Lorenzo Valla

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