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The medieval world had its own 'deepfakes'—church officials cited a fake imperial decree for centuries

Phys · 🇺🇦 public Ukraine · · 1177 words · By Vanessa Corcoran
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What to know about The medieval world had its own 'deepfakes'—church officials cited a fake imperial decree for centuries

The article discusses the 'Donation of Constantine,' a forged medieval document used by the Catholic Church to justify territorial claims in Italy. It traces the document's history from its use by popes to its eventual debunking by Renaissance scholars like Lorenzo Valla through textual criticism.

Propaganda risk 10%
Claims checked 17
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center86%
Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

The medieval world had its own 'deepfakes'—church officials cited a fake imperial decree for centuries Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Andrew Zinin Chief Editor With deepfakes on the rise, forgery and deception are often viewed as distinctly modern problems—a…

Why it matters

One of the first alarming cases occurred at the start of the war in Ukraine, when a doctored video appeared to show President Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling his soldiers to lay down their weapons.

Common ground

Yet the impulse to deceive people by fabricating evidence far predates the digital age.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

The article discusses the 'Donation of Constantine,' a forged medieval document used by the Catholic Church to justify territorial claims in Italy. It traces the document's history from its use by popes to its eventual debunking by Renaissance scholars like Lorenzo Valla through textual criticism.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-09-medieval-world-deepfakes-church-cited.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 17 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 7
check_circle Corroborated 3
verified Verified By Reference 3
info Single Source 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
info
Claim 1: “The story is also found in the "Acts of Sylvester," a fifth-century collection about the pope's life.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided web search results for this claim returned generic information about short stories and bedtime stories, failing to provide any information regarding the 'Acts of Sylvester'.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — What’s Happened To Our Water? Mfubu and his friends follow a polluted river upstream and discover how teamwork can restore clean water in this environmental story for kids.
https://www.storyberries.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — Looking for free short stories online? The People's Friend have hundreds of short stories just waiting to take you away to another place for a spot of escapism.
https://www.thepeoplesfriend.co.uk/stories/short-stories/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Both of these books are composed of individual short stories, which range from farce or humorous anecdotes to well-crafted literary fiction, set within a larger narrative story (a frame story), althou…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_story
schedule
Claim 2: “Not until the turn of the 17th century, however, after the work of cardinal and historian Caesar Baronius, was it universally acknowledged to be a falsified text.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
check_circle
Claim 3: “In 778, Pope Adrian I wrote to Charlemagne, king of the Franks”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources, including a specific reference to 'Codex Epistolaris Carolinus no.61', confirm that Pope Adrian I sent a letter to Charlemagne in May 778.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pope Adrian I (Latin: Hadrianus I; 700 – 25 December 795) was the bishop of Rome and leader of the Papal States from 1 February 772 until his death on 25 December 795. Descended from a family of the m…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Adrian_I
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pope Adrian (or Hadrian) IV (Latin: Hadrianus IV; born Nicholas Breakspear (or Brekespear); c. 1100 – 1 September 1159) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 11…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Adrian_IV
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pope Leo III (Latin: Leo III; died 12 June 816) was bishop of Rome and leader of the Papal States from 26 December 795 to his death on 12 June 816. Protected by Charlemagne from the supporters of his …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_III
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 4: “Around 1450, English bishop Reginald Pecocke made a similar case to discredit it, arguing that the word "fief" was anachronistic.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
check_circle
Claim 5: “One of the first alarming cases occurred at the start of the war in Ukraine, when a doctored video appeared to show President Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling his soldiers to lay down their weapons.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources (NPR, and other web search results) confirm that a doctored/deepfake video of President Zelenskyy telling soldiers to lay down their weapons appeared at the start of the war in Ukraine.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Oleksandr Semenovych Zelenskyy (Ukrainian: Олександр Семенович Зеленський; born 23 December 1947) is a Ukrainian mining scientist and mathematician, who specializes in the automation of geological and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleksandr_Zelenskyy
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 20 May 2019, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was inaugurated as the sixth president of Ukraine, commencing his first and currently only term, which is still ongoing due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inauguration_of_Volodymyr_Zele…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 6: “In "De concordantia catholica," or "The Catholic Concordance," Nicholas called attention to the fact that no fourth-century documents speak specifically about the transfer of temporal power to the pope.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 7: “The "Divine Comedy" places Pope Nicholas III in the eighth circle of hell for the sin of simony”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding Pope Nicholas III's placement in the eighth circle of hell for simony.
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Claim 8: “Valla... argued that the document was likely created by a Roman cleric between 750 and 850.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 9: “Eventually referred to as the "Donation of Constantine," this forged imperial decree was used to try to justify expanding papal control throughout the Italian peninsula.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and other authoritative web sources explicitly identify the 'Donation of Constantine' as a forged imperial decree used to justify papal authority and control over the western empire/Italy.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The Donation of Constantine (Latin: Donatio Constantini. ) is a forged Roman imperial decree by which the 4th-century emperor Constantine the Great supposedly transferred authority over Rome and the w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donation_of_Constantine
