Date of Award
12-1-1944
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Divinity (B.Div)
Department
Historical Theology
First Advisor
William Polack
Abstract
Generally, historians refer to Laurentius Valla, or Lorenzo Valla, or just plain Laurentius with a line or two and then dismiss his real significance. Quite evidently there is more to the man Valla, than a mere sentence of praise or condemnation. He must have done something to earn for himself the title as the greatest critic of his age, as a forerunner of the Lutheran 'heresy’, as the first scientific critical historian. He was not just an ordinary person, if be received the praise of a Luther and an Erasmus. This readily becomes apparent, even inspite of the limited character of this study, when we look into the writings of his contemporaries and into his own writings and there find revealed a picture of his fame. The treatise of Valla on the Donation of Constantine is perhaps his greatest single achievement and it gives one a better understanding of his great courage, of his marvelous ability and of his personality and character. The presentation of these impressions is the subject matter of this investigation.
Recommended Citation
Koch, Markus, "Laurentius Valla and the Donation of Constantine" (1944). Bachelor of Divinity. 121.
https://scholar.csl.edu/bdiv/121
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