of the Son of God on the earth, so the Pontiffs who are the representatives of that same chief of the apostles, should obtain from us and our empire the power of a supremacy greater than the clemency of our earthly imperial serenity is seen to have conceded to it, choosing that same chief of the apostles and his vicars to be our constant intercessors with God. And to the extent of our earthly imperial power, we have decreed that his holy Roman church shall be honored with veneration, and that more than our empire and earthly throne the most sacred seat of the Blessed Peter shall be gloriously exalted, we giving to it power, and dignity of glory, and vigor, and honor imperial. And we ordain and decree -that he shall have the supremacy as well over the four principal seats, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Constantinople, as also over all the churches of God in the whole earth. And the Pontiff, who at the time shall be at the head of the holy Roman church itself, shall be more exalted than, and chief over, all the priests of the whole world, and according to his judgment everything which is provided for the service of God and for the stability of the faith of Christians is to be administered. And below: §. 1. On the churches of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, for the providing of the lights, we have conferred landed estates of possessions, and have enriched them with different objects, and through our sacred imperial mandate we have granted him of our property in the east as well as in the west, and even in the northern and the southern quarter; namely, in Judea, Greece, Asia, Thrace, Africa, and Italy and the various islands; under this condition indeed, that all shall be administered by the hand of our most blessed father the supreme Pontiff, Sylvester, and his successors. And below: §. 2. And to our Father, the Blessed Sylvester, supreme Pontiff and Pope universal, of the city of Rome, and to all the Pontiffs, his successors, who shall sit

in sede B. Petri erunt sessuri, de presenti contradimus palatium imperii nostri Lateranense, deinde diadema, videlicet coronam capitis nostri, simulque frigium, nec non et superhumerale, videlicet lorum, quod imperiale circumdare assolet collum; verum etiam et clamidem purpuream, atque tunicam coccineam, et omnia imperialia indumenta; sed et dignitatem imperialium presidentium equitum, conferentes etiam et imperialia sceptra, simulque cuncta signa, atque banda, et diversa ornamenta imperialia, et omnem processionem imperialis culminis et gloriam potestatis nostrae. §. 3. Viris autem reverentissimis clericis in diversis ordinibus eidem sacrosanctae Romanae ecclesiae servientibus illud culmen singularitate, potentia et precellentia habere sancimus, cuius amplissimus noster senatus videtur gloria adornari, id est patricios atque consules effici, nec non et ceteris dignitatibus imperialibus eos promulgamus decorari. Et sicut imperialis milicia ornatur, ita et clerum sanctae Romanae ecclesiae ornari decernimus. Et quemadmodum imperalis [sic] potentia offitiis diversis, cubiculariorum nempe, et ostiariorum, atque omnium excubitorum ornatur, ita et sanctam Romanam ecclesiam decorari volumus. Et ut amplissime pontificale decus prefulgeat, decernimus et hoc, clericorum eiusdem sanctae Romanae ecclesiae manipulis et linteaminibus, id est candidissimo colore, decorari equos, ita et equitare. Et sicut noster senatus calciamentis utitur cum udonibus, id est candido linteamini illustratis, sic utantur et clerici, ut sicut celestia, ita et terrena ad laudem Dei decorentur. §. 4. Pre omnibus autem licentiam tribuimus ipsi sanctissimo Patri nostro Silvestro et successoribus eius ex nostro indicto, ut quem placatus proprio consilio clericare voluerit, et in religiosorum numero clericorum connumerare, nullus ex omnibus presumat superbe agere. §. 5. Decrevimus itaque et hoc, ut ipse et successores eius diademate,

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