Nicholas of Cusa

Across the millennia, there were many learned men who contributed to the development of science and society in general without being well known or famous for their accomplishments. One such person was Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464).

The son of a fisherman, Nicholas was born in 1401 in Kues, a small town by the Moselle River in southwest Germany. Catholic Cardinal, philosopher, theologian, astronomer, mathematician, and jurist, Nicholas was most famous for his denunciation of the Donation of Constantine as a forgery.

As a scientist, studying plant growth, he established that air had weight. His concept of the infinite made possible the theory of relativity in the twentieth century.

Before Copernicus and Newton, he hypothesized that the Earth revolved on its axis around the sun. He even worked out the specifics of the Gregorian calendar long before 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII implemented them into practice.

One of the first maps of Europe is attributed to him. He is alleged to have discovered, as a collector of rare manuscripts, the Natural History of Pliny the Elder, and many lost comedies by the Roman Plautus.

He endowed an old people’s home in Kues, and left it its entire personal library which was quite extensive for the time. Books were very expensive and rare then and only the rich could afford to own them. This fabulous collection survived intact to this day.

The eighth century document called the Donation of Constantine was an alleged edict by the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great in 315 A.D. who stated that “Silvester and his successors,” are to rule over the city of Rome and all the provinces, districts, and cities of Italy and the West … forever.”

Pope Silvester, the Christian Bishop of Rome, had baptized Constantine and cured him of his leprosy. Constantine, ever so grateful, donated half of his empire to the church forever. Following this edict, Constantine allegedly “vacated the Lateran Palace and carried away the first 12 baskets of earth from the site on the Vatican Hill of what was to become the Basilica of St. Peter.”

Nicholas of Cusa researched the eighth century document of the Donation of Constantine and found it to be a forgery. It contained many historical errors:

1. It talked about the city and the power of Constantine even though Constantine was still in Rome in 315 A.D. and his capital had not yet been established.

2. It called the Bishop of Rome a pope two hundred years before the title came into use.

3. It appeared that Constantine called himself the conqueror of the Huns, fifty years before they set foot in Europe.

4. It recorded the only mention that Constantine had given the church half of its empire; such a generous donation would have been mentioned in other records again and again.

5. Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, Emperor Constantine’s contemporary biographer, had never heard of the Donation.

Nicholas of Cusa presented his findings in 1433 to the Council of Basel, and they were accepted immediately. He was anointed Cardinal by Pope Nicholas V and, even though he worked tirelessly on behalf of the papacy, he is remembered mostly for his scientific and academic endeavors.