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 later
Gelasian doctrine of
papal supremacy, papal
auctoritas (authority) guiding imperial
potestas (power), the doctrine that is embodied in the forged
Donation of Constantine of the eighth century. In the fiction, of which an early version is represented in the early sixth-century
Symmachean forgeries emanating from the curia of
Pope Symmachus (died 514), the Emperor Constantine was cured of
leprosy by the virtue of the baptismal water administered by Sylvester. The Emperor, abjectly grateful, not only confirmed the
bishop 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 in
Constantinople. "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.
Pope Sylvester II, himself a close associate of
Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor, chose the name
Sylvester in imitation of Sylvester I. In the West, the liturgical feast of Saint Sylvester is on 31 December, the day of his burial in the
Catacomb of Priscilla. In
São Paulo, Brazil, a long-distance running event called the
Saint Silvester Road Race occurs every year on 31 December. File:Sylvester I and Constantine.jpg|Pope Sylvester I and Constantine in a 1247 fresco File:Reliquie di san silvestro papa nonantola 2020-08-06.jpg|Relics of Saint Sylvester in
the Abbey of Saint Sylvester in
Nonantola Legendary by
Maso di Banco 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 offered the imperial crown, which, however, he refused. '' (1497) , 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 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. Another legend has Sylvester slaying a dragon. He is often depicted with the dying beast. ==See also==