In the name of the
holy and indivisible Trinity, the Father, namely, and the Son
and the Holy Spirit. The emperor Caesar Flavius Constantine in
Christ Jesus, the Lord I God our Saviour, one of that same holy
Trinity,-faithful merciful, supreme, beneficent, Alamannic,
Gothic, Sarmatic, Germanic, Britannic, Hunic, pious, fortunate,
victor and triumpher, always august: to the most holy and
blessed father of fathers Sylvester, bishop of the city of and
to all his successors the pontiffs , who are about to sit upon
Rome and pope, the chair of St. Peter until the end of time -
also to all the most reverend and of God beloved catholic
bishops, subjected by this our imperial decree throughout the
whole world to this same holy, Roman church, who have been
established now and in all previous times-grace, peace, charitv,
rejoicing, long-suffering, mercv, be with you all from God the
Father almighty and from Jesus Christ his Son and from the Holy
Ghost.
Our most gracious serenity desires, in clear discourse,
through the page of this our imperial decree, to bring to the
knowledge of all the people in the whole world what things our Saviour and Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the most
High Father, has most wonderfully seen fit to bring about
through his holy apostles Peter and Paul and by the intervention
of our father Sylvester, the highest pontiff and the universal
pope. First, indeed, putting forth, with the inmost confession
of our heart, for the purpose of instructing the mind of all of
you, our creed which we have learned from the aforesaid most
blessed father and our confessor, Svlvester the universal
pontiff; and then at length announcing the mercy of God which
has been poured upon us.
For we wish you to know,, as we have signified through our
former imperial decree, that we have gone away, from the worship
of idols, from mute and deaf images made by hand, from devilish
contrivances and from all the pomps of Satan; and have arrived
at the pure faith of the Christians, which is the true light and
everlasting life. Believing, according to what he-that same one,
our revered supreme father and teacher, the pontiff Sylvester -
has taught us, in God the Father, the almighty maker of Heaven
and earth, of all things visible and invisible; and in Jesus
Christ, his only Son, our Lord God, through whom all things are
created; and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and vivifier of the
whole creature. We confess these, the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit, in such way that, in the perfect Trinity, there
shall also be a fulness of divinity and a unity of power. The
Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; and
these three are one in Jesus Christ.
There are therefore three forms but one power. For God, wise in
all previous time, gave forth from himself the word through
which all future ages were to be born; and when, by that sole
word of His wisdom, He formed the whole creation from nothing,
He was with it, arranging all things in His mysterious secret
place.
Therefore, the virtues of the Heavens and all the material part
of the earth having been perfected, by the wise nod of His
wisdom first creating man of the clay of the earth in His own
image and likeness, He placed him in a paradise of delight. Him
the ancient serpent and envious enemy, the devil, through the
most bitter taste of the forbidden tree, made an exile from
these joys; and, be being expelled, did not cease in many ways
to cast his poisonous darts; in order that, turning the human
race from the way of truth to the worship of idols, he might
persuade it, namely to worship the creature and not the creator;
so that, through them (the idols), he might cause those whom he
might be able to entrap in his snares to be burned with him in
eternal punishment.
But our Lord, pitying His creature, sending
ahead His holy prophets, announcing through them the light of
the future life-the coming,' that is, of His Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ-sent that same only begotten Son and Word
of wisdom: He descending from Heaven on account of our
salvation, being born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin
Mary,-the word was made flesh and d welt among us. He did not
cease to be what He had been, but began to be what He had not
been, perfect God and perfect man: as God, performing miracles;
as man, sustaining human sufferings. We so learned Him to be
very man and very God by the preaching of our father Sylvester,
the supreme pontiff, that we can in no wise doubt that He was
very, God and very man. And, having chosen twelve apostles, He
shone with miracles before them and an innumerable multitude of
people. We confess that this same Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled
the law and the prophets; that He suffered, was crucified, on
the third day arose from the dead according to the Scriptures;
was received into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the
Father.
Whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead,
whose kingdom shall have no end. For this is our orthodox creed,
placed before us by our most blessed father Sylvester, the
supreme pontiff. We exhort, therefore, all people, and all the
different nations, to hold, cherish and preach this faith; and,
in the name of the Holy Trinity, to obtain the grace of baptism;
and, with devaout heart, to adore the Lord Jesus Christ our
Saviour, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and
reigns through infinite ages; whom Sylvester our father, the
universal pontiff, preaches. For He himself, our Lord God,
having pit on me a sinner, sent His holy apostles to visit us,
and caused the light of his splendour to shine upon us. And do
ye rejoice that I, having been withdrawn from the shadow, have
come to the true light and to the knowledge of truth.
