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Pope Sylvester I

 
Saints: Sylvester
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Sylvester (Silvester) (d. 335) pope. The son of a Roman called Rufinus, Sylvester became bishop of Rome in 314, soon after the Edict of Milan recognized Christianity, ended persecution against it and tolerated all religions. Surprisingly little is known of him, but legends abound and were very influential in the Middle Ages. Sylvester was represented by legates at a synod of Arles against the Donatists and in 325 at the Council of Nicea. The Lateran palace was given to him by Constantine and this became the cathedral church of Rome; he also built other churches in Rome; probably the first churches at St. Peter's, Holy Cross, and St. Laurence-outside-the-walls. He was buried in a church which he built at the cemetery of Priscilla; but in 761 his relics were translated to the church of ‘St. Silvester in capite’ which is the church assigned to the English.

Some of the principal but unhistorical legends about Sylvester include his supposed baptism of Constantine (in reality Constantine was baptized only on his death-bed after the death of Sylvester), his curing him of leprosy at the Lateran Baptistery, and his receiving the forgery called the ‘Donation of Constantine’ which give considerable temporal power to the papacy, especially in Italy, and purported to confer on him the primacy over other patriarchs. In the develop-ment of these legends the character of Constantine was also transformed into that of an ideal, but quite unhistorical, Christian emperor. These legends have considerably influenced the portrayal of Sylvester in art; his principal emblems are a chained dragon (or bull) and a tiara; the principal scene represented is that of the baptism of Constantine. Feast: in the West, 31 December; in the East, 2 January.

Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.

  • L. Duchesne, Liber Pontificalis, i. 170–201
  • W. Levison, ‘Konstantinische Schenkung und Silvester-Legende’ in Miscellanea Francesca Ehrle, ii (1924), 159–247
  • N. H. Baynes, Constantine the Great and the Christian Church (1929)
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Wikipedia: Pope Sylvester I
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Sylvester I
Sylvester I and Constantine.jpg
Sylvester I and the Emperor Constantine
Papacy began 31 January 314
Papacy ended 31 December 335
Predecessor Pope Miltiades
Successor Pope Mark
Personal details
Birth name Sylvester
Born ???
Sant'Angelo a Scala, Avellino [1]
Died 31 December 335
???
Other Popes named Sylvester
Sylvester I
Pope Sylvester I portrayed slaying a dragon and resurrecting its victims
Pope
Died 31 December 335
Venerated in Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Churches
Feast 31 December (Roman Catholic Church)
2 January (Eastern Orthodox Churches)
Patronage Feroleto Antico[1]; Sylvestrine Benedictines

Sylvester was pope from 31 January 314 to 31 December 335, succeeding Pope Miltiades.[2]

He filled the See of Rome at a very important era in the history of the Catholic Church, but very little is known of him.[3]

The accounts of the papacy of Pope Sylvester I preserved in the Liber Pontificalis (7th or 8th century) are little else than a record of the gifts said to have been conferred on the Church by Emperor Constantine I,[4] but it does say that he was the son of a Roman named Rufinus.[5]

During his pontificate were built the great churches founded at Rome by Constantine, e.g. the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, St. Peter's Basilica, and several cemeterial churches over the graves of martyrs.[5][6]

Saint Sylvester did not himself attend the First Council of Nicaea in 325, but he was represented by two legates, Vitus and Vincentius, and he approved the council's decision.

At an early stage copious legend supplemented his scanty history, bringing him into close relationship with the first Christian emperor. These legends were introduced especially into the Vita beati Sylvestri, which appeared in the East and has been preserved in Greek and Syriac; and in Latin in the Constitutum Sylvestri – an apocryphal account of an alleged Roman council which belongs to the Symmachian forgeries and appeared between 501 and 508. They also appear in the Donation of Constantine.[5]

Contents

Legacy

Sylvester's legendary relationship to Constantine was important in the Middle Ages.[citation needed] Pope Sylvester II, himself a close associate of Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor, chose the name Sylvester in imitation of Sylvester I.[citation needed]

In the West, the liturgical feast of Saint Sylvester is on 31 December, the day of his burial in the Catacomb of Priscilla.[5] This is the last day in the year and, accordingly, in German-speaking countries and in some others close to them, New Year's Eve is known as Silvester. In other countries too, the day is usually referred to as Saint Sylvester's Day or the Feast of Saint Sylvester.

Historical transition

The transition from Early Christianity to the Roman Catholic Church proper occurred during the reign of Pope Sylvester I. On 14 October 314, Emperor Constantine I signed a decree (which is not to be confused with the 312 decree in which he legalized Christianity) requiring all the local churches, which until then had been independent organizations, to consolidate into a single state-run church of the Roman Empire.[citation needed]

Fictional

The Donation of Constantine is a document fabricated in the second half of the eighth century, purporting to be a record by the emperor himself of his conversion, the profession of his new faith, and the privileges he conferred on Pope Sylvester I, his clergy, and their successors. According to it, Pope Sylvester was even offered the imperial crown, which, however, he refused.[7]

"Lu Santu Papa Silvestru", a story in Giuseppe Pitrè's collection of Sicilian fables, recounts the legend as follows: Constantine the king wants to take a second wife, and asks Sylvester. Sylvester denies him permission, calling on heaven as witness; Constantine threatens him and Sylvester, rather than give in, escapes into the woods. Not long after Constantine falls ill; when he is desperate of ever regaining his health he sees a dream which commands him to send for Sylvester. He obeys, and Sylvester receives his posse in his cave and swiftly baptizes them, whereafter (having shown them several miracles) they lead him back to Constantine, whom he baptizes also. In this story Constantine and his posse are not pagans but Jews.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ Patron Saints Index: Pope Saint Sylvester I
  2. ^ Annuario Pontificio (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2008 ISBN 978-88-209-8021-4), p. 8*
  3. ^ Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3), article "Sylvester I, St"
  4. ^ 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica
  5. ^ a b c d "Pope St. Sylvester I" Catholic Encyclopaedia
  6. ^ Helen Dietz: "The Eschatological Dimension of Church Architecture". The Biblical Roots of Church Orientation. 2005
  7. ^ Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3), article Donation of Constantine
  8. ^ Pitrè, Giuseppe, Fiabe, novelle e racconti popolari siciliani, Volume terzo, Palermo 1875. pp. 39 - 42

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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