A treatyse of the donation or gyfte and endowme[n]t of possessyons, gyuen and graunted vnto Syluester pope of Rhome, by Constantyne emperour of Rome [and] what truth is in the same grau[n] thou mayst se, and rede ye iugement of certayne great lerned men, whose names on the other page of this leafe done appere.

¶The reuerende father Iherome Pan / Cathalane chanon of Barcinon / doctor of both the lawes / & chā¦berlayn to Pope Alexandre the .vi. A man very wor¦thy credēce / & to be beleued: writeth thus as herafter foloweth / in his boke / whiche they call cōmenly / the Practice of the popes Chauncery.

* 1.1That the donatiō or gyfte of Cōstantine was neuer trew mater in dede: Rede Laurence Valla & pope Pius in his dialoge / & I my selfe truly neuer red any thīge of such maner graunt in any ap∣proued writer of histories / namley of y^e sorte / whiche wrotte in the tyme of Cōstantine / or in the tymene•••• vnto it. For neither Eusebius / which was y^e most di¦lygent ensercher & teller of Christē histories / maketh any mētion therof / which for all that (••f it had ben of trouthe) semed nat to haue ben in any wise for to ••e o¦uer hipped & lefte out. Neither Ierome / Aug. Am∣brose / Basilius / Io. Chrisostome. Neither Ammy∣ane / neither the historie called Historia Tripartita. Neither yet Damasus the pope in his cronycle / ney∣ther Beda / neither Drosius / hath spoken any thynge therof. And this is vndoutedly knowen to be trewe / y^t by the space of mo thā thre hundred yeres after Cō∣stantyn / * 1.2 themperours had the domynion / & were the gouernours & rulers of the cyte of Rome / & of Italy / by dukes / deputies / & leutenaūtes & captaynes / and that of the cyte of Rome: they had the gouernaūce in their owne handes / euyn vnto the tyme of po•••• In∣nocētius y^e second / as it appereth openly i Cronicles and histories / * 1.3 and of Iustiniane the emperour: ••t is euident in the fyrst and second boke de officio 〈◊〉〈◊〉 pretoris / africe / and in the proheme of the Institutes and in the epistel Inter claras / and in many other di∣uerse

places of the ciuyll law / * 1.4 & in the lyfe of Phocas themperour▪ yt is red / that Bonifacius the pope / op∣tayned the temple Pātheon of him. To knowe than / how & of whō the church hath had lādes. Rede the te∣stes or actes of great Charles / otherwise called Char¦lemayne: & in thistorie of Pepin. Rede also pope Pi{us} in y^e aforsaid dialoge / & those thīges which late tyme haue bē gathered togither by Bartylmue of Platyn / kepar of the lybrarie / which hath collected & gathered in a very great volume or boke / all thinstrumētes or writīges ap{per}teynyng & belōgyng to the state of y^e chur∣che in tēporall thinges / namely about the gettynge of landes / & of other titles / lybertes / & rentes. To y^e col¦lection & gatheringe of whiche volume / we also haue done our labour & diligence / as touching the ouerlo∣kyng & correction of it. And as cōcernyng y^e aforsaid donation of Constātyne / & the healyng of his leprie: Rede those thinges which Renus the bysshop of Pa∣dua writeth at large this historie of y^e lyues of popes

These thinges it hath lyked vs to put here before / y^t the reder / as it were instructed by an argumēt & brefe narratiō of the mater / herafter to be treated / * 1.5 may cō•• the more p̄parred & redy to the reding of Lau. Valla.

¶ Thus endeth the fyrst parte of this boke.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Pope pius hathe written a dialoge / a∣gaynst the gif¦te or graunte of Constan∣tene.
• * 1.2

  Exarches
• * 1.3

  A strong rea∣son and argu¦mente.
• * 1.4

  Charlemayne & Pepin rob∣byng the true Emperours enriched the church of Ro¦me.

  ¶ Pantheon was a temple in Rome / in which all the goddes were worshipped / and therof it hath this na∣me Pantheō whiche is as moche to say as of all god∣des. This tē∣ple / Boniface the pope whi¦che was .iiii. after Siante Gregory / re∣ceyuyng it of phocas by gif¦te / tourned in to the church of alhalowes
• * 1.5

  Ren{us} bishop¦pe of Padua