For, at a
time when a mighty and filthy leprosy had invaded all the flesh
of my, body, and the care was administered of many physicians
who came together, nor by that of any one of them did I achieve
health: there came hither the priests of the Capitol, saving to
me that a font should be made on the Capitol, and that I should
fill this with the blood of innocent infants; and that, if I
bathed in it while it was warm, I might be cleansed. And very
many innocent infants having been brought together according to
their words, when the sacrilegious priests of the pagans wished
them to be slaughtered and the font to be filled with their
blood: Our Serenity perceiving the tears of the mothers, I
straightway abhorred the deed. And, pitying them, I ordered
their own sons to be restored to them; and, giving them vehicles
and gifts, sent them off rejoicing to their own. That day having
passed therefore-the silence of night having come upon us-when
the time of sleep had arrived, the apostles St. Peter and Paul
appear, saying to me: "Since thou hast placed a term to thy
vices, and hast abhorred the pouring forth of innocent blood, we
are sent by, Christ the Lord our God, to give to thee a plan for
recovering thy health.
Hear, therefore, our warning, and do what
we indicate to thee. Sylvester - the bishop of the city of Rome
- on Mount Serapte, fleeing they persecutions, cherishes the
darkness with his clergy in the caverns of the rocks. This one,
when thou shalt have led him to thyself, will himself show thee
a pool of piety; in which, when he shall have dipped thee for
the third time, all that strength of the leprosy will desert
thee. And, when this shall have been done, make this return to
thy Saviour, that by thy order through the whole world the
churches may be restored. Purify thyself, moreover, in this way,
that, leaving all the superstition of idols, thou do adore and
cherish the living and true God -- who is alone and true -- and
that thou attain to the doing of His will.
Rising, therefore, from sleep, straightway I did according to
that which I bad been advised to do by, the holy apostles; and,
having summoned that excellent and benignant father and our
enlightener - Svlvester the universal pope-I told him all the
words that had been taught me by the holy apostles; and asked
him who where those gods Peter and Paul. But he said that they
where not really called gods, but apostles of our Saviour the
Lord God Jesus Christ. And again we began to ask that same most
blessed pope whether he had some express image of those
apostles; so that, from their likeness, we might learn that they
were those whom revelation bad shown to us. Then that same
venerable father ordered the images of those same apostles to be
shown by his deacon. And, when I had looked at them, and
recognized, represented in those images, the countenances of
those whom I had seen in my dream: with a great noise, before
all my satraps*, I confessed that they were those whom I had
seen in my dream.
[* there were no such Roman officials]
Hereupon that same most blessed Sylvester our father, bishop of
the city of Rome, imposed upon us a time of penance-within our
Lateran palace, in the chapel, in a hair garment,-so that I
might obtain pardon from our Lord God Jesus Christ our Saviour
by vigils, fasts, and tears and prayers, for all things that had
been impiously done and unjustly ordered by me. Then through the
imposition of the hands of the clergy, I came to the bishop
himself; and there, renouncing the pomps of Satan and his works,
and all idols made by hands, of my own will before all the
people I confessed: that I believed in God the Father almighty,
maker of Heaven and earth, and of all things visible and
invisible; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord, who was
born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary. And, the font
having been blessed, the wave of salvation purified me there
with a triple immersion. For there 1, being placed at the bottom
of the font, saw with my own eyes a band from Heaven touching
me; whence rising, clean, know that I was cleansed from all the
squalor of leprosy. And, I being raised from the venerable
font-putting on white raiment, be administered to me the sign of
the seven-fold holy Spirit, the unction of the holy oil; and he
traced the sign of the holy cross on my brow, saying: God seals
thee with the seal of His faith in the name of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit, to signalize thy faith. All the
clergy replied: "Amen." The bishop added, "peace be with thee."
And so, on the first day after receiving the mystery of the holy
baptism, and after the cure of my body from the squalor of the
leprosy, I recognized that there was no other God save the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; whom the most blessed
Sylvester the pope doth preach; a trinity in one, a unity in
three. For all the gods of the nations, whom I have worshipped
up to this time, are proved to be demons; works made by the hand
of men; inasmuch as that same venerable father told to us most
clearly how much power in Heaven and on earth He, our Saviour,
conferred on his apostle St. Peter, when finding him faithful
after questioning him He said: "Thou art Peter, and upon this
rock (petrani) shall I build My Church, and the gates of bell
shall not prevail against it." Give heed ye powerful, and
incline the ear of .your hearts to that which the good Lord and
Master added to His disciple, saying: and I will give thee the
keys of the kingdom of Heaven; and whatever thou shalt bind on
earth shall be bound also in Heaven, and whatever thou shalt
loose on earth shall be loosed also in Heaven." This is very
wonderful and glorious, to bind and loose on earth and to have
it bound and loosed in Heaven.
