Lorenzo Valla

Portrait of Valla made for Jean-Jacques Boissard's Icones quinquaginta virorum illustrium in 1597–1599

Lorenzo Valla (Italian: [loˈrɛntso ˈvalla]; also Latinized as Laurentius; c. 1407 – 1 August 1457) was an Italian Renaissance humanist,[1] rhetorician, educator and scholar. He is best known for his historical-critical textual analysis that proved that the Donation of Constantine was a forgery, therefore attacking and undermining the presumption of temporal power claimed by the papacy.[1] Lorenzo is sometimes seen as a precursor of the Reformation.[2][3]

  1. ^ a b Cross, F. L.; Livingstone, E. A., eds. (2005). "Valla, Lorenzo". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd, Revised ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 1689–1690. ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3.
  2. ^ "Philip Schaff: History of the Christian Church, Volume VI: The Middle Ages. A.D. 1294-1517 - Christian Classics Ethereal Library". www.ccel.org. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  3. ^ "Lorenzo Valla | Italian humanist | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2021-12-26.