Lorenzo Valla

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

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