And when, the blessed Sylvester preaching them, I perceived
these things, and learned that by the kindness of St. Peter
himself I had been entirely restored to health: I together with
all our satraps and the whole senate and the nobles and all the
Roman people, who are subject to the glory of our rule
-considered it advisable that, as on earth he (Peter) is seen to
have been constituted vicar of the Son of God, 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 earthly clemency of our imperial serenity is
seen to have had conceded to it,-we choosing that same prince of
the apostles, or his vicars, to be our constant intercessors
with God. And, to the extent of our earthly imperial power, we
decree that his holy Roman church shall be honoured with
veneration; and that, more than our empire and earthly throne,
the most sacred seat of St. Peter shall be gloriously exalted;
we giving to it the imperial power, and dignity of glory, and
vigour and honour.
And we ordain and decree that he shall have the supremacy as
well over the four chief seats Antioch, Alexandria,
Constantinople* and Jerusalem, as also over all the churches of
God in the -whole world. And he who for the time being shall be
pontiff of that holy Roman church shall be more exalted than,
and chief over, all the priests of the whole world; and,
according to his judgment, everything which is to be provided
for the service of God or the stability of the faith of the
Christians is to be administered. It is indeed just, that there
the holy law should have the seat of its rule where the founder
of holy laws, our Saviour, told St. Peter to take the chair of
the apostleship; where also, sustaining the cross, he blissfully
took the cup of death and appeared as imitator of his Lord and
Master; and that there the people should bend their necks at the
confession of Christ's name, where their teacher, St. Paul the
apostle, extending his neck for Christ, was crowned with
martyrdom. There, until the end, let them seek a teacher, where
the holy body of the teacher lies; and there, prone and
humiliated, let them perform I the service of the heavenly king,
God our Saviour Jesus Christ, where the proud were accustomed to
serve under the rule of an earthly king.
[*at the time of the supposed date of the document,
Constantinople had not been founded. Its position as "chief
seat" was two centuries away.]
Meanwhile we wish all the people, of all the races and nations
throughout the whole world, to know: that we have constructed
within our Lateran palace, to the same Saviour our Lord God
Jesus Christ, a church with a baptistry from the foundations.
And know that we have carried on our own shoulders from its
foundations, twelve baskets weighted with earth, according to
the number of the holy apostles. Which holy church we command to
be spoken of, cherished, venerated and preached of, as the head
and summit of all the churches in the whole world-as we have
commanded through our other imperial decrees. We have also
constructed the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul, chiefs of
the apostles, which we have enriched with gold and silver; where
also, placing their most sacred bodies with great honour, we
have constructed their caskets of electrum, against which no
force of the elements prevails.
And we have placed a cross of
purest gold and precious gems on each of their caskets, and
fastened them with golden keys. And on these churches for the
endowing of divine services we have conferred estates, and have
enriched them with different objects; and, through our sacred
imperial decrees, we have granted them our gift of land in the
East as well as in the West; and even on the northern and
southern coast;-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 pontiff Sylvester and his successors.
For let all the people and the nations of the races in the whole
world rejoice with us; we exhorting all of you to give unbounded
thanks, together with us, to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
For He is God in Heaven above and on earth below, who, visiting
us through His holy apostles, made us worthy to receive the holy
sacrament of baptism and health of body. In return for which, to
those same holy apostles, my masters, St. Peter and St. Paul;
and, through them, also to St. Sylvester, our father,-the chief
pontiff and universal pope of the city of Rome,-and to all the
pontiffs his successors, who until the end of the world shall be
about to sit in the seat of St. Peter: we concede and, by this
present, do confer, our imperial Lateran palace, which is
preferred to, and ranks above, all the palaces in the whole
world; then a diadem, that is, the crown of our head, and at the
same time the tiara; and, also, the shoulder band,-that is, the
collar that usually surrounds our imperial neck; and also the
purple mantle, and crimson tunic, and all the imperial raiment;
and the same rank as those presiding over the imperial cavalry;
conferring also the imperial sceptres, and, at the same time,
the spears and standards; also the banners and different
imperial ornaments, and all the advantage of our high imperial
position, and the glory of our power.
