Pope Sylvester I (alsoSilvester, before 284 – 31 December 335) was thebishop of Rome from 31 January 314 until his death on 31 December 335.[3][4] He filled theSee of Rome at an important era in the history of theWestern Church, though very little is known of his life.[5]
The accounts of his pontificate preserved in the seventh- or eighth-centuryLiber Pontificalis contain little more than a record of the gifts said to have been conferred on the church byConstantine I,[8] although it does say that he was the son of aRoman named Rufinus.[9]
Long after his death, the figure of Sylvester was embroidered upon in a fictional account of his relationship to Constantine, which seemed to successfully support the laterGelasian doctrine ofpapal supremacy, papalauctoritas (authority) guiding imperialpotestas (power), the doctrine that is embodied in the forgedDonation of Constantine of the eighth century. In the fiction, of which an early version is represented in the early sixth-centurySymmachean forgeries emanating from the curia ofPope Symmachus (died 514), the Emperor Constantine was cured ofleprosy by the virtue of the baptismal water administered by Sylvester.[11]
The Emperor, abjectly grateful, not only confirmed thebishop of Rome as the primate above all other bishops, he resigned his imperial insignia and walked before Sylvester's horse holding the Pope's bridle as the papal groom. The Pope, in return, offered the crown of his own good will to Constantine, who abandoned Rome to the pope and took up residence inConstantinople. "The doctrine behind this charming story is a radical one,"Norman F. Cantor observes: "The pope is supreme over all rulers, even the Roman emperor, who owes his crown to the pope and therefore may be deposed by papal decree". The legend gained wide circulation;Gregory of Tours referred to this political legend in his history of the Franks, written in the 580s.[12]
In the West, the liturgical feast of Saint Sylvester is on 31 December, the day of his burial in theCatacomb of Priscilla.[9] This is now 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 asSilvester. In some other countries, too, the day is usually referred to asSaint Sylvester's Day or theFeast of Saint Sylvester.[14] InSão Paulo, Brazil, a long-distance running event called theSaint Silvester Road Race occurs every year on 31 December.[15]
Sylvester slaying a dragon and resurrecting its victims in afresco byMaso di Banco
TheDonation of Constantine is a documentfabricated 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 offered the imperial crown, which, however, he refused.[16]
Lu Santu Papa Silvestru, a story inGiuseppe 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 has a dream which commands him to send for Sylvester. He obeys, and Sylvester receives Constantine's messengers in his cave and swiftly baptizes them, whereafter (having shown them several miracles) he is led back to Constantine, whom he baptizes also, and cures. In this story, Constantine and his entourage are not pagans but Jews.[17]
Another legend has Sylvester slaying a dragon. He is often depicted with the dying beast.[18][19]
^Cross, F. L.; Livingstone, E. A., eds. (2005). "Sylvester I, St.".The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd rev. ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-280290-3.
^Reported in:Cantor, Norman F. (1993).The Civilization of the Middle Ages (Revised ed.). New York: HarperCollins. p. 177.ISBN978-0060170332. A completely revised and expanded edition of:Medieval history, the life and death of a civilization. (1963).
^Cross, F. L.; Livingstone, E. A., eds. (2005). "Donation of Constantine".The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd rev. ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-280290-3.
^Pitrè, Giuseppe,Fiabe, novelle e racconti popolari siciliani, Volume terzo, Palermo 1875. pp. 39–42
Wilhelm Pohlkamp (1995). "Silvester I., Papst (314–335)".Lexikon des Mittelalters, VII: Planudes bis Stadt (Rus’) (in German). Stuttgart and Weimar: J. B. Metzler. col. 1905–1908.ISBN3-7608-8907-7.
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