A New History of Christian Empire: Excavating Pope Sylvester’s Oratory, 1636
This article examines how antiquarians in Rome used archaeological evidence—a site excavated from under the church of San Martino in Monti in 1636—to argue that Pope Sylvester (314–335) exercised spiritual and temporal authority over the Roman Empire. The document which had formed the bedrock of pap...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/5/616 |
| _version_ | 1797598526203494400 |
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| author | Talia Di Manno |
| author_facet | Talia Di Manno |
| author_sort | Talia Di Manno |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article examines how antiquarians in Rome used archaeological evidence—a site excavated from under the church of San Martino in Monti in 1636—to argue that Pope Sylvester (314–335) exercised spiritual and temporal authority over the Roman Empire. The document which had formed the bedrock of papal sovereignty, the Donation of Constantine, was shown to be a forgery in the early modern period. Protestant reformers pointed to the document’s contradictions to dismantle the Catholic Church’s claims that its preeminence originated in the privileges bestowed on Sylvester by the Emperor Constantine. I use archival materials and a history of the site published in 1639 to describe how antiquarians claimed that they found the house church of Sylvester, which he converted into a church after Constantine’s baptism and then used to host a Roman Council in 324 (before Nicaea). I offer a new perspective on Catholic confessional historiography by observing how antiquarians used material evidence to provide a foundation for early papal power in the Roman Empire, thereby bypassing the need for spurious documents such as the Donation. This new tradition, which lives on today despite modern archaeological critiques, illustrates the malleability of Catholic epistemologies and historiography in the wake of textual criticism. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T03:22:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-591a75b741fa4e1d99417addfaba9871 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T03:22:22Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-591a75b741fa4e1d99417addfaba98712023-11-18T03:04:45ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442023-05-0114561610.3390/rel14050616A New History of Christian Empire: Excavating Pope Sylvester’s Oratory, 1636Talia Di Manno0Independent Researcher, Berkeley, CA 94720, USAThis article examines how antiquarians in Rome used archaeological evidence—a site excavated from under the church of San Martino in Monti in 1636—to argue that Pope Sylvester (314–335) exercised spiritual and temporal authority over the Roman Empire. The document which had formed the bedrock of papal sovereignty, the Donation of Constantine, was shown to be a forgery in the early modern period. Protestant reformers pointed to the document’s contradictions to dismantle the Catholic Church’s claims that its preeminence originated in the privileges bestowed on Sylvester by the Emperor Constantine. I use archival materials and a history of the site published in 1639 to describe how antiquarians claimed that they found the house church of Sylvester, which he converted into a church after Constantine’s baptism and then used to host a Roman Council in 324 (before Nicaea). I offer a new perspective on Catholic confessional historiography by observing how antiquarians used material evidence to provide a foundation for early papal power in the Roman Empire, thereby bypassing the need for spurious documents such as the Donation. This new tradition, which lives on today despite modern archaeological critiques, illustrates the malleability of Catholic epistemologies and historiography in the wake of textual criticism.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/5/616Counter-Reformation ItalyArcheologyMaterial CulturePapal PowerHistoriographyAntiquarianism |
| spellingShingle | Talia Di Manno A New History of Christian Empire: Excavating Pope Sylvester’s Oratory, 1636 Religions Counter-Reformation Italy Archeology Material Culture Papal Power Historiography Antiquarianism |
| title | A New History of Christian Empire: Excavating Pope Sylvester’s Oratory, 1636 |
| title_full | A New History of Christian Empire: Excavating Pope Sylvester’s Oratory, 1636 |
| title_fullStr | A New History of Christian Empire: Excavating Pope Sylvester’s Oratory, 1636 |
| title_full_unstemmed | A New History of Christian Empire: Excavating Pope Sylvester’s Oratory, 1636 |
| title_short | A New History of Christian Empire: Excavating Pope Sylvester’s Oratory, 1636 |
| title_sort | new history of christian empire excavating pope sylvester s oratory 1636 |
| topic | Counter-Reformation Italy Archeology Material Culture Papal Power Historiography Antiquarianism |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/5/616 |
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