And we decree, as to those most reverend men, the clergy who
serve, in different orders, that same holy Roman church, that
they shall have the same advantage, distinction, power and
excellence by the glory of which our most illustrious senate is
adorned; that is, that they shall be made patricians and
consuls,-we commanding that they shall also be decorated with
the other imperial dignities. And even as the imperial soldiery,
so, we decree, shall the clergy of the holy Roman church be
adorned. And I even as the imperial power is adorned by
different offices-by the distinction, that is, of chamberlains,
and door keepers, and all the guards,-so we wish the holy Roman
church to be adorned.
And, in order that the pontifical glory
may shine forth more fully, we decree this also: that the clergy
of this same holy Roman church may use saddle cloths of linen of
the whitest colour; namely that their horses may be adorned and
so be ridden, and that, as our senate uses shoes with goats'
hair, so they may be distinguished by gleaming linen; in order
that, as the celestial beings, so the terrestrial may be adorned
to the glory of God. Above all things, moreover, we give
permission to that same most holy one our father Sylvester,
bishop of the city of Rome and pope, and to all the most blessed
pontiffs who shall come after him and succeed him in all future
times-for the honour and glory of Jesus Christ our Lord,-to
receive into that great Catholic and apostolic church of God,
even into the number of the monastic clergy, any one from our
senate, who, in free choice, of his own accord, may wish to
become- a cleric; no one at all presuming thereby to act in a
haughty manner.
We also decreed this, that this same venerable one our father
Sylvester, the supreme pontiff, and all the pontiffs his
successors, might use and bear upon their heads-to the Praise of
God and for the honour of St. Peter-the diadem; that is, the
crown which we have granted him from our own head, of purest
gold and precious gems. But he, the most holy pope, did not at
all allow that crown of gold to be used over the clerical crown
which he wears to the glory of St. Peter; but we placed upon his
most holy head, with our own hands, a tiara of gleaming
splendour representing the glorious resurrection of our Lord.
And, holding the bridle of his horse, out of reverence for St.
Peter we performed for him the duty of groom; decreeing that all
the pontiffs his successors, and they alone, may use that tiara
in processions.
In imitation of our own power, in order that for that cause the
supreme pontificate may not deteriorate, but may rather be
adorned with power and glory even more than is the dignity of an
earthly rule: behold we-giving over to the oft-mentioned most
blessed pontiff, our father Sylvester the universal pope, as
well our palace, as has been said, as also the city of Rome and
all the provinces, districts and cities of Italy or of the
western regions; and relinquishing them, by our inviolable gift,
to the power and sway of himself or the pontiffs his
successors-do decree, by this our godlike charter and imperial
constitution, that it shall be (so) arranged; and do concede
that they (the palaces, provinces etc.) shall lawfully remain
with the holy Roman church.
Wherefore we have perceived it to be fitting that our empire and
the power of our kingdom should be transferred and changed to
the regions of the East; and that, in the province of Byzantium,
in a most fitting place, a city should be built in our name; and
that our empire should there be established. For, where the
supremacy of priests and the bead of the Christian religion has
been established by a heavenly ruler, it is not just that there
an earthly ruler should have jurisdiction.
We decree, moreover, that all these things which, through this
our imperial charter and through other godlike commands, we have
established and confirmed, shall remain uninjured and unshaken
until the end of the world. Wherefore, before the living God,
who commanded us to reign, and in the face of his terrible
judgment, we conjure, through this our imperial decree, all the
emperors our successors, and all our nobles, the satraps also
and the most glorious senate, and all the people in the ,A-hole
world now and in all times previously subject to our rule: that
no one of them, in any way allow himself to oppose or disregard,
or in any way seize, these things which, by our imperial
sanction, have been conceded to the holy Roman church and to all
its pontiffs. If anyone, moreover,-which we do not believe -
prove a scorner or despiser in this matter, he shall be subject
and bound over to eternal damnation; and shall feel that the
holy chiefs of the apostles of God, Peter and Paul, will be
opposed to him in the present and in the future life. And, being
burned in the nethermost hell, he shall perish with the devil
and all the impious.
The page, moreover, of this our imperial decree, we, confirming
it with our own hands, did place above the venerable body of St.
Peter chief of the apostles; and there, promising to that same
apostle of God that we would preserve inviolably all its
provisions, and would leave in our commands to all the emperors
our successors to preserve them, we did hand it over, to be
enduringly and happily possessed, to our most blessed father
Sylvester the supreme pontiff and universal pope, and, through
him, to all the pontiffs his successors -God our Lord and our
Saviour Jesus Christ consenting.
And the imperial subscription: May the Divinity preserve you for
many years, oh most holy and blessed fathers.
Given at Rome on the third day before the Kalends of April, our
master the august Flavius Constantine, for the fourth time, and
Galligano, most illustrious men, being consuls.