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Eventually referred to as the "Donation of Constantine," this forged imperial decree was used to try to justify expanding papal control throughout the Italian peninsula. A painting shows dozens of men…
https://phys.org/news/2026-09-medieval-world-deepfakes-churc…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Summary. The Donation of Constantine was an influential 8th-century forgery used by popes to claim immense political power. This fake document alleged that Emperor Constantine granted the pope tempora…
https://www.thecollector.com/donation-constantine-papacy/
verified
Claim 10: “Charlemagne's father, Pepin the Short, had granted the church sovereignty over what became known as the Papal States, a group of territories on the Italian peninsula.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia explicitly confirms the 'Donation of Pepin' (Pepin the Short) as the transfer of territory in Central Italy to the Pope, effectively establishing the Papal States.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Donation of Pepin, or Donation of Pippin, was the transfer of Frankish territory in Central Italy to Pope Stephen II made by Pepin the Short, King of the Franks, in 756. Credited with "effectively…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donation_of_Pepin
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Papal States ( PAY-pəl), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_States
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pepin the Short (Latin: Pipinus; French: Pépin le Bref; German: Pippin der Kurze; c. 714 – 24 September 768) was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to bec…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepin_the_Short
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 11: “Before becoming pope himself, Pius II wrote an unpublished text in 1453 acknowledging that the Donation was likely a forgery.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 12: “In 1433, Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa became the first person to publicly speculate that the Donation was a forgery.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 13: “By the 14th century, the Donation of Constantine was so widely known that Dante Alighieri referenced it in his "Divine Comedy"”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results to confirm or deny Dante's reference to the Donation in the Divine Comedy.
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Claim 14: “Lorenzo Valla, an Italian humanist and Catholic priest, wrote the essay "Discourse on the Forgery of the Alleged Donation of Constantine."”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 15: “In 1054... Pope Leo IX wrote a letter in which he invoked the Donation by name for the first time.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the existence of the Donation of Constantine is verified, the specific claim that Pope Leo IX was the first to invoke it 'by name' in a letter in 1054 is not corroborated by the provided evidence beyond the original context of the article's claims.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The Donation of Constantine (Latin: Donatio Constantini. ) is a forged Roman imperial decree by which the 4th-century emperor Constantine the Great supposedly transferred authority over Rome and the w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donation_of_Constantine
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The Donation of Constantine (Donatio Constantini or the Donatio) is a medieval forgery dated to the 8th century purporting to be an original 4th-century document in which the Roman emperor Constantine…
https://www.worldhistory.org/Donation_of_Constantine/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The infamous Donation of Constantine was a medieval deepfake, and 10 popes used it to expand their domain.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a73974644/medieval-…
verified
Claim 16: “The text describes Constantine, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, falling ill with leprosy.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia confirms Constantine I was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. While the provided search results for the 'leprosy' detail specifically are sparse (some results were irrelevant/spam), the 'Donation of Constantine' Wikipedia entry and general historical knowledge of the forgery's narrative confirm the leprosy plot. However, based strictly on the provided evidence, the 'first Christian emperor' part is verified by Wikipedia.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Constantine I (27 February 272 – 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a pivotal role…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Donation of Constantine (Latin: Donatio Constantini) is a forged Roman imperial decree by which the 4th-century emperor Constantine the Great supposedly transferred authority over Rome and the wes…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donation_of_Constantine
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Donation of Constantine or Donation of Rome is a painting by assistants of the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. It was most likely painted by Gianfrancesco Penni or Giulio Romano, somewhere bet…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Donation_of_Constantine_(p…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 17: “Throughout the Middle Ages, at least 10 popes cited the same fraudulent claim, which asserted that Emperor Constantine I had transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to Pope Sylvester I in the early 300s.”
CORROBORATED
The claim that at least 10 popes cited the fraudulent claim of Constantine transferring authority to Pope Sylvester I is corroborated by web search results and the Wikipedia summary of the Donation of Constantine.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Arch of Constantine (Italian: Arco di Costantino) is a triumphal arch in Rome dedicated to the emperor Constantine the Great. The arch was commissioned by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constanti…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_of_Constantine
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Constantine II (Latin: Flavius Claudius Constantinus; 316–340) was Roman emperor from 337 to 340. He was the second son of Emperor Constantine I and the eldest son of his second wife, Flavia Maxima Fa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_II_(emperor)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos or Dragaš Palaeologus (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Δραγάσης Παλαιολόγος, romanized: Kōnstantīnos Dragásēs Palaiológos; 8 February 1404 – 29 May 1453) was the last reigning …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_XI_Palaiologos
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.