The True Origin of the Vatican’s Power: What Historians Get Wrong

Most people think the Vatican's power began when the emperor Constantine handed Rome to the pope. But the document that tells that story was written centuries after Constantine died, and the real foundation of papal rule lies somewhere else. In this video we trace the real origin of the Vatican's power, starting with the Rome of Constantine and the fall of the western empire. We follow the Lombard threat, Pope Stephen II's journey across the Alps, the Donation of Pepin in 756 and the first Papal States. Then we look at the Donation of Constantine itself, the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, Lorenzo Valla's analysis of the document in the fifteenth century, and the Lateran Treaty of 1929 that created Vatican City. By the end you will see why the Papal States did not collapse when the Donation of Constantine was exposed. The Donation of Constantine explained a state. It was Pepin who created it. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Two stories of papal power 1:45 The real Constantine 2:40 Rome loses its emperor 3:46 A bishop fills the vacuum 5:41 The Lombards threaten Rome 8:07 The pact at Ponthion 9:45 The Donation of Pepin 12:47 A state needs a story 14:01 The Donation of Constantine 16:50 Leo IX cites the document 18:36 The Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals 20:35 Lorenzo Valla 24:13 Valla's treatise in print 25:25 What held the Papal States up 28:09 The end of the Papal States 28:37 The Lateran Treaty 29:57 The true origin SOURCES: • Wikipedia — "Donation of Constantine" • Wikipedia — "Lorenzo Valla" • Wikipedia — "Pseudo-Isidore" • Wikipedia — "Donation of Pepin" • Wikipedia — "Papal States" • Wikipedia — "Lateran Treaty" • The Donation of Constantine (Constitutum Constantini), the document itself • Pope Hadrian I — letter to Charlemagne (778), the first known allusion to the Donation • Lorenzo Valla — De falso credita et ementita Constantini Donatione declamatio (1439–1440) • Cesare Baronio — Annales Ecclesiastici (1588–1607) • David Blondel — final proof of the Pseudo-Isidorian forgeries (1628) • Dante Alighieri — Inferno, Canto XIX #Vatican #Papacy #PapalStates #DonationOfConstantine #DonationOfPepin #Constantine #Pepin #Charlemagne #LorenzoValla #Forgery #MedievalHistory #Renaissance #Lombards #Franks #PseudoIsidore #LateranTreaty #RomanQuestion #ChurchHistory #EuropeanHistory #Rome #EarlyMiddleAges #History #HistoryDocumentary #HistoryExplained #HiddenHistory #TrueOrigin